Kazakhstan’s Sofia Samodelkina rewrites story

Sofia Samodelkina
If someone had told Sofia Samodelkina a few years ago that she’d be preparing for the upcoming Olympic season in California under the guidance of legendary Rafael Arutyunyan, she probably would have laughed. Back then, she was still a junior skater in Russia, consistently landing quads and a triple Axel, with no reason to imagine any major changes ahead.
Yet here she is in 2025, training in the United States, representing Kazakhstan, and chasing her first Olympic Games.