Anna Shcherbakova

Anna Shcherbakova
Anna Stanislavovna Shcherbakova (born 28 March 2004) is a Russian figure skater and television presenter. She is the 2022 Olympic champion, the 2021 World champion, a two-time European silver medalist (2020 and 2022), the 2019 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the 2019 Skate America champion, the 2019 Cup of China champion, the 2021 Internationaux de France champion, the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia champion, the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy champion, a three-time Russian national champion (2019–21), and the 2022 Russian national silver medalist. At the junior level, Shcherbakova is the 2019 World Junior silver medalist, 2018 JGP Slovakia champion, 2018 JGP Canada champion, 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival champion, and 2019 Russian junior national bronze medalist.
Shcherbakova is the first female skater to land a quad Lutz in senior competition and the first woman to land two quad Lutz jumps in a single program. She is also the first to land a quad flip in combination with a triple jump, as well as the first woman to land two quad flip jumps in a single program. Additionally, Shcherbakova is the first and only Olympic champion in women's single skating who competed with quad jumps. In her senior career, she has finished on the podium in every competition she has entered, never placing below second.
Early life
Shcherbakova was born in Moscow on 28 March 2004 to parents Stanislav (a physicist and programmer) and Yulia (a geologist-crystallographer, who received her Ph.D. a month before Anna was born). Her great-grandfather, Prokhor Shcherbakov, was a Soviet statesman with several university degrees. She has an older sister, Inna, and a younger sister, Yana. Shcherbakova's parents signed their daughters up for skating lessons to keep them active, with her mother eventually quitting her job in order to be able to drive the children to the rink for practice and competitions. As a child, Shcherbakova was also enrolled in drawing, swimming, and music classes and took tennis lessons. She speaks English fluently.
Competitive skating career
Early career
Anna was inspired by her older sister, Inna, who had started taking figure skating lessons. (Inna also competed for a time, winning first place in a St. Peterburg junior competition in December 2011.) Anna remembers that she liked skating from the beginning and was never pressured by her parents or forced to train. She began skating at age 3 in 2007 with her first coach Oksana Bulycheva at the Khrustalnyi rink of the Olympic Reserve Sports School No. 37 (later renamed "Sambo 70") in Moscow. According to Bulycheva, "From the very beginning, she really wanted it, that is, there were some basic things that Anyuta could do much faster than girls who were two years older than her." Her choreographer at that time, Yulia Krasinskaya, created very theatrical programs for her that she really liked, such as Pink Panther at age 7, and Addams Family at age 8. Early videos are also available of her as Tango at age 9, and in other costumes at age 11. Her first known competition award dates back to December 2011, when she was 7, and competed in the Open Championship of the CSKA Sports School in figure skating "For the Prizes of Santa Claus". She finished first out of 15 girls in the category "3rd Youth Girls, Snowflakes Group", which consisted of girls born in 2004. (Second place went to Anastasia Tarakanova, who went on to win seven medals in the ISU Junior Grand Prix series.)
At one point her parents recall that her upward trajectory seemed to falter and she "began to stall in development", and so she parted ways with Bulycheva in November 2013 at age 9 and began training in the elite group at the same rink, led by Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov. This was in the 2014 Winter Olypmics season. She and her parents saw how Yulia Lipnitskaya was preparing for this and watched the practicing of Evgenia Medvedeva, who was beginning to excel internationally in juniors. Prior to joining the Tutberidze group, Anna remembers that she thought of skating as a hobby, something done for her own entertainment. Eteri Tutberidze required her to decide whether she was ready to switch from amateur figure skating to real professional sports, in which discipline, commitment and dedication were essential. This was now to be regarded as a job, though one that she thoroughly enjoyed. Furthermore, it did not all come easily to her. It took a year with Tutberidze before she was able to master the triple jump. Until she joined the Tutberidze group she attended all classes at her local school, but afterward she could no longer do so. "In general, the teachers helped me. I ran to the school before the start of training and quickly went around the offices of all the teachers, turning in ready-made assignments and getting new ones—this was the best option."
In an interview with Ilia Averbukh Shcherbakova recounted that her first vivid emotions in competition came when she won the children's Russian Championship. "I think at that moment I felt such incredible joy. I’ve never experienced such childish enthusiasm at any of the adult competitions. Because when I won the children's Russian Championship it seemed to me that I just couldn’t even dream of it. ...I was just so completely delighted. I think these emotions are still remembered as one of the most vivid ones..." Anna won the Russian Figure Skating Championship among girls and boys (junior age) "Memorial S. A. Zhuk" in March 2016, just before her 12th birthday.
In mid-July 2017, when she was 13, Shcherbakova broke her leg while performing a triple loop at a training camp. According to Anna's father Stanislav, "After six weeks in a full cast, the leg looked quite unusual—it was just a shapeless something that hardly bent at all. ...We needed a great deal of faith in the power of nature to reassure ourselves that everything would straighten out, the leg would return to normal, and the child would be able to walk like everyone else without limping. ...And returning to the rink—I took it as a great miracle, no less".
Junior career
2017–2018 season
Before breaking her leg, Anna had already learned the quadruple jump and she was looking forward to showing it at competitions, but as a result of the accident she missed most of the 2017–18 season, including her planned Junior Grand Prix debut. She returned to competition in January 2018 at the 2018 Russian Junior Championships, finishing thirteenth with a total score of 179.19. Then in February, she improved her total score by over 30 points at the 2017-18 Russian Cup Final, Junior category, to win the gold medal.
2018–2019 season: International debut
Shcherbakova debuted internationally on the Junior Grand Prix circuit in August. She was assigned to events in Slovakia and Canada. At the 2018 JGP Slovakia, she placed first in both the short program and free skate, winning the gold medal by a margin of over 18 points over the silver medalist and fellow Russian competitor Anna Tarusina. At the time, her scores at the competition were the highest achieved in an international junior women's competition. Her short program and combined total records were later surpassed by Alexandra Trusova, and the free program record was surpassed by Alena Kostornaia.
At the 2018 JGP Canada, Shcherbakova once again placed first in both the short program and free skate and won the gold medal by a margin of five points over the silver medalist, Anastasia Tarakanova. With two gold medals on the Junior Grand Prix, she qualified for the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final. In October, Shcherbakova competed at the 2nd stage of the 2018 Russian Cup and became the first female skater to land a quad Lutz at a domestic event. At the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, Shcherbakova placed sixth (last) in the short program and fifth in the free skate, resulting in fifth place overall.
Later in December 2018, at the 2019 Russian Championships, she set a goal for herself of finishing in the top six, so that she would make the Russian national team. After coming in fifth in the short program, "I was pleased. I thought that I had achieved a good intermediate result and now there is a chance to stay in the top six. I haven’t even thought that I could get into the top three or win. I didn’t have such thought even after the free program. Sitting and watching other performances, I very gradually realized that a medal was coming closer and closer to me." After a first-place finish in the free skating she ended up winning the gold medal with a total score of 229.78. At 14 years and seven months old, she became the third-youngest Russian women's singles champion in history. She said that this championship was a turning point in her career. "I always had the feeling that I was catching up with someone, trying to keep up, but still lagging behind. At competitions I never had full confidence in myself, it seemed to me that I was worse than the rest. But the Russian Nationals in 2018 was a turning point." However, she was too young to compete in the European Championships or World Championships of that season, both of which required participants to have turned 15 before 1 July 2018. She then competed at the 2019 Russian Junior National Championships. After placing second in the short program and third in the free skate, Shcherbakova won the bronze medal.
Next, she competed at the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival in Sarajevo and won the gold medal nearly thirty points ahead of silver medalist Lucrezia Beccari. Shcherbakova was selected by the Russian Figure Skating Federation to compete at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. She scored 72.86 in the short program and 147.08 in the free skate and won the silver medal behind teammate Trusova.
Senior career
2019–2020 season: Senior international debut
In September, Shcherbakova entered her first international senior competition in Italy at the ISU Challenger Series event, the 2019 Lombardia Trophy. After the short program, she was in third place behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and You Young. In the free program, she became the first senior woman to land a quad Lutz in senior competition, ensuring the gold medal in her senior debut. Her free program featured a costume change when the music switches from Gnossiennes No. 1 to The Firebird.
Shcherbakova made her ISU Grand Prix debut at the 2019 Skate America, where she won the gold medal after placing fourth in the short program and first in the free skate. At the competition, she became the first woman to land two quadruple Lutz jumps in the free skate in an international competition and the first woman to land a quadruple Lutz-triple jump combination (quad Lutz-triple toe loop) in an international competition. In the free skate, she became the second woman to achieve a score above 160 points under the current GOE system when she scored her personal best score of 160.16 points. Shcherbakova also set new records for the highest valued single jump, earning 14.79 points for her quadruple Lutz, and for the highest valued jump combinations, when she earned 18.66 points for her quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination. Shcherbakova also won her second event, the 2019 Cup of China, by a 14.86-point margin and qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Turin.
At the Grand Prix Final, Shcherbakova placed third in the short program behind teammates Alena Kostornaia and Alina Zagitova. In the free skate, she landed two quad Lutz and attempted for the first time, but fell on, the quad flip. She nevertheless placed first in the free skate and won the silver medal behind Kostornaia. Then at the 2020 Russian Championships, she skated cleanly to place second in the short program behind Kostornaia, who was ten points ahead going into the free skate. Shcherbakova won the free skate, landing two quad Lutzes and the quad flip for the first time, and won her second national title by just under two points overall.
Shcherbakova competed at the 2020 European Championships, delivering a clean short program skate to place second. In the free skate, Shcherbakova landed the quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination to start, followed by a quad flip. However, she fell on the second quad Lutz. Despite the fall, she placed first in the free skate and won the silver medal behind Kostornaia. Together with Kostornaia and Trusova, who took the bronze, the trio made for an all-Russian podium in the women's singles event. They were assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–2021 season: World champion
Shcherbakova debuted both of her programs at the Russian senior test skates with only one fall on her quad Lutz attempt in the free program, which she called "a good starting point". Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of international competitions, all Russian skaters were required to compete in the 2020–21 Russian Cup series in order to qualify for the 2021 Russian Championships. Shcherbakova won the first stage in Syzran with a score of 246.40 and the third stage in Sochi with 239.91 points. She was assigned, as with other prominent Russian skaters, to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup after the ISU decided to base the Grand Prix primarily on geographic location due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she withdrew on the day of the event due to illness, later revealed to be pneumonia.
Shcherbakova had limited ability to train in advance of the 2021 Russian Championships due to pneumonia. She decided to compete in the event against her coaches' recommendation for her to withdraw. She won the short program with 80.31 and successfully landed both a quad Lutz and quad flip. In the free skate, she won first place with a score of 183.79, ultimately claiming victory with a total score of 264.10. Kamila Valieva secured the silver medal, while Alexandra Trusova secured the bronze medal in the competition. Shcherbakova made history by becoming the first woman to win three consecutive Russian titles since Irina Slutskaya (1999-2001) and the first since the introduction of the ISU Judging system in 2004. Shcherbakova was assigned to the Russian team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm. Prior to the World Championships, she participated in the televised 2021 Channel One Trophy as part of the Red Machine team captained by Alina Zagitova. She placed second in both segments of the competition, and the Red Machine won the trophy. She opted not to participate in the Russian Cup Final in order to rest before the World Championships.
In the short program at the World Championships, Shcherbakova skated a personal best in the short program, scoring 81.00 to place first ahead of Rika Kihira. She then placed second in the free program with a score of 152.17 points despite falling on one of her quad jumps. Overall, Shcherbakova won the competition with a total score of 233.17 and became the World champion. Shcherbakova, Tuktamysheva and Trusova's podium placements made this only the second time, after the United States in 1991, that a single country had swept the women's podium at the World Championships. Shcherbakova then competed as part of the Russian team for the 2021 World Team Trophy in April, winning the short program on the opening day within one point ahead of Tuktamysheva. Shcherbakova finished in first place and won a gold medal with team Russia.
2021–2022 season: Olympic champion
This was her third adult season, and as a result she felt well-prepared for the Olympics. "I knew how to warm up, I knew what to do in order not to be nervous, how to cope with excitement." She said that in this season she entered a "transitional age" and for the first time began having issues with her weight. Shcherbakova said that during the Olympic season was her "good weight", and that "I lost even more weight for the Olympics." She began her Olympic season in October at the 2021 Budapest Trophy. She led after the short program but was later overtaken in the free skate by training-mate Maiia Khromykh after falling on her opening quad flip. She placed second in the free skate to finish narrowly behind Khromykh and take the silver medal overall. Her first Grand Prix assignment was initially the 2021 Cup of China, but following its cancellation, she was reassigned to the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia in Turin. After an error on her jump combination in the short program, she placed third in that segment behind Belgium's Loena Hendrickx and Khromykh. She came back in the free skate and landed a quad flip to win both that segment and the gold medal. Shcherbakova went on to win her second event, the 2021 Internationaux de France, defeating Alena Kostornaia by almost eight points. These results qualified her for the Grand Prix Final, which was subsequently canceled due to restrictions prompted by the spread of the Omicron variant.
At the 2022 Russian Championships, Shcherbakova placed second in the short program behind Kamila Valieva. She fell on her only quad attempt in the free skate, placing fourth in that segment, but took the bronze medal overall behind Valieva and Trusova. However, in 2023, Valieva was stripped of the Russian title due to testing positive for a banned substance, so Shcherbakova became the silver medalist. At the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Shcherbakova placed fourth in the short program after falling on her triple Lutz and failing to execute a jump combination. Mounting a comeback in the free skate with a quad flip and seven triple jumps, she placed second in the segment and took the silver medal.
On 20 January, Shcherbakova was officially named to the Russian Olympic team. She was not considered the favorite to win the gold medal in the women's event after losing to Valieva at both the Russian and European Championships. She was not selected to compete in the team event as Valieva competed in both segments. In the short program of the women's event, she skated cleanly and placed second in the short program with a score of 80.20, 1.94 points behind segment leader Valieva and 0.36 points ahead of third-place Kaori Sakamoto. In the free skate, Shcherbakova skated cleanly once again, scoring 175.75 and a total score of 255.95. Shcherbakova won the gold medal and become the Olympic champion ahead of teammate Trusova and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto. She was the first Olympic champion in women's single skating to compete quadruple jumps. After winning the gold medal, Shcherbakova indicated that she wanted to continue competing including at the upcoming World Championships.
In early March 2022, the ISU banned all figure skaters and officials from Russia and Belarus from attending the World Championships due to Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February; therefore, Shcherbakova was not allowed to participate and defend her title. Instead, Russia organized the Channel One Trophy to occur during the World Championships. Shcherbakova was named the captain of the Red Machine team. The first day of the competition was a jumping competition, and Shcherbakova led her team to victory. She finished second in the short program with a score of 82.90 and first in the free skating with a score of 176.12. This led the Red Machine team to win the competition.
2022–2023 season: Injury
In August 2022, Shcherbakova traveled to Germany in order to have knee surgery for an old injury that was connected in some way with the fracture she had at the age of thirteen. She did not recover from the surgery in time for the 2023 Russian Championships.
On 18 March 2023, Shcherbakova performed in Moscow at a show program tournament called the "Russian Challenge". She presented a program to the music from the Soviet TV series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" and finished third in the competition with a score of 19.08.
2023–2024 season: Illness
Shcherbakova was listed as a reserve member of the 2023-24 Russian Women's Figure Skating national team. In July 2023, while at Eteri Tutberidze's team preparatory camp training for a potential resumption of competition, Shcherbakova contracted mononucleosis and was forced to suspend training. She was absent from a list of participants in the Russian national team's pre-season skating tests published 30 August by the Russian Figure Skating Federation.
Skating technique
Shcherbakova's skating has been distinguished by her high consistency in the performance of her programs. Her performances and technique are also highlighted by her ability to consistently land the quad Lutz and quad flip. Her quad jumping ability is often compared to those of her teammates Kamila Valieva and Alexandra Trusova. Because she performs fewer quad jumps than Valieva and Trusova, Shcherbakova relies on her consistency and artistry. She is known for her musicality and dramatic performances.
Alongside teammate Trusova, Shcherbakova is credited for ushering in the era of quad jumps in competitive women's figure skating, especially domestically. Prior to Shcherbakova's senior domestic debut, not a single quad jump was landed by any of the female skaters at the Russian Figure Skating Championships. Since then, quad jumps have become a prominent feature in Russian women's single skating.
Shcherbakova recounted how she trains for the quads. "First, you need to prepare for it in the right way," she said. "We’re always training this jump with a safety net (on the harness) in the beginning to feel if you can do it or if you can’t. When you can do it, you do it without safety net, but it is important to overcome this psychological barrier to not be afraid to go for the jump. If you are scared, it won’t work."
Public image
Endorsements
In March 2020, Anna signed an endorsement contract with Nike. Nike still lists her as a “Nike Athlete” even though in 2022 the company announced plans to leave Russia permanently. Then in November 2021 she became an official brand representative for Russian financial services company Sberbank, and appeared in one of its ads. Anna became an ambassador of Chinese auto maker Chery in May 2022, to promote the model Chery Omoda 5, and received a custom Omoda model as her first car. Later the same year, with the advice of her father, Anna collaborated with Chinese company Geetaverse to release a collection of NFTs titled "Born to Skate", which sold in a few days for $240,000, a record for speed and amount. In 2023, Anna became the ambassador for MELA, a Russian sporting goods brand, and also promoted the Chinese video game Honkai: Star Rail, publishing a photoset in which she appeared as "Seele", the first limited banner character in the game created by HoYoverse. In June 2023, Anna agreed to represent the brand TCL Electronics in Russia and to appear in its promotional material.
Magazine
Anna appeared on the cover of the March 2020 Russian edition of Tatler alongside teammates Alina Zagitova, Alexandra Trusova, and Alena Kostornaia. She was on the cover of the "Hello!" magazine a total of three times: alongside Anastasia Bezrukova and Alena Arakcheeva in March 2019, and twice individually in July 2021 and December 2022. In February 2023, she appeared on the cover of the Russian edition of The Voice magazine alongside Alina Zagitova.
Film and television
In October 2022, Shcherbakova joined fellow Russian Olympic champions Alexei Yagudin and Alina Zagitova as a host of the ninth season of Ice Age on Channel One. In December 2022, Shcherbakova hosted the New Year's Eve show on Channel One. Shcherbakova was voted by Komsomolskaya Pravda readers as the second-best Russian television presenter of 2022, behind Zagitova. On 22 November 2022, Shcherbakova made her voice actor debut in a CGTN production titled "Revived Myths of Ancient China." The project has released three animated videos: "Nv Wa", "Hou Yi" and "The Classic of Mountains and Seas."
Records and achievements
Set the junior-level women's record for the combined total (205.39 points), short program (73.18 points) and free program (132.21 points) at the 2018 JGP Slovakia. Her free program record was broken by Russian teammate Alena Kostornaia at the 2018 JGP Austria on 1 September 2018 with 132.42 points. Her short program record was broken by Russian teammate Alexandra Trusova at the 2018 JGP Lithuania on 6 September 2018 with 74.74 points.
First female skater to land a quad Lutz on 6 October 2018 at the 2nd stage of the 2019 Russian Cup, which is recognised by ISU in the media guide.
Second senior female skater after Elizabet Tursynbaeva to land a quad jump internationally at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy.
First female skater to land a quad Lutz in senior international competition on 14 September 2019 at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy.
First female skater to land two quad Lutz jumps in one program in ISU-sanctioned international competition at the 2019 Skate America. At this competition, she also became the first woman to land a quad Lutz and a triple jump combination in an international competition.
Set the new record for the highest valued single jump when she earned 14.79 points for her quadruple Lutz at the 2019 Skate America. At this competition, she also set the new record for the highest valued jump combination when she earned 18.66 points for her 4Lz+3T combination. This was later broken by Alexandra Trusova when she earned 14.95 points for her quadruple Lutz at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup.
First senior female skater to land two quad flip jumps in one program at the 2022 Winter Olympics. At this competition, she also became the first woman to land a quad flip and a triple jump combination in competition.
First Olympic champion in women's single skating with quad jumps.
Awards
Master of Sports of Russia (2018)
Master of Sports of Russia International Class (2020)
Honoured Master of Sports of Russia (2021)
Russian Order of Friendship (2022)
Certificate of Merit by the Moscow City Duma (2022)
"Pride of Russia" National Sports Award – Athlete of the Year (2022)
Best Russian athlete of the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Beijing (2022)
Nominated by the ISU for the Most Valuable Skater Award (2023)
Programs
Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
Detailed results
Senior level
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Personal bests highlighted in bold.
Junior level
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Previous ISU world best highlighted in bold.
References
External links
! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" |World Record Holders
! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" |World Junior Record Holders
2004 births
Living people
Russian female single skaters
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
European Figure Skating Championships medalists
Figure skaters from Moscow
Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Olympic figure skaters for Russia
Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Olympic medalists in figure skating
Olympic gold medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes