Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian contends for an Olympic medal in first major competition

MILAN (AP) — It's not often that the second figure skater on the ice in a Winter Olympic competition is must-see viewing. Adeliia Petrosian is different.

The 18-year-old Russian had only competed in one senior event outside her homeland before Tuesday's short program, resulting in one of the lowest seedings and a position near the top of the start list.

Even though she was skating around three hours before the other top contenders, Petrosian was greeted by cheers from devoted fans holding personalized banners in a nearly full arena.

“Today I wasn’t nervous at all,” she said in Russian after a clean, Michael Jackson-themed skate that earned 72.89 points. “So far I'm not feeling any strong external pressure. Let's see what happens in the free skate.”

Hours later, Petrosian was very much in the medal picture, placing fifth in the short program, fewer than six points behind leader Ami Nakai of Japan. Quadruple jumps are allowed in Thursday's free skate, and Petrosian is the only woman in the competition who regularly performs them. A clean quad could catapult her onto the podium.

Petrosian is competing as an individual neutral athlete at the Milan Cortina Olympics due to restrictions on Russia’s participation during its war in Ukraine. The arena announcer introduced her as a “three-time national champion” but didn’t specify a country. Russians have won the women's gold at the last three Winter Olympics.

The top-ranked skaters, including the U.S. “Blade Angels” trio of Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito and three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, didn't compete for another three hours.

“I don't yet have that feeling that the competition is really against them,” Petrosian said when asked how it felt to compete with the likes of Sakamoto, Liu and U.S. champion Glenn for the first time.

“We're so far apart that I haven't even seen them once yet. I don't really have that feeling yet, but obviously I'd be really pleased to be close to them and compete.”

Petrosian showed no obvious sign of injury. Her fitness level had been unclear following comments about injuries in a recent Russian documentary.

Petrosian said she and her coaches considered a high-scoring triple axel for the short program but decided on a safer double for “stability, for the sake of my preparation and my form.”

She has practiced quadruple jumps this week in Milan and could potentially take that high-risk option in Thursday’s free skate, which could boost her score significantly.

“Come on Adeliia! Victory awaits you!” was the message written on one banner in Russian as Petrosian prepared to skate.

“The audience really accepted me well,” Petrosian said. “Each time that I think it’ll be a little less loud, the spectators always somehow shout more, greet me more warmly. And I can’t be unhappy with that.”

Petrosian is coached by Eteri Tutberidze, who has coached numerous Russian women’s skating champions including Kamila Valieva, whose doping case overshadowed the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Tutberidze isn't accredited as Petrosian's coach for the Games but TV showed her watching on a screen in the arena.

Then-IOC President Thomas Bach was critical of the “coldness” displayed by Valieva’s entourage toward the skater, who was 15 at the time, when she missed the podium.

World Anti-Doping Agency president Witold Banka said this month that an investigation found no evidence Tutberidze was implicated in Valieva’s doping case but that he was personally not “comfortable with her presence here in the Olympic Games.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Adeliia Petrosian of Individual Neutral Athletes competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Adeliia Petrosian of Individual Neutral Athletes competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Adeliia Petrosian of Individual Neutral Athletes competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Adeliia Petrosian of Individual Neutral Athletes reacts to her score after competing in the women's short program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Adeliia Petrosian of Individual Neutral Athletes competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democrats hope to rein in the power of federal immigration officers in Minnesota as the state’s legislative session gets underway Tuesday, while Republicans will focus on combatting fraud in taxpayer-funded programs that President Donald Trump cited to justify the recent immigration enforcement surge.

While White House border czar Tom Homan said over the weekend that more than 1,000 officers have left the Twin Cities area, and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead, the aftermath will continue to reverberate at the state Capitol during the session, which runs through May.

It's unclear whether any significant changes can pass the closely divided Legislature. The House is tied with a Republican speaker, while Democrats hold only a one-vote majority in the Senate. So nothing can pass without bipartisan support. And it's an election year, with all 201 legislative seats on the ballot. House Speaker Lisa Demuth is among the GOP candidates running for governor and has expressed hope she will win Trump's endorsement. All of that could make compromise difficult.

“There are definitely going to be priorities on both sides of the aisle. ... But when it comes right down to it, we need to have bipartisan votes to move bills through the committees and get the work done for Minnesotans,” Demuth told reporters Monday.

Capitol security is tighter this session following the assassination of Democratic former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband last summer. All visitors now undergo weapons screening.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz last week proposed a $10 million package of relief for small businesses that lost customers and workers during the surge, and more aid proposals could be coming.

Just ahead of the session, House and Senate Democrats unveiled 11 bills to counter what they consider some of the worst excesses by federal immigration officers during the surge.

They're meant to keep federal officers away from schools, childcare centers, hospitals and colleges. They would also ban federal agents from wearing face masks, while requiring them to display visible identification. They would also require that federal authorities allow state investigators to participate in investigations of shootings by federal agents, such as the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The state remains frozen out of those cases. The FBI officially notified the state Monday that it won't share information or evidence from its investigation into Pretti's death.

The top House Democrat, Zack Stephenson, said they don't expect support from Republican leaders, but they're hoping some GOP lawmakers will break with their party.

“What we’ve seen these last six weeks has been so exceptional, so damaging, that I don’t know how you can be human and not respond to it,” Stephenson said. "But even if it’s not that, we also know it’s an election year and voters are watching, and voters will hold people accountable if they don’t stand up to this administration."

Stephenson also acknowledged that any restrictions the state tries to impose on federal law enforcement are likely to be challenged in court.

“But some things are worth fighting for,” Stephenson added. “And if we’re not going to fight for this, what are we doing here?”

Republicans have expressed little enthusiasm for taking on federal authorities and hope to shift the focus to fighting fraud.

“Minnesotans want our state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement,” said Rep. Harry Niska, the No. 2 House Republican.

One of the top GOP anti-fraud priorities is legislation to create an independent Office of Inspector General to investigate and prevent the misuse of public funds. The Senate passed a similar proposal last year on a bipartisan 60-7 vote. House Democratic leaders blocked a vote at the end of the session, but the proposal remains alive this year.

Republicans also want to require more accountability for agencies and officials who let fraud happen on their watch.

The final two of the nine people charged for their alleged roles in a protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul, where an ICE official served as a pastor, have pleaded not guilty.

Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort and Trahern Crews, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, entered their pleas during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko. Other defendants pleading not guilty to civil rights charges at previous arraignments included former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon.

Fort told reporters and a crowd of supporters afterward that she was exercising her freedom of the press to cover the story of the protest at Cities Church on Jan. 18 while centering the voices of people who otherwise would not be heard.

“As a journalist who is from Minnesota, this case doesn’t just leave me fighting for my freedom, it is the government trying to muzzle me, to make me unable to report on one of the most historic cases, not just in our state, but in our country,” Fort said.

Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort speaks to reporters and supporters outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, after pleading not guilty over her alleged role in a protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)