Team Alina Zagitova

Masaru, Victory is Ours || Worlds 2019

Alina Zagitova shared her victory at the 2019 ISU World Championships with her beloved pup, a 1-year-old Akita Inu named Masaru. Her gold medal at the year’s biggest competition came at the end of a season marred by injury and other struggles. After her second-place finish at the earlier European Championships, she was asked by reporters if her pet dog was getting in the way of her training.

Alina defended her furry friend. “On the contrary, Masaru helps me with everything.”

Masaru was presented to Alina by the Japanese Akita preservation society after she became the Olympic Champion in ladies’ singles skating at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. The name Masaru means “victory” in Japanese.

Bonus what Masaru was doing while Alina was off winning Worlds

“After the Olympics, we were celebrating, when a Korean walked by and saw the two medals on the table—Alina’s medals. He stopped and said: “These are yours? You should understand that the gods from Olympus decided to reward you for something.” 

The burn was caused by dimexidum from a hot compress Alina’s grandma made to help her with her pain. At GPF, Ted Barton announced that Alina had hurt her ankle tripping over a power cord, and who knows what other issues were dogging her. Alina believes actions > words and keeps her injuries to herself.

(I’ve noticed some people blaming Grandma for Alina’s injury, so I’d like to ask, please don’t blame Grandma. Grandma’s medical knowledge may be lacking, but she loves Alina very much. I’m sure she feels terrible about the accident and she doesn’t need us adding to it.)

Thankfully, Alina was able to overcome everything thrown at her this season and win Worlds in a dominant fashion. Also thankfully, her burn seems to have healed.