Adeliia Petrosian: “Not doing a quad wasn’t an option. I didn’t really have a choice.” and “It’ll be difficult emotionally to return to Russia. I feel ashamed about how things turned out – for myself, the federation, my coaches, and the fans.”
Russian figure skater Adelia Petrosian placed 6th in women’s figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
original source: Sport-Express dd. 19th February 2026 by Dmitri Kuznetsov
After placing 6th in women’s figure skating at the 2026 Olympics, Russia’s Adelia Petrosian reflected on her performance, discussing her challenges during the free skate and expressing gratitude for the support she received from fans while looking ahead to future competitions. Here’s a translation of her comments.
“Q: How do you feel about the results?
Adelia Petrosian: Not great, honestly, because I missed my chance at a higher placement.
Q: What went wrong with the quad jumps?
Adelia Petrosian: I trained for two quads, and that’s what I came prepared to do. I’ll never understand why it didn’t work this time. Right before my skate, I landed a good toe loop during practice – it even seemed fine while entering. But then I got distracted for a moment and refocused on the jump. My earring got caught on my dress, though.
Q: Did the earring issue impact your skate?
Adelia Petrosian: I thought about it briefly, but maybe it even helped distract me from some of my anxious thoughts.
Q: After the short program, people said you looked like you were enjoying yourself.
Adelia Petrosian: To be honest, after the quad toe loop, I felt like getting up and walking away quickly.
Q: Why didn’t you attempt the second quad?
Adelia Petrosian: Where? So I could end up in 20th place? No way – I had to make a decision to limit the damage.
Q: Could anything have been done differently?
Adelia Petrosian: I haven’t reviewed the program yet, and honestly, I don’t really want to. It doesn’t matter anymore. I just need some time to breathe and process this stage before moving forward.
Q: Were your nerves stronger today?
Adelia Petrosian: Not really. It wasn’t like I was dying from fear – it was manageable.
Q: How did you stay focused for the rest of the program after the mistake?
Adelia Petrosian: I knew I couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes. But honestly, the thought that it was already over kept creeping into my mind.
Q: Do you have a takeaway from the Olympics?
Adelia Petrosian: I think I’ll see it as experience for the next event. Hopefully, the next Olympics too.
Q: So you’re motivated for another Olympic cycle?
Adelia Petrosian: For now, yes. I hope I can maintain that passion for the next four years. It’s a long period of time, but that also makes it exciting.
Q: Why did you come to the mixed zone?
Adelia Petrosian: I felt some respect for the journalists who traveled here – I didn’t want to show weakness, I guess.
Q: Was skipping the quad jumps an option?
Adelia Petrosian: Initially, there was a more difficult program planned. But eventually, everything went off-track, and the fall made things worse. No, skipping wasn’t an option.
Q: People said it was brave to attempt the quad. What’s your take?
Adelia Petrosian: I didn’t really have a choice.
Q: What happened during this season?
Adelia Petrosian: I’ll need to ask my coaches before saying anything – they know what’s safe for me to say. Otherwise, I don’t know what trouble I might cause myself.
Q: There have been rumors about your trip to Lake Baikal. Can you clarify?
Adelia Petrosian: No, this has nothing to do with that trip. Those are completely unrelated situations. It’s just lies. (laughs)
Q: Was the Olympics a positive experience overall?
Adelia Petrosian: Right now, after my free skate, I have mostly negative thoughts. I want to return to reality and move out of this state. Maybe I’ll find some positives and learn something from it in time.
Q: Would you perform in the gala if invited?
Adelia Petrosian: Of course, I’d love to perform in the gala skate – why wouldn’t I?
Q: You’ve mentioned you’re aiming for international competitions, hopefully another Olympics?
Adelia Petrosian: Well, I hope my next international competition isn’t just another Olympics. (laughs)
Q: How do you feel about returning to Russia after this performance?
Adelia Petrosian: It’ll be difficult for me emotionally. I feel ashamed about how things turned out – for myself, the federation, my coaches, and the fans. But in terms of logistics – no, I think it’ll be okay. Competitions are well-organized at home, though I won’t have such a big arena crowd.”
Q: Is there anything you regret from the past year leading up to the Olympics?
Adelia Petrosian: If I could change anything, it would be the injury that happened after New Year’s. There are a couple of other moments I’d adjust if I could.
Q: What was the support like during the event?
Adelia Petrosian: I could hear how loudly our Russian-speaking fans were cheering. Knowing people came here from different corners of the world to support us – it’s so heartwarming. I’m incredibly thankful to them.
Q: Will you attend the closing ceremony?
Adelia Petrosian: Probably not. Although originally I thought I would… I’m not sure anymore. Things have been going a little off-plan.”
Related topics: Adeliia Petrosian, Olympic Games
Ultra-C is risky, worth hefty points if completed well, yet it’s what separates competition. You can’t win a competition just on aesthetics. And Malinin, he attempted several high risk components, namely the quad axel, he took that risk, he fell, quite literally. Adellia attempted a quad, she fell, notice both Petrosian and Malinin have had great success because of their ultra-C components. They took calculated risks, they didn’t work out as planned, even though they have past success with them. Yes, Malinin was tired, and yes, we knew Adellia was coming off an injury, they both did their best, but it wasn’t enough
Since someone decided to speak about an American skater, Ilia Malinin who skated and competed four times during the same week: first time for the Olympics Team EVENT: short program and free program in the team event after the team event,then he competed for the individual men’s single competition during the exact same thing, but his body was exhausted and then dealt with negative narrative that filtered his thoughts while competing that caused to land off the podium into 8th place overall so it happened to the best athletes, but they always managed to do better next time and that is a fact!!!
Now Adeliia Petrosian, she scored very good in the short program as well as she has done in China to qualify for the Olympics, but unlike the Qualifying for the OLYMPICS in the free program, she has not done any quads and still landed on the podium with a solid free program and a decent overall score that was the difference between then and the Olympics: if she was doing quads, they must be flawless but she has taken that risk and that risk with other contenders who don’t do quads skated an almost flawless performance in the free program and was rewarded for that performance than those who made errors with a strict technical panel: she had a choice and she chose taking that risk for first place and ended behind the leader during that time was another risk so her disappointment is noticeable, but it is a competition aimed at the same thing: to medal and land on the podium to represent oneself and country and those who support oneself and that is acceptable!!
Sometimes doing quads are not the absolute answer, but an almost flawless performance is!!!
Her free skate was really nice other than the fall, she should be proud of herself, but that’s not how Russians think, I guess.
Malinin skated for Team USA, yet he crumbled
She is refreshingly honest and extremely articulate in portraying the reality of the situation- with composure – for such a young person. I take my hat off to her. What a decent human being in a difficult situation. I wish for her kindness and inner peace . I hope she can get to a space where she doesn’t punish herself for what was a split second of her life- albeit a most significant one.
And this is the tragic difference between the russian figure skating and the rest of the world. All this unhealthy press on this girl’s shoulders. As a fierce opponent to Putin and his war I also oppose russian return to sport. This being said – Petrosian did what she could, she was good but it was not enough, because there were stronger athletes. Period. Nothing to be ashamed for.
As has been pointed out, she has relatively zero experience at the senior international level, so she’s still quite green. I wasn’t expecting this tbh, but, it wouldn’t be the first time a seeming favorite (Malinin, for example) has had an upset