MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Russia’s 2018 Olympic Champion in figure skating Alina Zagitova has decided to skip the national team’s pre-season test skate on September 12-13, the press service of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (RFSF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

"I have decided against taking part in the pre-season test skate on September 12-13, as I am very interested at the moment to try myself in a new role, namely to be the host of the [Russian reality figure skating television show] Ice Age," the statement quoted Zagitova as saying.

"I ask to treat my request with understanding and to take it into account," Zagitova added.

In early December 2019, the Russian figure skater announced her decision to take a break in her career for an indefinite period of time. RFSF President Alexander Gorshkov said at that time commenting on the news that a place in the Russian national team of figure skaters remained reserved for Zagitova.

Commenting on Zagitova’s decision to skip the pre-season test skate event this weekend, RFSF President told TASS that the federation treated her request with understanding.

"In her request today, Alina spoke only about skipping the pre-season trials and nothing else," Gorshkov said. "We have accepted her request with understanding."

However, Russian figure skating coach Alexander Zhulin told TASS he believed that today’s decision of Zagitova to skip the pre-season trials meant that she would never return to the ice.

"In my opinion, it means that she is not coming back to sports," Zhulin told TASS.

During the 2019/2020 season Zagitova earned 2,620 points having won the gold of the 2019 ISU World Championship in Japan’s Saitama as well as the silver of the European Championship and the silver of the ISU Grand Prix to finish in the top spot of the ISU (International Skating Union) list of the world’s best female figure skaters of the 2019/2020 season packing the total number of 4,702 points.

In addition to the gold of the 2019 ISU World Championship, Zagitova was the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics gold medalist in singles and the silver medalist in the team event.

Zagitova was the first Russian female figure skater to win all awards in ladies singles competitions as she was also the winner of the 2018 European Championships in Moscow and the gold medalist of the 2017-2018 Grand Prix Final in Nagoya.