At 17 years old, Anna Shcherbakova stood on top of the podium at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and made it look effortless. Two quadruple jumps in a free skate. A gold medal. A sport changed forever. And then, almost as quickly as she arrived, she stepped back.
She’s 22 now, born March 28, 2004, and she hasn’t competed at the senior international level since that Olympic season. Anna Stanislavovna Shcherbakova was born in Moscow, Russia, and began skating in 2007. At her peak, she held the world number one ranking from 2020 to 2022. Her story is one of extraordinary talent, a sport that burns its stars young, and a young woman quietly figuring out who she is without ice time defining her.
Who Is Anna Shcherbakova?
Shcherbakova’s father is a physicist and her mother a crystallographer — both graduates of Moscow State University — who valued education and discipline, qualities that shaped Anna’s approach to both life and skating. That academic household background comes through in how she carries herself: thoughtful, composed, and rarely dramatic even when the world around her is anything but.
She began skating at age three in 2007 at the Khrustalnyi rink in Moscow under her first coach Oksana Bulycheva, who later described Shcherbakova as highly motivated and advanced for her age. She parted ways with Bulycheva in November 2013 at age nine and began training in the elite group led by Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov.
Tutberidze’s group is where legends are made and, sometimes, where careers end before they should. The coach has guided skaters including 2018 Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva, and 2020 European champion Alena Kostornaia — a long line of Russian girls who peaked young, then faced the hard question of what comes next.
Anna Shcherbakova’s Career Highlights
The titles stacked up fast once Shcherbakova hit the senior circuit. She is the 2022 Olympic champion in women’s singles, the 2021 World champion, the 2022 European champion, and a three-time Russian national champion from 2019 to 2021.
The technical achievements are genuinely jaw-dropping. Shcherbakova was the first female figure skater to land a quad Lutz in senior competition and the first woman to land two quad Lutz jumps in a single program. She was also the first to land a quad flip in combination with a triple jump, as well as the first to land two quad flips in one program.
Back in 2017, Shcherbakova and training partner Alexandra Trusova began executing quadruple jumps in training sessions. Shcherbakova performed a quadruple toe loop, while Trusova worked on a quadruple salchow. The rivalry between them inside Tutberidze’s group pushed both to places the sport had never seen from women.
Her senior debut was a statement. At the 2019 Skate America, Shcherbakova was only fourth after the short program but scored a season’s best of 160.16 points in the free skate to finish on 227.76, more than 11 points clear of overnight leader Bradie Tennell — landing two quadruple jumps in the process.
The 2022 Olympic Gold
Beijing was the defining moment. Shcherbakova leapt from second to first in the women’s single skating event behind two flawless programs. She was especially strong in the free skate, nailing two quadruple jumps and holding off training mate Alexandra Trusova for the top spot.
In an interview with Olympics.com after her win, she described the feeling: “These are the seconds of pure happiness, when you just feel that you’ve done the absolute best at the right time.”
The gold came in the most dramatic circumstances women’s figure skating had seen in years. Teammate Kamila Valieva, who had been widely expected to win, was caught up in a doping scandal. On January 29, 2024, a panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Valieva was disqualified from the 2022 European Figure Skating Championships due to a doping violation, and Shcherbakova was upgraded to the gold medal there as well.
Shcherbakova’s Olympic gold was always clean. That fact deserves to be stated clearly.
What Happened After the Olympics?
This is where Anna Shcherbakova’s story gets more human, and honestly, more interesting.
In the months after her Olympic win, Shcherbakova revealed she would need knee surgery due to an old injury that had prevented her from training at full intensity. She shared the news directly with fans: “Professional sport is a full dedication. Unfortunately, because of my old knee injury, I can’t train in full force. In several days I will have a surgery. Anyway, I am sure that everything is going to be good.”
The surgery happened in Germany. Then came glandular fever. According to reporting by Bild, Shcherbakova contracted Epstein-Barr virus (Pfeiffer’s glandular fever) in mid-July 2023 and was still dealing with long-term effects afterward. For a skater whose competitive edge depends on explosive physical condition, that kind of illness isn’t just a pause. It reshapes everything.
Meanwhile, Russian skaters faced a separate wall entirely: due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Shcherbakova and other Russian skaters have been barred from ISU events, cutting off the international competitive pathway even if she had wanted to return.
Anna Shcherbakova’s Life in 2025 and 2026
She’s been remarkably candid about the emotional weight of life after the Olympics. In her own words: “Of course, I faced a crisis. When you’ve been following the same schedule since you were three years old, striving toward one goal, idolizing it, and finally achieving it, you’re left with a certain sense of confusion. Instead of lifelong joy, you start wondering: ‘What now?’ ‘What do I do next?'”
That kind of honesty is rare from elite athletes. She didn’t pretend the gold made everything perfect.
By late 2025, she had opened up about post-Olympic challenges and her path forward, and spoke publicly about her enjoyment of commentating on figure skating competitions. At competitions, she has been working as a commentator and host, while her family — parents and sisters — watch events together and discuss them afterward.
In January 2026, Shcherbakova said she agreed to take part in the TV project “Ice Age” because she wanted a new challenge, and she confirmed she would attend the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy — but as a spectator, noting she has changed greatly.
She was direct about her plans: “I plan to go to Italy with my family and attend the Olympics as a spectator. I want to feel that atmosphere from the other side and experience different emotions.”
She also appeared in shows abroad. Shcherbakova performed at Fantasy on Ice 2025 in Tokyo alongside Alina Zagitova, keeping her connection to the ice alive even without competition.
The Tutberidze System and Its Complicated Legacy
You can’t tell Shcherbakova’s story without addressing the system that shaped her. Coach Eteri Tutberidze built a factory of champions at Sambo-70 in Moscow, but the model has serious critics.
Tutberidze is widely known for coaching her skaters into early retirement, typically at age 17 to 19 at the latest, through a training philosophy that pushed very young skaters into quadruple jumps more commonly seen in the men’s competition. The physical toll on developing bodies is a real and debated concern within the skating world.
Shcherbakova trained alongside Trusova, Valieva, and Kostornaia all at once, competing on the same ice every day. “I’ve always trained in such a way that all the main competitors were always on the same ice,” she explained. “I have never trained any differently.” That intensity forged greatness. It also burned careers fast.
The ISU responded by raising the minimum age for senior competition after the 2022 cycle, a direct response to the pattern of teenage skaters dominating and then disappearing.
Shcherbakova’s place in all of this is nuanced. She won fair and clean. She also trained inside a system that didn’t always protect its athletes. Both things can be true.
Anna Shcherbakova’s Records and Rankings at a Glance
| Achievement | Details |
| Olympic Gold | 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics |
| World Championship | 2021 Champion |
| European Championship | 2022 Champion (confirmed 2024) |
| Russian National Champion | 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| Highest World Ranking | 1st (2020–2022) |
| Notable First | First woman to land quad Lutz in senior competition |
| Notable First | First woman to land two quad flips in one program |
| Date of Birth | March 28, 2004 |
| Age (as of 2026) | 22 |
What Makes Shcherbakova Different
Among the wave of quad-jumping Russian women who dominated the late 2010s and early 2020s, Shcherbakova stood out for more than just technical difficulty. She earned the nickname “Princess” among fans, a reflection of her elegant performances and exceptional skills on the ice.
Her free skate programs weren’t just athletic events. The Master and Margarita program, in particular, drew global attention for its storytelling and emotional depth. She moved between characters, held the theatrical arc of the music, and made people feel something — not just score well.
Describing her own approach, she once said: “I’ve never had a particular goal in figure skating, so I can’t achieve it. I just skate for that inimitable feeling… I am a perfectionist and an athlete, and this is probably why I often skate well in competitions.”
That mentality — chasing a feeling rather than a trophy — partly explains why she hasn’t seemed destroyed by the competition hiatus. She got what she was really after.
FAQ: Anna Shcherbakova
How old is Anna Shcherbakova? She was born on March 28, 2004, making her 22 years old as of 2026.
Where is Anna Shcherbakova from? She is from Moscow, Russia, and trained at the Sambo-70 (Khrustalny) club throughout her career.
Is Anna Shcherbakova still competing? No. She has not competed at the senior international level since the 2021/22 season. She has been active as a TV commentator and show skater in Russia.
Why did Anna Shcherbakova stop competing? A combination of factors: knee surgery after the 2022 Olympics, illness (glandular fever in 2023), and the ISU ban on Russian athletes from international competition. She has spoken openly about also needing time to figure out her path after achieving the Olympic gold.
Did Anna Shcherbakova ever dope? No. She has never been linked to any doping violation. Her Olympic gold in Beijing 2022 has always stood clean. The controversy surrounding the Russian team in 2022 centred on teammate Kamila Valieva.
What is Anna Shcherbakova doing now? As of early 2026, she has been working as a TV commentator and host in Russia, performed in ice shows including Fantasy on Ice in Tokyo, and planned to attend the 2026 Milan/Cortina Winter Olympics as a spectator.
What is the correct spelling of her name? The full correct spelling is Anna Shcherbakova (or Anna Scherbakova in some transliterations). Common misspellings include Shchervakova and Sherbakova.
Anna Shcherbakova accomplished in four senior seasons what many skaters spend entire careers chasing. She won it all, changed what people believed women’s figure skating could look like technically, and then stepped back before 20 years old to work out who she is beyond the sport. Watch her commentary work and ice shows if you want to see how she’s growing into that answer.
