BEIJING -- Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian is set to be a contender for the gold medal at next year's Winter Olympics after winning the final qualifying event Saturday.
Skating as an "Individual Neutral Athlete" without national symbols, Petrosian beat two former European champions with a total score of 209.63 points at the competition in Beijing on Saturday, with a Michael Jackson-themed short program and Argentine tango-style free skate.
This week marks the first time that Russian figure skaters have taken part in international competitions since the 2022 Olympics.
Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia, the 2023 European champion coming off a 28th-place finish at the world championships this year, was second on 206.23. Belgium's Loena Hendrickx, 2024 European gold medalist coming back from injury, was third on 204.96. The top five spots are awarded places at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Another Russian skater is on track to qualify after Petr Gumennik led the men's short program Saturday. His free skate is Sunday.
Petrosian's victory doesn't mean she will automatically go to the Olympics. The qualifying spot is technically a quota place for Russia's national skating federation, but Petrosian is the national champion.
In December, it announced up a pathway for Russians to receive "Individual Neutral Athlete" status to compete without symbols like the national flag and anthem. Similar rules apply to skaters from Russia's ally Belarus.
The Russian skaters had to go through the final qualifying event in Beijing because most Olympic spots were awarded at last season's world championships in Boston, when neutral athletes weren't eligible.
Petrosian is the latest star skater trained by coach Eteri Tutberidze, whose skaters won women's gold and silver at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. Her other skater, Kamila Valieva, who was 15 at the time, was at the center of a doping case which overshadowed the Games. The ISU has raised the minimum age to 17 ahead of these Olympics.
No Russian skaters took part in the pairs and ice dance events for the Olympic qualifiers, so they won't compete at Milan-Cortina. Both events are historically strong competitions for Russia.
Reports in Russian media have indicated the national federation's preferred candidates did not pass an ISU-run vetting process, but the ISU hasn't commented on individual cases.
The ISU process involved checking skaters' public statements since 2022 for "any active support for the invasion of Ukraine or any contractual links to Russian or Belarusian military and other national security agencies."
Also Saturday, China's Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang won the qualifying event in pairs skating.