Kamila Valieva nailed her debut short program at Beijing2022.
at the Olympics. She hit all of her jumps with her arms above her head, adding to the difficulty and pushing her point total even higher. Valieva looked emotional as she spun to the finish after a nearly flawless skate. When her score of 90.18 came through, it was just 0.27 points shy of herIt was a shining moment for Valieva to make her Olympic debut, and important for Team ROC in the standings as well.
Valieva's first-place finish gave the ROC 10 points, pushing it into gold-medal position ahead of Team USA after Americanplaced fifth. Those points will be crucial with the long programs and free dance still to come. Valieva's routine also gave us a taste of what's ahead in the women's individual competition, where she'll again be favored for gold — especially if she continues to make difficult programs like that look so easy. Watch the routine for yourself above.