We are a day away from the main event of figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games: the women’s individual competition.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto is in her final Olympics and is the favorite heading into the competition, wanting to retire on top with a gold medal around her neck.
Team USA’s Alysa Liu won her first national title at 13, retired at 16, and now, at 20, is the reigning world champion, aiming to extend her magical run with her second gold medal in Milan.
Her teammate, Amber Glenn, is making her Olympic solo debut at 26, and the three-time United States champion also wants to add a second gold to her collection after winning alongside Liu in the team event.
And then there is the fourth favorite, Russia’s Adeliia Petrosian, who is already a multi-time national champion at 18.
While Sakamoto, Liu, and Glenn have been in the spotlight for the entire week, Petrosian has been practicing in the background.
The reason is that Russia is still banned from the Olympic Games, so she has to compete under the banner of the Individual Neutral Athletes. No walkout during the opening ceremony. No anthem before she touches the ice.
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Although she’s at a massive disadvantage going into the individual competition, the Russian champion was caught practicing a move that no woman has ever landed in Olympic competition.
On Monday, footage of Petrosian executing a quadruple toe loop spread across social media.
While Miki Ando and Alexandra Trusova have landed multiple quads in international competition, no woman has ever landed one at the Olympic Games.
If she does, Petrosian, under the neutral banner, would be the first to do so. In a race that is so close amongst so many talented skaters, the quad could be the missing piece to put her over the top if she can land it under the most pressure imaginable.
