Athletes can often be called egoists of the highest order, for whom the concept of friendship during a professional career is relegated, if not to the last, then to the secondary plan. An exception in this story can be called Alina Zagitova, who, it seems, has been against this stereotype since childhood.
I immediately recall her interview, when after her victorious performance at the Olympics in Pyeongchang, she, hugging, stands with her main rival Evgenia Medvedeva and sincerely considers her a close person: «Zhenya and I are friends, teammates, friends in life, but in sports, naturally, we are competitors.»
Later, this «but» provoked a very unkind fight between Zagitova and Medvedeva and their fan groups, but even this did not change the Olympic champion's opinion about female friendship.
Her worldview on this matter was partly formed by her close relationship with her mother and sister Sabina. Zagitova has repeatedly noted that they are her best friends, who showed that female friendship exists. So who does Alina Zagitova communicate closely with?
Anna Shcherbakova
Ironically, one of Zagitova's closest friends is figure skater Anna Shcherbakova. The girls have known each other since 2015, when Zagitova moved from Izhevsk to Moscow to train at Khrustalny, where Shcherbakova was already training.
A conflict of interest over medals could have prevented this friendship from even beginning, if not for the age difference. When Shcherbakova won her first Russian Championship, she was only 13 years old. For this reason, Zagitova went to the adult World Championship, collected the Grand Slam and soon announced the suspension of her career. In fact, there was no direct competition between them in sports.
The turning point in their relationship was the 2022 Olympics, when Zagitova supported Shcherbakova during a difficult period for her. Perhaps only Alina could understand what it was like to go to the Games at a time when another athlete was called the undisputed leader. And Shcherbakova still remembers this moral support.
Two years have passed, and the girls have only become closer: joint projects, trips and fun pastimes prove that friendship between two athletes is possible, and it can be based on sincere mutual support.
Kristina Shoshina
It turned out to be more difficult to find information about Alina Zagitova's other friends: she does not post joint posts, practically does not leave comments and carefully monitors her subscriptions. As they say, personal is not public. But still, something is known about Zagitova's friendship with Kristina Shoshina.
As in the case of Shcherbakova, the girls are connected by sports. Shoshina competed in singles skating, tried herself in pairs, but did not manage to achieve high results. Now Shoshina is a figure skating coach and works in Dubai, where Zagitova often comes on vacation. Previously, it would seem that this is the last place where young Russian girls from St. Petersburg and Izhevsk could meet, but today the Middle Eastern resort forms both a tan and status. How can you refuse parties on the Jumeirah beach and trendy photos in a swimsuit on a yacht?
Zagitova and Shoshina have fun: they dance incendiary to Yegor Creed tracks, post publications with comments in the style of «vacation with your favorite otter.» After this, it may seem that apart from a sense of humor and entertainment, the girls are not connected by much, but this would be a mistake.
Both athletes are constantly working on themselves, not only physically, but also mentally. Shoshina openly shared her problems with her subscribers: «Once I was very insecure, I didn't like my appearance, my body, I constantly doubted my abilities or, as they say now, I was unworked. I was such a gray ugly duckling, always afraid to do something, to somehow prove myself with such an annoying impostor syndrome.» Zagitova has spoken about this same problem more than once — she is afraid of what people will think of her and how she will look. But both girls admit: doubts are bad and should be avoided.
Margarita Yurgenson
While Alina is lounging with her friends at the sea, TV presenter Margarita Yurgenson is waiting for her in Moscow. «Go to Russia already. You're annoying me with your vacation. We actually have plans. I'm waiting. Kisses,» Margarita wrote emotionally on social networks.
How exactly they met is unknown. Some associate it with the hockey club «Ak Bars», where Jurgenson worked as a presenter, and Dmitry Voronkov, who, according to rumors, was Zagitova's boyfriend, played. The striker himself later denied this information. Instead of a relationship, the figure skater found a strong friendship.
Margarita is ten years older than Alina, but this did not prevent them from finding a common language. Perhaps, a certain spontaneity and ease of Yurgenson helped with this. At the same time, the girl definitely cannot be called frivolous. On the contrary, she likes to spend time usefully and introduces Zagitova to this.
In an interview with Match TV, Yurgenson told how they went on a tour of the Novodevichy Cemetery together.
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«This is not just a cemetery, but a real history museum, so Alina was positive about the idea. When we stopped at Lyudmila Gurchenko's grave, a woman came up to us who, as we understood, works in her apartment museum. She told us many interesting facts about the artist's life. Next time we'll go in the summer, we'll take a guide. We'll also go to the Troekurovskoye Cemetery. I've already been there myself, took a tour, so I decided to show it to Alina,» said Yurgenson, to whom Alina can always turn for advice on working on camera.
Zivert
When communicating with people, Zagitova does not pay attention to the age difference. For her, the main thing is common interests and development. Thus, music connected her with one of the most famous singers in Russia.
Yulia Zivert gained popularity in 2018 after the release of the track Life, since then her songs have increasingly entered the charts. Now Zivert is one of the trendsetters in Russian show business. Therefore, for many it was a surprise that it was she who supported Zagitova in her musical debut last year. Then Alina performed with Zivert on the same stage, performing the sensational song Credo. The performance was so successful that for several months it was the main news item in the world of figure skating.
Zagitova herself was surprised by such a feat: «I sang and thought, is this me? And Zivert was singing next to me. And for some reason with me? Or is it just me? On stage!!!» — Alina shared her emotions on her blog. But this is where the girls' philosophy coincides — to do what is scary. Zagitova admits that she may not be able to sing, dance, or host a show perfectly yet, but the most important thing for her is to follow her desires and express herself. Perhaps it was this worldview that united the two such dissimilar personalities.
In an interview with Puma, Zagitova said: «I know that much has been said and written about female friendship, but it definitely exists, and women are stronger when they are together.» But the strength is not just in the fact that women are together, but in the fact that they are not afraid to change, go through difficulties and improve themselves, supporting each other. All this is the basis of Zagitova's relationships with her friends.
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