Russian Figure Skating Champions Train in Niigata before Heading off to Pyeongchang Olympics

Video footage taken on Feb. 5 at the Niigata Asahi Alex Ice Arena in Niigata shows Russian figure skaters Evgenia Medvedeva, a two-time winner of the World Figure Skating Championship, and Alina Zagitova, the champion of the 2017–18 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, locking arms with mayor Akira Shinoda after showing off some of their jumps at a practice held ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The mayor expressed admiration of the technique and called in an honor for the Figure Skating Federation of Russia to select Niigata as its immediate jumping-off point for the games that begins on Feb. 9. Members of the Russian group also spent part of the day instructing moves to about 40 local children, with pair skaters Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov as teachers. (Naomi Asano)