Elena Radionova
Radionova in 2023
Full name	Elena Igorevna Radionova
Native name	Елена Игоревна Радионова
Other names	Yelena Igorevna Radionova
Born	(1999-01-06)6 January 1999 (age 26) Moscow, Russia
Hometown	Moscow, Russia
Height	1.67 m (5 ft5+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Coach	Elena Buianova
Skating club	CSKA Moscow
Began skating	2002
Retired	22 September 2020
Medal record RepresentingRussia Figure skating:Ladies' singles World Championships 2015 Shanghai Ladies' singles Grand Prix Final 2014–15 Barcelona Ladies' singles 2015–16 Barcelona Ladies' singles World Team Trophy 2015 Tokyo Team 2017 Tokyo Team World Junior Championships 2013 Milan Ladies' singles 2014 Sofia Ladies' singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2012–13 Sochi Ladies' singles

Elena Igorevna Radionova (Russian:Елена Игоревна Радионова; born 6 January 1999) is a Russian retired competitivefigure skater. She is the2015 World bronze medalist, a two-time (2015–2016)European silver medalist, a two-timeGrand Prix Final medalist,2017 Winter Universiade champion and the2015 Russian national champion. On the junior level, she is the first ladies skater to win twoWorld Junior titles (2013 and 2014) and she won the2012–13 JGP Final as well.

Radionova was born on 6 January 1999 in Moscow, Russia.^[7] She is the only child in her family.^[8] Her interests include writing lyrics, ballet, modern dancing, and singing. She married football playerKonstantin Kuchaev on 5 June 2023.^[9]

Radionova's father introduced her to skating when she was three years and nine months old,^[10] seeking to align herclub foot.^[11][12] Since the age of four, she has been coached by Inna Goncharenko atCSKA Moscow.^[12] Her figure skating role models areYuna Kim,Mao Asada, andCarolina Kostner.^[13]

In the 2010–11 season, Radionova finished 4th at the2011 Russian Junior Championships. She won the Zhuk Memorial kids' competition.

In the 2011–12 season, Radionova appeared at her first seniorRussian Championships, finishing 5th, and went on to win the bronze medal at the Russian Junior Championships that same season. Not yet age-eligible for juniorISU events, Radionova competed in the novice event at the2012 Triglav Trophy, winning the gold medal.

In the2012–13 season, Radionova made herISU Junior Grand Prix debut and won her events inFrance and Austria. She qualified for theJGP Final inSochi, where she won the gold medal, finishing more than eleven points ahead of silver medalist,Hannah Miller, from the United States.^[14][15]

At the2013 Russian Championships, Radionova won the silver medal in the senior event ahead of defending championAdelina Sotnikova and then took the junior title. Radionova placed fifth in the short program and first in the free skate at the2013 World Junior Championships inMilan, Italy. She was awarded the gold medal while defending championYulia Lipnitskaya took silver andAnna Pogorilaya the bronze — resulting in a Russian sweep of the podium. Radionova then won the gold medal in the junior event at the2013 Triglav Trophy.

In an interview before the2013–14 season, Radionova said: "I don't think that I am such a great athlete that won a lot. I just won the smallest one, Junior Worlds. In reality, there are competitions that are much more serious and more difficult. I don't feel any pressure yet. I just think I have to work harder and more, because there is no limit to perfection."^[16]

Radionova made her senior international debut at the2013 Nebelhorn Trophy. Placing first in both programs, she won the gold medal by a margin of more than 25 points over two-time world championMiki Ando from Japan. The2013 Skate America was Radionova's first seniorGrand Prix event. She was awarded the bronze medal at Skate America and then silver at the2013 NHK Trophy, while gold at both events went to Japan'sMao Asada, whose skating Radionova admires.^[17] Radionova's results qualified her to her firstGrand Prix Final. At the event inFukuoka,Japan, she finished fourth overall.

Radionova won the bronze medal at the2014 Russian Championships after placing third in both the short and long program. Though an injury caused her to miss the Russian junior nationals, she was later added to the Russian team for the2014 World Junior Championships.^[18] At the event, Radionova became the first ladies' single skater to repeat asWorld Junior champion. Scoring 66.90 points in the short program, 127.39 in the free skate, and 194.29 for the combined total, she brokejunior-level ladies' records previously held byMirai Nagasu andYulia Lipnitskaya.^[19] Radionova,Serafima Sakhanovich, andEvgenia Medvedeva produced Russia's second consecutive sweep of the World Junior ladies' podium. During the off-season, Radionova performed in various Russian cities withShow of the Champions and in Korea withIgor Bobrin'sTheatre on Ice.^[20]

Radionova made her season debut at the2014 Japan Open where she placed first in the ladies' free skate and helped Team Europe win the gold medal. HerGrand Prix assignments were the2014 Skate America and2014 Trophée Éric Bompard.^[21] At Skate America, Radionova ranked second in the short program, first in the free skate, and won the gold medal by a margin of 5.85 points over compatriotElizaveta Tuktamysheva. At the Trophée Bompard, Radionova won the gold medal and set personal best scores.^[22] She scored a total of 203.92 points, making her the first ladies' singles skater to score over 200 points this season.^[23] The results qualified Radionova for the2014–15 Grand Prix Final. Although a fever prior to the event reduced her training time,^[24] she took the silver medal in Barcelona, finishing behind teammateElizaveta Tuktamysheva. At the2015 Russian Championships, she was first in both segments and won her first national title. Radionova was the silver medalist at the2015 European Championships where she placed 1st in the short program and second in the free skate. During the2015 World Championships, she stated that she was feeling ill and weak, having picked up a virus, but would compete anyway.^[25] Ranked second in the short program and sixth in the free skate, Radionova won the bronze medal in her world debut. She concluded her season at the2015 World Team Trophy, placing third in the short program and second in the free skate. Both Radionova's and Tuktamysheva's efforts would aid team Russia to earn a silver medal.

Radionova intended to begin her season at the2015 Finlandia Trophy but withdrew due to health problems.^[26]Although she was not fully recovered from a high fever and virus, she insisted on competing at her first Grand Prix event of the season, the2015 Cup of China; she won the bronze medal behindMao Asada andRika Hongo. At the2015 Rostelecom Cup, held in late November inMoscow, she won the gold medal ahead of teammatesEvgenia Medvedeva andAdelina Sotnikova. It was Russia's first sweep of a Grand Prix ladies' podium since the1999 Cup of Russia. With this victory, Radionova was once the only competitor who had defeatedEvgenia Medvedeva since her arrival in the senior level untilAlina Zagitova in 2018.

Radionova qualified for the2015–16 Grand Prix Final, held in December in Barcelona. She won the bronze medal in Spain, having ranked second in the short and fourth in the free skate after falling from her triple loop, a scratchy triple lutz and two footing her last toe loop combination. Later that month, she won the silver medal behind Medvedeva at the2016 Russian Championships, having placed second in both segments.^[27]

On 27 to 30 January, Radionova competed at the2016 European Championships inBratislava, Slovakia. She repeated as the European silver medalist while her teammates completed the podium, with Medvedeva winning the gold andAnna Pogorilaya taking the bronze.^[28] In April, she finished sixth at the2016 World Championships inBoston after placing fifth in both segments. Radionova was then invited to the2016 Team Challenge Cup where she finished 7th in the short after singling her axel but moved up to 5th in the free. Team Europe eventually finished in second place with Radionova taking a Team silver medal and prize money.

Radionova's Grand Prix assignments for the2016–17 season, her first event was at the2016 Rostelecom Cup where she finished second in both the short and free skating, winning the silver medal overall behind teammateAnna Pogorilaya. Then in her next event at the2016 Cup of China, Radionova finished second at the short program and won the free skating, winning the gold medal with a total of 205.90 points qualifying to her fourth consecutiveGrand Prix Final, to be held in December inMarseilles,France.

Radionova participated in the2017 Winter Universiade inAlmaty, Kazakhstan from 1 to 5 February. She finished first in both the short and the long programs, with a total of 196.61 points earning her the gold medal.^[29]

On 28 April 2017, it was reported that Radionova would train underElena Buianova under the same club in CSKA. Her split with her former coach Goncharenko was amicable.^[30][29]

Radionova finished 4th at the2017 Rostelecom Cup and took bronze at the2017 Cup of China. She finished a disappointing 10th place at the2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships.

Radionova withdrew from the2018 Skate America and2018 NHK Trophy due to a back injury.

On 22 September 2020, she announced her retirement from competition.^[31][32]

• First ladies' skater in history to win twoWorld Junior titles (2013 & 2014).
• Former world record holder for the junior ladies' short program (66.90 points), set at the2014 World Junior Championships on 14 March 2014. Record was broken nine months later on 11 December 2014 byEvgenia Medvedeva (Russia).
• Former world record holder for the junior ladies' free program (127.39 points), set at the2014 World Junior Championships on 14 March 2014. Record was broken on 12 December 2015 byPolina Tsurskaya (Russia).
• Former world record holder for the junior ladies' combined total score (194.29 points), set at the2014 World Junior Championships on 14 March 2014. Record was broken on 12 December 2015 byPolina Tsurskaya (Russia).

Radionova signed a sponsorship deal with American skating boots manufacturerRiedell Skates.^[33]

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

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

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only atISU Championships. Previous ISU world best highlighted inbold.

Media related toElena Radionova at Wikimedia Commons

• Elena Radionova at theInternational Skating Union
• Elena Radionova onInstagram

Historical World Junior Record Holders (before season 2018–19)
Preceded by Mirai Nagasu	Ladies' Junior Short Program 15 March 2014 – 13 December 2014	Succeeded by Evgenia Medvedeva
Preceded by Yulia Lipnitskaya	Ladies' Junior Free Skating 16 March 2014 – 13 December 2015	Succeeded by Polina Tsurskaya
Preceded by Yulia Lipnitskaya	Ladies' Junior Total Score 16 March 2014 – 13 December 2015	Succeeded by Polina Tsurskaya

• 1999 births
• Living people
• European Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Russian female single skaters
• Figure skaters from Moscow
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists
• World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating
• FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia
• Competitors at the 2017 Winter Universiade
• 21st-century Russian sportswomen

• CS1 uses Russian-language script (ru)
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2020
• Pages using infobox figure skater with unknown parameters
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• Commons category link is on Wikidata