Of all the Olympic sports, figure skating is one of the most beautiful and expressive. Although it is extremely difficult to master the technical steps required in a program, the dancers make it look effortless as they drift across the ice. The best very skaters don’t just master the jumps, spins and tricks.
Instead, they also learn to truly express the emotion of the songs they perform to. If you want to meet someone who is the embodiment of skating meet Veronika Zhilina. Veronika is a Russian figure skater whose gorgeous performance to Alexandra Burke’s rendition of Hallelujah has gone viral.
It is one of the most emotional and touching performances you will ever watch, and it’s even more amazing because she was only ten years old at the time.
Veronika Vladislavovna Zhilina was born on the 15th of May 2008 in Arkhangelsk, Russia. She is already a successful skater but admittedly she did start young. Her mother Ludmilla started teaching her to skate when she was only three years old.
She showed a true aptitude for skating, and even though she was only a little girl, there was no chance for her to get lonely. Soon she and her mum were joined by her younger sister Alena. Forging a career in figure skating requires intensive training but both girls were happy to make the commitment because skating is their passion.
They stayed in Arkhangelsk until 2018 before moving to Moscow to train with prestigious Russian figure skating coaches Sergei Dudakov, Sergei Rozanov and Eteri Tutberidze. Just a year later Veronika competed in the junior category of the Russian Younger Age Championships and won! She went on to show this was not beginner’s luck as she successfully defended her title a year later.
