Figure skating-Russian teen Petrosian dazzles in Olympic figure skating debut
MILAN, Feb 17 : Russian teenager Adeliia Petrosian moonwalked her way into the global spotlight on Tuesday, gliding out for her Olympic debut in a red‑and‑black Thriller-inspired costume and delivering a short programme that kept her in the hunt for a medal.
The 18-year-old arrived in Milan shrouded in secrecy and untested on the global stage due to Russian athletes being banned from competing in international events by the sport's governing body following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), Petrosian scored 72.89 points, landing three triples in a programme that was notably missing both a triple Axel and a quadruple jump, to finish fifth.
She trailed top-placed Japanese skater Ami Nakai by 5.82 points, while third-placed American Alysa Liu held a 3.7-point advantage over Petrosian.
"The emotions are great," she said. "I'm very happy with my performance and the scores, and everything went very smoothly today."
After skating second, she had to wait three more hours as the rest of the field performed their routines before discovering what position she would finish in going into Thursday's free programme.
Skating to a Michael Jackson medley, the teenager nodded to the late pop icon with hip thrusts, a moonwalk and a "Smooth Criminal" tilt. The crowd roared throughout, embracing the Russian newcomer.
"The audience received the programme well," she said. "And every time I think it would be a little less loud, the audience always shouts, they give me a warmer welcome, and that's great."
While the Olympics mark her first major international competition, she insisted she felt no significant pressure.
"Not today," she said. "It's my first Olympic Games, and so far I don't feel any strong pressure. We'll see what happens in the free programme."
Asked whether she will perform a quad and/or a triple Axel in Thursday's free programme, she said: "I would like to keep this a secret because I never tell about my programme."
Petrosian booked her spot for the Milano Cortina Games by winning a qualifying event in Beijing in September, her only other senior event outside Russia.
In Milan, her coaching setup involving Eteri Tutberidze has caused controversy.
Tutberidze, who was accredited for the Games through the Georgian federation as she coaches that country's skater Nika Egadze, was not at rink level when Petrosian skated on Tuesday.
Instead, she was joined in the "kiss and cry" by another member of her coaching team, former Russian ice dancer Daniil Gleikhengauz.
Tutberidze's influence as a coach has been under the spotlight since the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when her former charge, Russian Kamila Valieva, was at the heart of a doping scandal.
Tutberidze was not found guilty by WADA of any offence in relation to Valieva's positive test and never faced any sanction.
In the wake of the scandal, the ISU raised the minimum senior competition age from 15 to 17.
Former Russian skaters applauded Petrosian's performance on Tuesday, with 2002 Olympic men's champion Alexei Yagudin telling Russian news agency Tass: "(It was) a very good confident skate. Her short programme has laid the groundwork for a breakthrough."
