Yulia Vyacheslavovna Lipnitskaya (also spelled Julia Lipnitskaia; , ; born 5 June 1998) is a Russian retired competitive figure skater. She was part of the Russian team to win the 2014 Winter Olympics team trophy. Individually, Lipnitskaya is the 2014 World silver medalist, the 2014 European champion, the 2013–14 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, and a two-time Russian national silver medalist (2012 & 2014). Competing as a junior, Lipnitskaya won the 2012 World Junior Championships, 2011–12 JGP Final, and 2012 Russian Junior Championships. She retired from the professional sport on 9 September 2017 due to complications with ligaments of the legs and hip joints, as well as suffering from anorexia nervosa.
Lipnitskaya is the youngest Russian athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Within the ladies' singles category, she is the youngest gold medalist at the European Championships. She is also the youngest woman figure skater to win a gold medal at the Olympics under modern rules. Lipnitskaya was 15 years, 249 days old when Russia won the team trophy.
Early life
Yulia Lipnitskaya was born on 5 June 1998 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Lipnitskaya was raised by a single mother, Daniela Leonidovna Lipnitskaya, who gave her own surname to Yulia. Lipnitskaya's father, Vyacheslav, was drafted into the Russian army while her mother was pregnant, and he chose not to return to the family afterwards. Lipnitskaya's grandmother, Evgenia Koklova, engaged in acrobatics, skating, and sailing in her youth.
Career
Early career
Lipnitskaya began training at age four, when her mother convinced the experienced skating coach Elena Levkovets to accept her as a student. She skated in Yekaterinburg until 2009, when she and her mother began to discuss her future, concluding that they should either relocate for the purposes of her skating career or leave the sport. They moved to Moscow where Lipnitskaya joined Eteri Tutberidze's group in March 2009.
In the 2009–10 season, Lipnitskaya placed fifth on the junior level at the 2010 Russian Championships. She was fourth on the senior level the following season at the 2011 Russian Championships. She also competed at the 2011 Russian Junior Championships but withdrew from the competition after the short program.
2011–12 season
Lipnitskaya became age-eligible for junior international competition in the 2011–12 season. She debuted on the Junior Grand Prix series at the JGP Baltic Cup in Gdańsk, Poland, winning both programs to take the gold medal. She then won her second assignment in Milan, Italy, to qualify for the JGP Final. At the JGP Final in Quebec, Lipnitskaya placed first in both segments to win the gold medal.
Lipnitskaya won silver on the senior level at the 2012 Russian Championships, having placed third in the short program and first in the free skate, and later took gold at the 2012 Russian Junior Championships. At the 2012 World Junior Championships, she won gold while achieving the junior-level ladies' record for the combined total (187.05 points) and the free skate (broken in 2014 by Elena Radionova). After the event, she said: "I liked everything and the performance was ideal. Now I am in a great mood. It was a great ending for a great season". She had no falls on the ice when competing during the 2011–12 season.
2012–13 season: Senior debut
Lipnitskaya became age-eligible for some senior events but not the World or European Championships. She made her senior debut at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy where she won the gold medal. Lipnitskaya was assigned to two Grand Prix events. She had some boot problems early in the season. Having placed first in the short program and second in the free skate, Lipnitskaya won the silver medal at the 2012 Cup of China behind gold medalist Mao Asada. She said she was more nervous than usual. The day before she left for Paris for the 2012 Trophee Eric Bompard, Lipnitskaya twisted her right ankle during off-ice training and could hardly do any jumps a day before the start of the event, but decided to compete in the short program as she felt better. She placed first in the short program and third in the free skate and won the bronze medal behind teammate Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.