ROC reveals 18 skaters set for Beijing Olympics, led by world record holder Kamila Valieva
The ROC team will be favoured for gold in the figure skating team event, with reigning world champions in three of the four disciplines in the sport. See the full roster here.
Figure Skating
Some of the best figure skaters in the world have had their tickets officially punched for next month's Olympic Games Beijing 2022.
The ROC announced its 18-athlete Olympic skating roster for Beijing on Thursday (20 January), including three men, three women, three pairs teams and three ice dance duos.
World record holder Kamila Valieva, just 15, leads a women's trio which will contend to sweep the podium. She's joined by reigning world champion Anna Shcherbakova, 17, and another 17 year old, Alexandra Trusova, who won bronze at worlds in 2021.
Shcherbakova's fellow world champs Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov will compete in pairs, as well as the reigning world champs in ice dance, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov.
Veteran Mikhail Kolyada will head to his second Games, leading the three-man team which has been bolstered by 18-year-old Mark Kondratiuk, who has been a surprise winner at both Russian nationals and the European Championships in the last month.
Olympic hopeful Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, the 2015 world champion and 2021 silver medallist, was named as a substitute.
The full team roster is:
- Men: Mark Kondratiuk, Andrey Mozalev, Mikhail Kolyada
- Women: Kamila Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova
- Pairs: Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov, Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, Alexandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii
- Ice dance: Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov, Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin, Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin.
The ROC squad will also be favourite to stand atop the podium in the figure skating team event. The team event runs 4-7 February. The men's individual event follows starting 8 February, then the ice dance, women's singles and pairs disciplines.