The Internet Has Mixed Feelings About Alina Zagitova Winning Gold With a Jump-Filled Olympic Performance

Alina Zagitova, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, took home the gold medal in Friday’s highly anticipated skating showdown at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, effectively edging out her teammate, Evgenia Medvedeva by a mere 1.31 points.

Zagitova, 15, who earned a total score of 239.57, had a jump-filled routine to “Don Quixote” that many considered an extremely athletic counterpart to fellow OAR skater 18-year-old Medvedeva’s emotional and artistic performance to the movie soundtrack of 2012’s “Anna Karenina” which earned her a total score of 238.26.

Many were quick to point out online that Zagitova’s performance was backloaded with lots of major jumps and feats, which allowed her to conserve her energy for the second half of her program and as might be expected, social media had plenty of hot takes about her winning her gold medal — the first one for the OAR during these Olympic games — and took to the Internet to sound off on how they felt about her big win.

Some were ecstatic for the young skater’s impressive victory and jump-filled routine.

Others favored Evgenia Medvedeva.

People defended the way Zagitova chose to choreograph her routine after it drew criticism from some.

And others felt that it was history being repeated when it came to the athleticism vs. artistry argument.

But one thing’s for certain: no one could deny that both athletes put on an incredible performance.