Retired at 19? How an illness put champion figure skater Anna Shcherbakova's career on ice

Anna Shcherbakova is considered a super talent in figure skating after winning gold at the 2021 World Championships at just 16 years old. Experts predicted a great future for her in sports, but a battle with a severe illness looks to have cut her competitive days tragically short.

According to 'Bild', Shcherbakova was infected with Pfeiffer's glandular fever in mid-July 2023. The Olympic champion recovered quickly, but is still struggling with the long-term effects.

According to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 90 percent of people become infected with the Epstein-Barr virus during their lifetime, mostly in childhood or adolescence. While for most people this virus will exist in the body with no consequences, it can lead to an infection of Pfeiffer's glandular fever, which causes, among other things, fever, sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. In some cases, complications can occur or lead to shortness of breath or chronic fatigue syndrome in the long term.

While the Russian athlete's illness healed quickly, the fever left its mark. That's why the figure skating star had to stop training for the current season and initially announced her comeback for 2024.

Anna Shcherbakova can now get back on the ice, but is only taking part in show events. Regular and intensive training for competitions is not possible, putting a huge question mark on her career in the sport going forward.

Several experts no longer expect Shcherbakova to return to her top form and compete. In an interview with 'Sport24', former world figure skating champion Maria Butyrskaya said: "It is unlikely that Anna will return to the sport again."

The young talent is currently banned from playing at international level due to the war in Ukraine. In addition, the level of performance in figure skating within Russia is so close that it is doubtful that Anna could make it back to the top of the country after the long break.

Anna Shcherbakova was born in Moscow on March 28, 2004 and started figure skating when she was three and a half years old.

In an interview with 'FS Gossips', she said that she got into sports thanks to her older sister. She trained with her in the same age group and received no special treatment, which meant she was far ahead of her peers and won medals early.

When she was 9, her parents registered her with the successful but feared trainer Eteri Tutberidze. Although Shcherbakova enjoyed figure skating, she said, "Eteri Tutberidze is not the kind of coach you train with just for fun, you have to work."

Anna loved ice skating and said her parents never put any pressure on her to train and compete at the level she did. As a teenager, she decided not to study and to concentrate fully on sport – with her parent's support.

In 2018, the Russian took part in the ISU Junior Grand Prix series – her first international competition. She qualified for the final in Vancouver and ultimately took 5th place.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva was considered a child prodigy before Shcherbakova, according to 'NTV'. But at the Olympic Games in Beijing, doping allegations were made against her. The pressure was too high and she botched a routine. Finally, the gold medal went to her teammate Anna Shcherbakova – and a new figure skating star was born!

Shcherbakova, who competes in the individual race, is now not only the Russian champion, but also the world champion (2021), Olympic champion (2022), and vice-European champion (2020 and 2022).

In an interview from October 2023, as reported by the Limited Times, Anna hinted at a possible retirement, albeit for different reasons: "I've spent my whole life training and competing, so of course I'm interested in trying something new."

Many media outlets are currently speculating about the figure skater's future plans. It is assumed that in addition to appearing at events, she could pursue a career as a trainer. The next few months will show which path Shcherbakova will take.