Athletistic/ Figure skating. In February, many people remember the first Winter Olympic Games in Russia. After all, they took place in Sochi exactly ten years ago. They became the best for Russia in its modern history. Our country won 11 gold medals (initially there were 13) and took first place in the general ranking. Three out of 11 medals were won in figure skating. One of them was brought to our country by Adelina Sotnikova. We invite you to discover his journey towards this great victory.

Adelina Sotnikova was born in 1996 in Moscow. She started figure skating at the age of four at the Yuzhny Ice Rink. Her coach was Anna Patrikeeva. However, at the age of eight, the athlete joined CSKA and began training under Elena Buyanova.

The first significant victory of Adelina Sotnikova was the gold medal at the 2009 Russian Championship. Adelina Sotnikova won the adult national championship at the age of 12 and thus repeated the feat of her coach Elena Buyanova (Vodorezova ). Sotnikova defeated Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Katarina Gerboldt. The victory was important for the young skater not only from a sporting point of view, but also from a personal point of view. Sotnikova spent the money she earned on treating her younger sister, who suffered from a congenital disease.

At the same time, until 2013, Adelina Sotnikova could not participate in international competitions for adults. She took to the ice at the Russian championships and stages of the junior Grand Prix series. Also in 2011, she won her first junior world championship, ahead of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. In 2013, Adelina Sotnikova went to the European Championships in Zagreb. Even then, confident results were shown. The Russian won silver, ahead of everyone except Italian Caroline Kostner.

The last preparatory tournament for the Olympic Games in Sochi was the 2014 European Championship, which took place in Budapest. Adelina Sotnikova won silver again and gold went to another Russian, Yulia Lipnitskaya. This may have predetermined FFKKR’s choice for the team tournament – Yulia Lipnitskaya skated both short and free programs for the Russian national team. She won two first places and helped Russia win gold. Sotnikova still had to prove herself in personal competitions.

Adelina Sotnikova’s short program at the 2014 Olympics was called “Carmen”. The Russian performed very well and is in second place, leaving Korean Kim Young Ah ahead by 0.28 points. In the free program, Adelina Sotnikova managed to improve her results. She performed a technically difficult free program “Rondo Capriccioso” with an error when performing a stunt, receiving high points for a fourth level of rotation difficulty and an advantage in stunts and the number of triple jumps. As a result, Sotnikova beat the Korean in terms of total points and won the gold medal.

This victory can be said to be great. After all, Adelina Sotnikova became the first Russian figure skater to win Olympic gold in individual competitions. Previously, Irina Slutskaya, who won silver in 2000 and bronze in 2006, did not make it. Today, Russia has reserved this place for itself. At the next two Olympics, our country’s figure skaters also won gold. Let us hope that in the future Russia will still be allowed to participate in international competitions, and at the 2026 Olympics one of the Russian figure skaters will achieve a triumphant victory.

Yaroslav Piatykh, Athletistic


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