MOSCOW -- Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova, who won a gold medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics, will receive an Akita dog from Japan as a gift, according to the electronic edition of the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Zagitova, 15, announced Saturday that she will name the dog Masaru.
"I'm waiting for the dog to come. The dog is a girl, and I will call her Masaru, which means victory in Japanese," she told the media after taking part in an ice show in Moscow with other Olympic figure skaters.
According to an interview published on Feb. 25 by the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, Zagitova was getting ready for the Games in Niigata before the Olympics and fell in love with an Akita dog she saw in a magazine.
She reportedly told her mother that she wanted one, with her mother saying she could have one if she did well at the Olympics.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
