1. Alina Zagitova won a silver medal in the team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
55 Facts About Alina Zagitova
1. 2.
Alina Zagitova is the second-youngest Olympic champion in women's single skating, behind Tara Lipinski.
3.
Alina Zagitova holds the historical world record score in the women's short program.
4.
Alina Zagitova was known for back-loading her programs, meaning she performed all jumps in the second half to receive a bonus on the jump's base value.
5.
Alina Zagitova was born on 18 May 2002 in Izhevsk, Udmurtia.
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Alina Zagitova is the daughter of Volga Tatars Leysan Zagitova and Ilnaz Zagitov, an ice hockey coach from Tatarstan.
7.
Alina Zagitova has a younger sister, Sabina, who was a figure skater.
8.
Alina Zagitova was nameless for a year until her parents decided to name her "Alina" after watching Russian rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva.
9.
Alina Zagitova began skating at age four in Almetyevsk and was coached by Damira Pichugina.
10.
Alina Zagitova moved to Moscow at age 13 alongside her grandmother to train under Eteri Tutberidze.
11.
Alina Zagitova began learning triple jumps after moving to Moscow, but she broke her arm and then her leg.
12.
In January 2016, Alina Zagitova made her debut at the Russian Junior Championships and finished ninth.
13.
Alina Zagitova ranked first in both segments and won the gold medal ahead of Japan's Kaori Sakamoto.
14.
Alina Zagitova then won the bronze medal at the JGP event in Slovenia, behind Japanese skaters Rika Kihira and Marin Honda.
15.
Alina Zagitova became the first junior women's skater in history to have a total score above the 200 point mark.
16.
At the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Alina Zagitova performed two clean programs and won the gold medal.
17.
Alina Zagitova set the new junior world record scores in both the free skate and combined total.
18.
Alina Zagitova made her senior international debut at the CS Lombardia Trophy and won, after placing third in the short but first in the free, with a total score of 218.46.
19.
Alina Zagitova won the 2018 Russian Championships, in the absence of her teammate Evgenia Medvedeva, finishing first in both segments for a total score of 233.59 points.
20.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Alina Zagitova was selected to compete in the free skate during the team event.
21.
Alina Zagitova finished in first place with a new personal best score of 158.08, only 2.38 points away from Evgenia Medvedeva's world record.
22.
Alina Zagitova earned 10 points for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, who won the silver medal behind Canada.
23.
Alina Zagitova was scheduled to begin the season at the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Slovakia, but she could not travel to the event due to issues with her travel documents.
24.
Alina Zagitova finished first in the short program and free skate, winning the gold medal with 238.43 points.
25.
In early November, Alina Zagitova competed at her first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki.
26.
Alina Zagitova broke her own world record in the short program with a score of 80.78 and had a 13-point lead heading into the free skate.
27.
Alina Zagitova won the free skate and the gold medal overall.
28.
At the Grand Prix Final, Alina Zagitova won the silver medal, behind Kihira, after she "popped" an attempted triple toe loop in the opening combination of her free skate.
29.
At the 2019 Russian Championships, Alina Zagitova comfortably placed first in the short program.
30.
Alina Zagitova placed twelfth in the free skate, and fifth overall.
31.
Alina Zagitova was still granted an automatic place on the Russian team for the European Championships because the top three skaters were junior competitors and were thus ineligible for the team.
32.
Alina Zagitova fared poorly in the free skate, falling once and under-rotating or downgrading the majority of her jumping passes, which led to her placing fourth in the free skate, and second overall, behind teammate Sofia Samodurova.
33.
Alina Zagitova delivered a clean skate in the short program and received a season best score of 82.08, which was more than five points ahead of Kaori Sakamoto, who placed second.
34.
Alina Zagitova became the first skater in women's singles to win the World Championships the season after winning the Olympic Games since Katarina Witt did so in 1985.
35.
Alina Zagitova debuted two new programs, a short program to the song "Me Voy" by Yasmin Levy and a free skate inspired by Cleopatra.
36.
Alina Zagitova was less successful in the free skate, falling on a double Axel and having several other jumps deemed underrotated or downgraded, and finished sixth in that segment and overall.
37.
Alina Zagitova announced she was taking a break from competitive figure skating following the Grand Prix Final.
38.
Alina Zagitova withdrew from the 2020 Russian Championships and thus, did not contend for berths on the 2020 European Championships or 2020 World Championships teams.
39.
Alina Zagitova is known for her endurance and ability to perform all of her jumps in the second half of her programs.
40.
Alina Zagitova is known for her triple Lutz-triple loop combination, which was the most difficult combination in the women's field at the time of her Olympic victory.
41.
Alina Zagitova was awarded the Order of Friendship for her win at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
42.
Alina Zagitova is a two-time winner of the Silver Doe Prize, awarded by the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia, as one of the ten best athletes of 2017 and 2018.
43.
Alina Zagitova was named female "Athlete of the Year" in the nomination "Pride of Russia" by the Ministry of Sport of Russia in 2018.
44.
Alina Zagitova was named "Sportswoman of the Year" at the 2019 Glamour Russia Awards and "People's Sportsman" at the 2019 Sovetsky Sport ceremony.
45.
Alina Zagitova became a co-host of the Russian reality TV show, Ice Age, for its seventh season in 2020.
46.
Alina Zagitova interviewed athletes for Channel One Russia during the 2022 Russian Figure Skating Championships and was a reporter for the channel during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
47.
Alina Zagitova appeared on the cover of the March 2020 Russian edition of Tatler alongside teammates Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova, and Alena Kostornaia.
48.
Alina Zagitova has advertised for Shiseido, Sberbank of Russia, smartphone game Madoka Magica, and PepsiCo's brand of flavored water "Aqua Minerale Active".
49.
The co-chair of Golos, an election monitoring organization, said Alina Zagitova's participation was a violation of election laws preventing minors from campaigning.
50.
Alina Zagitova publicly supported Putin during his 2024 presidential campaign.
51.
Alina Zagitova owns an Akita Inu dog named Masaru, given to her by a Japanese breeder as a gift after the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
52.
Alina Zagitova has had multiple other pets, including cats and a chinchilla.
53.
Alina Zagitova enrolled in the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration to pursue a degree in journalism, which she received in July 2024.
54.
Alina Zagitova decided to pursue a second degree at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism.
55.
Alina Zagitova set world record scores five times at the senior level and five times at the junior level.