Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova exclusive: How 'skating with feeling' got her the gold

The night before a big competition, Anna Shcherbakova usually dreams about figure skating.

But when she struck her final pose following her free skate at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, she knew she wasn't dreaming: She describes this moment as one of "pure happiness" in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.

"Probably the brightest moments for me, the happiest moment is after the final move after the free program," Shcherbakova, 17, said on Saturday (19 February). "These are the seconds of pure happiness, when you just feel that you've made the absolute maximum at the right moment. And probably it's these inexpressible emotions I skate for."

The moment came on Thursday (17 February) for Shcherbakova, who leapt from second to first in the women single skating event behind two flawless programs. The reigning world champion was especially strong in the free skate, nailing two quadruple jumps and holding off training mate Alexandra Trusova for the top spot at the biggest competition of her life.

"This is exactly what I was striving for – to show the best skating without mistakes at the Olympic Games," she said. "This is very important for me."

Now both a world and Olympic champion, Shcherbakova has confirmed that she will head to next month's world championships in Montpellier, France, where she is set to defend her title.

While she'll strive to add more hardware on the world stage, Shcherbakova reveals that her mindset is not one that dwells on the podium, but instead only wants to find the best within herself to find ultimate satisfaction.

"I've never had a particular goal in figure skating, so I can't achieve it," she said. "I just skate for it inimitable feeling. ... [I know] there will be ups and downs. It's