The President of the Russian Olympic Committee congratulated Russian figure skaters Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva on their successful performance at the World Championships in Saitama, Japan. Today, Alina Zagitova, a student of Eteri Tutberidze, won the free skate program and for the first time in her career became a World champion! Evgenia Medvedeva was fourth, but after a short program she earned third place.
– Our wonderful athletes have once again demonstrated the highest skill, unrivaled artistry and winning spirit on ice, – Stanislav Pozdnyakov noted. – Given the popularity of women’s singles in Japan and the strength of Japanese figure skaters such as Rika Kihira, Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto, it is not difficult to imagine the serious competition Alina and Zhenya faced. But there were also unforeseen difficulties. For example, the Olympic champion and now the World champion of 2019 Alina Zagitova, due to doping control, left the rink after a short program only at 3am!
It is all the more pleasant because in very difficult conditions the Russians did not give up. As in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, our sportswomen again did their best and earned enthusiastic remarks, proving that in women’s singles figure skating Russia has no equal.
Bravo, Alina! Thank you, Zhenya!
I would also like to note the confident performance of Russian duets in competitions of sports pairs. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov won the silver prize as they also did in Pyeongchang, while Natalia Zabiyako and Alexander Enbert for the first time won the bronze at such a large tournament.
Such results certainly inspire optimism and confidence that the Russian figure skaters will be the main contenders for the highest awards during the upcoming Beijing Olympics in 2022.
