New name: Olympic champion Yulia Lipnitskaya
Under the heading "New Name" Once a week we talk about promising newcomers - musicians, directors, artists and other creative people. That is, everyone whose name is increasingly appearing on the pages of magazines, in the tapes of social networks and in our conversations, and who is clearly on the verge of great success. Today we will talk about the figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, who last week became the youngest champion in the history of the Winter Olympics, and in January triumphantly won the European Championship.
Before the European championship, the name of the 15-year-old athlete was not known to the general public, although a small army of loyal figure skating fans drew attention to Lipnitskaya back in the 2011/2012 season, when the figure skater reached the age that allowed her to compete in international competitions. At the very first stage of the Junior Grand Prix, Julia took the first place, and then won the junior Grand Prix gold and the World Junior Championships. The next season was also successful, with victories and prizes in both adults and junior competitions. Lipnitskaya was seriously talked about in the world of figure skating, but it was far from being famous in the big world. For the first time, the Internet public became interested in the young talent only in October 2013, and the reason was not Lipnitskaya’s victory at the Skate Canada stage, but a scandalous photo with a Russian tricolor in which they found advertisements for a famous automobile brand. Noisy and forgotten - until then.
Yulia Lipnitskaya got up on skates when she was 4 years old. The figure skater was raised by Daniela's mother, the father left the family before the child was born. Mother and led the girl in figure skating; that, according to trainers, already at the very young age, she was extremely responsible towards training. In early 2009, when it became clear that all the opportunities in Yekaterinburg were exhausted, the mother and her daughter left everything and went to Moscow - practically nowhere. In the capital, the girl took the coach Eteri Tutberidze to her group - this is how the real team formed: the athlete, her mother and the coach. This story is somewhat similar to the story of an outstanding figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko: the same spurt from a provincial town to one of the Russian capitals, "his" coach, fantastic talent, efficiency and belief in success. It is symbolic that Lipnitskaya and Plushenko will win their first gold in team competitions at the Olympics in Sochi - a 15-year-old debutante and a 31-year-old veteran, who by the time of her birth was already a prize winner of the world and European championships.
But in 2009, before that, it was still far away, there were years of training, a hard regimen, diet and regular work. Real success and recognition came to the figure skater in January 2014 at the European Championship: at her first continental championship, Lipnitskaya won gold, earning the second total score in the entire history - 209.72 (the record belongs to the Korean miracle girl Yu-Kim). And all this in the conditions of colossal pressure - Russia until recently did not name the names of two athletes who will receive an Olympic ticket to Sochi, everything was decided exactly at the European Championship.
Speech Lipnitskoy at the Olympics instantly scattered on the Internet gifs. Experts, connoisseurs and people who are far from figure skating have been admiring the amazing flexibility of the figure skater, with the calm with which the Russian prodigy fulfills the most complex elements. This is not surprising - a 15-year-old girl with a large margin overtook her rivals from the USA and Canada, brought the maximum number of points (20) to her team’s box and became the youngest champion of the Winter Olympics. Lipnitskaya is called a "rhythmic gymnast on ice" and compared with another child prodigy - an American with a consonant surname Lipinski, who also, at the age of 15, sensationally became an Olympic champion at the Games in Nagano.
Ahead of personal competition. To prepare for them, Julia will be in Moscow, away from the hype and closer to his native skating rink. The Olympic tournament of singles starts on February 19, and it is already completely clear that Lipnitskaya is a serious contender for gold. Anyway, the name of the first winner of the team tournament of figure skaters is already inscribed in the Olympic history. In gold letters.
Yulia Lipnitskoy performance at the Sochi Olympics
PHOTO: Getty Images / Fotobank