Alexei Sviatchenko

Hungarian pair skater
1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)Figure skating careerCountry Hungary
 Russia (until 2022)PartnerMaria PavlovaCoachDmitri Savin, Fedor Klimov, Sofia Evdokimova, Gurgen VardanjanSkating clubSebestyén KSEBegan skating2006

Alexei Vadimovich Sviatchenko (Russian: Алексей Вадимович Святченко; born 24 March 1999) is a Russian pair skater who currently competes for Hungary. With his current skating partner, Maria Pavlova, he is the 2023 Skate Canada International silver medalist, the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo bronze medalist, the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy bronze medalist, and a two-time Hungarian national champion (2023-24).

Personal life

Sviatchenko was born on 24 March 1999 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He speaks fluent Russian and is learning Hungarian.[1]

Career

Early years and career for Russia

Sviatchenko began learning how to skate in 2006. He became interested in the sport upon first seeing skaters at an ice rink and asked his mother to put him in lessons. He trained first as a single skater in Kolpino, a suburb of St. Petersburg, and at the age of 12 took up pair skating at the Figure Skating Club of St. Petersburg coached by Alexei Sokolov.[1]

Sviatchenko competed with his first partner, Daria Kvartalova, until 2019. The team competed at four junior international events together, most notably finishing third at the 2018 JGP Canada. Following his split with Kvartalova, Sviatchenko had two more short-lived partnerships for Russia, one with Anastasia Balabanova during the 2020–21 season, and another with Nadezhda Labazina the following year. Labazina/Sviatchenko had one international start together before parting ways, finishing ninth at the 2021 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge.

2022–23 season: Debut of Pavlova/Sviatchenko

Sviatchenko had his first tryout with his current skating partner, Maria Pavlova, in March of 2022 at what is now their current training base in Sochi. The duo chose to move forward as a new team for Hungary not long after, coached by Pavlova's staff consisting of Dmitri Savin, Fedor Klimov, Sofia Evdokimova, and Gurgen Vardanjan.[2]

Pavlova/Sviatchenko made their competitive debut late in the 2022–23 season at the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished ninth. Weeks later, the team claimed their first Hungarian national title at the 2023 Four Nationals Championship, the combined national championship event for Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. Due to their placement at the event, Pavlova/Sviatchenko were named to the Hungarian teams for the 2023 European Championships in January, and the 2023 World Championships in March.

At the European Championships, Pavlova/Sviatchenko placed sixth in the short program and fourth in the free skate to finish fifth overall, the best placement for a Hungarian team at the event in many years. In preparation for the World Championships, the team competed at two senior B events, the 2023 Bavarian Open and the 2023 Challenge Cup, where they placed first and second respectively.

Pavlova/Sviatchenko capped their season at Worlds, hosted in Saitama, Japan. There, the duo set new personal bests in both segments of competition, placing eighth in the short program and seventh in the free skate for seventh place finish overall, another landmark placement for a Hungarian pair team at the competition in recent memory.[1]

2023–24 season

Pavlova/Sviatchenko opened their second season together in September at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy where they finished fifth. They followed up this placement with a third place finish at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy, and a silver medal in the Challenger ineligible pairs event at the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy.

Pavlova and Sviatchenko perform a pair spin during their free skate at the 2024 World Championships

The team made their ISU Grand Prix series debut in late October at the 2023 Skate Canada International, held in Vancouver. Pavlova/Sviatchenko placed fourth in the short program, and rose to second in the free skate to finish second overall between Canadian gold medalists Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps and Italian third-place finishers Beccari/Guarise. Their placement marked the first medal for Hungary in pairs at a Grand Prix event. Following the free skate, Pavlova remarked, "We're really happy with our performance and we're going to improve every time and we have a lot of things to work on. Our federation is happy for us. We're giving good results for our country and we will continue to do that."[3] They were again fourth in the short program at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, but another second-place free skate won them the bronze medal.[4]

The team's results on the Grand Prix initially had them finishing as first alternates to the Grand Prix Final.[5] They were called up to compete at the Beijing event following the withdrawal of German team Hocke/Kunkel, and came in fourth at the event.[6]

Pavlova/Sviatchenko competed next at the 2024 European Championships, finishing fourth in the short program, less than two points back of third place. They came third in the free skate, winning a bronze small medal, but remained fourth overall, 1.66 points behind bronze medalists Ghilardi/Ambrosini of Italy. They expressed dissatisfaction with the judging of their performances, with Pavlova saying "our motivation goes down every time we keep getting these scores."[7]

Finishing the season at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Pavlova/Sviatchenko came sixth in the short program. They moved up to fourth after the free skate, which she called "very motivating for next season."[8]

Programs

With Pavlova

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2023–2024
[9][10]

Austin Powers:

2022–2023
[11]

With Kvartalova

Season Short program Free skating
2018–2019
[12]
  • The Feeling Begins
    by Peter Gabriel
    choreo. by Roman Soloviev, Valentin Molotov
  • Rain, In Your Black Eyes
    by Ezio Bosso
    choreo. by Roman Soloviev, Valentin Molotov
2017–2018
[13]
  • Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3
    by Muse
    choreo. by Roman Soloviev, Valentin Molotov

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix, CS: Challenger Series, JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Pavlova for Hungary

International[14]
Event 22–23 23–24
Worlds 7th 4th
Europeans 5th 4th
GP Final 4th
GP Finland 3rd
GP Skate Canada 2nd
CS Finlandia Trophy 3rd
CS Golden Spin 9th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 5th
Bavarian Open 1st
Budapest Trophy 2nd
Challenge Cup 2nd
National
Hungarian Champ. 1st 1st
Four Nationals 1st 1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

With Labazina for Russia

International[15]
Event 2021–22
CS Denis Ten Memorial 9th

With Balabanova for Russia

National[15]
Event 2020–21
Russian Champ. 10th

With Kvartalova for Russia

International: Junior[16]
Event 16–17 17–18 18–19
JGP Canada 3rd
JGP Croatia 6th
Tallinn Trophy 1st 1st
National
Russian Jr. Champ. 6th 5th

Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [17]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS 204.60 2024 World Championships
Short program TSS 68.01 2024 World Championships
TES 39.21 2024 World Championships
PCS 32.89 2024 World Championships
Free skating TSS 136.59 2024 World Championships
TES 74.40 2024 World Championships
PCS 62.19 2024 World Championships

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

With Pavlova

2023–24 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 18–24, 2024 2024 World Championships 6
68.01 		4
136.59 		4
204.60
January 8–14, 2024 2024 European Championships 4
65.29 		3
128.73 		4
194.02
December 14–16, 2023 2024 Four Nationals Championships 1
64.87 		1
131.31 		1
196.18
December 7–10, 2023 2023–24 Grand Prix Final 4
65.51 		5
126.51 		4
192.02
10–12 November 2023 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo 4
61.53 		2
124.66 		3
186.19
27–29 October 2023 2023 Skate Canada International 4
62.22 		2
125.56 		2
187.78
12–15 October 2023 2023 Budapest Trophy 1
63.08 		2
129.28 		2
192.36
4-8 October 2023 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy 3
61.66 		4
107.73 		2
169.39
20–23 September 2023 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 5
61.34 		5
121.26 		5
182.60
2022–2023 season
Date Event SP FS Total
22–26 March 2023 2023 World Championships 8
64.43 		7
126.24 		7
190.67
23–26 February 2023 2023 International Challenge Cup 4
58.44 		2
115.19 		2
173.63
31 January–5 February 2023 2023 Bavarian Open 2
65.07 		1
112.71 		1
177.78
25–29 January 2023 2023 European Championships 6
57.97 		4
115.01 		5
172.98
15–17 December 2022 2023 Four National Championships 1
61.84 		1
112.01 		1
173.85
7–10 December 2022 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 9
53.58 		9
97.67 		9
151.25

References

  1. ^ a b c Flade, Tatjana (5 August 2023). "New chapter for Hungary's Pavlova and Sviatchenko". Golden Skate. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  2. ^ Simonenko, Andrei (10 September 2023). ""It wasn't "Russification" of Hungarian figure skating but systematic development." Interview with Hungarian pair Maria Pavlova / Alexei Sviatchenko and their coach Dmitri Savin". RIA Novosti Sport. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  3. ^ Capellazzi, Gina (30 October 2023). "Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps win first Grand Prix gold at Skate Canada". Figure Skaters Online. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  4. ^ Slater, Paula (November 18, 2023). "Hase and Volodin golden in Grand Prix debut". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  5. ^ "Figure skating: Who has qualified for the Grand Prix Final 2023?". Olympic Channel. November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  6. ^ Slater, Paula (December 8, 2023). "Hase and Volodin seize Grand Prix Final gold". Golden Skate. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  7. ^ Slater, Paula (January 11, 2024). "Beccari and Guarise clinch unexpected gold at 2024 Europeans". Golden Skate. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Slater, Paula (March 22, 2024). "Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps golden in Montreal". Golden Skate. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  9. ^ "Maria Pavlova / Alexei Sviatchenko: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Pavlova, Maria. "2023/24 Exhibition". Instagram. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Maria Pavlova / Alexei Sviatchenko: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023.
  12. ^ "Daria KVARTALOVA / Alexei SVIATCHENKO: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Daria KVARTALOVA / Alexei SVIATCHENKO: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Maria Pavlova / Alexei Sviatchenko: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
  15. ^ a b "Alexei SVIATCHENKO / Maria PAVLOVA". RinkResults. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Daria Kvartalova / Alexei Sviatchenko: Competition Results". International Skating Union. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ^ "HUN-Maria PAVLOVA / Balazs NAGY". Skating Scores.

External links

  • v
  • t
  • e