Russian figure skating star Alexandra Trusova won the national junior title on Sunday, delivering a flawless performance in the free program and posting her new season-best result, which was higher than the current world record.
The 14-year-old talent produced a stunning run to the top of the podium, rising from seventh place after an error-riddled short program. Trusova fell on her triple-lutz, triple-loop combination, finishing far behind the top three after the first competitive day.
However, the reigning world junior champion didn’t intend to give in and rose to the occasion in the free program, perfectly landing all of her jumps, including two quads.
Trusova excluded risky quadruple lutz jumps from her program, replacing them with well-trained toe-loops with one of them being executed in combination with a triple toe-loop.
The talented junior received more than 30 points for the first two jumps, immediately erasing the gap she had after the poorly-performed short program.
Her final free program score of 164,44 points was more than six points higher than the current world record set by Russian Olympic champion Alina Zagitova at the beginning of the season. However, this achievement will not be recognized by the International Skating Union (ISU) as it only approves results recorded at international events.
Also on rt.com Russian figure skating sensation Trusova pulls off stunning combo never seen beforeThe record-breaking accomplishment by Trusova is the latest in her remarkable rise on the ice, as she has already claimed silver at the county’s senior championship surpassing Russia’s long-time leaders Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva.
The winner of the Juinor Grand Prix Alena Kostornaya took silver while another technically-gifted junior Anna Sherbakova claimed bronze at the national event in Perm.
All three podium finishers have been training under Russia’s renowned coach Eteri Tutberidze, who guided Zagitova and Yulia Lipnitskaya to Olympic titles.
The skaters are expected to make their senior debut next season as they are not yet age-eligible to compete in senior figure skating events.