Valieva, 15, sets new figure skating world record ahead of Olympics

Russian 15-year-old Kamila Valieva set a new short programme world record at the European Figure Skating Championships on Thursday, just three weeks out from the Winter Olympics.

Valieva, who is undefeated in her first season as a senior, scored 90.45 points after a flawless performance to "In Memoriam".

It bettered her previous world-best mark of 87.42 points at the Russian Grand Prix in November.

"Today I really felt that I am in the programme, that I am telling the story, it's a nice feeling when you skate and you forget about your body," the 2020 world junior champion said.

"It's so inspiring and you are so high after -- you are even higher after the skate."

📺 With a fantastic triple Axel Kamila Valieva jumps to the lead in the Women‘s Short Program with plenty of margin to spare! #EuroFigure #FigureSkating pic.twitter.com/pblrKarw2A

— ISU Figure Skating (@ISU_Figure) January 13, 2022

Such was her dominance on Thursday that second-placed Loena Hendrickx of Belgium was more than 14 points behind with 76.25.

A pair of 17-year-old Russians, Alexandra Trusova, who fell on her triple Axel, scored 75.13 points to sit in third place, while world champion Anna Shcherbakova tumbled on her combination and registered only 69.15 points.

Valieva has already pocketed the world record this season for the free programme (185.29 points) and for total score (272.21).

In the pairs event, Russia's Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov claimed the title to add to their world championship triumph last year.

Russia swept the podium as Mishina and Galliamov, with 239.82 points, finished ahead of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (236.43), with Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii claiming bronze (227.23).