Alina Zagitova: 2018 Russian National Champion | Team USA (2024)

Olympic champion in figure skating Russian woman Alina Zagitova commented on her performance at the Nebelhorn Trophy, where she won first place in the short program, TASS reports. On September 27 Zagitova set a new world record. The last belonged to another Russian athlete, Alexandra Trusova.

"I was very nervous, but for the first time I skated well. I missed competitions, in normal life it's impossible to get such adrenaline as here", - the athlete portal Golden Skate quotes.

Russian figure skating star Alina Zagitova has broken the short program world record at the season-opening competition in Germany.

The Russian skater won the short program at the Nebelhorn Trophy, finishing a full eight points ahead of her rivals.

Skating to the haunting melody of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, the reigning Olympic champion flawlessly landed all of her jumps – including her signature triple lutz-triple loop combination – on her way to posting a meet-high score of 79.93 points.

Zagitova’s previous record of 82.92 points was deemed ‘historic’ by International Skating Union (ISU) in August – meaning it no longer applied – after the body introduced a new scoring system following the 2018 Olympics.

TASS, September 28th. Olympic champion of the 2018 Games in Pkhenchhane, South Korea, Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova set world records in a free program and in the total score at a pre-season tournament in Germany.

The athlete received 158.50 points for a free program, totaling 238.43 points; Zagitova excelled at the tournament in Oberstdorf, ahead of Japanese Mai Miharu (209.22) and Belgian Luna Hendrix (204.16). In the course of an arbitrary roll to the music of "Carmen", 16-year-old Zagitova performed a double axel, a triple lutz and triple toe loop, triple salchow cascade, a double axel, triple lutz and triple toe loop cascades, a triple flip, a double toe loop and a double axel, and also triple flip.

The previous world record holder in the free skate program was 16-year-old Japanese Rika Kihira (147.37), in terms of performances - 14-year-old Russian woman Alexandra Trusova, performing at the junior level (221.44). A day earlier, Zagitova, in the same tournament, surpassed Trusova’s world record in the short program, gaining 79.93 points, thus

Before the start of the season, the International Skating Union (ISU) approved significant changes in the judicial system in figure skating, “nulling” all previously established world records. Previous achievements were recognized as historic - they will not be counted on a regular basis. Historical records in the free program and in the amount of rentals belonged to Russian woman Evgenia Medvedeva - 160.46 points and 241.31 points respectively, both achievements were submitted to former student Eteri Tutberidze (in whose group they play Zagitova and Trusova) at the 2017 World Team Championship.

The President of the Russian Federation of Figure Skating (FFKKR), Olympic champion Alexander Gorshkov, on the eve of the fifth stage of the Grand Prix, which will be held at the Megasport arena in Moscow, explained why this season will not be easy for Alina Zagitova.

“She had a very difficult season, it was difficult to bear the burden of Olympic glory. Many athletes after the Olympic Games, believing that they’ve already achieved everything, end their career or pause. It is not easy now for Alina, but the Grand Prix stages are the beginning of the season and before the World Cup, there’s still a lot of time. So, it’s premature to draw any conclusions regarding its form, "the official website of the Russian Olympic Committee quoted Gorshkov as saying.

The head of the FFKKR added that at the upcoming stage of the Grand Prix in figure skating, he "will be rooting for everyone." “I don’t have any favorites — the position does not allow ... I never make predictions. It’s very important for me that an athlete is able to build up a certain potential, which he can then realize,” he explained.

The fifth stage of the Grand Prix in figure skating will be held at the Sports Palace "Megasport" from 16 to 18 November.

Zagitova has shown outstanding results in her sporting career this year, as the young woman won the first gold medal among the Russian athletes at the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.

Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova has showcased how masterly she handles a hockey stick, which is seen in a video published on Instagram by Sport24.

The 16-year-old managed to place a hockey puck on its edge and raise it with a stick over her head. She also shared failed attempts at performing the stunt in her Instagram stories.

It’s not the first time that the promising Russian figure skater has wowed an audience: in November, at the Gran-Prix Rostelecom Cup in Moscow she broke a record she had herself set in Germany at the Nebelhorn Trophy by scoring 80.78 points during the short programme.

It was great to have the 2018 Olympic champion, the 2018 European champion Alina Zagitova tonight in Kazan!

In one of the blogs in the fall, someone wrote the following: to beat Kolyada and Samarin with their quadruples, it is enough not to fall from his modest triple.

Therefore, for the victory over Samodurova and Konstantinova - and these are the main rivals of Zagitova at the upcoming European Championships - the Olympic champion simply needs not to fall. Even if, replacing quietly, some cascades with 3 + 3, which she has had a hard time this season, are replaced with the usual 3 + 2, that is, with the girl's kit from the last millennium. The rest of it will be done by arbitrators taught by the Russian Federation.

Yes, in the absence of Medvedeva, Zagitova’s 5th place selection from the 3rd of hwe amazing place (while she skated a free worse than all of the 18 participants), it will not be difficult to win. And it is lucky that Carolina Costner recently got up from her crutches, because she was injured. It is unlikely that it will be a real competition.