Anna Shcherbakova, the winner of the 2021 Figure Skating World Championships, is looking forward to her first Olympic campaign in Beijing.

The Russian talent has taken podium spots at the European Championships twice and won the Russian nationals three times during the past three years, among other top-level competitions.

The 17-year-old focuses on her performance and avoids predicting the result going into the Games.

In an interview with CGTN during the latest episode of its special series "The Chat Room," Shcherbakova explained her mindset before the Olympics, shared how she coped with the influence of COVID-19 during the season and expressed anticipation to revisit China following her last trip to Chongqing during the 2019 Grand Prix.

Shcherbakova secured her berth for Beijing 2022 after the European Championships in January, among a highly competitive Russian squad that also includes Alexandra Trusova and Kamila Valieva.

The three ladies swept the podium in Estonia, with Valieva setting a new world record in the short program.

When asked if an all-Russian podium finish would occur in Beijing, Shcherbakova, who currently has the second-highest free skate score of any lady, remains calm and professional.

"I understand why everyone would expect this, as all eyes are on the results of the Games and our performances. There's no doubt that Russian figure skating is at a high level now. The fierce competition within Russia has reached an unbelievable level," Shcherbakova said.

"I just need to give everything I have, rather than expecting any medals," she added.

In her preparation leading up to Beijing 2022, Shcherbakova maintained training as much as she could during the COVID-19 pandemic, countering the challenges with a high standard of protection on her side.

"We are doing daily COVID-19 tests right now," she said. "We really hope we don't test positive during the Games. So we're trying our best to protect ourselves, and the people around us."

The figure skating sensation will turn 18 in March after the Beijing Winter Olympics. Like any other teenage girl, she finds joy in reading and food hunting or a large teddy bear from Chinese fans she still keeps.

She lives a busy schedule, though, splitting time between an athletic career and school work, trying her best to make her time on the blades last longer, as she identified to have truly found herself in the sport.

"When I was very young, the time when I hadn't started thinking of (making figure skating) my career, I also tried music, drawing and dancing, and I would go to those classes weekly. I enjoy doing many things, but nothing really intrigues me as much as figure skating, so I chose to pursue it fully, and I can't imagine my future without it, as it has been so closely connected to my life. To some extent, I am very lucky to find myself in this career," she said.