Russian figure skating team claims gold as 15-year-old Valieva makes history
Beijing, Feb 7 (EFE).- The Russian figure skating team on Monday claimed the gold medal at Beijing’s Olympic Games with 15-year-old Kamila Valieva making history and becoming the first woman in an Olympic competition to land two quadruple jumps.
Valieva finished number one with a score of 178.92 ahead of Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto (148.66) and also became the first European woman to perform a triple Axel jump at the Olympic Games.
Russian figure skaters scored a total of 74 points across all four categories, nine points ahead of the United States who took silver while Japan claimed bronze.
It is the first time Japan has won a medal in figure skating after coming second in two of the events.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t good news for the hosting team, with China’s 19-year-old Zhu Yi settling for the lowest score of the day (22.34) after falling while performing a triple Loop in the women’s individual competition.
The American born Chinese skater, who said she was embarrassed, confessed that she was under “too much pressure” after “all of China was shocked” by her selection.
Critics claim Zhu received biased treatment thanks to her father, Zhu Songchun, a prestigious artificial intelligence specialist who left the University of California to join Peking University in Beijing. EFE
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