Kamila Valieva recently made history by becoming the first woman to ever land a quadruple jump in an Olympic competition. The 15-year-old Russian figure skater executed a magnificent quadruple salchow, described as “clean as a whistle” by a commentator, at the start of her free skate.
The skating sensation even went on to nail another quadruple salchow move, which features four rotations of the body mid-air, during her striking Olympic debut. She actually made three attempts but fell on her final one. The teen successfully delivered a triple Axel jump as well, making her just the fourth woman in history to pull off that partiicular move at the Winter Olympics.
“When I was three years old, I made a wish to become an Olympic champion,” Kamila said after she soared through her short programme at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium. “My childhood dream has come true.”
Kamila, trained by Eteri Tutberidze like the two Russian female Olympic champions before her, was competing in a team event. And her stunning routine has made her a firm favourite to nab a gold when she competes in the individual event. She scored 90.18, just short of her own world record of 90.45, which she set at last month’s European Championships. The Russian Olympic Committee sealed the gold medal, beating off competition from the USA and Japan. Finishing with 74 points, it was the Russians’ second gold medal in three editions of the team event.
Wearing a bedazzling purple outfit, Kamila skimmed across the ice with unbelievable poise and precision to “In Memoriam” by young Russian pianist Kirill Richter. She dedicated her performance to her late grandmother, who died a few years ago. And the breathtaking act left most of the house with tears in their eyes.
It didn’t come as a surprise that Kamila, who has already been described by many judges as the greatest female skater in history, attempted the quadruple salchow. The young, decorated skater has previously smashed several records in the build up to her Winter Olympic entrance. Kamila, who cinched the title of junior world champion in 2020 when she was just 13, made her international senior debut at the CS Finlandia Trophy last year. She established a new world record of 174.31 points in the free skate.
The fantastic performance by ‘Miss Perfect’ counted towards another world record she set for points scored overall, 249.24. And the trailblazer won gold at the recent European Championships after finishing first in the short programme. Scoring 90.45, she became the first woman to score over 90 points in the discipline.
