Tutberidze's coaching methods have been criticized by fans, journalists, and skaters, especially in the wake of Kamila Valieva's doping scandal at the
2022 Beijing Olympics. The knowledge of the Sambo-70 club encouraging dehydration, starvation and unchanged practice regime despite injuries had been public even before Beijing, and critics had also noticed Tutberidze's students regularly retiring with serious injuries before the age of 18. Several of her male students, such as
Daniil Samsonov and
Adian Pitkeev, also suffered serious injuries under her training. Valieva's doping controversy during the Olympics in 2022 saw a new wave of critical articles and figure skaters speaking out, with
Romain Haguenauer, who coaches in
Montreal, claiming that Tutberidze's training is "abusive, military even" and that "she wouldn't be allowed near children" if she used those practices in Montreal as a coach. Choreographer
Benoît Richaud also spoke about the unsustainability of those methods and shortened careers. Figure skaters
Adam Rippon and
Katarina Witt publicly expressed support for Valieva, claiming that "adults around her have completely failed her" (Rippon) and that "the responsible adults should be banned from the sport forever" (Witt).
IOC president Thomas Bach expressed concern for Valieva's wellbeing, commenting "[Valieva] was received by her closest entourage with what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this, rather than giving her comfort, rather than to try to help her." President
Vladimir Putin's
spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called Bach's comments "deeply inappropriate", stating that "the harshness of a coach in high-level sport is key for their athletes to achieve victories." Additionally, it has been noted by several critics and observers that it is common for Tutberidze to lash out at students who have left her academy for other coaches. == Personal life ==