Having won all majorInternational Skating Union (ISU) Championship titles at the junior and senior levels, Zagitova is the youngest and second women's singles skater, afterYuna Kim, to have completed aSuper Slam. She is the second-youngest Olympic champion in women's single skating, behindTara Lipinski. She holds thehistorical world record score in the women's short program. She was known for back-loading her programs, meaning she performed all jumps in the second half to receive a bonus on the jump'sbase value. This led to the ISU implementing a rule limiting the number of jumps that could receive the base value bonus, unofficially known as the "Zagitova rule".
During the2019–20 season, Zagitova announced she would be taking a break from competitive figure skating, and as of 2025, has not returned to competition. Since then, she has co-hosted multiple seasons of theChannel One Russia showIce Age and has done commentary and interviews at Russian figure skating competitions.
Zagitova was born on 18 May 2002 inIzhevsk,Udmurtia.[3] She is the daughter of Leysan andIlnaz Zagitov (ru), bothVolga Tatars.[4] Ilnaz Zagitov is anice hockey coach fromTatarstan.[5][6] Zagitova understands theTatar language but does not speak it.[7] She has a younger sister, Sabina, who was also a figure skater.[5][8] She was nameless for a year until her parents decided to name her "Alina" after watching Russian rhythmic gymnast (and fellow Tatar)Alina Kabaeva.[8]
When Zagitova was born, her father was playing hockey for the clubNeftyanik Leninogorsk and taught her how to skate.[5] The family moved toAlmetyevsk when her father signed to play forNeftyanik Almetyevsk. Alina began skating at age four in Almetyevsk and was coached by Damira Pichugina.[7][9] After the family moved back to Izhevsk, she started training with coach Natalia Antipina.[10] She moved toMoscow at age 13 alongside her grandmother to train underEteri Tutberidze.[11]
Zagitova began learning triple jumps after moving to Moscow, but she broke her arm and then her leg.[12][13] Eteri Tutberidze then kicked her out of her training group but decided to bring her back.[8][14] In January 2016, Zagitova made her debut at theRussian Junior Championships and finished ninth.[15] One month later, she finished fourth in the junior division at the2016 Russian Cup Final.[16]
Zagitova's international debut came in late August 2016 at the2016–17 ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) competition inSaint-Gervais-les-Bains, France.[19] She ranked first in both segments and won the gold medal ahead of Japan'sKaori Sakamoto.[20] Her total score at the event, 194.37 points, was thesecond highest ever achieved by a women's single skater on the junior level, behind onlyPolina Tsurskaya.[21] She then won the bronze medal at the JGP event in Slovenia, behind Japanese skatersRika Kihira andMarin Honda.[22] The results qualified her for the2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, held in December inMarseille.[23] There, Zagitova ranked first in both segments and won the gold medal with a total of 207.43 points, 13 points above silver medalistAnastasiia Gubanova.[24] She became the first junior women's skater in history to have a total score above the 200 point mark.[25][26]
Competing at the senior level in late December, Zagitova ranked third in the short program and second in the free skate at the2017 Russian Championships, winning the silver medal behind her training partner,Evgenia Medvedeva.[17] In February, she won the gold medal at the Russian Junior Championships and was assigned to compete at the2017 European Youth Olympic Festival.[27][28] There, she won the gold medal by nearly 60 points ahead of Ukraine'sAnastasia Gozhva.[29] At the2017 World Junior Championships inTaipei, Zagitova performed two clean programs and won the gold medal.[18] She set the new junior world record scores in both the free skate and combined total.[30][31]
Zagitova became age-eligible for senior international competitions in the2017–18 season. In May 2017, she confirmed she would be moving up to the senior level.[32] Zagitova and her coaches decided to keep herDon Quixote free skate from the prior season, but she had a new short program to music from theBlack Swan andMoonlight soundtracks.[33] She made her senior international debut at the2017 CS Lombardia Trophy and won,[5] after placing third in the short program but first in the free skate, with a total score of 218.46.[34]
For the2017–18 Grand Prix Season, Zagitova was assigned to two events,Cup of China andInternationaux de France.[35] At theCup of China, she was fourth after falling in the short program, but she rallied to win the free skate and won the gold medal overall.[36] At theInternationaux de France, she placed fifth in the short program after a fall on hertriple Lutz and several under-rotation deductions. However, she placed first in the free skate with a new personal best score of 151.34 and won the gold medal.[37][38] Her results qualified her for the2017–18 Grand Prix Final.[26] There, she scored a personal best in the short program, 76.27, and was in second place behindKaetlyn Osmond heading into the free skate.[39] She placed first in the free skate and received a personal best overall competition score of 223.30, becoming the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final champion.[40]
At the2018 Winter Olympics, Zagitova was selected to compete in the free skate during theteam event.[45] She finished in first place with a new personal best score of 158.08, only 2.38 points away from Evgenia Medvedeva's world record.[46][47] She earned 10 points for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, who won the silver medal behind Canada.[48] In theindividual event, Zagitova skated a clean short program and posted a world record score of 82.92, beating the previous record of 81.61 that Medvedeva had posted earlier that evening.[49][50] In the free skate, she missed the planned triple loop after her first triple Lutz, but she successfully added the combination to her second Lutz.[51] Zagitova and Medvedeva both scored 156.65 points in the free skate, but Zagitova came out ahead thanks to her higher score in the short program.[52] She won the gold medal in the event at the age of 15 years and 281 days, becoming the second-youngest Olympic champion in women's singles by 28 days behindTara Lipinski.[53][13]
After the Olympic Games, Zagitova competed at the2018 World Championships inMilan.[54] In the short program, she placed second toCarolina Kostner, but she fell three times in the free skate and only finished fifth overall.[55] This was her only loss of the season.[56]
Zagitova entered the2018–19 season with two new programs: a short program to music fromThe Phantom of the Opera and a free skate to music fromCarmen Suite.[57] She was scheduled to begin the season at the2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Slovakia, but she could not travel to the event due to issues with her travel documents.[58] One week later, she began the season at the2018 Nebelhorn Trophy inOberstdorf, Germany. She finished first in the short program and free skate, winning the gold medal with 238.43 points.[59] Because of a change in theISU Judging System after the 2017–18 season, the ISU reset theworld record scores.[60] Thus, Zagitova set the new world records in the short program, free skate, and combined total.[61] At theJapan Open, she helped Team Europe finish in second place by winning the free skate by 28.90 points overKaori Sakamoto.[62]
In early November, Zagitova competed at her firstGrand Prix event of the season, the2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. Despite missing the triple loop in her planned triple Lutz-triple loop combination, she finished first in the short program.[63] Her only mistake in the free skate was underrotating her triple Lutz-triple loop combination, and she won the gold medal.[64] Later that month, she competed at her second Grand Prix event of the season, the2018 Rostelecom Cup. She 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.[65] She also won the free skate and the gold medal overall.[66] With two gold medals, she qualified for the2018–19 Grand Prix Final, which was expected to be a tight competition between Zagitova andRika Kihira.[67] At the Grand Prix Final, Zagitova won the silver medal behind Kihira after she "popped" an attempted triple toe loop in the opening combination of her free skate.[68]
At the2019 Russian Championships, Zagitova comfortably placed first in the short program.[69] However, she did not have a successful free skate, falling twice and struggling during her choreographic sequence. She placed twelfth in the free skate, and fifth overall. She 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.[70] At the2019 European Championships, she placed first in the short program despite an under-rotation on her triple loop.[71] She 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 teammateSofia Samodurova.[72][73]
Following the European Championships, Zagitova was chosen to represent Russia at the2019 World Championships inSaitama, Japan, alongside Samodurova andEvgenia Medvedeva. Zagitova delivered a clean skate in the short program and received a season best score of 82.08,[74] which was more than five points ahead ofKaori Sakamoto, who placed second.[75] Two days later, she performed a clean free program, receiving a score of 155.42, the highest of the day. With a combined score of 237.50, she was almost thirteen points clear of the rest of the field and won the World title.[76][77] She became the first skater in women's singles to win the World Championships the season after winning the Olympic Games sinceKatarina Witt did so in 1985.[78] Additionally, with this victory, she became the second women's singles skater afterYuna Kim to achieve aSuper Slam, meaning she won all major international competitions at the junior and senior levels.[79]
Zagitova debuted two new programs: a short program to the song "Me Voy" byYasmin Levy and a free skate inspired byCleopatra.[80][81] She began the 2019–20 season at theJapan Open, where she placed second with a score of 154.41, behind her team and training mateAlexandra Trusova, contributing to Team Europe's win.[82]
For the2019–20 Grand Prix season, Zagitova was assigned to theInternationaux de France and theNHK Trophy.[83] In France, she placed second in the short program behind training mateAlena Kostornaia after receiving an edge call on her triple Lutz and under-rotating the triple loop in combination.[84] In the free skate, she under-rotated three jumps, placing third in that segment behind Kostornaia andMariah Bell but won the silver medal overall.[85] At the NHK Trophy, she placed fourth in the short program after popping the loop jump in her combination jump with a triple flip.[86] In the free skate, she skated much better for a third-place finish overall, behind Kostornaia andRika Kihira and qualifying for theGrand Prix Final.[87] There, Zagitova skated cleanly and placed second in the short program, behind only Kostornaia.[88] She 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.[89]
Zagitova announced she was taking a break from competitive figure skating following the Grand Prix Final.[90] She withdrew from the2020 Russian Championships and did not contend for a spot on the2020 European Championships or2020 World Championships teams.[91][92] In October 2020, she extended her break and announced she would not compete in the2020–21 season.[93] She was left off the Russian national team for the2021–22 season.[94] As of 2025, Zagitova has not returned to competition,[95] but she has not formally retired.[96]
Zagitova is known for her endurance and ability to perform all of her jumps in the second half of her programs.[97] This capitalized on the ISU scoring system, which awards a 10% bonus to the base value of jumps performed on "tired legs".[98][99] Some observers criticized this program construction, believing it led to an unbalanced program.[35][100] To address this problem, the ISU introduced a rule after the 2017–18 season—dubbed by skating enthusiasts "theZagitova rule"—stating that a skater must perform jumps in both halves of a program, only allowing three jumping passes to receive the 10% bonus.[79][101]
Zagitova is also 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.[102][103] During the 2018 Olympics,The New York Times reported that Zagitova had performed the most technically difficult program in the history of women's Olympic gold medalists by performing at a base value of 46.1, approximately 25% higher than that ofKristi Yamaguchi andTara Lipinski in the 1990s, and more than double that ofDorothy Hamill during the Olympics in the 1970s.[104] However, by the time of her hiatus, Zagitova's technical achievements had already been surpassed by her teammates who began performingquadruple jumps andtriple Axels.[105][106]
Zagitova was awarded theOrder of Friendship for her win at the2018 Winter Olympics.[107] She is also 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.[108][109] She was named female "Athlete of the Year" in the nomination "Pride of Russia" by theMinistry of Sport of Russia in 2018.[110]Forbes Russia'sTop 30 Under 30 list named Zagitova as the top athlete in the sports category.[111] In 2019, she was part ofForbes Russia's 40-under-40 list of successful Russians from sports and show business.[112] She was named "Sportswoman of the Year" at the 2019Glamour Russia Awards[113] and "People's Sportsman" (as determined byVTsIOM) at the 2019Sovetsky Sport ceremony.[114]
Zagitova has endorsed numerous brands over the years. In 2019, she became an ambassador for sports brandPuma.[121] She has also advertised forShiseido,[122]Sberbank of Russia, the smartphone gameMadoka Magica,[123] andPepsiCo's brand of flavored water "Aqua Minerale Active".[124] In April 2023, she became an ambassador and advisor on sports projects for the Russian oil companyTatneft.[125]
^"Загитова признана спортсменкой года" [Zagitova recognized as sportswoman of the year].Sport Express (in Russian). 13 November 2019. Retrieved22 November 2019.
^"Загитова снялась в рекламе питьевой воды" [Zagitova starred in a drinking water commercial].Rambler Sport (in Russian). 29 November 2019.Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved30 November 2019.
^Sharifzyanov, Ilgiz (24 July 2024)."Алина Загитова окончила вуз и похвасталась дипломом" [Alina Zagitova graduated from university and showed off her diploma].116.ru (in Russian).Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved20 December 2024.
Russia
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Alina's short program performance at the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang
2017 CS Lombardia Trophy
2017 Japan Open
2017 Cup of China
2017 Internationaux de France
2018 Winter Olympics (Team event)
2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki
2018–19 Grand Prix Final
2019 European Championships
2016 JGP Slovenia
2017 European Youth Olympic Festival
2017 World Junior Championships
