Athletistic / Figure skating. February 2022 was a tragic month for Russian figure skating. First of all, at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing (China), a doping scandal broke out with Kamila Valieva, which ruined the career of one of the best figure skaters of our time (and perhaps of the history), and also deprived the Russian team of the Olympic gold medal in the team figure skating tournament. Secondly, after the start of SVO in Ukraine, Russian figure skaters fell out of favor with the International Skating Union (ISU) and still do not have the opportunity to participate in international competitions.

The suspension could not but affect the mood of Russian figure skaters. They immediately started talking about the fact that there would be an exodus of talent from our country. However, the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) managed to create such a dense and interesting schedule in the country that many questions disappeared by themselves. Now, from September to November, there is a very competitive Russian Grand Prix, then in December the national championship takes place, after which there is the main start of the season – the Grand Prix final (in 2024 it was the Spartakiad). And only then the strongest skaters of the country take part in extremely interesting commercial competitions – the Channel One Cup, the Russian Show Jumping Championship and the show program tournament. In all these competitions, skaters not only earn good money (much more than at competitions under the auspices of the ISU), but also flourish in a competitive environment. This is largely the reason why the leaders of the Russian national team remain in their country and accept the current rules of the game.

However, all is not so rosy in our kingdom. In the summer of 2023, the most high-profile transition of Russian figure skaters to the banner of another country took place to date – dancers Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin decided to compete for the Georgian national team. However, the hype was raised in the media not so much because of the level of the athletes, but because of their family ties: Davis is the daughter of Honored Coach of Russia Eteri Tutberidze.

Photo source: Diana Davis’ social networks

Well, during the current offseason, that process has accelerated significantly. In recent weeks, several talented Russian skaters have changed their sporting citizenship: Sofya Samodelkina has finally joined the Kazakhstan national team, Daniil Grishin will represent France from the 2024/2025 season, Sofia Titova and the pair Karina Akopova / Nikita Rakhmanin joined the team. The Armenian national team, Ekaterina Gainisch and Dmitry Chigiryov became citizens of Uzbekistan, and Alisa Ovsyankina and Annabel Morozov received an exemption from the Russian Figure Skating Federation and will soon decide on their new teams.

But there is also light at the end of the tunnel in this story. According to Metaratings.ru, the Armenian Figure Skating Federation tried to “bite” not only Sofia Titova, Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin from Russian figure skating, but also aimed at a more important element – the Armenians tried to attract Adelia Petrosyan to themselves. . However, according to the source, Petrosyan refused to change his sporting citizenship and intends to continue representing Russia.

Adelia was born on June 5, 2007 in Moscow into an international family: her father is Armenian and her mother is Russian. At the age of four, the girl voluntarily joined the figure skating section and began to learn the basics of this sport at the Moskvich ice rink. Petrosyan’s first coach was Irina Strakhova. It is under the guidance of this specialist that the future national champion acquires a solid basic technique and learns all the triple jumps. And shortly before her 12th birthday – in March 2019 – Adelia Petrosyan passed the audition and found herself in Eteri Tutberidze’s group.

Photo source: Russian Figure Skating Federation

Adelia was able to achieve tangible progress in her results just one year after joining Khrustalny. The young Muscovite gradually began to learn the most complex elements of ultra-si and harmoniously insert them into her programs. In the 2021/2022 season, Adelia took part in the Russian adult championship for the first time and immediately won a bronze medal (in the initial protocol she was fourth, but moved to third place after the disqualification of Kamila Valieva). However, her age would still not allow Adelia to compete at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing (China). The main goal of his career was clear from the start: the 2026 Games in Milan.

Unfortunately, sanctions followed and Russian figure skaters were suspended from international competitions. However, Petrosyan’s results did not decline. On the contrary, Adelia continued her momentum in the 2022/2023 season and managed to win the final of the Russian Grand Prix. The national championship did not go well for Petrosyan (4th place), but this did not prevent experts from calling Adelia the strongest figure skater in the country. The girl did not argue with the masters and decided to fully justify the advances made to her.

The 2023/2024 season has become triumphant for Petrosyan. She started it with two victories on the Grand Prix stages, then tamed the Russian championship, won the Sparakiad of the Strongest in Magnitogorsk and added to this the silver of the national show jumping championship. The departure of such an athlete from the Russian team would be very visible, but Adelia, at least for now, does not intend to change horses during the crossover.

By the way, the Armenian Figure Skating Federation hastened to refute the information about the failure of negotiations on Petrosyan’s transition. “We would really like to see Petrosyan here, but we do not have such information. That’s not true at all.”, – TASS told the Armenian federation. But there is no smoke without fire.

Photo source: Image from the Channel One show

Adelia Petrosyan calls two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva her idol. Adelia does not hide the fact that there is even an external resemblance between them.

— When I was little, Zhenya Medvedeva was skating at that time. I watched all his programs down to the gaps. It surprised me with its stability; I wanted to ride just as reliably and beautifully. So my favorite skater is Zhenya“, said Adelia in an interview with Match TV.

But between Adelia and Evgenia there are not only external similarities, but also very similar life stories. The fact is that Medvedeva’s father is Arman Babasyan, an Armenian businessman and former artist. Therefore, Evgenia, like Adelia, is half-Armenian. Medvedeva could speak on behalf of Armenia without any legal problems, but even in the most difficult times she remained loyal to Russia. I would like to believe that Adelia will also take an example here from her favorite figure skater. And then, who knows, maybe common sense will prevail within the ISU and the IOC, and Russian figure skaters will be able to participate in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy.

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic