Polina Tsurskaya Explained

Polina Tsurskaya
Native Name Lang:	ru
Fullname:	Polina Igorevna Tsurskaya
Country:	Russia
Birth Date:	11 July 2001
Birth Place:	Omsk, Russia
Residence:	Moscow, Russia
Formercoach:	Elena Buianova, Tatiana Tarasova, Eteri Tutberidze, Sergei Dudakov, Tatiana Odinokova
Formerchoreographer:	Irina Tagaeva, Eteri Tutberidze, Daniil Gleikhengauz, Liudmila Gleikhengauz
Former Skating Club:	CSKA Moscow, Sambo 70
Formertraininglocations:	Moscow, Omsk
Beganskating:	2005
Retired:	May 31, 2019
Worldranking:	49 ()^[1]
Combined Total:	159.45
Combined Date:	2018 Skate America
Sp Score:	58.42
Sp Date:	2018 Skate America
Fs Score:	101.03
Fs Date:	2018 Skate America
Show-Medals:	yes

Polina Igorevna Tsurskaya (pronounced TSOO-rskaya; ru|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.

Personal life

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

Career

Early years

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

2015−2016 season

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. 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. 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. After three months during which she had to avoid running and jumping, she resumed training in early June.

2016–2017 season

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. She underwent surgery on her right knee and resumed practicing jumps in mid-December.

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.

2017–2018 season

Making her senior international debut, Tsurskaya won the bronze medal at the 2017 NHK Trophy, setting personal best scores in both segments.^[2] 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.^[3]

On May 7, 2018, it was announced Tsurskaya was ending her partnership with coach Eteri Tutberidze.^[4]

2018–2019 season

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.

Coaching

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.^[5]

Achievements

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.

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2018–2019	And the Waltz Goes On	Leningrad Prodigy Live Or Die	The Best
2017–2018	Light of the Seven	Nocturne in F Minor Op. 55, No. 1 Stillness of the Mind Song for the Little Sparrow	The Great Gatsby Gatsby Believed in the Green Light Kill and Run
2016–2017	Light of the Seven	February
2015–2016	Adagio in G minor	Chess	The Witch Hunters I Put a Spell on You ---- Adagio in G minor
2014–2015	Carmenita Lounging In the Hall of the Mountain King	Chess
2013–2014	Between The Beats	Scene d'Amour	Scene d'Amour

Competitive highlights

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

International
Event	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19
align=left						3rd
align=left							8th
align=left						4th	7th
align=left							4th
International: Junior
align=left				WD	10th
align=left				bgcolor=gold	1st
align=left				bgcolor=gold	1st	WD
align=left					bgcolor=gold	1st
align=left				bgcolor=gold	1st
align=left					bgcolor=gold	1st
align=left				bgcolor=gold	1st
National
align=left				4th	WD	5th	14th
align=left		5th	4th	bgcolor=gold	1st	3rd
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Detailed results

Senior level

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

Junior level

Previous ISU Junior world records highlighted in bold.

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

External links

! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" |Historical World Junior Record Holders (before season 2018–19)

Notes and References

Web site: ISU World Standings for Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance - Ladies . International Skating Union .
Web site: ISU GP NHK Trophy 2017. www.isuresults.com. 2018-04-21.
Web site: ISU GP 2017 Bridgestone Skate America. www.isuresults.com. 2018-04-21.
News: Фигурное катание. От Тутберидзе ушла еще одна воспитанница. 2018-05-07. 2018-05-07. ru.
Web site: Самбо-70 "Хрустальный".