Anna Shcherbakova has the Olympic gold medal safely around her neck.
The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 champion figure skater received her glistening reward on Friday (18 February) night at the Beijing Medal Plaza, where ROC teammate Alexandra Trusova was also given her silver, and Sakamoto Kaori of Japan the bronze.
The results are provisional.
Shcherbakova, 17, is already thinking ahead to what comes next: The World Figure Skating Championships, set for 21-27 March in Montpellier, France. Shcherbakova – in addition to being the newly-minted Olympic champ – is the reigning world champion, having won the title in 2021.
She’ll celebrate her 18th birthday the day after those championships conclude, on 28 March.
“I want to go to the World Championships,” she told the Russian media. She added: “I don’t even feel like the [Olympic] competition is over now.”
Shcherbakova had said in the hours after her triumph that she was still digesting the magnitude of her win, having jumped from second to first thanks in part to two clean quads in a free skate that was crisp and flowing.
“There is no feeling of finished work,” she continued. “Let it be for now. I will not think about new titles. We must continue to work.”