Russian figure skating star Alina Zagitova has broken the short program world record at the season-opening competition in Germany.
The Russian skater won the short program at the Nebelhorn Trophy, finishing a full eight points ahead of her rivals.
Skating to the haunting melody of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, the reigning Olympic champion flawlessly landed all of her jumps – including her signature triple lutz-triple loop combination – on her way to posting a meet-high score of 79.93 points.
Zagitova’s previous record of 82.92 points was deemed ‘historic’ by International Skating Union (ISU) in August – meaning it no longer applied – after the body introduced a new scoring system following the 2018 Olympics.
Zagitova’s season curtain-raiser was due to take place last week in Slovakia, but the skater was forced to withdraw from the Ondrej Nepela Trophy because of problems with her documents.
The Russian starlet made a splash at the 2018 PyeongChang Games at the age of just 15, producing a mature and polished performance that belied her tender years.
She delivered mesmerizing performances in both the short and free programs to claim the Olympic crown in South Korea, beating her teammate and pre-tournament favorite Evgenia Medvedeva into silver.
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Both trained under the watchful eye of renowned Russian figure skating specialist Eteri Tutberidze, who has nurtured multiple champions at junior and senior levels
The Medvedeva-Zagitova rivalry is expected to take a new turn this season after Medvedeva parted ways with her former coach and moved to Canada to train under Brian Orser.