Zagitova and Medvedeva push each other to top of Olympic podium

PYEONGCHANG, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Alina Zagitova and teammate Evgenia Medvedeva are good friends but also each other's biggest rival, and they were pushed by each other to win the top two places of women's figure skating at the Olympic Games here on Friday.

The two hugged warmed after Zagitova, 15, took gold and Medvedeva, 18, won silver. They have been training in the same club in southwest Moscow with the same coaches.

Indeed, after the two practised together on Tuesday night, they could be seen sharing a joke before bowing in unison.

"Zhenia (Evgenia) and I are friends," Zagitova said. "We feel the rivalry when we come to competition but it is not maleficent. I try not to think about that (competition between them). I don' t go out there to prove something to someone. I just want to skate clean for myself."

Medvedeva said: "Last time I hear so many news that Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva are opponents on the ice and off the ice. We are humans, we communicate as usual, we are friends, we are girls, young girls. We can talk about everything to each other."

It is only this season, when Zagitova moved up from the junior ranks, that the two became direct competitors. And after Medvedeva, the current two-time world champion, returned from two months on the sidelines after a stress fracture in her right food, Zagitova had become her closest challenger.

Eteri Tutveridze knows the two skaters as well as anyone, having coached them to Olympic gold and silver.

"Zhenia is more professional (than Zagitova), but she is still like my child," the coach said. "She skates in a very grown-up way and her emotionality is her talent. She absolutely brings across the character she is portraying. She is not only portraying it, she gets into it so much that she is this character.

"Alina is not always consistent, she is sometimes like a child. Nevertheless, she is working hard. I think that Zhenia is her role model in life, in behaviour, in her way to work. She absolutely tries to copy her way to work, in the amount of work, and she doesn't stop.

"This helps. I can sometimes say to Zhenia, 'Look, how Alina is working' and I tell Alina, 'Look, how Zhenia is working'."

And judging by their performances on Friday, this competition between the two is pushing them to new heights. "Yes, your friend is competing here, but you have to fight," Medvedeva said. "When you take the ice you are alone. This is sport, this is war." Enditem