Hands above the head, which immediately move to the knees to crouch in disbelief, and tears of emotion. The sequence of Kamila Valieva after achieving the never seen. The Russian figure skater, at the age of 15, put the gold clasp on the Russian Olympic Committee in the team modality of figure skating. The what was not new, but the how, yes. The Russian team arrived after being silver in PyeongChang and gold in Sochi, when the discipline premiered at the Olympic Games. Being on the podium was almost an obligation; do it this way, no, but it is appreciated. Valieva, the last component to leave, gave a unique experience to all attendees with two quadruple jumps that go straight into history. She is the first female athlete to sign them at an Olympic event. He tried a third, which got away. Pity.
It is not the first snapshot that the young skater, junior world champion in 2020 and Russian champion in the absolute category in 2021, leaves in Beijing. Just yesterday, in his short program, She was the fourth woman in history to get a triple Axel in an Olympic event. Event after event for a prodigy who, just a few weeks ago, set the World Record in the short program at the European Championships in Tallinn. His performance, along with that of his 18-year-old teammate Marcos Kondratiuk, placed ROC in first position, overtaking the United States on the second day of competition. One that today, in the third, has confirmed in the best possible way.
After his impressive performance, silver for the United States, with 65 points, and bronze for Japan, with 63. Russia, with 74, regains the throne with an enviable team. In their ranks, the world champions in two of the four figure skating disciplines (Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov in pairs, and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov in ice dance). Among so many stars, the one that shines the most. A Valieva who is now aiming for individual gold to sit next to Tara Lipinski, the youngest gold in a Winter Olympics. Also in figure skating. And also with 15 years.