While it was a poor day for the Brits, it was a day of success for Georgia – who count among their coaching team one of the most controversial figures in ice skating.
The afternoon session contained the men’s short program, and leading the field is another Georgian – Nika Egadze, who registered an impressive score of 91.28.
Egadze is coached by Eteri Tutberidze, who drew headlines for her berating of Kamila Valieva at the 2022 Olympics.
Tutberidze was sat next to Egadze as the results were announced in Sheffield, hugging her charge after his score came in.
He then defended Tutberidze’s training methods in his media conference, telling the BBC: “I really like to work with Eteri, I have skated with her for nine years.
“We are really well connected, as a whole team. And she listens to me more now.”
In the media conference after his pairs win with Metelkina, Berulava revealed they had used Tutberidze’s private rink to practice while waiting for their visa issues to be resolved.
Tutberidze previously worked with the Russian national team, whose athletes are banned from these championships – and will compete as neutrals at Milan 2026 – because of the country’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine.
