Adeliia Petrosian of Russia could contend for medal after strong free skate well ahead of favorites

MILAN — It's not often that the second figure skater on the ice in a Winter Olympic competition is must-see viewing. Adeliia Petrosian is different.

The 18-year-old Russian, who was expected to contend for a gold medal, had only competed in one senior event outside her homeland before Tuesday's short program, resulting in one of the lowest seedings and a position near the top of the start list.

Even though she was skating around three hours before the other top contenders, Petrosian was greeted by cheers from devoted fans holding personalized banners in a nearly full arena.

“Today I wasn’t nervous at all,” she said in Russian after a clean, Michael Jackson-themed skate that earned 72.89 points, leaving her firmly in the medal picture even with 27 skaters to go. “So far I'm not feeling any strong external pressure. Let's see what happens in the free skate.”

Petrosian is competing as an individual neutral athlete at the Milan Cortina Olympics due to restrictions on Russia’s participation during its war in Ukraine. The arena announcer introduced her as a “three-time national champion” but didn’t specify a country.

The top-ranked skaters, including the U.S. “Blade Angels” trio of Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito and three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, weren't due to skate for another three hours.

“I don't yet have that feeling that the competition is really against them,” Petrosian said when asked how it felt to compete with the likes of Sakamoto, Liu and U.S. champion Glenn for the first time.

“We're so far apart that I haven't even seen them once yet. I don't really have that feeling yet, but obviously I'd be really pleased to be close to them and compete.”

Petrosian showed no obvious sign of injury. Her fitness level had been unclear following comments about injuries in a recent Russian documentary.

Petrosian said she and her coaches considered a high-scoring triple axel for the short program but decided on a safer double for “stability, for the sake of my preparation and my form.”

She has practiced quadruple jumps this week in Milan and could potentially take that high-risk option in Thursday’s free skate, which could boost her score significantly.

“Come on Adeliia! Victory awaits you!” was the message written on one banner in Russian as Petrosian prepared to skate.

“The audience really accepted me well,” Petrosian said. “Each time that I think it’ll be a little less loud, the spectators always somehow shout more, greet me more warmly. And I can’t be unhappy with that.”

Petrosian is coached by Eteri Tutberidze, who has coached numerous Russian women’s skating champions including Kamila Valieva, whose doping case overshadowed the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Tutberidze isn't accredited as Petrosian's coach for the Games but TV showed her watching on a screen in the arena.

Then-IOC President Thomas Bach was critical of the “coldness” displayed by Valieva’s entourage toward the skater, who was 15 at the time, when she missed the podium.

World Anti-Doping Agency president Witold Banka said this month that an investigation found no evidence Tutberidze was implicated in Valieva’s doping case but that he was personally not “comfortable with her presence here in the Olympic Games.”