Alexander Samarin

Alexander Samarin
Samarin at the 2018 Internationaux de France
Personal information
Native name	Александр Владимирович Самарин
Full name	Alexander Vladimirovich Samarin
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1998-06-15) 15 June 1998 (age 23) Moscow, Russia
Home town	Moscow, Russia
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Coach	Svetlana Sokolovskaya
Former coach	Elena Buianova, Inna Goncharenko, Liubov Fedorchenko
Choreographer	Maxim Zavozin, Irina Tagaeva, Tatiana Rozanova
Former choreographer	Alexander Uspenski, Margarita Romanenko, I. Gurylev, Elena Maslennikova, Mikhail Potchitalin, Anna Bilibina, Sergei Verbillo, Ilia Averbukh, Sergei Novitski
Skating club	CSKA Moscow
Training locations	Moscow
Began skating	2003
World standing	9 (2018–19) 13 (2017–18) 17 (2016–17) 23 (2015–16) 41 (2014–15) 68 (2013–14) 80 (2012–13)
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	269.84 2019 Europeans
Short program	98.48 2019 Internationaux de France
Free skate	177.87 2019 Europeans
hide Medal record Representing  Russia Figure skating: Men's singles European Championships 2019 Minsk Men's singles World Team Trophy 2019 Fukuoka Team World Junior Championships 2017 Taipei Men's singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2016–17 Marseille Men' singles

Alexander Vladimirovich Samarin (Russian: Александр Владимирович Самарин; born 15 June 1998) is a Russian figure skater. He is the 2019 European silver medalist, the 2019 Internationaux de France silver medalist, the 2017 Skate Canada International bronze medalist, the 2018 Internationaux de France bronze medalist, and a four-time 2017 Russian national medalist (silver in 2017 and 2018, bronze in 2019, bronze in 2020). He has won three medals on the ISU Challenger Series, including gold at the 2015 CS Warsaw Cup.

As a junior, Samarin won bronze at the 2017 World Junior Championships and silver at the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, in addition to three gold medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series.

Samarin currently holds the world record for the highest scored element in single figure skating (21.12 points for a 4Lz+3T combination at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup) since the introduction of the -5/+5 GOE system in 2018.

Personal life[]

Alexander Vladimirovich Samarin was born 15 June 1998 in Moscow.^[1][2]

Career[]

Early years[]

Samarin began skating in 2002.^[2] His very first coach was Lyubov Fedorchenko at the Young Pioneers Stadium. In 2006, he switched to CSKA Moscow, where he was coached by Inna Goncharenko.^[1] In the 2009–10 season, he won the novice event at the 2010 NRW Trophy in Dortmund, Germany, and the junior silver medal at the International Crystal Skate 2010 in Odintsovo, Russia. In 2011–12, he withdrew from the 2012 Russian Junior Championships due to illness.^{[citation needed]}

2012–13 season[]

In 2012–13, at the start of the season, Samarin underwent an eye surgery because of a detached retina.^[3] Debuting on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series, he won a pair of bronze medals at JGP events in Slovenia and Germany and became the first alternate for the 2012–13 Junior Grand Prix Final. At the Russian Championships, he finished eighth in his first senior appearance and then won the silver medal on the junior level. He was assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships where he finished eighth.

2013–14 season[]

In 2013–14, Samarin was assigned to one JGP event, in Belarus, and finished fourth. At the 2014 Russian Championships, he placed thirteenth in seniors, landing his first triple Axel in competition in the free skate, and then fourth at junior level. He was coached by Goncharenko until the end of the season.^[4]

2014–15 season[]

Samarin changed coaches ahead of the 2014–15 season, joining Elena Buianova and Svetlana Sokolovskaya.^[5] He won bronze at his first Junior Grand Prix event of the season, in Courchevel, France, and then silver in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Making his senior international debut, he took silver in November at the 2014 Ice Challenge, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) competition in Graz, Austria, and finished eighth the following month at another CS event, the 2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb. Nationally, he finished eleventh on the senior level and second on the junior level. Concluding his season, he placed sixth in the short, ninth in the free, and eleventh overall at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

2015–16 season[]

Competing in the 2015–16 JGP series, Samarin finished fourth in Slovakia and won gold in Croatia. He appeared at two CS events, placing fourth at the 2015 Mordovian Ornament and winning the 2015 Warsaw Cup. At Russian nationals, he ranked eighth on the senior level and won the silver medal as a junior, behind Dmitri Aliev. He finished fourth at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, after winning a small silver medal for the short program and placing fifth in the free skate.

2016–17 season[]

Competing in the 2016–17 JGP series, Samarin won gold medals in Saransk, Russia, and Tallinn, Estonia. His medals qualified him to the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final in Marseille. Competing at the senior level, he won gold at the Volvo Open Cup in November. In December, he won silver in France, having finished second to Dmitri Aliev, and then took silver at the 2017 Russian Championships, behind Mikhail Kolyada.

In January 2017 Samarin competed at the 2017 European Championships where he placed eighth. In March 2017 Samarin competed at the 2017 Junior Worlds, where he won the bronze medal after placing third in the short program and fourth in the free skate.^[6]

2017–18 season[]

Handicapped by an injury to his right foot, Samarin was off the ice for about four months and returned to full training beginning of September. In October 2017 Samarin made his debut at the Grand Prix series. He won the bronze medal at the 2017 Skate Canada and placed fourth at the 2017 Internationaux de France.^[7]

In December 2017 Samarin competed at the 2018 Russian Championships where he won the silver medal behind Mikhail Kolyada. In January 2018 he competed at the 2018 European Championships where he placed sixth, lower than countrymen Kolyada and Aliev. He was consequently not named to the Russian Olympic team for the 2018 Winter Olympics, where there were only two men's spots.

2018–19 season[]

Samarin underwent knee surgery in May, was back on the ice in July, and started jumping again towards the end of August.^[8] Samarin started his season at the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy where he finished fifth. In his Grand Prix events, he placed fourth at 2018 Skate Canada and won the bronze medal at 2018 Internationaux de France.

^[9] In early December, Samarin competed at the 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb where he won the bronze medal.

At the 2019 Russian Championships, Samarin placed fourth in the short program after falling on an attempted quad toe loop.^[10] In the free skate, he fell on the quad toe, but then recovered to land six clean triples. He placed second, and won the bronze medal overall.^[11]

In January 2019 he won the silver medal at the 2019 European Championships after placing second in both the short program and the free skate. In the free skate, Samarin landed a quad Lutz, quad toe, and six triple jumps. His only major mistake was a two-footed triple loop. He achieved a new personal best score of 269.84 points, and his first podium finish at a senior-level ISU Championship.^[12][8]

Samarin competed at the 2019 Winter Universiade, where he placed fourth. In March 2019, Samarin competed at the 2019 World Championships placed twentieth in the short program, seventh in the free program, and twelfth overall. Samarin landed his first quad flip jump in competition. He concluded the season as part of the Russian team at the 2019 World Team Trophy, where he placed last in the short program after falling on both quad attempts, and performed better in the free skate. Team Russia won the bronze medal overall.^[13]

2019–20 season[]

Samarin began the season with a fourth-place finish at the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial, before winning silver at the 2019 Shanghai Trophy.

On the Grand Prix, Samarin's first event was the 2019 Internationaux de France. In the short program, Samarin placed second behind Nathan Chen, having made only a slight error on his triple Axel in a segment where most other competitors either popped or fell at least once. As a result, he was sixteen points ahead of the third-place Kévin Aymoz going into the free skate.^[14] Samarin fell twice in the free skate, and finished third in that segment behind Chen and Aymoz, but won the silver medal overall.^[15] At the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, Samarin placed first in the short program despite falling on his quad flip and putting a foot down on his triple Axel.^[16] Narrowly first in the free skate as well, he became the first Russian man to win the Rostelecom Cup since Evgeni Plushenko in 2009, and qualified for the Grand Prix Final.^[17] He finished fourth at the Final.^[18]

Samarin placed eighth in the short program at the 2020 Russian Championships after making errors on all three jumping passes and failing to complete his jump combination.^[19] Third in the free skate despite two falls, he won the bronze medal.^[20]

Samarin was assigned to compete at the European Championships, where he performed poorly in the short program after underrotating his quad Lutz and falling on an attempted quad toe loop without executing a combination. He was thirteenth in that segment.^[21] The free skate was also a struggle, rising to tenth place overall.^[22]

2020–21 season[]

Samarin debuted his programs at the senior Russian test skates.^[23] Competing on the domestic Cup of Russia series, he won the silver medal at the second stage in Moscow.^[24] He subsequently injured his back, and as a result withdrew from his scheduled second Cup of Russia event as well as the 2020 Rostelecom Cup.^[25] After injuring his back, he contracted COVID-19 as well, though this was only a mild case.^[26]

Returning to competition at the 2021 Russian Championships, Samarin was fifth in the short program after falling on his quad Lutz and underrotating his triple Axel attempt.^[26] Sixth in the free skate, he remained in fifth place overall.^[27]

Samarin competed at the 2021 Channel One Trophy, a televised event organized in lieu of the cancelled European Championships. He was selected for the Time of Firsts team captained by Evgenia Medvedeva. He placed sixth in both segments, and the Time of Firsts team finished in second place.^[28][29] He did not participate in the Russian Cup Final.^[30]

Records and achievements[]

• The first European skater to have completed quad Lutz in combination with a triple toe in international competitions at the 2017 Skate Canada.

Programs[]

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2021–2022	The Matrix by Don Davis choreo. by Ramil Mekhdiev	Lord & Master by Apashe Save Us (from La Terre vue du ciel) by Armand Amar choreo. by Ramil Mekhdiev
2020–2021 [31]	Polyushko-polye by Lev Knipper choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov	Keeping Me Alive by Jonathan Roy choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov
2019–2020 [31]	Blues for Klook by Eddy Louiss	Persecution by Secession Studios Good News by Apashe
2018–2019 [32]	Cold Blood by Dave Not Dave	From Now On The Greatest Show (from The Greatest Showman) by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
2017–2018 [33]	Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by E.S. Posthumus I'm No Angel (Moonlight Sonata) by Eric Lévi, Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Era	La Naissance de Yaha by Saint-Preux The Unforgiven III by Metallica House of the Rising Sun performed by Dave Evans	Come with Me Now[34] by Kongos
2016–2017 [2][35]	Come with Me Now by Kongos	Maybe I, Maybe You by Scorpions
2015–2016 [36]	C'est toi by Dany Brillant	Pearl Harbor by Hans Zimmer
2014–2015 [5]	Among Strangers by ?	Music by The Beatles
2013–2014 [4]	A Mad Russian's Christmas by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (from The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)	The Best Latin Tango
2012–2013 [37]	Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles Come Together by The Beatles	Admiral by Ruslan Muratov, Gleb Matveichuk
2011–2012	Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles Come Together by The Beatles	Admiral by Ruslan Muratov, Gleb Matveichuk	You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker
2010–2011	Dance of the Knights (from Romeo and Juliet) by Sergei Prokofiev	Reflection (from Mulan)

Competitive highlights[]

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

International[38]
Event	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22
Worlds									12th
Europeans							8th	6th	2nd	10th
GP Final										4th
GP France								4th	3rd	2nd
GP NHK Trophy												TBD
GP Rostelecom										1st	WD
GP Skate Canada								3rd	4th			TBD
CS Golden Spin					8th				3rd
CS Ice Challenge					2nd
CS Mordovian						4th
CS Ondrej Nepela								5th	5th	4th
CS Warsaw Cup						1st
Shanghai Trophy								1st		2nd
Tallink Hotels Cup										1st
Volvo Open Cup							1st
Universiade									4th
International: Junior[38]
Junior Worlds			8th		11th	4th	3rd
JGP Final							2nd
JGP Belarus				4th
JGP Croatia						1st
JGP Czech Rep.					2nd
JGP Estonia							1st
JGP France					3rd
JGP Germany			3rd
JGP Russia							1st
JGP Slovakia						4th
JGP Slovenia			3rd
Rostel. Crystal	2nd
International: Advanced novice[39]
NRW Trophy	1st
National[39]
Russian Champ.			8th	13th	11th	8th	2nd	2nd	3rd	3rd	5th
Russian Junior	12th	WD	2nd	4th	2nd	2nd	WD
Team events
World Team Trophy									3rd T 10th P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Detailed results[]

Senior level[]

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.

2020–21 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
5–7 February 2021	2021 Channel One Trophy	6 78.07	6 166.04	2T/6P 244.11
23–27 December 2020	2021 Russian Championships	5 87.96	6 163.42	5 251.38
20–22 November 2020	2020 Rostelecom Cup	WD	WD	WD
10–13 October 2020	2020 Cup of Russia Series, 2nd Stage, Moscow domestic competition	4 82.77	2 170.33	2 253.10
2019–20 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
13–16 February 2020	2020	1 82.89	1 172.97	1 255.86
20–26 January 2020	2020 European Championships	13 74.77	10 145.66	10 220.43
24–29 December 2019	2020 Russian Championships	8 80.68	3 172.06	3 252.74
5–8 December 2019	2019–20 Grand Prix Final	5 81.32	4 167.51	4 248.83
15–17 November 2019	2019 Rostelecom Cup	1 92.81	1 171.64	1 264.45
1–3 November 2019	2019 Internationaux de France	2 98.48	3 166.62	2 265.10
3–5 October 2019	2019 Shanghai Trophy	2 84.66	1 161.70	2 246.36
19–21 September 2019	2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial	3 79.56	5 138.89	4 218.45
2018–19 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
11–14 April 2019	2019 World Team Trophy	12 71.84	9 158.53	3T/10P 230.37
18–24 March 2019	2019 World Championships	20 78.38	7 167.95	12 246.33
7–9 March 2019	2019 Winter Universiade	6 82.41	4 163.79	4 246.20
21–27 January 2019	2019 European Championships	2 91.97	2 177.87	2 269.84
19–23 December 2018	2019 Russian Championships	4 83.24	2 182.25	3 265.49
5–8 December 2018	2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	3 86.29	3 151.55	3 237.84
23–25 November 2018	2018 Internationaux de France	2 90.86	4 156.23	3 247.09
26–28 October 2018	2018 Skate Canada International	4 88.06	4 160.72	4 248.78
19–22 September 2018	2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy	5 76.30	5 139.39	5 215.69
2017–18 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
15–21 January 2018	2018 European Championships	9 74.25	6 155.56	6 229.81
21–24 December 2017	2018 Russian Championships	1 103.11	4 155.42	2 258.53
24–26 November 2017	2017 Shanghai Trophy	–	1 175.65	1 175.65
17–19 November 2017	2017 Internationaux de France	3 91.51	4 161.62	4 253.13
27–29 October 2017	2017 Skate Canada	4 84.02	3 166.04	3 250.06
21–23 September 2017	2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy	3 75.94	5 137.73	5 213.67

Junior level[]

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

2016–17 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
15–19 March 2017	2017 World Junior Championships	Junior	3 82.23	4 163.30	3 245.53
13–17 February 2017	2017 Russian Cup Final domestic competition	Senior	1 93.32	1 174.22	1 267.54
25–29 January 2017	2017 European Championships	Senior	9 77.26	7 153.61	8 230.87
20–26 December 2016	2017 Russian Championships	Senior	2 87.41	3 172.33	2 259.74
8–11 December 2016	2016–17 JGP Final	Junior	2 81.08	2 155.44	2 236.52
9–13 November 2016	2016 Volvo Open Cup	Senior	1 79.41	1 152.02	1 231.43
28 September – 2 October 2016	2016 JGP Estonia	Junior	2 73.36	1 160.93	1 234.29
14–18 September 2016	2016 JGP Russia	Junior	1 73.34	1 154.99	1 228.33
2015–16 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
14��20 March 2016	2016 World Junior Championships	Junior	2 80.31	5 141.80	4 222.11
19–23 January 2016	2016 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	2 82.97	2 140.53	2 223.50
24–27 December 2015	2016 Russian Championships	Senior	8 79.73	8 151.04	8 230.77
27–29 November 2015	2015 CS Warsaw Cup	Senior	2 76.44	1 148.83	1 225.27
15–18 October 2015	2015 CS Mordovian Ornament	Senior	2 78.70	4 143.75	4 222.45
7–11 October 2015	2015 JGP Croatia	Junior	2 72.96	1 150.88	1 223.84
19–23 August 2015	2015 JGP Slovakia	Junior	3 67.87	6 118.38	4 186.25
2014–15 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
2–8 March 2015	2015 World Junior Championships	Junior	6 70.61	9 131.09	11 201.70
4–7 February 2015	2015 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	2 76.04	3 133.33	2 209.37
24–28 December 2014	2015 Russian Championships	Senior	9 72.05	14 115.82	11 187.87
4–6 December 2014	2014 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	Senior	8 65.88	8 128.09	8 193.97
11–16 November 2014	2014 CS Ice Challenge	Senior	1 69.16	2 127.76	2 196.92
3–7 September 2014	2014 JGP Czech Republic	Junior	2 62.42	1 126.27	2 188.69
20–24 August 2014	2014 JGP France	Junior	2 67.43	4 111.73	3 179.16
2013–14 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
22–25 January 2014	2014 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	7 64.79	4 139.54	4 204.33
24–27 December 2013	2014 Russian Championships	Senior	16 63.03	12 130.08	13 193.11
26–28 September 2013	2013 JGP Belarus	Junior	6 59.40	4 122.14	4 181.54
2012–13 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
25 February – 3 March 2013	2013 World Junior Championships	Junior	5 63.07	8 123.89	8 186.96
1–3 February 2013	2013 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	2 71.88	3 143.93	2 215.81
24–28 December 2012	2013 Russian Championships	Senior	10 65.34	7 140.01	8 205.35
11–13 October 2012	2012 JGP Germany	Junior	4 59.09	3 120.74	3 179.83
27–29 September 2012	2012 JGP Slovenia	Junior	5 60.81	3 122.22	3 183.03
2010–11 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
2–4 February 2011	2011 Russian Junior Championships	Junior	20 48.57	8 109.26	12 157.83
2–5 December 2010	2010 NRW Trophy	Novice	2 41.56	1 72.26	1 113.82
24–25 April 2010	2010 Rostelecom Crystal Skate	Novice	2 39.20	2 100.97	2 140.17

References[]

External links[]

Media related to Alexander Samarin at Wikimedia Commons

• Alexander Samarin at the International Skating Union
• Alexander Samarin on Instagram