Evgenia Armanovna Medvedeva (alt. spelling: Yevgenia Medvedeva;^[7] Russian: Евгения Армановна Медведева, IPA: [jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪjə mʲɪˈdvʲedʲɪvə]; born 19 November 1999), is a Russian figure skater. She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017).

Earlier in her career, she won the 2015 World Junior Championships, the 2014 Junior Grand Prix Final, and the 2015 Russian Junior Championships.^[8]

Medvedeva is the first ladies' singles skater to win senior Worlds the year after winning Junior Worlds,^[9] and the first ladies' singles skater to win two consecutive senior Worlds the year after winning Junior Worlds. At the 2017 World Championships, she became the first female skater to win back-to-back world titles in 16 years since Michelle Kwan did so in 2000 and 2001, and the first Russian woman ever to successfully defend her world title.^[10]

Under the ISU Judging System, she has set world record scores 13 times and is the first female skater to surpass the 80-point short program mark, the 160-point free skating mark, and the 230-point and 240-point total mark.

Evgenia's mother, Zhanna Medvedeva^[11] (maiden name — Devyatova^[12]), a former Russian figure skater who quit the sport aged 14,^[13] and father Arman Babasyan, an Armenian businessman,^[14][15] are divorced.^[16] Both of her parents wanted her to practice figure skating to improve her figure.^[16] She competes under the surname Medvedeva, which was the maiden name of her maternal grandmother. Her birth surname is Babasyan.^[17][18] In 2017, she commenced her university studies and enrolled at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism.^[19]

Medvedeva has stated that she has lepidopterophobia (fear of moths and butterflies).^[20] Her figure skating idol is Evgeni Plushenko.^[21] She is known to friends as "Zhenya" and "Janny". Evgenia speaks English in addition to Russian, as well as basic Japanese.

She relocated to Toronto, Canada in mid-2018 and trains at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.

She has a French Bulldog named Jerry.

On the ice from the age of three, Medvedeva was taught initially by Elena Proskurina, Lubov Yakovleva, and Elena Selivanova.^[16] Around 2008, she joined Eteri Tutberidze at the Olympic Reserve Sports School no. 37, renamed Sambo 70.^[16]

Medvedeva made her senior national debut at the 2012 Russian Championships, finishing eighth, and then placed sixth on the junior level. She sustained an injury at the start of the following season and did not qualify for the senior Russian Nationals. She finished fourth behind Maria Sotskova at the 2013 Russian Junior Championships.

Medvedeva's international debut came in the 2013–2014 season. Competing on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, she won gold first in Riga, Latvia, and then in Gdańsk, Poland.^[8] She qualified to the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where she won the bronze medal behind Sotskova and Serafima Sakhanovich. At the 2014 Russian Championships, she finished seventh in her second senior appearance and then fourth on the junior level. Medvedeva was assigned to replace the injured Sotskova at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.^[22] Placing third in both segments, she won the bronze medal while Elena Radionova and Sakhanovich took gold and silver respectively, producing Russia's second consecutive sweep of the World Junior ladies' podium.

Medvedeva's first assignment of the 2014 JGP season was in Courchevel, France. She won the gold medal by a margin of 21 points over silver medalist Rin Nitaya of Japan. At her second event, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, she placed second in both segments and edged Japan's Wakaba Higuchi for the gold by 1.44 points. Medvedeva's results qualified her for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain. She placed first in both segments and won the gold.

At the 2015 Russian Championships, she placed third in both segments and obtained the bronze medal, her first senior national medal, behind Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. She then took gold at the 2015 Russian Junior Championships, finishing almost 20 points ahead of silver medalist Maria Sotskova.

At the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Medvedeva placed first after the short program and set a new world record of 68.48 points for junior ladies' short program. In the free program, she placed first again and won gold. She had no falls on the ice throughout the season in international events.

Medvedeva became age-eligible to compete at the senior international level for the 2015–2016 season. She started her season with a gold medal at the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) event in early October. Later that month, she competed at her first senior Grand Prix event – 2015 Skate America. Finishing first in the short program and second in the free skate, she won the gold medal ahead of Gracie Gold of the United States. Medvedeva won silver at her next Grand Prix assignment, the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, behind compatriot Elena Radionova.

In December, at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain, Medvedeva placed first in both segments on her way to the gold medal, ahead of Satoko Miyahara, and became the fifth-youngest Grand Prix Final champion, at age 16.^[23][24] At the end of the month, she won gold at the 2016 Russian Championships, ahead of silver medalist Radionova.

In January 2016, Medvedeva competed at her first senior-level ISU Championships, the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. Finishing first in both segments, she won the gold medal while her teammates Radionova (−5.46) and Anna Pogorilaya (−28.40) took silver and bronze respectively to produce the second consecutive Russian sweep of the podium.^[25][26]

In March 2016, Medvedeva won the gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, United States. After finishing third in the short program, Medvedeva clinched the gold medal by winning the free skate with a world record score of 150.10, surpassing Yuna Kim's 150.06 mark.^[27] Her overall score of 223.86 was a new personal best and was 8.47 points ahead of silver medalist Ashley Wagner. Having won the Junior World title in 2015, 16-year-old Medvedeva became the first ladies' singles skater to have ever won back-to-back Junior World Championships and senior World Championships. She matched Kimmie Meissner's feat as she becomes the second skater in 23 years to win in her debut at the world championships and is the youngest world figure skating champion (16 years, 4 months) under modern rules (since Tara Lipinski in 1997, not yet 15 at the time).^[28] Medvedeva also became the second ladies skater to win the Grand Prix Final, Europeans, Worlds and her country's national championships all in one season (the other was countrywoman Irina Slutskaya).^[29][30]

Medvedeva ranked first in both segments at the 2016 Team Challenge Cup in Spokane, Washington.^[31] Team Europe finished in third place in the head-to-head competition and in second place in the main event. In addition to the two team medals, Medvedeva received prize money for the top ladies' short program score.^[32]

Medvedeva began her Grand Prix season at the 2016 Skate Canada International. Ranked first in both segments, she won the gold medal ahead of Kaetlyn Osmond and Satoko Miyahara. She then placed first in both segments at the 2016 Trophée de France on her way to another GP title. She scored 78.52 points in the short program, the second highest score for a lady and just 0.14 from a world record held by Mao Asada. She collected 15 points from both events and qualified for the Grand Prix Final with maximum points.

At the Final in Marseille, France, Medvedeva became the current world record holder for the ladies' short program score (79.21) previously held by Mao Asada. She also won the title with an overall score 9.33 points ahead of silver medalist Satoko Miyahara.^[33] With the win, Medvedeva joined Irina Slutskaya, Tara Lipinski, Yuna Kim, and Mao Asada as the only ladies to win back-to-back Grand Prix Final titles.

In December 2016, Medvedeva defended her national title at the 2017 Russian Championships, despite the third jump of her 3S-3T-3T combination receiving no points. She stated, "Previously, the entire element would have received zero points, but now only the third triple toe would be discarded and I thought since I can do it, why not try?".^[34] In January 2017, she competed at the European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Finishing first in both the short program and the free skate, she won the gold medal while her teammates Pogorilaya (−18.32) and Sotskova (−37.19) took silver and fourth place respectively. She also reset the free skate world record (previously held by herself) with a score of 150.79 and became the current world record holder for the ladies' combined total score (229.71), which was previously held by Yuna Kim.^[35][36]

In March 2017, she competed at the World Championships, held in Helsinki, Finland. Ranked first in both segments, she set world records in the free skate (154.40 points) and total (233.41 points) and became the first female skater to break the 230-point mark in the combined total score. Her overall score was 15.28 points higher than silver medalist Kaetlyn Osmond. Medvedeva was the only skater in the competition to receive 10.00s in performance as part of the component score. She became the first female skater to win back-to-back world titles in 16 years (since Michelle Kwan in 2000 and 2001), and the first Russian woman ever to successfully defend her world title.^[37]

In April 2017, Medvedeva competed on Team Russia at the 2017 World Team Trophy ^{[team event]} held in Tokyo, Japan. She placed first in the short program with a new world record score of 80.85, becoming the first female skater to break the 80-point mark for the ladies' short program score. She placed first again in the free skate with another world record score of 160.46, becoming the first female skater to break the 160-point mark for the ladies' free skating score. Medvedeva contributed the maximum 24 points and helped Team Russia win their second consecutive silver medal while Team Japan and Team USA won gold and bronze respectively. Even though the combined total score was not given at the event, ISU later ratified her combined world record total score of 241.31; thus, Medvedeva became the first female skater to break the 240-point mark in the combined total score. She stated, "I went out on the ice absolutely calm, there was no shadow of a doubt or lack of confidence in me.”^[38]

Medvedeva continued her winning streak with a gold medal at the 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Bratislava, Slovakia. ^[39] However, after this competition she decided to change her long program to Anna Karenina, which she debuted in Japan Open. In mid-October, a few days before the 2017 Rostelecom Cup, she was diagnosed with a crack in the metatarsal bone in her right foot.^[40] She won her Grand Prix event in Russia as well as the 2017 NHK Trophy, held a month later in Osaka, Japan. However, her foot injury forced her to pull out of the Grand Prix Final and the Russian National Championship, and she therefore did not defend her title at either event.

At the 2018 Europeans, held in Moscow, Medvedeva finished second to teammate Alina Zagitova. On the next day, Sunday, January 21, she was named for the Russian Olympic team together with Zagitova and Sotskova.^[41]

During Medvedeva's first performance of the 2018 Winter Olympics, at the ladies short program of the team event, she placed first with a record score of 81.06, a personal best and world record for ladies' short program.^[42][43] The 10 points for the first place in the ladies' short program helped Russia to a silver medal in the team figure skating competition.^[44]

In the individual event, Medvedeva ranked second in the short program with a score of 81.61, breaking another world record before it was surpassed by her teammate, Alina Zagitova. She then scored 156.65 points in the free skating program for a total of 238.26 points, putting her in second place behind Zagitova, who also scored 156.65 points in the free skating program for a total score of 239.57, and earning her an Olympic silver medal.^[45]

Although she initially planned to compete in the World Championships held the month after the Olympic Games, she revealed that she had a stress fracture in her foot and chose to withdraw from the World Championships to give her body a chance to heal.

On 7 May 2018, Medvedeva announced in a statement that she was ending her partnership with longtime coach Eteri Tutberidze and relocating to Toronto to train under coach Brian Orser. She would continue to represent Russia and her current club (Sambo 70) while training in Canada.^[46]

Medvedeva began her first season with her new coaches at Autumn Classic International where she ranked first in the short program and second in the free, finishing in second place overall, behind Bradie Tennell and ahead of Maé-Bérénice Méité.

In October, Medvedeva began competing on that year's Grand Prix circuit. At the 2018 Skate Canada, she fell on a downgraded triple flip in the short program, missing her combination as a result and placing seventh. She placed first in the free skate to win the bronze medal behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Mako Yamashita.^[47] She placed fourth at the 2018 Internationaux de France in November after problems in both programs. This marks the first time Medvedeva finished off an international podium in her entire junior and senior career.^[48]

Following the disappointment in France, Medvedeva replaced her original "Orange Colored Sky" short program with a new one choreographed by friend Misha Ge to selections from Giacomo Puccini's Tosca.^[49] Skating next at the 2019 Russian Championships, her first public performance of the new program went poorly, underrotating the first part of a combination, popping the second jump, and falling on her closing double Axel. Despite this, she said she felt better than after the French Grand Prix.^[50] In fourteenth place going into the free skate, she performed much better there, despite a fall, placing fourth in the free to finish seventh overall, losing not just to junior competitors, but also to seniors Stanislava Konstantinova, Alina Zagitova and Sofia Samodurova^[51]. Speaking afterward she said "even though I made a mistake, I am pleased with today’s performance."^[51] She was named the second alternate for the European Championships and first alternate for the Winter Universiade. In February at the 2019 Russian Cup Final she won gold, placing first in the short program and second in the free, and was therefore sent to the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships. The selection of Medvedeva was not without controversy, with some believing that Tuktamysheva, who had finished second at the Russia Cup Final but had a stronger season up until that point, should have been sent.^[52]

At the 2019 World Championships, Medvedeva skated despite sustaining an injury in her thigh. She placed fourth in the short program after underrotating the second part of her combination jump.^[53] In the free skate she performed cleanly, apart from an underrotated double Axel, placing third in that segment, and winning the bronze medal.^[54]

Medvedeva commonly performs almost all of her jumps with an arm over her head, a technique called the "Tano" variation, a position first popularized by Brian Boitano as part of his triple lutz jump. She performs several jump combinations ending with a triple toe loop, such as the 3F-3T, 3S-3T, 3Lo-3T and 2A-3T. She is also known for practicing various triple-triple-triple and triple-triple-triple-triple jump combinations. In the 2016-2017 season, Medvedeva also rejuvenated the "Rippon" variation which involves doing jumps with both arms over the head. In the 2018-19, Medvedeva also started including the triple loop jump on the end of a combination such as the 3S-3Lo. She has also performed 2A-3Lo and 3Lo-3Lo in practices. She also commonly performs a cross grab I-position spiral towards the centre of the rink near the end of her programs.

Despite her consistency and difficulty of transitions, Medvedeva is often criticized for her "flutz", which is a Lutz jump taken off from the inside edge.^[55]

Medvedeva appeared on the front cover of the July 2017 issue of Elle Girl Russia.^[56] She was included in the 2017 SportsPro 50 Most Marketable Athletes List, ranked 46.^[57] She was the second figure skater to be featured after the British sports magazine previously listed Yuna Kim in 2013.^[58] Medvedeva was also included in Business Insider's 2017 list of the world's 50 most dominant athletes, ranked 14,^[59] and in the Forbes '30 under 30 Europe' list of 2017 as one of the most successful young people in Europe.^[60]

Medvedeva is sponsored by John Wilson, her Gold Seal blade manufacturer,^[57][61] Edea, her skating boot manufacturer, and Nike. In 2018, John Wilson presented her with custom 24K rose gold engraved blades designed by fellow figure skater Misha Ge. Her other endorsements include being named a brand ambassador for Pantene in 2018. She has also made cooperations with Japanese brands Rivaland and Aniplex.

Note: Because of the introduction of the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system which replaced the previous +3 / -3 GOE system, ISU has decided that all statistics starts from zero starting from season 2018–19 and all previous statistics are historical.^[62]

Medvedeva had broken world records 13 times before season 2018–19.

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

Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.

Current ISU world bests highlighted in bold and italic. Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold.

Previous ISU junior world bests highlighted in bold.