Anna Shcherbakova

Anna Stanislavovna Shcherbakova (born March 28, 2004, Moscow, Russia) is a Russian figure skater who competes in singles. Olympic champion 2022 in single skating, world champion (2021). Winner of the World Team Championship in Figure Skating (2021). Two-time silver medalist of the European Championship (2020, 2022). Silver medalist of the Grand Prix Final (2019). Three-time champion of Russia (2019, 2020, 2021) and bronze medalist of the Russian Championship (2022). Silver medalist of the World Championship among juniors (2019).

Anna Stanislavovna Shcherbakova is the first adult figure skater in history to perform a quadruple lutz in competitions under the auspices of the International Skating Union, and also the first in history to perform two quadruple lutz in one program.

Master of Sports of Russia (2018)Go to the section "Departmental awards" International Master of Sports of Russia (2020)Go to the section "Departmental awards" Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2021)Go to the section "Departmental awards".

As of February 17, 2022, it ranks 1st in the ranking of the International Skating Union.

Sports career

Anna Shcherbakova began figure skating at the age of three and a half, when her parents, following their eldest daughter, brought her to training at the Khrustalny Ice Palace (now the Khrustalny branch of the Sambo-70 Sports and Education Center). Anna's first coaches were Yulia Krasinskaya and Oksana Bulycheva. Since November 2013, the girl began to train under the guidance of Eteri Tutberidze.

Among juniors

Season 2017-2018

At the beginning of the 2017-2018 season, Anna Shcherbakova broke her leg, the recovery took six months, because of which she had to miss most of the season. At the end of January 2018, she took 13th place at the Russian Championship among juniors, held in Saransk, but a month later she won the Russian Cup Final 2018 in Veliky Novgorod.

Season 2018-2019

In the 2018-2019 season, she made her debut in the junior Grand Prix series, winning the stages in Slovakia and Canada and thus securing her place in the final. In early December, in Vancouver, in the finals of the Junior Grand Prix, she performed unsuccessfully, falling from a quadruple lutz (the first jump in her free program) and, as a result, being only fifth in total.

At the Russian Championships, after the short program, she took fifth place. On the second competitive day, she purely performed all the elements of her free program, including the quadruple lutz, and, having shown the best result among all the skaters - 155.69 points, she became the national champion with a total of 229.78 points.

At the European Youth Olympic Festival in Sarajevo, she scored 202.79 points on the sum of two programs and won the “gold”.

In March 2019, at the Junior World Championships in Croatia, Shcherbakova "took" "silver" with a total of 219.94 points.

Among adults

Season 2019-2020

Anna Shcherbakova performs with an exhibition number at the Cup of China 2019 Grand Prix stage

In September 2019, Shcherbakova made her debut among adult skaters at the Italian tournament, which is part of the Challenger series - Lombardia Trophy. Anna won a confident victory with a total of 218.2 points, ahead of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who won silver. At the same time, in a free program, Anna purely performed a quadruple lutz, becoming the first figure skater in history to submit to this jump at an adult level. The second highlight of the free program was the change in color of the dress, which turned from blue to bright red with one movement of the hand during the rotation. The change in the appearance of the figure skater emphasized the change in the musical theme and tempo of the performance of the program, where the lyrical mood of Gnosiana No. 1 by Eric Satie gave way to the energy and pressure of the musical theme from the ballet The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky.

In October 2019, Shcherbakova set a record at the Skate America Grand Prix in Las Vegas. In the free program, she performed a combination of a quadruple lutz and a triple toe loop, for which she received 18.66 points. According to the results of the short and free programs, she overtook the American Brady Tennel and became the first, gaining 227.76 points.

For her performance in the short program in Chongqing, China at the Cup of China Grand Prix tournament, Shcherbakova received 73.51 points from the judges, setting a new personal record in short skates. In the free program, the skater performed two quadruple lutz - solo and in a cascade with a triple sheepskin coat. The judges rated her performance at 152.53 points, in the sum of two rentals, Anna received 226.04 points. Having won the stage in China, Anna went to the final of the Grand Prix series.

In the final of the Grand Prix series in Turin, Italy, Anna Shcherbakova became the silver medalist. After the short program, the figure skater took third place. For her performance, Anna received 78.27 points from the judges, updating her personal record. Shcherbakova won the free program, also setting her personal record of 162.65 points and updating her own record for the most expensive element in women's singles, for the quadruple lutz combination - triple toe loop, the figure skater received 19.15 points.

At the end of December 2019, in Krasnoyarsk, Russian figure skater Anna Shcherbakova defended the title of Russian champion in figure skating, brilliantly performing the state program. Shcherbakova performed two quadruple lutz (one in combination with a triple sheepskin coat) and a quadruple flip with a blot. Already after the first four jump elements, Shcherbakova scored 55 points for technique (108 in total).

Shcherbakova scored 181.94 points for her rental and 261.87 points in total - these are the best figures in history, but they will not be counted, since the International Skating Union does not attend the results set at national championships.

At the European Figure Skating Championships held in Graz (Austria), the reigning Russian champion Anna Shcherbakova won a silver medal. In achieving the achievement, Anna took first place and has already reached her own record for the most expensive element in women's singles, due to the quadruple lutz - triple toe loop, this time the figure skater received 19.31 points. But the gap after the short program first place.

The 2020 World Championship in Montreal (Canada) has been canceled due to psychological pressure.

Season 2020-2021

In the 2020-2021 season, Anna Shcherbakova's short program was staged under the Elegy of Jules Massenet. The composition O Doux Printemps D'autrefois is performed by Joshua Bell. The free program consists of complex fragments: the soundtracks for the film "House of Dark Butterflies" and the composition Secrets by One Republic.

In September 2020, the 16-year-old athlete won a landslide victory at the Russian Cup competitions held in Syzran. In the achievement, Anna performed a quadruple flip. According to the results of a short and successful program, the athlete scored 246.40 points.

In October, Anna Shcherbakova passed the third stage of the Russian Figure Skating Cup in Sochi, which was held behind closed stands due to coronavirus restrictions. In achieving the intended program, the athlete performed a quadruple flip. In total, for two days of performances, Anna received 239.91 points.

In November 2020, the athlete was supposed to take part in the Moscow Grand Prix competition: Rostelecom Cup. On the day the competition began, it was reported through the official website of the FFKKR that “the figure skater was forced to withdraw from the beginning due to illness, due to sufficient funds”. Soon, other sources found that the two-time champion of Russia was diagnosed with pneumonia. The test for coronavirus before the events showed a negative result.

At the end of December in Chelyabinsk, Anna Shcherbakova won the third Russian figure skating champion title. At the box office, the athlete performed the fourth lutz and flip. Her score for the official is 183.79, in total for two competitive days the athlete received 264.10 points. In an interview, Anna said that the coaching staff persuaded her to withdraw from the tournament due to the severe consequences of pneumonia. The athlete has not rolled her programs in full for a long time, even in training. “Now I’m just very happy. Many thanks to everyone who was involved in this. And I thank myself that I didn’t star, I fought,” Shcherbakova said in an interview with Channel One immediately after the release.

In February 2021, Anna took part in the First Channel Figure Skating Cup. On the first day of the competition, the athlete successfully performed in the jumping tournament. In the next two days, Anna Shcherbakova participated in the team tournament, the skater got into the team of Alina Zagitova "Red Machine". Anna skated cleanly in the short program, getting 82.89 points for it. The result according to the official program is 169.06 points, in total - 251.95. As a result, the Red Machine team took first place.

On March 26, 2021, he took first place at the World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm. Due to acute coronavirus restrictions in Sweden, they are held without supervision.

At the beginning of 2021, Anna Shcherbakova became the world champion in Osaka. The athlete earned both the short program and the public program and brought with her a large load of points. This Russian team won the tournament for the first time in history.

Season 2021-2022

In September 2021, at the test skates of the Russian national figure skating team held in Chelyabinsk, Anna Shcherbakova presented a new short program to the melody of composer Kirill Richter, The Songs of Distant Earth. In the planned program, set to the soundtrack to the film "Master and Margarita" by composer Igor Kornelyuk, as well as the track of the Russian group Apocalyptica and Lacrimosa from "Requiem" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Shcherbakova performed an astronomical triple lutz-triple rittberger, triple flip-triple toe loop, triple flip, double Axel, triple lutz-triple salchow through oiler, triple flip and triple lutz.

In October 2021, the competitive premiere of new programs took place at the international tournament in Budapest. The athlete was in the lead after a clean performance of the short program with 74.76 points. At the beginning of the free program, the skater fell while performing a quadruple flip, became the second in the free program, gaining 147.97 points. According to the results of two programs, Anna Shcherbakova received the silver medal of the tournament, losing to Maya Khromykh.

In November, Anna won the third round of the Gran Premio d'Italia Grand Prix series with 236.78 points. According to the results of the short program, she took third place with a score of 71.73 points. Anna Shcherbakova was the last to go on the ice, instead of the planned, one of the most highly rated triple combinations - a triple Lutz-triple loop, she performed a combination of a triple Lutz-double toe loop. The next day, in a free program, she performed a quadruple flip, and in the second part of the program, she performed a combination that failed in the short program. For the error-free execution of the free program, she received 165.05 points and updated her personal record by almost 3 points. At the third stage of the Grand Prix series in Italy, Anna Shcherbakova managed to successfully perform a quadruple jump for the first time in the season.

At the end of November, at the fifth stage of the Internationaux de France Grand Prix series, the figure skater performed a new short program to Inon Zur's composition "Dangerous Affairs", in which she jumped a double axel, a triple flip and a combination of triple lutz and sheepskin coat. The clean execution of the jumps, as well as the assessment of the remaining elements at the fourth level, allowed Anna to take an intermediate first place with a score of 77.94 points. In the free program, it was planned to perform two quadruple jumps, but at the beginning of the program, when entering the quadruple lutz, Anna fell and did not complete the jump. The figure skater once again showed strength of character, was able to pull herself together and perfectly performed a quadruple flip, and in the second half also a complex combination of a triple lutz-triple loop, scoring 151.75 points.For both programs, Anna Shcherbakova received 229.69 points and won the Grand Prix stage for the second time in the season, securing access to the final of the series.

According to the results of six stages of the Grand Prix series, Anna Shcherbakova won two of her stages and became one of the five Russian single skaters who qualified for the final of the series, which was to be held from December 9 to 12 in Osaka, Japan. In early December, it became known that the Grand Prix final would not take place due to the Japanese government closing the country's borders to foreigners due to the threat of the spread of the omicron strain of coronavirus infection.

In January, she performed at the European Championships held in Tallinn. According to the results of the short program, she took 4th place with 69.05 points, in the program she performed a double axel, a triple flip and fell from a triple lutz, thus disrupting the planned cascade of triple lutz - triple rittberger. In the free program, she performed a quadruple flip, a combination of a triple flip - a triple toe loop, a double axel, a double axel, a combination of a triple lutz - a triple loop and a combination of a triple flip - an oiler - a triple salchow, a triple lutz and received 168.37 points and improved her personal record by 3 points. Having received 237.42 points for the rental, she took second place in the free program and became the second in the overall standings, losing to Kamila Valieva.

At the Olympic Games 2022, held in Beijing, she took second place after the short program, behind 15-year-old Kamila Valieva. In the free program, speaking penultimately, she broke into the first intermediate place, ahead of Alexandra Trusova and Japanese Kaori Sakamoto. The last to perform, the leader of the short program, Valieva, made several serious mistakes; Shcherbakova became the Olympic champion, and Valieva took 4th place.

Technique

In April 2018, in training, for the first time she performed a combination of a quadruple lutz, a triple sheepskin coat and a triple rittberger. Also in training, he performs a quadruple sheepskin coat. On October 20, 2019, at the Skate America Grand Prix stage, for the first time in the history of women's singles, Anna performed two quadruple lutz in a free program, one of them in a combination with a triple toe loop. After breaking her leg, Anna no longer performs the quad toe loop, but she successfully learned the quad flip that can be seen in her 2021 free skate.

Records and achievements

Competition record among juniors under the new system +5 / -5 GOE in the sum of two programs (205.39 points), in the short program (73.18 points) and free program (132.21 points) at the 2018 Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia. The record in the free program was surpassed by Alena Kostornaya at the 2018 Junior Grand Prix in Austria on September 1, 2018 with 132.42 points. The short program and total points record was surpassed by Alexandra Trusova at the 2018 Junior Grand Prix in Lithuania on September 6, 2018 with 74.74 and 221.44 points respectively.

She was the first among women to land a quadruple lutz at competitions not under the auspices of the International Skating Union - in 2018, at the 2nd stage of the Russian Cup, she performed a jump in a combination with a triple toe loop. At the same time, she was the first to jump two quadruple lutz in one program.

was the first among women to land a quadruple lutz in an adult competition at the Lombardia Trophy 2019.

She was the first among women and the second in the world (after Nathan Chen) to jump two quadruple lutz in one program at competitions under the auspices of the International Skating Union - at Skate America 2019. At the same time, she was the first to jump a quadruple lutz in a combination with a triple jump.

Departmental awards

• Master of Sports of Russia (2018).
• International Master of Sports of Russia (2020).
• Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2021)