Alexander Samarin
Alexander Samarin at the2024 Channel One Cup
Full name	Alexander Vladimirovich Samarin
Native name	Александр Владимирович Самарин
Born	(1998-06-15)15 June 1998 (age 26) Moscow, Russia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Discipline	Men's singles
Began skating	2002
Retired	2024
HighestWS	9th (2018–19)
Medal record
European Championships 2019 Minsk Singles Russian Championships 2017 Chelyabinsk Singles 2018 Saint Petersburg Singles 2019 Saransk Singles 2020 Krasnoyarsk Singles 2023 Krasnoyarsk Singles World Team Trophy 2019 Fukuoka Team World Junior Championships 2017 Taipei Singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2016–17 Marseille Singles

Alexander Vladimirovich Samarin (Russian:Александр Владимирович Самарин; born 15 June 1998) is a retired Russianfigure skater. He is the2019 European silver medalist, the2019 Internationaux de France silver medalist, the2017 Skate Canada International bronze medalist, the2018 Internationaux de France bronze medalist, and a four-time2017 Russian national medalist (silver in 2017 and 2018, bronze in 2019, bronze in 2020). He has won three medals on theISU Challenger Series, including gold at the2015 CS Warsaw Cup.

As a junior, Samarin won bronze at the2017 World Junior Championships and silver at the2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, in addition to three gold medals on theISU Junior Grand Prix series.

Samarin currently holds the world record for thehighest scored element in single figure skating (21.12 points for a4Lz+3T combination at the2019 Rostelecom Cup) since the introduction of the -5/+5 GOE system in 2018.

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

Samarin began skating in 2002.^[2] His very first coach was Lyubov Fedorchenko at theYoung Pioneers Stadium. In 2006, he switched toCSKA Moscow, where he was coached by Inna Goncharenko.^[1] In the 2009–10 season, he won the novice event at the2010 NRW Trophy inDortmund, Germany, and the junior silver medal at the International Crystal Skate 2010 inOdintsovo, Russia. In 2011–12, he withdrew from the2012 Russian Junior Championships due to illness.^{[citation needed]}

In 2012–13, Samarin underwent eye surgery because of a detached retina at the start of the season.^[3] Debuting on theISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series, he won a pair of bronze medals atJGP events in Slovenia and Germany and became the first alternate for the2012–13 Junior Grand Prix Final. At theRussian Championships, he finished eighth in his first senior appearance and then won the silver medal on the junior level. He was assigned to the2013 World Junior Championships, where he finished eighth.

In 2013–14, Samarin was assigned to oneJGP event in Belarus and finished fourth. At the2014 Russian Championships, he placed thirteenth in seniors, landing his first triple Axel in competition in the free skate and then fourth at the junior level. Goncharenko coached him until the end of the season.^[4]

Samarin changed coaches ahead of the 2014–15 season, joiningElena Buianova and Svetlana Sokolovskaya.^[5] He won bronze at his firstJunior Grand Prix event of the season, inCourchevel, France, and then silver inOstrava, Czech Republic. Making his senior international debut, he took silver in November at the2014 Ice Challenge, anISU Challenger Series (CS) competition inGraz, Austria, and finished eighth the following month at another CS event, the2014 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 the2015 World Junior Championships inTallinn, Estonia.

Competing in the2015–16 JGP series, Samarin finished fourth inSlovakia and won gold inCroatia. He appeared at two CS events, placing fourth at the2015 Mordovian Ornament and winning the2015 Warsaw Cup. AtRussian nationals, he ranked eighth on the senior level and won the silver medal as a junior, behindDmitri Aliev. He finished fourth at the2016 World Junior Championships inDebrecen after winning a small silver medal for the short program and placing fifth in the free skate.

Competing in the2016–17 JGP series, Samarin won gold medals inSaransk, Russia, andTallinn, Estonia. His medals qualified him to the2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final inMarseille. He competed at the senior level and won gold at the Volvo Open Cup in November. In December, he won silver in France, having finished second toDmitri Aliev, and then took silver at the2017 Russian Championships, behindMikhail Kolyada.

In January 2017, Samarin competed at the2017 European Championships, where he placed eighth. In March 2017, Samarin competed at the2017 Junior Worlds, where he won the bronze medal after placing third in the short program and fourth in the free skate.^[6]

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 theGrand Prix series. He won the bronze medal at the2017 Skate Canada and placed fourth at the2017 Internationaux de France.^[7]

In December 2017, Samarin competed at the2018 Russian Championships, where he won the silver medal behindMikhail Kolyada. In January 2018, he competed at the2018 European Championships, where he placed sixth, lower than countrymen Kolyada and Aliev. He was consequently not named to theRussian Olympic team for the2018 Winter Olympics, where there were only two men's spots.

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 the2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy where he finished fifth. In hisGrand Prix events, he placed fourth at2018 Skate Canada and won the bronze medal at2018 Internationaux de France.

^[9]In early December, Samarin competed at the2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb where he won the bronze medal.

At the2019 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 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 the2019 European Championships after placing second in both the short program and the free skate. Samarin landed a quad Lutz, quad toe, and six triple jumps in the free skate. 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-levelISU Championship.^[12][8]

Samarin competed at the2019 Winter Universiade, where he placed fourth. In March 2019, Samarin competed at the2019 World Championships and 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 the2019 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]

Samarin began the season with a fourth-place finish at the2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial before winning silver at the 2019Shanghai Trophy.

On theGrand Prix, Samarin's first event was the2019 Internationaux de France. In the short program, Samarin placed second behindNathan 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-placeKévin 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 the2019 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 sinceEvgeni Plushenko in2009, and qualified for theGrand Prix Final.^[17] He finished fourth at the Final.^[18]

Samarin placed eighth in the short program at the2020 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 theEuropean 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]

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 inMoscow.^[24] He subsequently injured his back and, as a result, withdrew from his scheduled second Cup of Russia event as well as the2020 Rostelecom Cup.^[25] After injuring his back, he contractedCOVID-19 as well, though this was only a mild case.^[26]

Returning to competition at the2021 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 the2021 Channel One Trophy, a televised event organized in lieu of the cancelledEuropean Championships. He was selected for the Time of Firsts team captained byEvgenia 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]

Samarin began the season with a bronze medal at theBudapest Trophy.^[31] Competing on theGrand Prix at the2021 Skate Canada International, he placed eighth.^[32] He was sixth at2021 NHK Trophy, his second Grand Prix, notably managing second place in the free skate. On the latter result, he said, "I'm happy about that, but I can still do better."^[33]

At the2022 Russian Championships, Samarin finished in sixth place.^[34]

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.

Media related toAlexander Samarin at Wikimedia Commons

• Alexander Samarin at theInternational Skating Union
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