Russian teenager sets ice on fire at Winter Olympics

YOUNG GUNS Figure skater Zagitova (15), who trains with world champ Medvedeva, proves worth with team event win

you think Evgenia Medvedeva will cruise to the Olympic gold medal in figure skating, think again. Medvedeva’s 15-year-old training partner, Alina Zagitova, proved she can challenge for the gold. Zagitova won the team event free skate by 20 points on Monday, scoring only 2.38 points short of Medvedeva’s record.

That should set up a tantalizing all-Russian contest for the women’s gold on Feb. 21 and 23. Still, Zagitova swears there’s no rivalry with Medvedeva, who broke her own record in the team short on Sunday. “Zhenya congratulated me, and I congratulated her yesterday,” Zagitova said, referring to Medvedeva by her Russian nickname.

As Zagitova finished her “Don Quixote” themed long program, Medvedeva applauded her warmly, as did American skater Adam Rippon.

Both Russians have been wideeyed at their first Olympics, each saying they expected the Olympic Village to be, well, more of a village. “To be honest, I thought they’d be little houses,” Zagitova said of the gray tower blocks.

Zagitova said she was nervous for Monday’s skate, but the pressure will be less for the individual competition.

“In the team you’re not just responsible for yourself, but for the whole team, the whole result. But in the individual, it’s just you,” she said. “Psychologically, you need to be calm about it, like any other competition.”

The Russians train together under coach Eteri Tutberidze, who also coached team event gold medalist Yulia Lipnitskaya - also 15 at the time - at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

On that occasion, Lipnitskaya failed to medal in the individual competition as Russian teammate Adelina Sotnikova won gold.

But both Medvedeva and Zagitova have demonstrated a level of consistency that Lipnitskaya never quite managed.

Since moving up from juniors in the summer, Zagitova has won the Grand Prix Finals, plus the Russian and European titles. Medvdeva was on an unbeaten run stretching over two years and including two world titles until Zagitova beat her at the European championships last month though back then Medvedeva was still recovering from a foot injury which she now says is fully healed.

In the team you’re not just responsible for yourself, but for the whole team, the whole result. But in the individual, it’s just you. You need to be calm. ALINA ZAGITOVA, figure skater

NYT PHOTO Russia’s 15yearold figure skater Alina Zagitova, in her first Olympics, said she thought the Games Village would be more of a village with little houses.