Early years Zagitova began learning triple jumps after moving to Moscow, but she broke her arm and then her leg. Eteri Tutberidze then kicked her out of her training group but decided to bring her back. In January 2016, Zagitova made her debut at the
Russian Junior Championships and finished ninth. One month later, she finished fourth in the junior division at the
2016 Russian Cup Final.
2016–17 season: World Junior champion Eteri Tutberidze and
Daniil Gleikhengauz choreographed a
short program to music from
Samson and Delilah and a
free skate to music from
Don Quixote for Zagitova's first international season. She ranked first in both segments and won the gold medal ahead of Japan's
Kaori Sakamoto. Her total score at the event, 194.37 points, was the
second highest ever achieved by a women's single skater on the junior level, behind only
Polina Tsurskaya. She then won the bronze medal at the JGP event in Slovenia, behind Japanese skaters
Rika Kihira and
Marin Honda. The results qualified her for the
2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, held in December in
Marseille. There, Zagitova ranked first in both segments and won the gold medal with a total of 207.43 points, 13 points above silver medalist
Anastasiia Gubanova. There, she won the gold medal by nearly 60 points ahead of Ukraine's
Anastasia Gozhva. At the
2017 World Junior Championships in
Taipei, Zagitova performed two clean programs and won the gold medal.
2017–18 season: Olympic champion Zagitova became age-eligible for senior international competitions in the
2017–18 season. In May 2017, she confirmed she would be moving up to the senior level. Zagitova and her coaches decided to keep her
Don Quixote free skate from the prior season, but she had a new short program to music from the
Black Swan and
Moonlight soundtracks. She made her senior international debut at the
2017 CS Lombardia Trophy and won, For the
2017–18 Grand Prix Season, Zagitova was assigned to two events,
Cup of China and
Internationaux de France. At the
Internationaux de France, she placed fifth in the short program after a fall on her
triple Lutz and several under-rotation deductions. However, she placed first in the free skate with a new personal best score of 151.34 and won the gold medal. Her results qualified her for the
2017–18 Grand Prix Final. She placed first in the free skate and received a personal best overall competition score of 223.30, becoming the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final champion. Zagitova won the
2018 Russian Championships, in the absence of her teammate
Evgenia Medvedeva, finishing first in both segments for a total score of 233.59 points. At the
2018 European Championships in Moscow, she won the title over Medvedeva, who had remained unbeaten for more than two years. The following day, Zagitova was named to the
Russian Olympic team alongside Medvedeva and
Maria Sotskova. At the
2018 Winter Olympics, Zagitova was selected to compete in the free skate during the
team event. She finished in first place with a new personal best score of 158.08, only 2.38 points away from Evgenia Medvedeva's world record. She earned 10 points for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, who won the silver medal behind Canada. In the
individual event, Zagitova skated a clean short program and posted a world record score of 82.92, beating the previous record of 81.61 that Medvedeva had posted earlier that evening. Zagitova and Medvedeva both scored 156.65 points in the free skate, but Zagitova came out ahead thanks to her higher score in the short program. She won the gold medal in the event at the age of 15 years and 281 days, becoming the second-youngest Olympic champion in women's singles by 28 days behind
Tara Lipinski. In the short program, she placed second to
Carolina Kostner, but she fell three times in the free skate and only finished fifth overall. This was her only loss of the season.
2018–19 season: World champion |356x356px Zagitova entered the
2018–19 season with two new programs: a short program to music from
The Phantom of the Opera and a free skate to music from
Carmen Suite. She was scheduled to begin the season at the
2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Slovakia, but she could not travel to the event due to issues with her travel documents. One week later, she began the season at the
2018 Nebelhorn Trophy in
Oberstdorf, Germany. She finished first in the short program and free skate, winning the gold medal with 238.43 points. Because of a change in the
ISU Judging System after the 2017–18 season, the ISU reset the
world record scores. At the
Japan Open, she helped Team Europe finish in second place by winning the free skate by 28.90 points over
Kaori Sakamoto. In early November, Zagitova competed at her first
Grand Prix event of the season, the
2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. Despite missing the triple loop in her planned triple Lutz-triple loop combination, she finished first in the short program. Her only mistake in the free skate was underrotating her triple Lutz-triple loop combination, and she won the gold medal. Later that month, she competed at her second Grand Prix event of the season, the
2018 Rostelecom Cup. She broke her own world record in the short program with a score of 80.78 and had a 13-point lead heading into the free skate. She also won the free skate and the gold medal overall. With two gold medals, she qualified for the
2018–19 Grand Prix Final, which was expected to be a tight competition between Zagitova and
Rika Kihira. Following the European Championships, Zagitova was chosen to represent Russia at the
2019 World Championships in
Saitama, Japan, alongside Samodurova and
Evgenia Medvedeva. Zagitova delivered a clean skate in the short program and received a season best score of 82.08, which was more than five points ahead of
Kaori Sakamoto, who placed second. Two days later, she performed a clean free program, receiving a score of 155.42, the highest of the day. With a combined score of 237.50, she was almost thirteen points clear of the rest of the field and won the World title. She became the first skater in women's singles to win the World Championships the season after winning the Olympic Games since
Katarina Witt did so in 1985. Additionally, with this victory, she became the second women's singles skater after
Yuna Kim to achieve a
Super Slam, meaning she won all major international competitions at the junior and senior levels.
2019–20 season: Hiatus |293x293px Zagitova debuted two new programs: a short program to the song "Me Voy" by
Yasmin Levy and a free skate inspired by
Cleopatra. She began the 2019–20 season at the
Japan Open, where she placed second with a score of 154.41, behind her team and training mate
Alexandra Trusova, contributing to Team Europe's win. For the
2019–20 Grand Prix season, Zagitova was assigned to the
Internationaux de France and the
NHK Trophy. In France, she placed second in the short program behind training mate
Alena Kostornaia after receiving an edge call on her triple Lutz and under-rotating the triple loop in combination. She withdrew from the
2020 Russian Championships and did not contend for a spot on the
2020 European Championships or
2020 World Championships teams. In October 2020, she extended her break and announced she would not compete in the
2020–21 season. She was left off the Russian national team for the
2021–22 season. As of 2025, Zagitova has not returned to competition, == Skating technique ==