Yulia Lipnitskaya

Biography

Yulia Lipnitskaya is a Russian figure skater born in Yekaterinburg, Russia. She began her training at the age of four under coach Yelena Levkovets. Lipnitskaya gained prominence in the sport as a junior, winning the 2012 World Junior Championships and the 2011 JGP Final. She became the 2014 European champion and a silver medalist at the 2013 Grand Prix Final. Lipnitskaya holds the record as the youngest skater to win the European title and for the highest combined total and free skate scores at the junior level. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, she won a gold medal in the team event, becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist in ladies' figure skating history at 15 years and 249 days. Lipnitskaya has cited Carolina Kostner and Yuzuru Hanyu as her idols in the sport. She currently resides in Moscow.