Polina Tsurskaya

Polina Tsurskaya
Tsurskaya at the 2015–16 JGP Final
Full name	Polina Igorevna Tsurskaya
Native name	Полина Игоревна Цурская (Russian)
Born	(2001-07-11) 11 July 2001 (age 23) Omsk, Russia
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Began skating	2005
Retired	May 31, 2019
Medal record Representing  Russia Figure skating: Ladies' singles Winter Youth Olympics 2016 Lillehammer Ladies's singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2015–16 Barcelona Ladies' singles

Polina Igorevna Tsurskaya (pronounced TSOO-rskaya; Russian: Полина Игоревна Цурская, born 11 July 2001) is a Russian former competitive figure skater and figure skating coach. She is the 2017 NHK Trophy bronze medallist.

On the junior level, she is the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic champion, the 2015 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, a four-time Junior Grand Prix event champion, and the 2015 Russian junior national champion.

Polina Igorevna Tsurskaya was born on July 11, 2001, in Omsk, Russia.^[2][3] She has an elder brother, Igor, who is nine years her senior.^[4] She moved to Moscow in 2013.^[5]

Tsurskaya began skating in 2005.^[2] Coached by Tatiana Odinokova in Omsk until 2013, she joined Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov after relocating to Moscow.^[5] Fifth in her first appearance at the Russian Junior Championships, in 2014, she finished fourth in 2015.

Tsurskaya made her international debut in August 2015 at the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) in Bratislava, Slovakia. She was awarded the gold medal after placing first in both segments and finishing 10 points ahead of the silver medalist, Mai Mihara. Outscoring Ekaterina Mitrofanova by 21 points, she won her next JGP assignment, in Toruń, Poland, and qualified for the final. At the 2015–16 JGP Final, held on December in Barcelona, she won the gold medal with personal best scores in both segments and a total of 195.28 points.^[6] She broke the junior records in the free skate and total scores set by compatriot Elena Radionova. Competing on the senior level, Tsurskaya finished fourth later in December at the Russian Championships before winning her first junior national title in January.

In February, Tsurskaya won gold at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.^[7] In March, she was scheduled to compete at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen but withdrew before the start of the event. An ankle injury had occurred a day before she departed for the event and was aggravated when she fell in Hungary during the morning practice before the short program.^[4] After three months during which she had to avoid running and jumping, she resumed training in early June.^[8]

In September 2016, Tsurskaya won gold at two JGP series events; she ranked first in the short program and second in the free in Saransk, Russia, and first in both segments in Tallinn, Estonia. She was the second-ranked qualifier to the JGP Final in Marseille, but withdrew on 29 November.^[9] She underwent surgery on her right knee and resumed practicing jumps in mid-December.^[10]

Tsurskaya finished tenth at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. During the season, she was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans and a herniated disc.^[11][12][13]

Making her senior international debut, Tsurskaya won the bronze medal at the 2017 NHK Trophy, setting personal best scores in both segments.^[14] In November, Tsurskaya finished fourth at 2017 Skate America, placing eighth in the short program and fourth in the long program and scoring 195.56 points total.^[15]

On May 7, 2018, it was announced Tsurskaya was ending her partnership with coach Eteri Tutberidze.^[16]

Tsurskaya began her season by competing at the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy where she placed fourth. In her Grand Prix events, she placed seventh at the 2018 Skate America and eighth at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. She placed fourteenth at the 2019 Russian Championships. Tsurskaya announced her retirement from figure skating on May 31, 2019.

In summer 2020 Polina started working as a figure skating coach in the skating club Sambo-70, Chrustalnyi department, in a cooperation with the team of her former coach Eteri Tutberidze. She mainly works with children.^[17]

• Set the junior-level ladies' record for the free program to 128.59 points at the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final, previously held by Elena Radionova. Record was broken by Marin Honda at the 2016 JGP Japan.
• Set the junior-level ladies' record for the combined total to 195.28 points at the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final, previously held by Elena Radionova. Record was broken by Alina Zagitova at the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final.
• Set the junior-level ladies' record for the short program to 69.02 points at the 2016 JGP Russia, previously held by Evgenia Medvedeva. Record was broken by Alina Zagitova at the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final.

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2018–2019	And the Waltz Goes On by Anthony Hopkins performed by André Rieu choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov, Tatiana Tarasova	Leningrad by William Joseph Prodigy by Kōtarō Nakagawa Live Or Die by X-Ray Dog choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov, Tatiana Tarasova	The Best performed by Tina Turner
2017–2018 [18]	Light of the Seven (from Game of Thrones soundtrack) by Ramin Djawadi choreo. by Daniil Gleikhengauz	Nocturne in F Minor Op. 55, No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin arr. by Chad Lawson for piano Stillness of the Mind (from A Single Man soundtrack) by Abel Korzeniowski Song for the Little Sparrow performed by Patricia Kaas	The Great Gatsby:[19] Gatsby Believed in the Green Light by Tobey Maguire, Craig Armstrong Kill and Run by Sia, Chris Braide
2016–2017 [4][8][20]	Light of the Seven (from Game of Thrones) by Ramin Djawadi choreo. by Daniil Gleikhengauz	February by Leonid Levashkevich choreo. by Eteri Tutberidze
2015–2016 [2]	Adagio in G minor by Remo Giazotto, Tomaso Albinoni performed by Ikuko Kawai choreo. by Daniil Gleikhengauz	Chess by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus choreo. by Eteri Tutberidze	The Witch Hunters (from Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) by Atli Örvarsson I Put a Spell on You performed by Annie Lennox Adagio in G minor by Remo Giazotto, Tomaso Albinoni performed by Ikuko Kawai choreo. by Daniil Gleikhengauz
2014–2015	Carmenita Lounging by Claude Challe In the Hall of the Mountain King (from Peer Gynt) by Edvard Grieg choreo. by Eteri Tutberidze	Chess by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus choreo. by Eteri Tutberidze
2013–2014	Between The Beats by Jeroen van Veen	Scene d'Amour by Francis Lai performed by Sarah Brightman	Scene d'Amour by Francis Lai performed by Sarah Brightman

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[21]
Event	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19
GP NHK Trophy					3rd
GP Rostelecom						8th
GP Skate America					4th	7th
CS Ondrej Nepela						4th
International: Junior[21]
Junior Worlds			WD	10th
Youth Olympics			1st
JGP Final			1st	WD
JGP Estonia				1st
JGP Poland			1st
JGP Russia				1st
JGP Slovakia			1st
National[5]
Russia			4th	WD	5th	14th
Russia: Junior	5th	4th	1st	3rd
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

2018–19 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
19–23 December 2018	2019 Russian Championships	11 66.35	15 118.97	14 185.32
16–18 November 2018	2018 Rostelecom Cup	7 56.81	8 92.64	8 149.45
19–21 October 2018	2018 Skate America	8 58.42	8 101.03	7 159.45
19–22 September 2018	2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy	4 54.36	5 100.25	4 154.61
2017–18 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
21–24 December 2017	2018 Russian Championships	3 75.33	6 132.28	5 207.61
24–26 November 2017	2017 Skate America	8 63.20	4 132.36	4 195.56
10–12 November 2017	2017 NHK Trophy	3 70.04	2 140.15	3 210.19

Previous ISU Junior world records highlighted in bold.

2016–17 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
15–19 March 2017	2017 World Junior Championships	Junior	11 54.30	9 101.61	10 155.91
1–5 February 2017	2017 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	5 65.79	2 134.29	3 200.08
28 Sept. – 1 Oct. 2016	2016 JGP Estonia	Junior	1 66.72	1 127.30	1 194.02
14–18 September 2016	2016 JGP Russia	Junior	1 69.02	2 114.71	1 183.73
2015–16 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
14–20 March 2016	2016 World Junior Championships	Junior	-	-	WD
12–21 February 2016	2016 Winter Youth Olympics	Junior	4 58.65	1 127.39	1 186.04
19–23 January 2016	2016 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	1 73.51	1 136.53	1 210.04
24–27 December 2015	2016 Russian Championships	Senior	5 70.53	5 134.93	4 205.46
10–13 December 2015	2015−16 JGP Final	Junior	1 66.69	1 128.59	1 195.28
23–26 September 2015	2015 JGP Poland	Junior	1 61.04	1 126.81	1 187.85
19–23 August 2015	2015 JGP Slovakia	Junior	1 66.08	1 123.42	1 189.50
2014–15 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
4–7 February 2015	2015 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	3 64.07	4 118.76	4 182.83
2013–14 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
23–25 January 2014	2014 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	3 63.58	6 116.02	5 179.60

Media related to Polina Tsurskaya at Wikimedia Commons

• Polina Tsurskaya at the International Skating Union
• Polina Tsurskaya on Instagram

Historical World Junior Record Holders (before season 2018–19)
Preceded by Evgenia Medvedeva	Ladies' Junior Short Program 16 September 2016 – 10 December 2016	Succeeded by Alina Zagitova
Preceded by Elena Radionova	Ladies' Junior Free Skating 13 December 2015 – 11 September 2016	Succeeded by Marin Honda
Preceded by Elena Radionova	Ladies' Junior Total Score 13 December 2015 – 11 December 2016	Succeeded by Alina Zagitova