Russian Olympian Needs No Gold Medal — She Now Has a Signed EXO Album

A gift from popular K-pop boy group EXO has propelled a young world record-holding Russian figure skater to cloud nine.

Evgenia Medvedeva, who is competing at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, is a self-proclaimed K-pop fan.

The 18-year-old Olympian recently revealed that she listens to her favorite boyband EXO to gain confidence before doing her routine.

She recently received a signed album from EXO with a personal message of support, saying: “Don’t get hurt and always be healthy!”

Evgenia was so happy, she compared the gesture to winning an Olympic gold medal.

“Wow! Is this a dream? It feels like I won a gold medal around my neck!” Evgenia said.

She’s also extremely excited to be invited to meet the group backstage at the closing ceremony.

Evgenia, who has expressed her love with the Korean culture, revealed her dream of becoming Russia’s version of the legendary figure skater Yuna Kim. “This is Kim Yuna’s country. She makes figure skating fans all over the world happy. I want to leave that kind of image through the Pyeongchang Olympics.”

Feature image (left) Chosun, via (right) Instagram/weareone