1. Anna Shcherbakova is the reigning Olympic champion in women's singles, the 2021 World champion, the 2022 European champion, and a three-time Russian national champion.
76 Facts About Anna Shcherbakova
1. 2.
Anna Shcherbakova was the first to land a quad flip in combination with a triple jump, as well as the first to land two quad flips in one program.
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Anna Shcherbakova remains the only Olympic champion in women's single skating to have performed quad jumps.
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At the junior level, Anna Shcherbakova was the 2019 World Junior silver medalist, the 2018 JGP Slovakia champion, the 2018 JGP Canada champion, the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival champion, and the 2019 Russian junior national bronze medalist.
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Anna Shcherbakova's father is a physicist and programmer, and her mother, Yulia, is a geologist-crystallographer.
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Anna Shcherbakova's great-grandfather, Prokhor Shcherbakov, was a statesman of the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
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Anna Shcherbakova has an older sister, Inna, and a younger sister, Yana.
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Anna Shcherbakova began skating at age three in 2007 with her first coach Oksana Bulycheva at the Khrustalnyi rink of the Olympic Reserve Sports School No 37 in Moscow.
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Anna Shcherbakova parted ways with Bulycheva in November 2013 at age nine and began training in the elite group at the same rink, led by Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov.
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In mid-July 2017, when she was 13, Anna Shcherbakova broke her leg while performing a triple loop at a training camp.
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Anna Shcherbakova returned to competition in January 2018 at the 2018 Russian Junior Championships, finishing thirteenth with a total score of 179.19.
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Anna Shcherbakova was assigned to events in Slovakia and Canada.
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At the 2018 JGP Canada, Anna Shcherbakova placed first in both the short program and free skate and won the gold medal by a margin of five points over the silver medalist, Anastasia Tarakanova.
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In October, Anna Shcherbakova competed at the 2nd stage of the 2018 Russian Cup and became the first woman skater to land a quad Lutz at a domestic event.
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Anna Shcherbakova then competed at the 2019 Russian Junior National Championships.
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Anna Shcherbakova was selected by the Russian Figure Skating Federation to compete at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.
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Anna Shcherbakova scored 72.86 in the short program and 147.08 in the free skate and won the silver medal behind teammate Trusova.
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In September, Anna Shcherbakova entered her first international senior competition in Italy at the ISU Challenger Series event, the 2019 Lombardia Trophy.
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Anna Shcherbakova made her ISU Grand Prix debut at the 2019 Skate America, where she won the gold medal after placing fourth in the short program and first in the free skate.
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Anna Shcherbakova set new records for the highest valued single jump, earning 14.79 points for her quadruple Lutz, and for the highest valued jump combinations, when she earned 18.66 points for her quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination.
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Anna Shcherbakova won her second event, the 2019 Cup of China, by a 14.86-point margin and qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Turin.
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At the Grand Prix Final, Anna Shcherbakova placed third in the short program behind teammates Alena Kostornaia and Alina Zagitova.
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Anna Shcherbakova nevertheless placed first in the free skate and won the silver medal behind Kostornaia.
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Anna Shcherbakova won the free skate, landing two quad Lutzes and the quad flip for the first time, and won her second national title by just under two points overall.
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Anna Shcherbakova competed at the 2020 European Championships, delivering a clean short program skate to place second.
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Anna Shcherbakova debuted both of her programs at the Russian senior test skates with only one fall on her quad Lutz attempt in the free program, which she called "a good starting point".
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Anna Shcherbakova won the first stage in Syzran with a score of 246.40 and the third stage in Sochi with 239.91 points.
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Anna Shcherbakova was assigned, as with other prominent Russian skaters, to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup after the ISU decided to base the Grand Prix primarily on geographic location due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Anna Shcherbakova had limited ability to train in advance of the 2021 Russian Championships due to pneumonia.
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Anna Shcherbakova decided to compete in the event against her coaches' recommendation for her to withdraw.
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Anna Shcherbakova won both the short program and the free skate and successfully landed both a quad Lutz and quad flip.
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Anna Shcherbakova won the national title with a total score of 264.10, ahead of Kamila Valieva and Alexandra Trusova.
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Anna Shcherbakova made history by becoming the first woman to win three consecutive Russian titles since Irina Slutskaya and the first since the introduction of the ISU Judging system in 2004.
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Anna Shcherbakova was assigned to the Russian team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.
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Anna Shcherbakova placed second in both segments of the competition, and the Red Machine won the trophy.
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Anna Shcherbakova opted not to participate in the Russian Cup Final in order to rest before the World Championships.
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Anna Shcherbakova then placed second in the free program with a score of 152.17 points despite falling on one of her quad jumps.
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Anna Shcherbakova then competed as part of the Russian team for the 2021 World Team Trophy in April, winning the short program on the opening day within one point ahead of Tuktamysheva.
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Anna Shcherbakova finished in first place and won a gold medal with team Russia.
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Anna Shcherbakova began her Olympic season in October at the 2021 Budapest Trophy.
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Anna Shcherbakova led after the short program but was later overtaken in the free skate by training-mate Maiia Khromykh after falling on her opening quad flip.
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Anna Shcherbakova placed second in the free skate to finish narrowly behind Khromykh and take the silver medal overall.
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Anna Shcherbakova came back in the free skate and landed a quad flip to win both that segment and the gold medal.
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Anna Shcherbakova went on to win her second event, the 2021 Internationaux de France, defeating Alena Kostornaia by almost eight points.
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At the 2022 Russian Championships, Anna Shcherbakova placed second in the short program behind Kamila Valieva.
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Anna Shcherbakova fell on her only quad attempt in the free skate, placing fourth in that segment, but took the bronze medal overall behind Valieva and Trusova.
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However, in 2023, Valieva was stripped of the Russian title due to testing positive for a banned substance, so Anna Shcherbakova became the silver medalist.
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At the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Anna Shcherbakova placed fourth in the short program after falling on her triple Lutz and failing to execute a jump combination.
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Two years later, in January 2024, Anna Shcherbakova became the 2022 European champion after Valieva's results were annulled.
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Anna Shcherbakova was not considered the favorite to win the gold medal in the women's event after losing to Valieva at both the Russian and European Championships.
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Anna Shcherbakova was not selected to compete in the team event as Valieva competed in both segments.
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Anna Shcherbakova won the gold medal and become the Olympic champion ahead of teammate Trusova and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto.
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Anna Shcherbakova was the first Olympic champion in women's single skating to compete quadruple jumps.
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In early March 2022, the ISU banned all figure skaters and officials from Russia and Belarus from attending the World Championships due to Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February; therefore, Anna Shcherbakova was not allowed to participate and defend her title.
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Anna Shcherbakova was named the captain of the Red Machine team.
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The first day of the competition was a jumping competition, and Anna Shcherbakova led her team to victory.
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Anna Shcherbakova finished second in the short program with a score of 82.90 and first in the free skating with a score of 176.12.
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Anna Shcherbakova did not recover from the surgery in time for the 2023 Russian Championships.
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On 18 March 2023, Anna Shcherbakova performed in Moscow at a show program tournament called the "Russian Challenge".
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Anna Shcherbakova presented a program to the music from the Soviet TV series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" and finished third in the competition with a score of 19.08.
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In July 2023, while at Eteri Tutberidze's team preparatory camp training for a potential resumption of competition, Anna Shcherbakova contracted mononucleosis and was forced to suspend training.
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In March 2024, Anna Shcherbakova was injured and underwent ankle surgery.
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Anna Shcherbakova's skating has been distinguished by her high consistency in the performance of her programs.
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Anna Shcherbakova's quad jumping ability is often compared to those of her teammates Kamila Valieva and Alexandra Trusova.
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Anna Shcherbakova is known for her musicality and dramatic performances.
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Alongside teammate Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova is credited for ushering in the era of quad jumps in competitive women's figure skating, especially domestically.
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In March 2020, Anna Shcherbakova signed an endorsement contract with Nike, and Nike listed her as a "Nike Athlete".
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Later the same year, with her father's advice, Anna Shcherbakova collaborated with Chinese company Geetaverse to release a collection of NFTs titled "Born to Skate".
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Anna Shcherbakova started endorsing MELA, a Russian sporting goods brand, as their ambassador in March 2023.
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In January 2024, Anna Shcherbakova was appointed as an ambassador of the national brand "Made in Russia" by the Russian Export Center and attended the opening ceremony of the first "Made in Russia" Festival-fair in Shenyang, China.
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At a press conference at the Russian national team's test skate, Anna Shcherbakova was announced as an ambassador for the 2025 Russian Championships in Omsk.
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Anna Shcherbakova appeared on the cover of the March 2020 Russian edition of Tatler alongside teammates Alina Zagitova, Alexandra Trusova, and Alena Kostornaia.
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In October 2022, Anna Shcherbakova joined fellow Russian Olympic champions Alexei Yagudin and Alina Zagitova as a host of the ninth season of Ice Age on Channel One.
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In December 2022, Anna Shcherbakova hosted the New Year's Eve show on Channel One.
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Anna Shcherbakova was voted by Komsomolskaya Pravda readers as the second-best Russian television presenter of 2022, behind Zagitova.
76.
On 22 November 2022, Anna Shcherbakova made her voice actor debut in a CGTN production titled "Revived Myths of Ancient China".