The Prague Post - Russia's Petrosian skates in Valieva shadow at Milan-Cortina Olympics

Guided by controversial coach Eteri Tutberidze, who also trained Valieva, 18-year-old Petrosian will be bidding to keep the women's gold medal in Russian hands for a fourth consecutive Winter Games.

But the shadow of Valieva's positive doping test and her subsequent collapse in the free skate routine still looms large.

Then 15, Valieva was favourite for the women's title, but a drugs test that she failed in December 2021, two months before the Beijing Games, only came to light just before Russia were due to be awarded gold in the team event in which she competed.

Valieva was allowed to compete in the singles event after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling pointed to the "exceptional circumstances" regarding her age, and the "irreparable harm" it would do to her if she were not allowed to compete.

But, after leading the singles short programme, she fell apart in the free skate, finishing fourth as two other Tutberidze-trained athletes, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, went 1-2.

The then International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said he was "disturbed" by the "chilling" attitude of Valieva's coaches as she left the ice in tears with Tutberidze appearing to berate the young skater for having "stopped fighting".

Since then the International Skating Union has raised the minimum age for competitors in senior events from 15 to 17 to protect skaters' "physical and mental health, and emotional well-being".

Valieva was banned from competition for four years and the World Anti-Doping Agency said they would be investigating the adults responsible for her skating and welfare.

In Milan, Tutberidze -- who has also trained champions Yulia Lipnitskaya and Evgenia Medvedeva -- returns with Petrosian, the only female Russian figure skater authorised to take part along with men's competitor Petr Gumennik.

A three-time Russian champion, Petrosian will compete under a neutral banner as a result of Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine that began in February 2022.

- Lack of competition -

But the teenage star faces a major obstacle to her ambitions -- a lack of international competition to measure herself against her rivals.

Preparing for her first Olympics, the raven-haired skater -- one of the smallest on the circuit at just 1.52 metres (5ft) -- remains cautiously optimistic.

"I hope I won't disappoint either myself or my coaches," she told reporters after winning the Russian national title in late December.

Injuries have kept Petrosian -- a Muscovite born to a Russian mother and Armenian father -- from a full agenda of domestic competitions.

She skated at only two events of the Russian Grand Prix, in Siberia in October and Moscow in November.

She won both, before securing the national championships in December.

Returning from a serious groin injury, she booked her ticket to Milan at a qualifying event in Beijing, finishing ahead of former world silver medallist Loena Hendrickx of Belgium.

But there are signs the limited chances she has had to compete on the world stage are taking a toll.

Her short programme at the nationals in Saint Petersburg featured a successful triple Axel and drew a standing ovation.

But her free skate was marred by a fall on an attempted quadruple toe loop and several technical errors that left her disappointed, despite her overall victory.

"It's just a step before the most important competitions," she warned.

Petrosian said she was happy to have "nailed the short programme," but admitted her free skate -- an Argentine tango set to "Yo soy Maria" -- could have been "more convincing".

"Skaters usually take part in six or seven competitions before the Olympics. I've had far fewer," she continued.

"I'd like to perform somewhere else again," before the Olympics. "Even if it's not in front of a big audience."

X.Vanek--TPP