Since the Sochi Winter Olympics, Russia's dominance in women's figure skating has been unmatched. The establishment of this supremacy is due to its perfect training system, scientific material selection mechanism and all-round support and training for athletes. Starting with Alina Stonikova's victory at Sochi 2014, Russia has won gold in the women's singles at three consecutive Winter Olympics, including Ariona Zagitova and Yevgenia Medvedeva at PyeongChang 2018 and Anna Shcherbakova at Beijing 2022.
However, behind the glory, there are also controversies and challenges. Kamila Valieva was one of the "three nesting dolls" who were in the spotlight for her technical prowess and artistic expression, but her doping scandal at the 2022 Winter Olympics overshadowed her career and ultimately ruled her out of Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026. The outcome of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on this matter has had a profound impact not only on Valieva personally, but also on the Russian figure skating community as a whole.
With the change of the Winter Olympics cycle, the Russian women's figure skating singles team is facing a new generation. A new generation of young players is emerging, carrying on the legacy of their predecessors, while also pushing the boundaries of technical difficulty and artistic expression. For example, Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova could continue to represent Russia at the 2026 Winter Olympics if they maintain their competitive form and continue to improve. In addition, other rising talents, such as Maria Samodurova and Daria P**Liuchenko, who have risen in the wake of Kamila Valieva's incident, are also likely to grow rapidly in the coming years and are expected to enter the national team's field of vision to compete for a prized place at the Winter Olympics.
These young players not only inherited the traditional advantages of the Russian women's singles in terms of technical difficulty, but also showed the characteristics of keeping pace with the times in terms of artistic expression and programming. The Russian Figure Skating Association continues to invest resources and maintains its leading position in the industry in terms of coaching team, training conditions and technology research and development, ensuring that the new generation of athletes can have ample room for growth and development opportunities.
In short, the trajectory of the women's singles figure skating event in Russia is full of ups and downs, but in any case, Russia's strong talent pool and training system ensure its competitiveness on the world stage. Over the next four years, this group of young talents will be trained in international competitions and strive for a ticket to the 2026 Winter Olympics. We'll have the chance to see new faces continue the Russian women's singles legend on the snow and ice stage in Italy.