Evgenia Medvedeva

Personal life

Evgenia was born 19 November 1999 in Moscow. Her mother, a former Russian figure skater, and father Arman Babasyan, an Armenian, are divorced. Both of her parents wanted her to practice figure skating to improve her figure. She competes under the surname Medvedeva, which was the maiden name of her maternal grandmother.

Her figure skating idols are Yuzuru Hanyu and Evgeni Plushenko.

A self-professed fan of anime, Medvedeva is very fond of Sailor Moon and Yuri on Ice. Medvedeva received tribute illustrations from Tadashi Hiramatsu, the designer of Yuri on Ice, and Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon. She claimed that she is a fan of the K-pop boygroup EXO.

She likes studying foreign languages, drawing, listening to music, and loves Japanese culture. In 2017, she committed her university studies and enrolled at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism.

Early Years

On the ice from the age of three, Medvedeva was taught initially by Elena Proskurina, Lubov Yakovleva, and Elena Selivanova. Around 2008, she joined Eteri Tutberidze at the Olympic Reserve Sports School no. 37, renamed Sambo 70.

Medvedeva made her senior national debut at the 2012 Russian Championships, finishing eighth, and then placed sixth on the junior level. She sustained an injury at the start of the following season and did not qualify for the senior Russian Nationals. She finished fourth behind Maria Sotskova at the 2013 Russian Junior Championships.

2013–14 season: Junior International Debut

Medvedeva's international debut came in the 2013–14 season. Competing on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, she won gold first in Riga, Latvia, and then in Gdańsk, Poland. She qualified to the 2013-2014 JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan and won the bronze medal behind Sotskova and Serafima Sakhanovich. At the 2014 Russian Championships, she finished seventh in her second senior appearance and then fourth on the junior level. Medvedeva was assigned to replace the injured Sotskova at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Placing third in both segments, she won the bronze medal while Elena Radionova and Sakhanovich took gold and silver respectively, producing Russia's second consecutive sweep of the World Junior ladies' podium.

2014–15 season: World Junior Champion

Medvedeva's first assignment of the 2014–15 JGP season was in Courchevel, France. She won the gold medal by a margin of 21 points ahead of silver medalist Rin Nitaya of Japan. At her second event, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, she placed second in both segments and edged Japan's Wakaba Higuchi for the gold by 1.44 points. Medvedeva's results qualified her for the 2014-2015 Junior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain. She placed first in the short program and set a new world record of 67.09 points for junior ladies' short program. In the free program, she placed first and won the gold. At the 2015 Russian Championships, she placed third in both segments and won the bronze medal behind Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, winning her first senior national medal. She then finished first in the 2015 Russian Junior Championships, almost 20 points ahead of silver medalist Maria Sotskova. At the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Medvedeva placed first after the short program and set a new world record of 68.48 points for junior ladies' short program. In the free program, she placed first again and won gold. She had no falls on the ice throughout the season in international events.

2015–16 season: World and European Titles

Medvedeva became age-eligible to compete at the senior international level for the 2015–16 season. She started her season with a gold medal at the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) event in early October. Later that month, she competed at her first senior Grand Prix event – 2015 Skate America. Finishing first in the short program and second in the free skate, she won the gold medal ahead of Gracie Gold of the United States. Medvedeva won silver at her next Grand Prix assignment, the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, behind compatriot Elena Radionova.

In December, at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain, Medvedeva placed first in the short program with a new personal best score of 74.54 points. She went on to win the free skate earning 147.96, a new personal best as well. With a total score of 222.54 points, she won the gold medal ahead of Satoko Miyahara and was the fifth-youngest Grand Prix Final champion at age 16. At the end of the month, Medvedeva won gold at the 2016 Russian Championships ahead of silver medalist Radionova. Medvedeva set the National record scores in all three segments of the competition, earning 79.44 points in the Short program, 155.44 in the free and 234.88 overall.

In January 2016, Medvedeva competed at the European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia for the first time. Finishing first in both segments, she won the gold medal while her teammates Radionova (−5.46) and Anna Pogorilaya (−28.40) took silver and bronze respectively for the second straight year, making for the second consecutive Russian sweep.

In March 2016, Medvedeva won the gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, USA. After finishing third in the short program, Medvedeva clinched the gold medal by winning the free skate with a world record score of 150.10, surpassing Yuna Kim's 150.06 mark. Her overall score of 223.86 was a new personal best and was 8.47 points ahead of silver medalist Ashley Wagner. Having won the Junior World title in 2015, 16-year-old Medvedeva became the first ladies' singles skater to have ever won back-to-back Junior World Championships and Senior World Championships. She matched Kimmie Meissner's feat as she becomes the second skater in 23 years to win in her debut at the world championships and is the youngest world figure skating champion (16 years, 4 months) under modern rules (since Tara Lipinski in 1997, not yet 15 at the time). Medvedeva has also become the second ladies skater to win the Grand Prix Final, Europeans, Worlds and her country's national championships all in one season (the other was countrywoman Irina Slutskaya).

Medvedeva was then invited to the 2016 Team Challenge Cup in Spokane, Washington where she finished in first place in both the short with 77.66 points and free skate with 151.55 points and 229.21 overall. Team Europe finished in third place in the head-to-head competition and in second place in the main event. In addition to the two team medals, Medvedeva received prize money for the top ladies' short program score.

2016–17 season: Unbeaten Streak, 8 World Records, and Second World Title

Medvedeva began her Grand Prix season at the 2016 Skate Canada International. Ranked first in both segments, she won the gold medal ahead of Kaetlyn Osmond and Satoko Miyahara. She then placed first in both segments at the 2016 Trophée de France on her way to another GP title. She scored 78.52 points in the short program, the second highest score for a lady and just 0.14 from a world record held by Mao Asada. She collected 15 points from both events and qualified for the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final with maximum points. At the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France, Medvedeva became the current world record holder for the ladies' short program score (79.21) previously held by Mao Asada. She also won the title with an overall score of 227.66 points, 9.33 points ahead of silver medalist Satoko Miyahara. With the win, Medvedveda joined Irina Slutskaya, Tara Lipinski, Yuna Kim, and Asada as the only ladies to win back-to-back Grand Prix Final titles.

In December 2016, Medvedeva defended her national title at the 2017 Russian Championships, despite the third jump of her 3S-3T-3T combination receiving no points. She stated, "Previously, the entire element would have received zero points, but now only the third triple toe would be discarded and I thought since I can do it, why not try?". She won the title scoring 80.08 points in the Short program, a new national record, 153.49 in the free skating and 233.57 overall.

In January 2017, Medvedeva competed at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, defending her European title. Finishing first in both the short program and the free skate, she won the gold medal while her teammates Pogorilaya (−18.32) and Sotskova (−37.19) took silver and fourth place respectively. She also reset the free skate world record (previously held by herself) with a score of 150.79 and became the current world record holder for the ladies' combined total score (229.71), which was previously held by Yuna Kim.

In March 2017, she competed at the 2017 World Championships, held in Helsinki, Finland, as defending world champion. She placed first in the short program with a score of 79.01 points, taking the lead over Kaetlyn Osmond by 3.03 points. She also won the free program with a new personal best and world record score of 154.40 points, and thus won her second world title with another personal best total score of 233.41 points, also a new world record and becoming the first female skater to break the 230-point mark in the combined total score. Her overall score was 15.28 points higher than silver medalist Kaetlyn Osmond and was the only one in the compeition to receive 10.00s in performance as part of the component score. Medvedeva became the first female skater to win back-to-back world titles in 16 years since Michelle Kwan did so in 2000 and 2001, and the first Russian woman ever to successfully defend her world title.

In April 2017, Medvedeva competed on Team Russia at the 2017 World Team Trophy ^{team event} held in Tokyo, Japan. She placed first in the short program with a new world record score of 80.85, becoming the first female skater to break the 80-point mark for the ladies' short program score. She placed first again in the free skate with another world record score of 160.46, becoming the first female skater to break the 160-point mark for the ladies' free skating score. Medvedeva contributed the maximum 24 points and helped Team Russia win their second consecutive silver medal while Team Japan and Team USA won gold and bronze respectively. Even though the combined total score was not given at the event, ISU later ratified her combined world record total score of 241.31; thus, Medvedeva became the first female skater to break the 240-point mark in the combined total score. She stated, "I went out on the ice absolutely calm, there was no shadow of a doubt or lack of confidence in me.”

Medvedeva's dominance and consistency has led many to conceive her as "invincible" and an overwhelming favorite for the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Skating technique

Medvedeva commonly performs some of her jumps with an arm over her head, a technique called the "Tano" variation, a position first popularized by Brian Boitano as part of his triple lutz jump. She performs several jump combinations ending with a triple toe loop, such as the 3F-3T, 3S-3T, 3Lz-3T, 3Lo-3T, and 2A-3T. She is also known for practicing various triple-triple-triple jump combinations.

Endorsements

Medvedeva appeared on the front cover of the July 2017 issue of Elle Girl Russia. She was included in the 2017 SportsPro 50 Most Marketable Athletes List, ranked 46, she is the second figure skater to be featured after the British sports magazine previously listed Yuna Kim in 2013. Medvedeva was also included in Business Insider's 2017 list of world’s 50 most dominant athletes, ranked 14, and in the Forbes '30 under 30 Europe' list of 2017 as most successful young people in Europe.

Medvedeva is sponsored by John Wilson, her Gold Seal blade manufacturer.

Records and achievements

List of Medvedeva's world record scores

Medvedeva has broken world records 11 times in her career.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Current ISU world bests highlighted in bold and italic. Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold.

Awards