Alina Zagitova. The story of the young champion and victory at the 2018 Olympics

The Olympic champion in figure skating in 2018, Alina Zagipova, was not discussed unless by the lazy. And all because she unexpectedly for all took off on a pedestal, leaving behind Evgeny Medvedev, who all prophesied gold at these competitions. So who is Zagitova?

2018 Olympics

It was Alina Zagitova who brought the Russian team the first gold of the Olympics in 2018. At the same time, she set a new world record for the number of points, earning 82.92 points.

From the very first minutes of her speech, a whole avalanche of criticism fell upon Alina from American experts who called her program nonspecific, accusing her of the fact that the first half of her speech was just slowly driving along the ice, and all the basic elements started already in the second half of the program. The skater herself strongly disagrees with this, considering her performance balanced.

Despite her young age, and Alina is now only 15 years old, the girl was able to compete with more experienced rivals on equal terms and on February 21, forced everyone to applaud her perfect performance on the ice.

2018 World Cup

At this year’s world championship, it was Alina who prophesied victory, moreover, her main rival, Evgenia Medvedeva, missed these competitions because of her injury. After renting a short program, Alina was second, only slightly losing to Italian Carolina Costner.

But during the execution of a free program, the skater made several annoying mistakes, falling as much as 3 times. As a result, she got only 5th place.

Popularity

Just the day after the Olympics, Alina woke up as a real celebrity. In the TOP of the best athletes according to Yandex, Alina lost only to Evgenia Medvedeva. But she herself was not offended, because she already has a lot of fans, the number of her subscribers on social networks is growing daily. Fans regularly send her presents. What else can a 15-year-old girl dream of?

At the same time, this popularity has its drawbacks, because in this case it is absolutely impossible to relax, because a whole army of fans are regularly on duty at the entrance, who strive to get an autograph, and annoying journalists who want to interview the young star are trying to make their way home.

Many compare Alina with another Olympic champion Julia Lipnitskaya, who also at the age of 15 earned a gold medal, but very quickly left the race and left the big sport. However, such comparisons are not entirely correct. After all, Lipnitskaya herself admitted that she was not too keen on figure skating and literally endured sports only for the medal she received in Sochi.

In contrast, Zagitova simply lives in figure skating, completely dissolving in each of his performances.

Is age a hindrance to sports?

Today, from some sports critics, one can hear the opinion that it was age that prevented Alina from becoming a world champion. Soon she will be 16 years old. For skater girls, this age is considered critical. And all because the body is actively growing, and the muscles do not have time, which leads to impaired coordination of movements, a shift in the center of gravity, which is especially important when performing any jumps.

And everything happens so quickly that many athletes simply do not have time to adapt to new changes. Therefore, each exit on the ice becomes a test and struggle with a changing body.

Perhaps the same thing happened with Alina? Indeed, since the Olympics, it has grown immediately by 3 centimeters. Although Zagitova herself does not really believe that this was affected by difficulties of adolescence.

Way to the top

The future Olympic champion in Izhevsk was born.For almost a year, parents could not come up with a name for their daughter. And then one day, while watching the performance of the gymnast Kabaeva, they simultaneously realized that it was Alina who should call their child.

Alina's father was the coach of the hockey team. It was from him that the girl inherited a strong character and the will to win.

Very often successful athletes recall their childhood, identifying it with a complete lack of freedom and constant training. Alina had it differently. She started figure skating at the age of 5. At the same time, it was not training, but an ordinary hobby. Several times she even quit this lesson, preferring drawing, but later returned to the ice again.

When she was 7 years old, she began to show success. Then she believed in her abilities and began to play sports with special zeal. At 13, her parents decided to send her to Moscow, where Alina's grandmother lived. Here she got into the team of the most sought-after coach Eteri Tutberidze.

But here it was not so smooth. The coach even drove the girl out of her team because she could not accept her demands. But later, she returned to the team.

Personal life

Today, the girl lives with her grandmother in Moscow. For her, grandmother is not only a close friend, but also the most significant critic. Alina's parents, together with her younger sister, live in Izhevsk.

Alina does not currently have a loved one. The girl admits that she simply does not have time for a serious relationship. In the future, she plans to get a higher education related to the sports field. In addition, Zagitova dreams of her own Japanese restaurant.

The girl is an active user of social networks, where she constantly uploads her new photos and shares everything that happens in her life. Here, fans fully support her, not only commenting on the photo, but also dedicating verses to the girl.

Yes, Alina Zagitova is really very young. However, this does not prevent her from performing in the most significant figure skating competitions and occupying the highest steps of the podium. Moreover, a young age gives the girl and her fans hope that the most important victories in Zagitova’s life and career are still ahead.