Russian figure skating star Alina Zagitova wins gold at world championships

Russian Olympic champion Alina Zagitova has added yet another title to her growing collection of awards after winning gold at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships in Japan.

Leading after the short program, Zagitova flawlessly performed her technically complicated free routine to the legendary Carmen opera by Georges Bizet to claim her maiden world title in addition to the European and Olympic golds she took last year.

Zagitova immaculately landed all of her jumps, including her signature triple lootz triple loop combination which was executed in the second part of the routine.

© Reuters / ISSEI KATO

The 16-year-old Russian ace received 155.42 points for her free program to post an overall score of 237.50 points, which was enough to top the podium ahead of Kazakhstan's rising star Elizabet Tursynbayeva and Russia's Evgeniya Medvedeva in third. 

Kazakh star Tursynbayeva sensationally took silver, becoming the first skater to land a quadruple jump at official senior competitions.

Tursynbayeva, who has also been training under Eteri Tutberidze, successfully executed a quadruple Salchow, earning high scores from the judges.

Russian star Medvedeva went some way to silencing her critics after delivering a superb free skating routine to finish third, ahead of home favorite Rika Kihira.

© Reuters / ISSEI KATO

Medvedeva scored 223.80 points, just 0.3 points ahead of Kihira, who again fell on her triple axel.

One more representative of Russia, Sofia Samodurova, rose from ninth place to finish eighth at her first senior world tournament