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.
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]
Career
Early years
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.
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.[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]
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.[9] She underwent surgery on her right knee and resumed practicing jumps in mid-December.[10]
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]
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]
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