Environment Ministry to Host Seedling Promotion and Distribution Exhibition in July | Prime Minister Celebrates Arrival of First AirAsia Cambodia Aircraft in Phnom Penh | Cambodia Reaffirms Commitment to Ottawa Convention on Landmines | Phnom Penh Gears Up for Its First Major Car Show at The Premier Centre Sen Sok |

Valieva, Russian figure skater becomes first woman to land a quadruple jump at the games

INTERNATIONAL: Russian 15-year-old sensation Kamila Valieva made history on Monday in becoming the first woman to land quadruple jumps at the Olympics, helping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to its second gold medal of the Beijing Games.

Competing in the team event, where the Russian Olympic Committee had already sealed the gold medal ahead of the United States and Japan, she perfectly executed a quadruple salchow at the start of her free skate.

"When I was three years old, I made a wish to become an Olympic champion," Valieva said after her free skate at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium. "My childhood dream has come true."

"The first Olympics I watched were the Sochi Games," she said. "I remember that I especially liked Yulia Lipnitskaya's free skate. Then the Olympics were in Korea (Pyeongchang), where I cheered for Evgenia (Medvedeva) and Alina (Zagitova). And now it's my turn to experience such emotions."

Performing to Maurice Ravel's "Bolero", Valieva beautifully executed a quadruple Salchow to open her free skate, then landed a quad toeloop in combination before falling on another attempted quad toeloop.

Although she was pleased about her gold medal with the team, Valieva said she still needed to fine-tune her free skate to land her second quad toeloop during the singles event.

Valieva is favourite to win gold in the women's event, which would continue the line of phenomenal Russian teenage skaters at the Olympics.



Related News