Evgenia Medvedeva, Russian figure skater. Biography

Yevgenia Medvedeva was born on November 19, 1999 in Moscow in the family of Armenian businessman Arman Babasyan and former figure skater Zhanna Medvedeva, who ended her career early due to injury. The mother of the Olympic champion worked at the studio "Soyuzmultfilm", where she met her future husband. After a few years of marriage, the couple divorced, but maintained good relations.

In figure skating Eugenia was given at the age of three. She was engaged in one of the oldest figure skating schools in the capital at the stadium "Young Pioneers", then in CSKA in the group of honored coach of Russia Lyubov Yakovleva. When the girl was eight years old, she joined Eteri Tutberidze's group, and four years later she joined the Russian national figure skating team.

Medvedeva initially trained under the surname Babasyan, but later took her maternal grandmother's maiden name. The figure skater made her debut in 2013 at the Junior Grand Prix stage in Latvia, where she won gold. This was followed by victories at the stage in Poland and the Junior Grand Prix Final in Japan.

In 2015, Medvedeva moved to the adult level. She became the first figure skater who managed to win the adult World Championships just a year after her triumph at the Junior World Championships. The figure skater has twice won the world championship (in 2015 and 2016) and also won bronze at the 2019 championships.

The athlete approached the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea) in the status of one of the main favorites. At the 2018 Olympics, Medvedeva won silver in both the singles and team events, losing to Alina Zagitova. The figure skaters were separated by just 1.31 points.

The same year Medvedeva announced her departure from Tutberidze after 11 years of cooperation and signed a contract with Canadian coach Brian Orser, whose name is included in the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Evgenia moved to Canada, but the new stage of life was not easy for her. After great successes, she was fifth at the Grand Prix in Canada and second at the Russian Grand Prix. And later she was forced to withdraw from the competition for medical reasons.

Evgeniya did not officially announce the end of her professional career. But in numerous interviews she repeatedly said that she stopped competing for health reasons.

Evgenia Medvedeva entered the history of figure skating as the owner of historical world records in free skating program and total points. The figure skater holds the titles of Honored Master of Sports of Russia and Master of Sports of the Russian Federation International Class. She is a holder of the Order of Friendship. According to her, after leaving figure skating she could become a coach, but she has no such desire yet.

Medvedeva last took to the ice at the Russian Championships in December 2019. Despite this, her popularity is still great around the world. In 2023, the Russian figure skater became the face of the Winter Olympics in Milan. Medvedeva's photo was placed on the main page in the figure skating section on the official website of the 2026 Olympics. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later replaced it with a photo of Italian figure skater Carolina Kostner.

Recently, the athlete appeared on the ice only as part of television projects. The fans could see the Olympic champion again on November 15 at the CSKA Arena on the eve of her 25th anniversary. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Alexandra Trusova, Alexei Yagudin and other famous figure skaters took part in the anniversary show in Moscow.

In addition to figure skating, Medvedeva has had many different interests since childhood: she is fond of astronomy, drawing, playing the ukulele, and is also interested in Eastern culture. In one of the interviews she said that in her free time she likes to read Japanese comics and watch anime, especially emphasizing the character Sailor Moon from the TV series of the same name. The figure skater even appeared as the main character in one TV show and at the World Championships in Tokyo.

In addition, the athlete released a collection of clothes under her own brand Evgenia Medvedeva. Things are often decorated with fragments of her drawings. And in the spring of 2022, she shared with the subscribers of her Telegram-channel a new hobby, posting a video with a dance in the genre of strip-plastic to the song Billy Ailish.

The athlete prefers not to advertise her personal life. For the first time Medvedeva opened the veil of secrecy in the summer of 2023. In social networks she told about the affair with figure skater Dmitry Chigirev, performing in pairs skating. Later, the media reported that after two years of relationship they broke up. The reasons for the breakup were not specified. Medvedeva herself said that she considers herself free and dreams of a happy family.