Kamila Valieva

Kamila Valeryevna Valieva (born 26 April 2006) is a Russian figure skater. She has won many important competitions, including the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, the 2021 Skate Canada, the 2020 Junior World title, the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final, and she won the silver medal at the 2021 Russian national championships.

During the 2022 Winter Olympics, it was found that Valieva had used something that athletes are not allowed to use. Because of this, officials said she could not compete for four years starting from December 2021. As a result, she lost some results from that time, including her win at the 2022 European Figure Skating Championships and the 2022 Olympic team event.

Even so, Valieva still holds world records for the women's short program, free skating, and total scores. She has set seven world records in her career. She was the first woman to score more than 250, 260, and 270 points in her total score in one season. She was also the first woman to score more than 170 and 180 points in her free skate. She was the second woman to successfully land a quadruple toe loop and the fourth woman to land any kind of quadruple jump. She was also the 16th woman to land a triple Axel and the third woman to land both a triple Axel and a quadruple jump in the same program.

Personal life

Kamila Valieva was born on April 26, 2006, in Kazan, in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. She is of Volga Tatar ethnicity. Her mother signed her up for rhythmic gymnastics, ballet, and figure skating when she was very young, but she chose to focus on skating after she turned five. She admires the skating skills of Nathan Chen and, like her teammate Alexandra Trusova, she wears special white skating boots called Edea Piano with silver blades in competitions.

Valieva has a small dog named Lëva (Lyova), a Pomeranian that fans gave her in 2019. During the 2022 Winter Olympics, she was 1.6 metres tall, which is about 5 feet and 3 inches.

Career

Early career

Valieva began skating in 2009 in RSDUSSHOR in Kazan. Ksenia Ivanova first coached her, followed by Marina Kudriavtseva and Igor Lyutikov, and Natalia Dubinskaya. When she turned six, her parents moved her to Moscow to train at SSHOR Moskvich. In the spring of 2018, Valieva switched skating clubs to Sambo-70, where Eteri Tutberidze allowed Valieva to join her group. Videos are available of Valieva's first competition at age 4 as well as a later one at age 9.

In the 2018–19 season, before her international debut, recordings of Valieva's short program, set to Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt and inspired by Pablo Picasso's painting Girl on a Ball, received worldwide attention. Tutberidze described it as her favorite program of the year. The program also drew the notice of Picasso's granddaughter Diana Widmaier Picasso, who invited Valieva to visit her in Paris. Among other victories that season, she won the Russian Younger Age Championships ahead of training mates Sofia Akatieva and Sofia Samodelkina. It was later announced that Valieva would keep her short program for her international debut in the upcoming season.

2019–2020 season: Junior World champion

Valieva's international debut came in late August 2019 at a Junior Grand Prix competition in Courchevel, France. Ranked third in the short program and first in the free skate, she won the gold medal ahead of Wi Seo-yeong of South Korea and teammate and training partner Maiia Khromykh. At the competition, Valieva became the second female skater ever to land a quadruple toe loop in competition. Her total score at the event was the fourth highest score achieved by a ladies' single skater at the junior level, behind teammates Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and Aliona Kostornaia. Valieva also became the fourth junior lady to score above 200 points under the current GOE (Grade of Execution) system.

One month later, at the 2020 JGP Russia, she placed first in both programs with personal best scores to take the title ahead of compatriots Ksenia Sinitsyna and Viktoria Vasilieva. She attempted two quadruple toe loops in the free skate for the first time, landing one. With two gold medals, she qualified in first place to the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy.

Before the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final in December, a minor injury prevented Valieva from training the quadruple toe loop jump. She entered the final as a co-favorite for the title along with Alysa Liu of the United States. After placing fourth in the short program, Valieva delivered a clean free skate to take the title ahead of Liu, who dropped from first place in the short program after under-rotating a triple Axel and both of her quad Lutzes, and training mate Daria Usacheva.

At 13 years old, Valieva was too young to enter the 2020 Russian Championships as a senior in December. In early February, Valieva instead competed at the 2020 Russian Junior Championships, which she won after placing first in both programs ahead of Akatieva and Usacheva. She once again included two quadruple toe loop jumps in her free skate, after recovering from her previous injury, stepping out on one and landing another in combination with a double toe loop. After the competition, she was named to the Russian team for the 2020 World Junior Championships along with teammates Usacheva, who placed third, and Khromykh, who placed fifth; silver medalist Akatieva and fourth-place finisher Sofia Samodelkina were too young to be eligible.

The 2020 World Junior Championships were again seen by many as a showdown between Valieva and Liu, who had recently defended her title at the senior-level 2020 U.S. Championships. Valieva placed first in the short program ahead of Lee Hae-in of South Korea and Usacheva, setting a new personal best. Her score of 74.92 points was the second-highest short program score ever for a junior lady, only behind Kostornaia's short program at the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final. In the free skate, she performed similarly to the Russian Junior Championships, stepping out on her opening quadruple toe loop and landing all other jumps cleanly, including a second quadruple toe loop in combination. She won the title and became the new Junior World Champion, ahead of Usacheva and Liu. Valieva remarked afterward, "there was a little mistake on the toe loop, but basically, I am pleased with my performance."

2020–2021 season

Valieva skated at the 2020 Russian test skates in Moscow, showcasing her new programs for the 2020–21 season. She executed a quad toe combination in her free skate. She competed at the second stage of the Russian Cup. There, she skated cleanly, placing first in the short program but third in the free skate due to several unexpected mistakes. She won the silver medal. She later competed at the fifth stage of the Russian Cup. There, she placed first in the short program, with one step out on a triple Axel attempt. In the free skate, she also placed first, completing two quadruple toe loops (one in combination) and with only one mistake on a triple Lutz. She placed first, winning the gold medal with one of the highest total scores in Russian domestic competition.

Making her senior Russian Championships debut, Valieva placed second in the short program despite falling on her triple Axel. She also placed second in the free skate with two clean quads landed, and, despite an underrotated triple flip, won the silver medal.

Following the national championships, Valieva participated in the 2021 Channel One Trophy, a televised team competition organized in lieu of the canceled European Championships. Selected to the Red Machine team by captain Alina Zagitova, Valieva won both the short program and free skates, helping her team win the trophy. At her final event of the season, Valieva participated in the senior Russian Cup Final, winning the short program by a wide margin. In the free skate, she attempted a quadruple Salchow in competition for the first time but fell and made additional errors on both quad toe loop attempts. As a result, she finished third in the segment; however, the strength of her short program score allowed her to win the overall event by 2.04 points over teammate Maiia Khromykh.

2021–2022 season: Beijing Olympics

Valieva made her international senior debut at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy. She placed third in the short program after falling on her triple Axel attempt. In her free skate, she landed three quad jumps, recording a world record score of 174.31 points, also setting a new world record for total points (249.24).

Making her senior Grand Prix debut at the 2021 Skate Canada International, Valieva won the short program with a new personal best score of 84.19, 2.95 points ahead of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva in second place. She skated a clean program in the free skate with three quads and only one minor mistake in her triple Axel. Once again, she set a new world record for the women's free skate (180.89) and a total score (265.08). Valieva's second assignment of the season was the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, held this year at Sochi's Iceberg Skating Palace, the host venue for skating events at the 2014 Winter Olympics, instead of in Moscow as usual. In the short program, she scored 87.42 points, breaking Alena Kostornaia's previous world record of 85.45. She went on to raise the world records in the free skate (185.29) and total score (272.71). Valieva's results qualified her to the Grand Prix Final, which was subsequently canceled due to travel and gathering restrictions prompted by the spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 24 December, Valieva placed first in the short program at the 2022 Russian Championships, nearly 10 points ahead of Shcherbakova in second place. She scored 193.10 for her free skate, with a gold medal-winning score of 283.48 points, nearly 35 points ahead of silver medalist Alexandra Trusova. She remarked afterward, "I did almost my maximum." As national champion, she was guaranteed a berth on the Russian Olympic team. Valieva made her European Championships debut in January 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia. She finished first in the short program with a clean skate.

Selected as the Russian entry in the women's segments of the Olympic team event, Valieva began the 2022 Winter Olympics with an apparent first-place finish in the short program with a clean triple Axel, scoring near her own world record. Valieva placed four ordinals above American skater Karen Chen, moving the Russian team into first place in the competition at the end of the short program segments. She was chosen for the women's free skate in the team event as well, apparently winning the segment with a program that included two clean quadruple jumps (Salchow and toe loop) and a triple Axel.

During the short program in the women's singles event at the Winter Olympics on 15 February, Valieva placed first ahead of Russian compatriot Shcherbakova despite faltering during a triple Axel though not falling. During the free skate on 17 February, she stumbled or fell at least four times as she skated to Boléro. She wept as she left the ice and did not earn a place in the top three, finishing in fourth place behind her compatriots Shcherbakova and Trusova, who came first and second, and bronze medalist Sakamoto. In early March 2022, the IOC and ISU banned all figure skaters and officials from Russia and Belarus from attending the World Championships due to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine therefore not allowing Valieva to participate in the competition in France at the end of March.

On 25–27 March, Valieva participated in 2022 Channel One Trophy, a Russian domestic competition. During the short program, she did not perform any triple axel as usual; instead, she cleanly jumped a double axel and scored 83.63 into first place. During free skating, Valieva cleanly jumped a quadruple toe loop and scored 173.88 in the second place behind Anna Shcherbakova.

2022–2023 season

Russian and Belarusian athletes remained banned from international events for the 2022–23 figure skating season, so the Russian Figure Skating Federation hosted its own domestic Grand Prix series. Valieva was scheduled for the first Grand Prix event, the Golden Skate of Moscow. In the free skate, she fell on a quadruple toe loop, but she still won the gold medal ahead of Sofia Akateva and Anastasiya Zinina. She then competed at the Grand Prix stage in her hometown, Kazan, and won another gold medal. She then competed at the Russian Championships held in Krasnoyarsk. In the short program, she popped her triple axel and only performed a single axel, causing her to finish in fourth place. She won the free skate with a score of 170.71, but still finished second overall behind Sofia Akateva.

On 13 January 2023, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) stripped Valieva of her gold medal in senior women's singles of the 2022 Russian Figure Skating Championships.

2023–2024 season: Four year ban implemented

Valieva was assigned to compete at stages 4 and 6 of the Russian Grand Prix series. She placed 4th at stage 4 in Kazan, subsequently winning the gold medal at stage 6 in Moscow two weeks later.

At the 2024 Russian Championships, Valieva finished 1st after the short program, later dropping to 3rd place overall after the free skate.

On the 29th of January 2024, Kamila received a four year ban from competition – the ban had been backdated to 25 December 2021, the date Valieva took the failed test. CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) ordered "the disqualification all competitive results achieved" from that date.

2025–2026 season: Return to competition

On 1 October 2025, it was announced that Valieva intended to return to competitive figure skating and had left longtime coaches Eteri Tutberidze, Sergei Dudakov, and Daniil Gleikhengauz to train under Svetlana Sokolovskaya at the Navka Arena. On 19 January 2026, Valieva was listed as a participant in the Russian Jumping Championship for February 2026. Her previous teammate Alexandra Trusova was also listed to compete. Valieva announced that she would debut one of her new programs at the Channel One Cup in March 2026.

Valieva participated in the 2026 Russian Jumping Championship. She successfully landed multiple quadruple toe-loops and triple-triple combinations. In the duets segment, she was paired alongside Mark Kondratiuk. The pair finished in 6th place overall. In the women's semi-finals, Valieva finished in 6th place, unable to advance to the finals.

In March 2026, Kamila competed in the Channel One Trophy for Team Moscow. She debuted her new short program; her first time competing a short program since 2023. She placed 4th in the short program segment and scored 70.09 points.

Doping

In December 2021, Kamila Valieva gave a sample for a test after winning a competition. The results took longer than usual. When they arrived in February 2022, during the Beijing Olympics, they showed a banned substance in her sample.

Because Valieva was a young athlete, there were special rules. She was allowed to compete while more checks were done. Later, it was decided she had broken the rules. She was not allowed to compete for four years. This meant she missed some big events, including the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Sanctions by Ukraine

In December 2022, Ukraine added Kamila Valieva to a list of athletes. They said these athletes were supporting the war in Ukraine, which hurt Ukrainian people. Valieva was one of 56 athletes on this list.

Significant technical achievements

Kamila Valieva made many impressive jumps in figure skating. On August 23, 2019, in France, she did a very difficult jump called a quadruple toe loop, becoming only the second woman ever to do this in competitions. Later, in October 2020, a video showed her practicing another tough jump, the triple Axel. In December 2020, she performed the triple Axel perfectly during a competition in Moscow. Then, in February 2021, another video showed her practicing yet another difficult jump, the quadruple Salchow.

Awards

In February 2022, after the Olympics, Kamila Valieva received a special award called the Order of Friendship from President Vladimir Putin.

Later, on March 18, 2022, in Kazan, the president of Tatarstan gave two more special awards to her mother, Alsu Anvarovna Valieva.

In other media

A play called Quad Loop was performed in 2023 and 2024. It tells the story of Kamila Valieva as seen by the media. The play was written and directed by Inge-Vera Lipsius. It was performed at The Merchant House in Amsterdam and at the Pushkin House in London. Young women acted in the play.

Programs

World records and achievements

Kamila Valieva achieved many amazing milestones in figure skating. She was the second woman ever to successfully land a quad toe loop during a competition at the 2019 JGP France. She was also the first woman to score over 170 and 180 points in the free skate portion, and over 250, 260, and 270 points in the total score for a competition.

At the 2020 Junior World Championships, she set new junior records for the highest scores in both the free skate and the total competition. These records were later broken by her teammate Sofia Akateva in 2021.

Competitive highlights

Kamila Valieva is a talented Russian figure skater born on 26 April 2006. She has won several important competitions, including the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, the 2021 Skate Canada event, and the 2020 Junior World Championship. She also took part in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Detailed results

Senior level

Small medals for short and free programs are only given out at ISU Championships. Some scores are the best ever recorded in the world.

Junior level

Small medals for short and free programs are only given out at ISU Championships. Some scores were the best ever recorded in junior competitions.