Yulia Lipnitskaya (figure skater)
Today there are strict adult limitations in figure skating, making it impossible for young girls to participate in the key adult international competitions. This is why Yulia Lipnitskaya, who at 13 was the Russian runner-up among adults and who won all of the season’s youth competitions, stayed behind the scenes for quite some time.
Yulia Lipnitskaya looking forward to World Championships
When she finally did emerge from the shadows, she took the world by storm. At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Lipnitskaya was the Russian team’s figure skating hero, winning the maximum possible points and becoming the youngest Olympic champion in figure-skating history.
Yulia Lipnitskaya: “When I bungled the free skating program in Moscow, they told me that the selection would be based on that particular tournament. Then they were saying that the girls would be chosen for the Games in Japan, at the Grand Prix Final. I had the best result among the Russian participants, but I was immediately told that the selection would actually be made at the Russian Championships. After a while, it turned out that wasn’t true – everything would be decided at the European Championships. So when I won, I did not have the feeling at all that everything was finally over and I was on the team.” (Sport Express. From an interview before the 2014 Olympics)
:yay:
my favorite junior and my favorite senior jumping in syncronisation! 
