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The Wave: The Russian Women dominate the Figure Skating scene

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Kamila Valieva, Alena Kostornaia(RUS)  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (CAN) @ISU 1350352700

Gold medal winner Kamila Valieva, silver medal winner Anna Scherbakova and bronze medal winner Alexandra Trusova (RUS) pose with medals during victory ceremony after the 2022 ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn (EST). @International Skating Union (ISU)

In the past years, Russia has boasted a seemingly endless reservoir of talented Skaters, especially in the Women’s discipline. The Russian Women have swept the podium at the 2021 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm (SWE), they have swept the podium at the ISU European Championships 2022 and 2020 and this season, five of them had qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (that was cancelled): Kamila Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Maiia Khromykh and Aliona Kostornaia.

Add Alexandra Trusova, who won the ISU Grand Prix Skate America and Daria Usacheva, the silver medalist at Skate America, but then were injured, and you get the picture. At the same time, the next generation is gearing up, with Russian Junior Women being very successful at the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit.
Daria Usacheva(RUS), Alexandra Trusova(RUS) , and Young You (KOR) ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Las Vegas (USA) @ISU 1348757601

Daria Usacheva (RUS) (Silver), Alexandra Trusova (RUS) (Gold) and Young You (KOR) (Bronze) stand on the podium with their medals after competing in the Womens Free Program during the 2021 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Las Vegas (USA) @International Skating Union (ISU)

Most of these talented Skaters train in the group of Eteri Tutberidze, the winner of the ISU Skating Award Coach of the Year in 2020.

Kamila Valieva, Maiia Khromykh,Eteri Tutberidze, Daniil Gleikhengauz  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Sochi (RUS) @ISU 1236852209

Kamila Valieva (RUS), Maiia Khromykh (RUS), coaches Eteri Tutberidze (RUS) and Daniil Gleikhengauz (RUS) pose for a selfie during the 2021 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Sochi (RUS) @International Skating Union (ISU)

A relentless competition inside the country is pushing the level higher and higher. At the recent Russian National Championship, eight out of the 18 competitors in the Women’s event went for a quadruple jump and five of them landed at least one – including Adeliia Petrosian, who became the first woman to perform a quadruple loop in competition (she did even two of those).

Five Skaters had a triple Axel in their program and four of them showed at least one. The three medalists Valieva, Trusova and Shcherbakova went to the ISU European Figure Skating Championships where they took all medals and they have been selected for the Olympic Winter Games. Tuktamysheva and Khromykh have been named substitutes. Kostornaia and Usacheva did not participate at Nationals due to injuries. 

All these Russian skating stars have their amazing skills in common, but they are all very different personalities and characters.

Kamila Valieva is the newcomer. The 2020 ISU World Junior Champion debuted at the international senior level this season and took the skating world by storm. This cheerful 15-year-old has the quad toe, quad Salchow and triple Axel in her arsenal. Following her success at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and the European Championships she is the top favorite for the Olympic Winter Games. Originally from Kazan, she moved with her mother to Moscow when she was six years old to pursue a career in figure skating (for more details, see the separate feature on her here).

Alexandra Trusova has been nicknamed the “quad queen” or “Russian rocket” by her fans. The 2022 & 2020 ISU European and 2021 World bronze medalist leads the wave of the female quad jumpers. The 17-year-old has made Figure Skating history already more than once: She is the first woman to have landed a quadruple Lutz, quadruple toeloop and quadruple flip in competition.

She is also the first to have performed multiple quadruple jumps in one program – up to four at the Japan Open 2019 and then five at the Russian test skates in September 2021 (but, as she pointed out this was not a competition, so this is next on her to do list). “I really want to skate with difficult elements,” Alexandra points out. “When I skate a program not with the maximum I can do right now, then I will not be satisfied with my performance, even if I won or earned a lot of points. I always need the maximum.”

Off the ice, this fearless competitor loves to spend time her family and her meanwhile five dogs: Tina, the Chihuahua, Lana, the toy poodle, Alita, the Bassenger, Cruella (named in honor of her Free Skating music this season), the teacup poodle and Jack, the Husky (who is actually her brother’s dog).

Anna Shcherbakova is the reigning ISU World Champion and managed to stay on top in Russia for three years, winning three consecutive National titles 2019-21. The Muscovite impresses with her soft and flowing skating style and has landed the quadruple Lutz and flip in competition.

Anna Shcherbakova(RUS) ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Turin(ITA) @ISU  1351844021

Anna Shcherbakova (RUS) poses in the Women's medal ceremony during the 2021 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Turin (ITA) @International Skating Union (ISU)

Anna is a well-spoken young lady and takes care of dog Sandy as well as of two cats.

Due to an injury in the summer, Shcherbakova started her season’s preparation at bit later. Nevertheless, she won her two ISU Grand Prix events, but at Russian Nationals she had to settle for bronze. Some people were quick to write her off, but the 17-year-old has proven more than once that she is a fighter. At the recent ISU European Championships she did that again, coming back from a sub-par Short Program she went on to take the silver.

“Each year, I am getting into shape during the season and I am trying until now to make progress,” Anna says. “The main thing for me is that I am not stagnating, but that I am feeling with each training, each day, each competition that I have worked and that I see the result of this work.”

Lisa Tuktamysheva is the living example that you can be competitive for many years.  The 25-year-old is looking back at a long career with many ups and downs. She won the 2015 ISU World and European titles, but she did not qualify for the Olympic Games in 2014 and 2018. In 2021, she returned on to the World Championship stage after six years and skated off with the silver medal.

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) 2021 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Canada @ISU 1350136194

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) skates in the Women's Short Program during the 2021 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Vancouver (CAN) @Internatonial Skating Union

Her fans call her “The Empress” and she has mastered the triple Axel for a long time, showing it since 2015 in competition. Tuktamysheva is an inspiration for many Skaters and Figure Skating fans from all over the world. She is very active not only on the ice, but off the ice as well, has taken part in interesting photo shootings and has launched her own fashion brand “Empress Wear”.

“It is easier for me when my mind is not overloaded with figure skating, when I am not constantly thinking about it,” she shares. “I don’t want to lose time and opportunities. It is fun for me to combine everything, my business, photo shootings and figure skating. But it is not easy. I have a team of people that help me. When you are young, you should use as many opportunities as possible, make mistakes, try something out so that you know exactly what you want when you are 30, 40 years old. I used to get upset before, that I get distracted, that I am not thinking constantly about figure skating. But in fact, it helps, when you brain switches off – I take a break, physically and mentally. Coming to practice I feel at ease and the desire (to train) returns.”

Maiia Khromykh is competing in her first international senior season as is Valieva and has landed quad as well. 2020 European Champion Aliona Kostornaia and 2020 World junior silver medalist Daria Usacheva hope to come back strong next season.

Russia will come with a very strong team to Beijing and has medal chances in the Women, Pairs, Ice Dance and Team Event. At the 2022 ISU European Championships Russia repeated the gold medal sweep from 2020. In the Pairs, 2021 ISU World Champions Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov, 2020 ISU European Champions Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii as well as two-time European Champions Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov are competing.
Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov (RUS) ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Tokyo(JPN)1352794691

Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov (RUS) perform during the 2022 ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn (EST) @International Skating Union (ISU)

Russia sends as well 2021 ISU World Ice Dance Champions Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov, four-time European medalists Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin and newcomers Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin plus the new Russian and European Champion Mark Kondratiuk, 2020 ISU World Junior Champion Andrei Mozalev and Evgeni Semenenko. However, Russia’s most successful man in the past few years, 2018 World bronze medalist Mikhail Kolyada, had to withdraw due to a positive Covid-19 test.

Victoria Sinitsina ,Nikita Katsalapov(RUS) ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Sochi(RUS) @ISU 1236817732

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) perform during the 2022 ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn (EST) @International Skating Union (ISU)