Adeliia Petrosian Emerges As Russia’s Lone Hope In Women’s Figure Skating
The streak was unmistakable and seemingly unbreakable. Adelina Sotnikova in Sochi 2014. Alina Zagitova in PyeongChang 2018. Anna Shcherbakova in Beijing 2022.
Since the retirement of South Korea’s “Queen” Yuna Kim, often regarded as the greatest female figure skater in history, Russian women’s skaters have dominated the Olympic Ladies’ Singles competition.
Athletes from the Eastern European nation have won every Olympic gold medal in Ladies’ Singles since 2014. From 2014 to 2021, Russian athletes won five of the seven women’s singles competitions at the annual ISU World Championships.
Even the athletes who fell short of individual Olympic gold – namely, Yulia Lipnitskaya (2014), Evgenia Medvedeva (2018), Kamila Valieva (2022), and Alexandra Trusova (2022) – dazzled Olympic audiences and fans worldwide.
Known for their often-unrivaled jumping abilities, Russian women’s skaters predominantly come from the coaching club Sambo 70, led by controversial coach Eteri Tutberidze. Tutberidze’s pupils represent all but one of the Olympic or world champions from the previous decade.
Tutberidze’s methods have garnered significant criticism in recent years, with reports of her club encouraging dehydration, starvation, and an intensive, injury-inducing training regimen. Many of her athletes’ careers seem to progress like dying stars: spectacularly bright, but ephemeral.
During the 2022 Olympics, Tutberidze’s involvement in Kamila Valieva’s doping scandal brought increased visibility to the coach’s controversial methods. Many skaters voiced concerns in the wake.
Canadian Olympic figure skating coach Romain Haguenauer
claimed Tutberidze is "abusive, military even" and that "she wouldn’t be allowed near children" if she were to coach in Canada (
The Cut).
A Dynasty Interrupted
Tutberidze’s athletes’ world title reign was cut short in March 2022, when the International Skating Union (ISU) banned all Russian athletes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Although the ban remains in place, select athletes have been approved to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN).
And despite ongoing controversies, Tutberidze continues to coach multiple elite athletes in 2026, including at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Her next prodigy? Moscow native and authorized neutral athlete Adeliia Petrosian.
Russia’s Next Skating Star: Adeliia Petrosian
All of Russia’s figure skating hopes fall on the shoulders of the 18-year-old from Moscow, Adeliia Petrosian.
While Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Americans Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu regularly dominated international figure skating storylines in recent years, Petrosian has been quietly dominating Russian domestic competitions.
Petrosian has won three consecutive Russian Figure Skating Championships (2024, 2025, 2026) and enters the 2026 Winter Olympics fresh off her first international win since becoming a senior competitor.
In May 2025, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced that Petrosian had been approved as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), making her eligible to compete at the 2025 ISU Olympic Qualifying Competition for a spot at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
In September 2025, Petrosian won the
Skate to Milano competition, clinching her Olympic berth for Milano-Cortina. En route to the win, Petrosian defeated the 2024 and 2023 European Champions, Loena Hendrickx (Belgium) and Anastasiia Gubanova (Georgia), respectively.
However, the test is much loftier in Milan. Petrosian will face top challengers for the first time on the world’s grandest athletic stage. The 18-year-old is among the contenders for gold, alongside three-time world champion Sakamoto, defending world champion Alysa Liu, and U.S. Champion Amber Glenn.
While many experts see gold-medal potential in Petrosian, the teenager’s status as an Olympic rookie and her nation’s sole female representative (albeit as a neutral athlete) could come with additional pressure.
Though each contender faces Olympic pressure, Petrosian bears the weight of expectations for Russian figure skating excellence. In mid-2025, Russian media
asked the then-17-year-old to define success in her sport.
“(A successful career) is about titles and having a bright, memorable story in the sport. Preferably one that isn’t short-lived,” she said.
Petrosian, Sakamoto, Liu, Glenn, and the ladies’ singles competitors will first take to the Olympic ice on Tuesday, February 17 at 12:45 p.m. ET. Competition will conclude on Thursday, February 19, with the ladies’ free skate.
