Maria Sotskova is a famous domestic figure skater, performing in women's single skating. In 2016, she took second place at the Youth Winter Olympics, as well as at the World Junior Championships. She is considered one of the main hopes of Russian figure skating today. At 16, she already had the title of master of sports. In her asset - a bronze and three silver medals of the junior championship of Russia. She has successes in adult competitions: in 2015 she won the Tallinn Cup, the next year - the Ondrei Nepela memorial, which takes place in Slovakia, and in 2017 - the prestigious tournament for figure skaters in Finland.
early years
Maria Sotskova was born in the town of Reutov near Moscow in 2000. Her family has never had professional athletes, but sports here have always been appreciated and respected.
For the first time, Maria Sotskova appeared on skates when she was only four years old. She began to study at the rink in her yard. Then her mother could not even think that this sport would captivate the child so much that it would replace the TV, dolls and all other activities. In addition, it will bring harmony, beauty and health benefits. At that time, no one thought about medals and sports victories.
Section lesson
At the same time, Maria Sotskova's parents took care of her health and development. Therefore, they brought the girl to the section where she fell into the hands of the strict and demanding mentor Svetlana Panova.
At first, Masha was not easy, and the first training, as a rule, ended in tears. But her parents did not follow her lead, but continued to bring her to the rink over and over again, raising her child’s character and ability to overcome difficulties.
When the girl, finally, was imbued with a love of figure skating, she began to learn jumping with her coach. This added extreme sports to the classes, which the future champion really liked. After this, the heroine of our article was already looking forward to every next workout.
Skater Maria Sotskova achieved her first successes in 2009, and three years later she pleased her parents and mentor with a bronze medal that she brought from the junior championship, confidently performing along with even older participants. The following year, she had two more silver medals and a Grand Prix, which Maria won at competitions in Japan. Then it became obvious to herself and all those around her that she had a great future in figure skating. After that, she began to study even harder.
Competition Performance
The heroine of our article honed the level of her professional skills on the ice of the children and youth sports school of the Olympic reserve "Snow Leopards". It was there that she began preparations for the 2013/2014 season, which can be considered the first official season of her career. She obeyed the Junior Grand Prix, she won at individual stages, and then in his final, winning the main prize.
A photo of Maria Sotskova then began to appear regularly in the sports press, and she continued successful performances the following year. This time in her piggy bank there was a gold medal at the stage in Croatia and a silver medal in Estonia. True, then followed a certain recession, which did not allow her to take a place on the champion's pedestal.
In the 2015/2016 season, Maria is catching up. After winning the stages in Austria and Latvia, he makes his way to the Grand Prix finals, where he takes second place.
Training in America
At the age of 16, important changes took place in the biography of Maria Sotskova. After consulting with her coach Svetlana Panova, she makes a fateful decision to go training in America. Overseas athlete expects to improve their own skills. Classes are held with the mentor Rafael Harutyunyan.
In his group, Maria polishes her skills in California, by then she was already able to pay for the services of a coach from her own savings earned at various stages of the Grand Prix.
The athlete admits that this experience was very useful for her. At Harutyunyan, she was faced with a fundamentally new method of training, here she was taught to spend every free minute with benefit, all the while keeping in mind a future triumph.
In the 2015/2016 season at the adult championship of Russia, the heroine of our article in the women's singles takes fifth place. This success allows her to get a place in the national team.
True, so far only as a spare. Shortly thereafter, the young star goes to the Youth Olympics in Norway. After an arbitrary program, she is in second place in the overall standings.
A month later, in Hungarian Debrecen, Maria wins the bronze in the show program, while improving her recent performance by estimates. And in the final table takes second place.
Change mentor
Speaking about the young skater, many say that the height and weight of Maria Sotskova are ideal for this sport. She has almost perfect parameters for performing on ice. The height of Maria Sotskova is 173 centimeters, and weight - 52 kilograms.
After this championship, she has a new mentor. The heroine of our article begins to deal with coach Elena Buyanova. In addition, Maria changes the club, moving to CSKA. Practice has shown that all these changes have benefited her only. New successes on ice did not take long. In the pre-Olympic season, she wins the tournament in Slovak Bratislava. Moreover, it demonstrates a high level of performance, leading in the overall standings throughout the tournament, which is a sign of its high skill.
Grand Prix Final in France
In November 2016, Maria successfully performs at the Grand Prix in Paris. In the capital of France, she again improves her previous results, taking the final second place.
The final stage of the World Grand Prix takes place in the Japanese city of Sapporo. The heroine of our article has a bronze medal, which gives her the right to get into the finals. The final competition is again held in France, but this time in the city of Marseille. This start is still one of the main disappointments in her career. Failures pursue the athlete one after another, in the end she takes only the penultimate place. It is worth noting that she was able to surpass her previous achievement in the free program.
A small consolation for her was the bronze medal at the Russian Championship, which was held in Chelyabinsk. This local success allowed her at least a little rehabilitation in the eyes of her mentors and already numerous fans.
New victories
In January 2017, the Russian skater successfully performs in the Czech city of Ostrava. This time, she manages to significantly improve her results in the short program, and two months later, Maria arrives in Finnish Helsinki as a participant in the World Cup.
The Russian woman shows the sixth result in the short program and the eleventh in the free program. In the final table, this allows her to take eighth place. Another Russian woman - Evgenia Medvedeva wins the world championship, and the Canadians - Caitlin Osmond and Gabriel Daleman - occupy two other places on the podium.
The high results demonstrated by the Russians at the World Championships allow the Russian team to get three Olympic trips to the games in Pyeongchang.
Participation in the Olympics
Preparation for the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea for Russian athletes takes place in an extremely tense and nervous atmosphere. Due to doping scandals, the team is refused to participate in competitions under the national flag. Participants go to the Games as Olympic athletes from Russia, and instead of the Russian tricolor, after their victories they raise the Olympic flag.
Sotskova is among the 30 participants in the women's free skating program. A short program with a world record is completed by the Russian woman Alina Zagitova, the second is her compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva, and the third is Canadian Caitlin Osmond. Maria shows only the 12th result, which allows her to qualify for an arbitrary program.
This time, the judges rate her performance much higher. In the free program, she is in seventh place, which allows her to become the eighth in the overall standings. But the podium after a short program remains unchanged, the Russians win gold and silver.
Personal life
In April 2018, the athlete turned 18 years old. The personal life of Maria Sotskova is known that she is not married. However, it does not extend to whether she is currently meeting with someone or not.
From the social networks that the skater actively leads, you can find out that in her free time she loves to draw. Her main fans are parents, her mother accompanies at all tournaments, helps to choose costumes.