Evgenia Medvedeva

Evgenia Armanovna Medvedeva (alt. spelling: Yevgenia Medvedeva; Russian: Евгения Армановна Медведева, IPA: [jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪjə mʲɪˈdvʲedʲɪvə]; born 19 November 1999), is a retired competitive Russian figure skater. She is the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic silver medalist (2018 women's singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Earlier in her career, she won the 2015 World Junior Championships, the 2014 Junior Grand Prix Final, and the 2015 Russian Junior Championships.

Medvedeva is the first women's singles skater to win senior Worlds the year after winning Junior Worlds, and the first women's singles skater to win two consecutive senior Worlds the year after winning Junior Worlds. At the 2017 World Championships, she became the first female skater to win back-to-back world titles in 16 years since Michelle Kwan did so in 2000 and 2001, and is currently the only Russian woman ever to successfully defend her world title. She became one of only four women to achieve a Grand Slam (winning all the main competitions of the same season), and the first skater (all disciplines included) to complete two Grand Slams in a row (2015–2016; 2016–2017).

Under the ISU Judging System, she has set the world record score 13 times and is the first female skater to surpass the 80-point short program mark, the 160-point free skating mark, and the 230-point and the 240-point total mark.

Early and personal life

Evgenia's mother, Zhanna Medvedeva (maiden name — Devyatova), a former Russian figure skater who quit the sport aged 14, and father Arman Babasyan, an Armenian businessman, are divorced. Both of her parents wanted her to practice figure skating to improve her figure. She competes under the surname Medvedeva, which was the maiden name of her maternal grandmother. Her birth surname is Babasyan. She briefly dated Russian-Uzbek pair skater Dmitrii Chigirev from 2023 to 2024. In 2025, she announced her engagement to Russian dancer Ildar Gaynutdinov.

In 2017, she commenced her university studies and enrolled at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism. Since 1 September 2021 she is a student of Moscow State University.

Her figure skating idols are Evgeni Plushenko and Yuna Kim. She is known to friends as "Zhenya" and "Janny". Evgenia speaks English in addition to Russian, as well as basic Japanese. Medvedeva is a supporter of FC Dynamo Moscow

She relocated to Toronto, Canada, in mid-2018 and trained at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club until September 2020 when she rejoined her old coach in Russia, Eteri Tutberidze.

She has two French Bulldogs, Jerry and Tofu. She said of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022, "this all has [to end] as soon as possible, like a bad dream".

In October 2024, Medvedeva performed as a guest during the gala exhibition at the 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, where she honored late friend, Denis Ten, by skating to music that he had composed himself.

Career

Early years

On the ice from the age of three, Medvedeva was taught initially by Elena Proskurina, Lubov Yakovleva, and Elena Selivanova. Around 2007, she joined Eteri Tutberidze at the Olympic Reserve Sports School no. 37, renamed Sambo 70.

Medvedeva made her senior national debut at the 2012 Russian Championships, finishing eighth. She competed despite her left wrist being fractured and in a cast. She then placed sixth on the junior level. She sustained an injury at the start of the following season and did not qualify for the senior Russian Nationals. She finished fourth behind Maria Sotskova at the 2013 Russian Junior Championships.

2013–2014 season: Junior international debut

Medvedeva's international debut came in the 2013–2014 season. Competing on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, she won gold first in Riga, Latvia, and then in Gdańsk, Poland. She qualified to the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where she won the bronze medal behind Sotskova and Serafima Sakhanovich. At the 2014 Russian Championships, she finished seventh in her second senior appearance and then fourth on the junior level. Medvedeva was assigned to replace the injured Sotskova at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Placing third in both segments, she won the bronze medal while Elena Radionova and Sakhanovich took gold and silver respectively, producing Russia's second consecutive sweep of the World Junior podium in the women's event.

2014–2015 season: World Junior champion

Medvedeva's first assignment of the 2014 JGP season was in Courchevel, France, where she won the gold medal by a margin of 21 points over silver medalist Rin Nitaya of Japan. At her second event, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, she placed second in both segments and edged Japan's Wakaba Higuchi for the gold by 1.44 points. She qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain, where she won gold, placing first in both the short program and free skate.

At the 2015 Russian Championships, she placed third in both segments and won the bronze medal, her first senior national medal, behind Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. She then took gold at the 2015 Russian Junior Championships, finishing almost 20 points ahead of silver medalist Maria Sotskova.

At the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Medvedeva placed first after the short program and set a new world record of 68.48 points for junior women's short program. In the free program, she placed first again and won gold. She had no falls on the ice throughout the season in international events.

2015–2016 season: World and European titles

Medvedeva became age-eligible to compete at the senior international level for the 2015–2016 season. She started her season with a gold medal at the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) event in early October. Later that month, she competed at her first senior Grand Prix event – 2015 Skate America. Finishing first in the short program and second in the free skate, she won the gold medal ahead of Gracie Gold of the United States. During practice, she fell into the boards and sustained an injury; her coaches taped her elbow and gave her painkillers, and she was later diagnosed with a fracture. Medvedeva won silver at her next Grand Prix assignment, the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, behind compatriot Elena Radionova.

In December, at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain, Medvedeva placed first in both segments on her way to the gold medal, ahead of Satoko Miyahara, and became the fifth-youngest Grand Prix Final champion, at age 16. At the end of the month, she won gold at the 2016 Russian Championships, ahead of silver medalist Radionova.

In January 2016, Medvedeva competed at her first senior-level ISU Championships, the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. She finished first in both the short and free programs despite falling on her double Axel jump in the free skate. She won the gold medal while her teammates Radionova (−5.46) and Anna Pogorilaya (−28.40) took silver and bronze respectively, producing the second consecutive Russian sweep of the podium.

In March 2016, Medvedeva won the gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, United States. After finishing third in the short program, Medvedeva clinched the gold medal by winning the free skate with a world record score of 150.10, surpassing Yuna Kim's 150.06 mark. Her overall score of 223.86 was a new personal best and was 8.47 points ahead of silver medalist Ashley Wagner. Having won the Junior World title in 2015, 16-year-old Medvedeva became the first women's singles skater to have ever won back-to-back Junior World Championships and senior World Championships. She matched Kimmie Meissner's feat in becoming the second skater in 23 years to win in her debut at the world championships, and is the youngest world figure skating champion (16 years, 4 months) under modern rules (since Tara Lipinski in 1997, not yet 15 at the time). Medvedeva also became the second women's skater to win the Grand Prix Final, Europeans, Worlds and her country's national championships all in one season (the other was countrywoman Irina Slutskaya).

Medvedeva ranked first in both segments at the 2016 Team Challenge Cup in Spokane, Washington. Team Europe finished in third place in the head-to-head competition and in second place in the main event. In addition to the two team medals, Medvedeva received prize money for the top women's short program score.