Karina Safina
| Karina Safina | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Native name | Карина Илгизаровна Сафина (Russian) |
| Full name | Karina Ilgizarovna Safina |
| Country represented |  Georgia |
| Former country(ies) represented |  Russia |
| Born | 28 May 2004 Chelyabinsk, Russia |
| Home town | Perm, Russia |
| Height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) |
| Partner | Luka Berulava |
| Former partner | Sergei Bakhmat, Mikhail Domnin |
| Coach | Pavel Sliusarenko |
| Former coach | Alla Mashkevich, Yuri Larionov |
| Choreographer | Nikolai Morozov, Ivan Malafeev |
| Skating club | Perm Russia |
| Former skating club | SC Megasport (Moscow) |
| Training locations | Perm |
| Former training locations | Moscow, Russia |
| Began skating | 2008 |
| ISU personal best scores | |
| Combined total | 192.44 2022 Winter Olympics |
| Short program | 66.95 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb |
| Free skate | 126.33 2022 Winter Olympics |
Karina Ilgizarovna Safina (Russian: Карина Илгизаровна Сафина, Georgian: კარინა ილგიზაროვნა საფინა, born 28 May 2004) is a Russian-Georgian pair skater who competes for Georgia. With her current partner, Luka Berulava, she is the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist and finished fourth at the 2022 European Championships.
Safina/Berulava are the first Georgian pair medalists on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, having won silver at 2021 JGP Slovakia and bronze at 2021 JGP Austria.
Personal life[]
Safina was born on 28 May 2004 in Chelyabinsk, Russia. She is of Tatar descent and holds both Russian and Georgian citizenship.
Career[]
Early years[]
Safina began learning how to skate in 2008 as a four-year-old. She trained as a single skater in her native Chelyabinsk through the end of the 2016–17 season before moving to Moscow to team up with her first pair skating partner, Mikhail Domnin. Safina/Domnin competed together for two seasons, receiving only one international junior assignment in that time, the 2019 Bavarian Open, where they finished third. The team dissolved their partnership at the end of the 2019–20 season.[1]
In advance of the 2020–21 season, Safina relocated to Perm to team up with Sergei Bakhmat under his coach, Pavel Sliusarenko. Safina/Bakhmat competed together for just one season before splitting, and finished sixth at the 2021 Russian Junior Championships.
2021–22 season: Debut of Safina/Berulava[]
Safina teamed up with a fellow student of Sliusarenko, Luka Berulava, to compete for Georgia in advance of the 2021–22 season. The team made their international junior debut at the 2021 JGP Slovakia in early September, where they took the silver medal behind gold medal-winning Russian team /, and ahead of third place Russian team Kostiukovich/. Their placement marked the first Junior Grand Prix medal for Georgia in pair skating.[2]
Safina/Berulava next made their senior international debut at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to attempt to qualify a berth for Georgia in the pairs event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The team set a new personal best to win the short program by a narrow margin over German team Hase/Seegert. They fell to third in the free program after losing their forward inside death spiral and one of their lifts, and ultimately finished third overall to successfully qualify an Olympic spot in their discipline for Georgia. Berulava remarked afterward "we would like to have done it in a better, nicer way."[3] Their performance, along with Georgian ice dance team Kazakova/Reviya's podium placement, also qualified a spot for Georgia in the Olympic team event.
Safina/Berulava returned to the Junior Grand Prix circuit in October for their second assignment, the 2021 JGP Austria in Linz. They placed third in both segments to finish third overall behind Russian teams Khabibullina/Knyazhuk and Mukhortova/Evgenyev. Due to the unique qualification process in place for the 2021–22 season, the team did not advance to the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final, despite two podium finishes.[4]
In December, Safina/Berulava faced domestic rivals Metelkina/Parkman for the first time in international competition at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. Safina/Berulava set a new personal best to win the short program, but fell to eighth in the free program standings after errors on their side-by-side jumping passes and losing their forward inside death spiral. The team placed seventh overall, while Metelkina/Parkman advanced onto the podium and took home the silver medal.[4] Metelkina/Parkman initially received the nod for the Georgian pairs berth at the 2022 European Championships, however, Safina/Berulava replaced them after they withdrew from the event on 9 January. At Europeans, Safina/Berulava placed sixth in the short program after falling on their side-by-side triple Salchows. They delivered a stronger performance in the free skate, albeit still struggling with their side-by-side jumps, to climb to fourth in the segment and fourth overall, the best of the non-Russian competitors.[5]
The day after the pairs free skate at the European Championships, Safina/Berulava were officially named to the Georgian team for the 2022 Winter Olympics by the Georgian Figure Skating Federation.[6] Safina/Berulava made their Olympic debut in the team event before the opening ceremony on February 3. They cleanly skated their short program to place sixth in the segment out of nine, and earn five points towards Team Georgia's combined score.[7] However, despite scoring 22 team points overall to tie for fifth place with Team China going into the free skate, Team Georgia lost the tie-breaker and did not advance.[8] In the pairs event, Safina/Berulava were ninth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, for ninth overall.[9][10]
Programs[]
With Berulava[]
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2021–2022 [11] |
|
|
Competitive highlights[]
CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Berulava for Georgia[]
| International [4] | |
|---|---|
| Event | 2021–22 |
| Olympics | 9th |
| Worlds | TBD |
| Europeans | 4th |
| CS Golden Spin | 7th |
| CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 3rd |
| International: Junior [4] | |
| JGP Austria | 3rd |
| JGP Slovakia | 2nd |
| Team events | |
| Olympics | 6th T 6th P |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew | |
With Bakhmat for Russia[]
| National | |
|---|---|
| Event | 2020–21 |
| Russian Junior | 6th |
With Domnin for Russia[]
| International: Junior [12] | |
|---|---|
| Event | 2018–19 |
| Bavarian Open | 3rd J |
| J = Junior | |
Detailed results[]
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.
With Berulava for Georgia[]
Senior results[]
| 2021–2022 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 18–19, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics | 9 66.11 |
8 126.33 |
9 192.44 |
| February 4–7, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event | 6 64.79 |
— | 6T |
| January 10–16, 2022 | 2022 European Championships | 6 61.93 |
4 122.12 |
4 184.05 |
| December 9–11, 2021 | 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 1 66.95 |
8 112.38 |
7 179.33 |
| September 22–25, 2021 | 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 1 66.46 |
3 111.70 |
3 178.16 |
Junior results[]
| 2021–2022 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 6–9, 2021 | 2021 JGP Austria | 3 63.04 |
3 116.23 |
3 179.27 |
| September 1–4, 2021 | 2021 JGP Slovakia | 3 57.64 |
2 110.62 |
2 168.26 |
References[]
- ^ "Карина Сафина" [Karina Safina] (in Russian). fskate.ru. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019.
- ^ "Russia's next generation shines in Kosice at ISU Junior Grand Prix". International Skating Union. 6 September 2021.
- ^ Flade, Tatjana (September 24, 2021). "Germany's Hase and Seegert claim victory on home ice at Nebelhorn". Golden Skate.
- ^ a b c d "Competition Results: Karina SAFINA / Luka BERULAVA". International Skating Union.
- ^ Slater, Paula (January 14, 2022). "Mishina and Galliamov take European title in Russian sweep". Golden Skate.
- ^ Georgian Figure Skating Federation [@figureskatinggeorgia] (14 January 2022). "Olympic Team Announcement - KARINA SAFINA/LUKA BERULAVA will represent Georgia at 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games!!!" – via Instagram.
- ^ Slater, Paula (February 4, 2022). "Team USA leads Olympic Figure Skating Team Event". Golden Skate.
- ^ Slater, Paula (February 7, 2022). "ROC wins Olympic figure skating team event". Golden Skate.
- ^ Slater, Paula (February 18, 2022). "Sui and Han lead Pairs in Beijing with new record score". Golden Skate.
- ^ Slater, Paula (February 19, 2022). "Chinese edge out ROC for Pairs' gold in 2022 Beijing Olympics". Golden Skate.
- ^ "Karina SAFINA / Luka BERULAVA: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Karina SAFINA / Luka BERULAVA". Rink Results.
External links[]
- 2004 births
- Living people
- Volga Tatars
- Tatar people of Russia
- Tatar sportspeople
- Female pair skaters from Georgia (country)
- Russian female pair skaters
- Sportspeople from Chelyabinsk
- Russian emigrants to Georgia (country)
- Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
- Olympic figure skaters of Georgia (country)