Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov: Top things to know about the ROC pair skaters

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov are ready for their moment on the biggest stage.

The pairs skating is the final figure skating event at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and the ROC team put in a performance to remember in the short program at the Capital Indoor Stadium on Friday.

We bring you the top things to know about the ROC pair going for gold.

Short program success

Skating to "Metamorphosis Two" by Philip Glass, Tarasova and Morozov put in a personal best performance in the short program.

The side-by-side jumps, an element they have struggled with in the past, were executed to perfection. Their triple twists were impressive, high and clean. Tarasova and Morozov delivered when it mattered most.

All indicators are they are ready to win what has been an elusive gold so far if they can turn in another consistent performance in the free skate. At PyeongChang 2018 they won silver in the team event, but just fell short of the podium in the pair skating.

Strategic coaching decision

The pair have been coached by two-time Olympic champion Maxim Trankov (Sochi 2014) since May 2018.

However, in the build-up to Beijing 2022, they added well-known coach Eteri Tutberidze to their team to help them throughout the Olympic season as they trained in Moscow.

Decade together

The 2017 and 2018 European champions can also lean on their experience.

They are the oldest ROC pair at Beijing 2022 and have been together for 10 years. They made their international pair skating junior debut together at the 2012 Junior Grand Prix Croatia Cup.

Back in 2012 shortly after being paired together at the suggestion of their coaches, Morozov broke his foot. Tarasova had the chance to move on to other partners, but she chose to wait for Morosov to heal completely.

“We were skating for a week, then he was injured and we had to wait for three months,” recalled Tarasova to Golden Skate.

“It took me a long time to recover, then we prepared in two and a half months for our first competition as a new team," Morosov said.

Dozens of competitions later, they are on the cusp of the ultimate prize.

When and where to watch Tarasova and Morozov compete

The Beijing 2022 figure skating competition concludes on Saturday 19 February when the pairs free skating starts from 19:00 CST (12:00 CET, 3:00 PST on Saturday) at the Capital Indoor Stadium.

Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here.