Skater Korzhova became the 12th at the 3000 m distance at the Olympics

Russian athlete Ksenia Korzhova competed in the women's 3,000 m speed skating competition at the Olympic Games in Italy on Saturday, February 7. She covered the distance in 4 minutes, 5.83 seconds and took the 12th place. The athlete competed in a neutral status, without using national symbols.

Italian Francesca Lollobrigida won the race, Norwegian Ragne Viklund took second place, and Canadian Valerie Malte finished third.

Ksenia Korzhova was born on September 30, 2004 in Olenegorsk (Murmansk region). Victoria's twin sister grew up with her. At the age of seven, the girls started skating for the first time. Although their path in figure skating began, Ksenia soon lost interest in it. On the advice of her grandmother, she joined the skating section.

At the international level, Ksenia declared herself in 2021, winning two bronze medals at the Junior World Cup in Inzell (Germany) at distances of 3000 m and in the mass start. A year later, she added silver to the junior World Championship in the team race and won over four distances in the Russian Junior Championship. After the suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions, Korzhova continued to perform successfully on the domestic stage, including winning silver and bronze at the Russian-Chinese Winter Games.

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The competition will be held in February 2026 in Italy.

In 2023-2024, she regularly rose to the podium of the Russian junior championships, and by the end of 2024 she became a two-time national champion at distances of 3000 and 5000 m, as well as a silver medalist at 1500 m. In 2025, Ksenia won the Russian championship in the classic all-around and in the team race at the "Cup of the Strongest" in Minsk.

In the same year, 2025, Korzhova received ISU neutral status and made her World Cup debut. Her first successes were a bronze in the 3000 m in Salt Lake City, getting into the top 15 in Calgary and a convincing victory in Hamar with a time of 4:04.48. At the end of the season, she took 17th place in the overall long-distance competition and received an Olympic license for the 2026 Games.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games officially started in Milan, Italy, on February 6, when the opening ceremony took place. The competition will be held until February 22. 13 athletes from Russia will participate in the Olympics this year. However, they were not allowed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate in the opening ceremony.

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