Anna Shcherbakova
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Anna Stanislavovna Shcherbakova (
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
: Анна Станиславовна Щербакова, born 28 March 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the reigning Olympic champion in women's singles, the 2021 World champion, the 2022 European champion, and a three-time Russian national champion (2019–2021). Shcherbakova was the first female figure skater to land a
quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...
Lutz in senior competition and the first woman to land two quad Lutz jumps in a single program. She was also the first to land a quad flip in combination with a triple jump, as well as the first to land two quad flips in one program. She remains the only Olympic champion in women's single skating to have performed quad jumps. Shcherbakova is also the 2020 European silver medalist, the 2019–20 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the
2019 Skate America The 2019 Skate America presented by American Cruise Lines was the first event in the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oc ...
champion, the 2019 Cup of China champion, the 2021 Internationaux de France champion, the
2021 Gran Premio d'Italia The 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Italian Ice Sports Federation (), and the third event of the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Sk ...
champion, the
2019 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy was held in September 2019 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dance. Entries The In ...
champion, the 2021 Budapest Trophy silver medalist, and the 2022 Russian national silver medalist. At the junior level, Shcherbakova was the 2019 World Junior silver medalist, the 2018 JGP Slovakia champion, the 2018 JGP Canada champion, the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival champion, and the 2019 Russian junior national bronze medalist.


Early life

Shcherbakova was born in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
on 28 March 2004. Her father is a physicist and programmer, and her mother, Yulia, is a geologist-crystallographer. Her great-grandfather, Prokhor Shcherbakov, was a statesman of the
Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Mari ASSR) ( Mari: Марий Автоном Совет Социализм Республик, ''Mariy Avtonom Sovet Sotsializm Respublik'') was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, succeeding ...
. She has an older sister, Inna, and a younger sister, Yana. Shcherbakova's parents signed Inna and Anna up for skating lessons to keep them active. As a child, Shcherbakova was also enrolled in drawing, swimming, and music classes and took tennis lessons. Shcherbakova is fluent in English and also studied
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.


Competitive skating career


Early career

Shcherbakova began skating at age three in 2007 with her first coach Oksana Bulycheva at the Khrustalnyi rink of the Olympic Reserve Sports School No. 37 (later absorbed into the "Sambo 70" sports school) in Moscow. Bulycheva would later describe Shcherbakova as a highly motivated skater who was advanced for her age. She parted ways with Bulycheva in November 2013 at age nine and began training in the elite group at the same rink, led by Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov. In a 2020 interview, Shcherbakova shared that after joining Tutberidze's group, she stopped viewing skating as just a hobby and took her training more seriously. In mid-July 2017, when she was 13, Shcherbakova broke her leg while performing a triple loop at a training camp. As a result of the accident she missed most of the 2017–18 season, including her planned Junior Grand Prix debut. She did recover enough to compete at the 2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships where she finished 13th at the Junior level and 5th at the 2018 Russian Youth Championships – Elder Age level. This injury would continue to affect her knees throughout the course of her career.


Junior career


2017–2018 season

Shcherbakova returned to competition in January 2018 at the 2018 Russian Junior Championships, finishing thirteenth with a total score of 179.19. Then in February, she improved her total score by over 30 points at the 2017–18 Russian Cup Final to win the gold medal in the junior category.


2018–2019 season: International debut

Shcherbakova debuted internationally on the Junior Grand Prix circuit in August. She was assigned to events in
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and
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. At the 2018 JGP Slovakia, she placed first in both the short program and free skate, winning the gold medal by a margin of over 18 points over the silver medalist and fellow Russian competitor Anna Tarusina. At the time, her scores at the competition were the highest achieved in an international women's competition under the new +5/-5 GOE System. Her short program and combined total records were surpassed later in the Junior Grand Prix season by
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...
, and the free program record was surpassed by
Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeevna Kostornaia (; her first name is properly pronounced Alyona as the Yo (Cyrillic), Cyrillic ё is pronounced yo; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, 2020 European ...
. At the 2018 JGP Canada, Shcherbakova once again placed first in both the short program and free skate and won the gold medal by a margin of five points over the silver medalist, Anastasia Tarakanova. With two gold medals on the Junior Grand Prix, she qualified for the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final. In October, Shcherbakova competed at the 2nd stage of the 2018 Russian Cup and became the first woman skater to land a
quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...
Lutz at a domestic event. At the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, Shcherbakova placed sixth in the short program and fifth in the free skate, resulting in fifth place overall. Later in December 2018, at the 2019 Russian Championships, she once again landed the quad Lutz and won the gold medal with a total score of 229.78. At 14 years and seven months old, she became the third-youngest Russian women's singles champion in history. Despite winning the Russian title, she was too young to compete in the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
or
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
of that season, both of which required participants to have turned 15 before 1 July 2018. Shcherbakova then competed at the 2019 Russian Junior National Championships. After placing second in the short program and third in the free skate, she won the bronze medal. Next, she competed at the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival in
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and won the gold medal nearly thirty points ahead of silver medalist Lucrezia Beccari. Shcherbakova was selected by the Russian Figure Skating Federation to compete at the 2019 Junior World Championships in
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. She scored 72.86 in the short program and 147.08 in the free skate and won the silver medal behind teammate Trusova.


Senior career


2019–2020 season: Senior international debut

In September, Shcherbakova entered her first international senior competition in Italy at the
ISU Challenger Series The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...
event, the 2019 Lombardia Trophy. After the short program, she was in third place behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and
You Young You Young (; born May 27, 2004) is a South Korean figure skater. She is the 2020 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, 2020 Four Continents silver medalist, a four-time ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix bronze medalist, a f ...
. In the free program, she became the first senior woman to land a quad Lutz in senior competition, ensuring the gold medal in her senior debut. Her free program featured a costume change when the music switches from
Gnossiennes The '' Gnossiennes'' () are several piano compositions by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. The works are for the most part in free time (lacking time signatures or bar divisions) and highly experimental with form, rhythm a ...
No. 1 to
The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...
. Shcherbakova made her ISU Grand Prix debut at the
2019 Skate America The 2019 Skate America presented by American Cruise Lines was the first event in the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oc ...
, where she won the gold medal after placing fourth in the short program and first in the free skate. At the competition, she became the first woman to land two quadruple Lutz jumps in the free skate in an international competition and the first woman to land a quadruple Lutz-triple jump combination (quad Lutz-triple toe loop) in an international competition. In the free skate, she became the second woman to achieve a score above 160 points under the current GOE system when she scored her personal best score of 160.16 points. Shcherbakova also set new records for the highest valued single jump, earning 14.79 points for her quadruple Lutz, and for the highest valued jump combinations, when she earned 18.66 points for her quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination.
Shcherbakova also won her second event, the 2019 Cup of China, by a 14.86-point margin and qualified for the Grand Prix Final in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
. At the Grand Prix Final, Shcherbakova placed third in the short program behind teammates
Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeevna Kostornaia (; her first name is properly pronounced Alyona as the Yo (Cyrillic), Cyrillic ё is pronounced yo; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, 2020 European ...
and
Alina Zagitova Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova ( rus, Алина Ильназовна Загитова, , ɐˈlʲinə zɐˈɡʲitəvə; born 18 May 2002) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Oly ...
. In the free skate, she landed two quad Lutz and attempted for the first time, but fell on, the quad flip. She nevertheless placed first in the free skate and won the silver medal behind Kostornaia. Then at the 2020 Russian Championships, she skated cleanly to place second in the short program behind Kostornaia, who was ten points ahead going into the free skate. Shcherbakova won the free skate, landing two quad Lutzes and the quad flip for the first time, and won her second national title by just under two points overall. Shcherbakova competed at the 2020 European Championships, delivering a clean short program skate to place second. In the free skate, Shcherbakova landed the quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination to start, followed by a quad flip. However, she fell on the second quad Lutz. Despite the fall, she placed first in the free skate and won the silver medal behind Kostornaia. Together with Kostornaia and Trusova, who took the bronze, the trio made for an all-Russian podium in the women's singles event. They were assigned to compete at the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
in
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, but the event was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


2020–2021 season: World champion

Shcherbakova debuted both of her programs at the Russian senior test skates with only one fall on her quad Lutz attempt in the free program, which she called "a good starting point". Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and the lack of international competitions, all Russian skaters were required to compete in the 2020–21 Russian Cup series in order to qualify for the 2021 Russian Championships. Shcherbakova won the first stage in Syzran with a score of 246.40 and the third stage in
Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from  – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...
with 239.91 points. She was assigned, as with other prominent Russian skaters, to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup after the ISU decided to base the Grand Prix primarily on geographic location due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she withdrew on the day of the event due to illness, later revealed to be
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
. Shcherbakova had limited ability to train in advance of the 2021 Russian Championships due to pneumonia. She decided to compete in the event against her coaches' recommendation for her to withdraw. She won both the short program and the free skate and successfully landed both a quad Lutz and quad flip. She won the national title with a total score of 264.10, ahead of Kamila Valieva and
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...
. Her free skate was praised by the Russian press as the best female performance of all time. Shcherbakova made history by becoming the first woman to win three consecutive Russian titles since
Irina Slutskaya Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya ( rus, Ирина Эдуардовна Слуцкая, , ɪˈrʲinə ɪdʊˈardəvnə ˈslutskəjə, Ru-Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya.ogg; born 9 February 1979) is a Russian former figure skater. She is a two-time World ...
(
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
) and the first since the introduction of the
ISU Judging system The ISU Judging System or the International Judging System (IJS), occasionally referred to as the Code of Points (COP) system, is the scoring system that has been used since 2004 to judge the figure skating disciplines of single skating, men's an ...
in 2004. Shcherbakova was assigned to the Russian team for the 2021 World Championships in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
. Prior to the World Championships, she participated in the televised 2021 Channel One Trophy as part of the Red Machine team captained by
Alina Zagitova Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova ( rus, Алина Ильназовна Загитова, , ɐˈlʲinə zɐˈɡʲitəvə; born 18 May 2002) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Oly ...
. She placed second in both segments of the competition, and the Red Machine won the trophy. She opted not to participate in the Russian Cup Final in order to rest before the World Championships. In the short program at the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
, Shcherbakova skated a personal best in the short program, scoring 81.00 to place first ahead of Rika Kihira. She then placed second in the free program with a score of 152.17 points despite falling on one of her quad jumps. Overall, Shcherbakova won the competition with a total score of 233.17 and became the World champion. Shcherbakova, Tuktamysheva and Trusova's podium placements made this only the second time, after the United States in
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
, that a single country had swept the women's podium at the World Championships. Shcherbakova then competed as part of the Russian team for the 2021 World Team Trophy in April, winning the short program on the opening day within one point ahead of Tuktamysheva. Shcherbakova finished in first place and won a gold medal with team Russia.


2021–2022 season: Olympic champion

Shcherbakova began her Olympic season in October at the 2021 Budapest Trophy. She led after the short program but was later overtaken in the free skate by training-mate Maiia Khromykh after falling on her opening quad flip. She placed second in the free skate to finish narrowly behind Khromykh and take the silver medal overall. Her first Grand Prix assignment was initially the
2021 Cup of China 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
, but following its cancellation, she was reassigned to the
2021 Gran Premio d'Italia The 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Italian Ice Sports Federation (), and the third event of the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Sk ...
in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
. After an error on her jump combination in the short program, she placed third in that segment behind Belgium's
Loena Hendrickx Loena Hendrickx (; born 5 November 1999) is a Belgian figure skater. She is a two-time World Figure Skating Championships, World medalist (2022, 2023), the 2024 European Figure Skating Championships, 2024 European champion, the 2023 European Figur ...
and Khromykh. She came back in the free skate and landed a quad flip to win both that segment and the gold medal. Shcherbakova went on to win her second event, the 2021 Internationaux de France, defeating
Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeevna Kostornaia (; her first name is properly pronounced Alyona as the Yo (Cyrillic), Cyrillic ё is pronounced yo; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, 2020 European ...
by almost eight points. These results qualified her for the Grand Prix Final, which was subsequently canceled due to restrictions prompted by the spread of the
Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a Variants of SARS-CoV-2, variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has ...
. At the 2022 Russian Championships, Shcherbakova placed second in the short program behind Kamila Valieva. She fell on her only quad attempt in the free skate, placing fourth in that segment, but took the bronze medal overall behind Valieva and Trusova.
However, in 2023, Valieva was stripped of the Russian title due to testing positive for a banned substance, so Shcherbakova became the silver medalist. At the
2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...
in
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, Shcherbakova placed fourth in the short program after falling on her triple Lutz and failing to execute a jump combination. Mounting a comeback in the free skate with a quad flip and seven triple jumps, she placed second in the segment and took the silver medal. Two years later, in January 2024, Shcherbakova became the 2022 European champion after Valieva's results were annulled. On 20 January, Shcherbakova was officially named to the Russian Olympic team. She was not considered the favorite to win the gold medal in the women's event after losing to Valieva at both the Russian and European Championships. She was not selected to compete in the team event as Valieva competed in both segments. In the short program of the women's event, she skated cleanly and placed second in the short program with a score of 80.20, 1.94 points behind segment leader Valieva and 0.36 points ahead of third-place
Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, a Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Ska ...
. In the free skate, Shcherbakova skated cleanly once again, scoring 175.75 and a total score of 255.95. Shcherbakova won the gold medal and become the Olympic champion ahead of teammate Trusova and Japan's
Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, a Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Ska ...
. She was the first Olympic champion in women's single skating to compete quadruple jumps. After winning the gold medal, Shcherbakova indicated that she wanted to continue competing, including at the upcoming World Championships. In early March 2022, the ISU banned all figure skaters and officials from Russia and Belarus from attending the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
due to
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
in late February; therefore, Shcherbakova was not allowed to participate and defend her title. Instead, Russia organized the Channel One Trophy to occur during the World Championships. Shcherbakova was named the captain of the Red Machine team. The first day of the competition was a jumping competition, and Shcherbakova led her team to victory. She finished second in the short program with a score of 82.90 and first in the free skating with a score of 176.12. This led the Red Machine team to win the competition.


2022–2023 season: Injury

In August 2022, Shcherbakova traveled to Germany in order to have knee surgery for an old injury. She did not recover from the surgery in time for the 2023 Russian Championships. On 18 March 2023, Shcherbakova performed in Moscow at a show program tournament called the "Russian Challenge". She presented a program to the music from the Soviet TV series "
Seventeen Moments of Spring ''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' () is a 1973 Soviet Union, Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov. The series portrays the exploits of Maxim Isaev, a Soviet ...
" and finished third in the competition with a score of 19.08.


2023–2024 season: Illness

Shcherbakova was listed as a reserve member of the 2023–24 Russian Women's Figure Skating national team. In July 2023, while at Eteri Tutberidze's team preparatory camp training for a potential resumption of competition, Shcherbakova contracted
mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adu ...
and was forced to suspend training. She was absent from a list of participants in the Russian national team's pre-season skating tests published 30 August by the Russian Figure Skating Federation. In March 2024, Shcherbakova was injured and underwent ankle surgery.


Skating technique

Shcherbakova's skating has been distinguished by her high consistency in the performance of her programs. Her performances and technique are also highlighted by her ability to consistently land the quad Lutz and quad flip. Her quad jumping ability is often compared to those of her teammates Kamila Valieva and
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...
. Because she performs fewer quad jumps than Valieva and Trusova, Shcherbakova relies on her consistency and artistry. She is known for her musicality and dramatic performances. Alongside teammate Trusova, Shcherbakova is credited for ushering in the era of quad jumps in competitive women's figure skating, especially domestically. Prior to Shcherbakova's senior domestic debut, not a single quad jump was landed by any of the woman skaters at the
Russian Figure Skating Championships The Russian Figure Skating Championships () are held annually to crown the national champions of Russia. Skaters compete in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior, junior, and novice levels, although not eve ...
. Since then, quad jumps have become a prominent feature in Russian women's single skating.


Public image


Endorsements

In March 2020, Shcherbakova signed an endorsement contract with
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, and Nike listed her as a "Nike Athlete". Starting in November 2021, she became an official brand representative for Russian financial services company
Sberbank The Public JSC Sberbank (, initially a contraction of ) is a Russian majority state-owned banking and financial services company headquartered in Moscow. As the Russian successor entity of the State Labor Savings Banks System of the USSR, it was ...
and starred in an advertisement. The Chinese auto maker,
Chery Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., Doing business as, trading as Chery (), is a Chinese automobile manufacturer owned by Chery Holding Group Co., Ltd. Founded in 1997, it is currently the fourth largest automobile manufacturer group in China, with 2,6 ...
, welcomed Shcherbakova as their ambassador in May 2022 to endorse the Chery Omoda 5 model, and she received a custom Omoda model as her first car. Later the same year, with her father's advice, Shcherbakova collaborated with Chinese company Geetaverse to release a collection of NFTs titled "Born to Skate". In the first 24 hours after the launch, the sales amount reached nearly RMB¥1 million, and the total sales amount reached RMB¥1.6 million. This marked a new milestone as the quickest and largest NFT sales in China's sports industry for a single individual, with transactions totaling
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237,500 in a few days. Shcherbakova started endorsing MELA, a Russian sporting goods brand, as their ambassador in March 2023. In the next month, she promoted the Chinese video game ''Honkai: Star Rail'', publishing a photoset in which she appeared as "Seele", the first limited banner character in the game created by
HoYoverse MiHoYo Co., Ltd. is a Chinese Video game development studio, video game development and publishing company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Shanghai. The company is best known for developing the ''Honkai'' franchise, ''Tears of Themis'', '' ...
. TCL Electronics announced Shcherbakova as the brand ambassador in Russia starting from June 2023, and she also featured in their promotional material. In January 2024, Shcherbakova was appointed as an ambassador of the national brand "Made in Russia" by the Russian Export Center and attended the opening ceremony of the first "Made in Russia" Festival-fair in Shenyang, China. At a press conference at the Russian national team's test skate, Shcherbakova was announced as an ambassador for the 2025 Russian Championships in Omsk.


Magazine covers

Shcherbakova appeared on the cover of the March 2020 Russian edition of
Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...
alongside teammates
Alina Zagitova Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova ( rus, Алина Ильназовна Загитова, , ɐˈlʲinə zɐˈɡʲitəvə; born 18 May 2002) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Oly ...
,
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...
, and
Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeevna Kostornaia (; her first name is properly pronounced Alyona as the Yo (Cyrillic), Cyrillic ё is pronounced yo; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, 2020 European ...
. She was on the cover of the " Hello!" magazine a total of three times: alongside Anastasia Bezrukova and Alena Arakcheeva in March 2019, and twice individually in July 2021 and December 2022. In February 2023, she appeared on the cover of the Russian edition of The Voice magazine alongside
Alina Zagitova Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova ( rus, Алина Ильназовна Загитова, , ɐˈlʲinə zɐˈɡʲitəvə; born 18 May 2002) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Oly ...
.


Film and television

In October 2022, Shcherbakova joined fellow Russian Olympic champions
Alexei Yagudin Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin ( rus, Алексей Константинович Ягудин, , ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪ̯ kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪt͡ɕ ɪ̯ɪˈɡudʲɪn, Ru-Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin.ogg; 18 March 1980) is a Russian former com ...
and
Alina Zagitova Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova ( rus, Алина Ильназовна Загитова, , ɐˈlʲinə zɐˈɡʲitəvə; born 18 May 2002) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Oly ...
as a host of the ninth season of ''Ice Age'' on Channel One. In December 2022, Shcherbakova hosted the New Year's Eve show on Channel One. Shcherbakova was voted by
Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...
readers as the second-best Russian television presenter of 2022, behind Zagitova. On 22 November 2022, Shcherbakova made her voice actor debut in a
CGTN China Global Television Network (CGTN) is one of three branches of state-run China Media Group and the international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, CGTN broadcasts news in multiple languages. CGTN is un ...
production titled "Revived Myths of Ancient China". The project has released three animated videos: "Nv Wa", "Hou Yi" and "The Classic of Mountains and Seas". During the 2024-2025 season, Shcherbakova also commentated on Channel One for the Russian Grand Prix Series and the 2025 Russian Figure Skating Championships.


Records and achievements

* Set the women's record for the combined total (205.39 points), short program (73.18 points) and free program (132.21 points) at the 2018 JGP Slovakia. Her free program record was broken by
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n teammate
Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeevna Kostornaia (; her first name is properly pronounced Alyona as the Yo (Cyrillic), Cyrillic ё is pronounced yo; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, 2020 European ...
at the 2018 JGP Austria on 1 September 2018 with 132.42 points. Her short program and combined total records were broken by Russian teammate
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...
at the 2018 JGP Lithuania on 6 September 2018. * First woman skater to land a quad Lutz on 6 October 2018 at the 2nd stage of the 2019 Russian Cup, which is recognised by ISU in the media guide. * Second senior woman skater after Elizabet Tursynbaeva to land a quad jump internationally at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy. * First woman skater to land a quad Lutz in senior international competition on 14 September 2019 at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy. * First woman skater to land two quad Lutz jumps in one program in ISU-sanctioned international competition at the
2019 Skate America The 2019 Skate America presented by American Cruise Lines was the first event in the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oc ...
. At this competition, she also became the first woman to land a quad Lutz and a triple jump combination in an international competition. * Set the new record for the highest valued single jump when she earned 14.79 points for her quadruple Lutz at the
2019 Skate America The 2019 Skate America presented by American Cruise Lines was the first event in the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oc ...
. At this competition, she also set the new record for the highest valued jump combination when she earned 18.66 points for her 4Lz+3T combination. This was later broken by
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...
when she earned 14.95 points for her quadruple Lutz at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup. * First senior woman skater to land two quad flip jumps in one program at the 2022 Winter Olympics. At this competition, she also became the first woman to land a quad flip and a triple jump combination in competition. * First Olympic champion in women's single skating with quad jumps.


Awards

* Master of Sports of Russia (2018) * Master of Sports of Russia International Class (2020) * Nominated by the ISU for the Best Costume Award (2020) * Honoured Master of Sports of Russia (2021) * Russian
Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...
(2022) * Certificate of Merit by the Moscow City Duma (2022) * "Pride of Russia" National Sports Award – Athlete of the Year (2022) *
Russian Olympic Committee The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is the National Olympic Committee representing Russia. Its current president during IOC suspension is Mikhail Degtyarev. The membership of ROC is currently suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC ...
– Best Athlete of the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Beijing (2022) * Russian Athletes' Union – Best Athlete of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games (2023) * Silver Doe Award – Best Athletes (2022) * Nominated by the ISU for the Most Valuable Skater Award (2023)


Programs

;Program Notes


Competitive highlights


Detailed results


Senior level


Junior level


Footnotes


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shcherbakova, Anna 2004 births Living people Russian female single skaters World Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters from Moscow Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Russia Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in figure skating Olympic gold medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes 21st-century Russian sportswomen