Another record falls. With the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics three weeks away, Russia's figure skating teenage sensation Kamila Valieva cemented her status as a hot favorite by setting a new short program mark at the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia on Thursday night. 

Such was Valieva's supremacy that the 15-year-old's 90.45 points put her more than 14 points ahead of Loena Hendrickx, who is the first-ever Grand Prix medalist from Belgium in women's singles and a two-time International Challenge Cup champion. Valieva's compatriot Alexandra Trusova sits third with 75.13 points.   

A huge gulf exists between Valieva, who already holds the world record for free skate (185.29 points) and combined total (272.71 points), and the second-best female figure skater. "I feel like Kamila is too good for me, but I just do my best skating and try my best," observed Hendrickx.

The Belgian was in fine form and skated to a new personal best of her own, but she could only watch Valieva deliver another superb performance and become the first woman to break the 90-point barrier under the current scoring system.  

"Today, I really feel that I am in the program, that I am telling the story, it's a nice feeling when you skate and you forget about your body," said Valieva, who skated in the same arena in which she won world junior title back in 2020.  

"When I went out on the ice, I remembered the junior world championships two years ago and it was like I never left, everything was so harmonious so maybe it helped me," she added. 

In sharp contrast, it was a rather forgettable night for current world number one Anna Shcherbakova of Russia. The reigning world champion took a fall before executing a triple Lutz and got only 69.05 points, which left her agonizingly outside of the medal positions for the short program. 

While inconsistency dogged the 17-year-old Shcherbakova, all eyes will be on her teammate Valieva. The wunderkind remains unbeaten in her first season in international competition as a senior. It will raise nobody's eyebrows if she maintains her shape and repeats her record-setting performance in Beijing.