Young Russian skater thrills experts and netizens
Sunday's figure skating events at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have impressed audiences with their artistic elegance.
Russian athlete Kamila Valieva is definitely a shining star.
The 15-year-old dominated on her Olympic debut in Beijing with a flawless figure skating short program in the team event representing the Russian Olympic Committee.
Landing a triple axel cleanly, Valieva scored 90.18 in the women's short program, some 15 points higher than the second-place Japanese skater Wakaba Higuchi.
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Kamila Valieva competes in the women's single skating short program of the figure skating team event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Capital Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
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Her performance has thrilled and amazed both experts and enthusiastic netizens worldwide.
Chinese sports commentator Chen Ying spoke highly of Valieva's perfect jumps, spins and postures on ice. She said that the skater, who can easily complete four revolutions, is also the favorite for the gold medal of the women's singles at the Olympics.
The performance has made Valieva the fourth woman to land a triple axel in Olympic history, following Midori Ito (1992), Mao Asada (2010) and Mirai Nagasu (2018).
Netizens also said on Twitter that the genius teen will continue to make remarkable history for the sport.
Despite her age, Valieva has already won numerous titles. She is the 2022 European champion, the 2022 Russian national champion, the 2021 Rostelecom Cup champion and the 2021 Skate Canada International champion.
She is the first female skater to break the 170 and 180-point thresholds in the free skate, the 90-point threshold in the short program, and the 260 and 270-point thresholds in total scores.
With diverse training in gymnastics, ballet and figure skating from her childhood, the skater has also developed a big fan base in China. Many Chinese fans intimately nickname her as "K bao," which literally means Baby K.
Without a doubt, Valieva's beauty and amiable sweet smile will attract global advertisers after the Olympics.
