Anthony Ponomarenko

Anthony Ponomarenko during the medal ceremony at the2026 U.S. Championships
Personal information
Born	(2001-01-05)January 5, 2001 (age 25) San Jose, California, U.S.
Home town	Northville, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.81 m)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Discipline	Ice dance
Partner	Christina Carreira (since 2014) Sara Feng (2010–14)
Coach	Scott Moir Madison Hubbell Adrián Díaz Patrice Lauzon
Skating club	Skating Club of San Francisco
Began skating	2005
Medal record
Four Continents Championships 2022 Tallinn Ice dance 2024 Shanghai Ice dance U.S. Championships 2024 Columbus Ice dance 2025 Wichita Ice dance 2023 San Jose Ice dance 2026 St. Louis Ice dance World Junior Championships 2018 Sofia Ice dance 2017 Taipei Ice dance Junior Grand Prix Final 2017–18 Nagoya Ice dance

Anthony Ponomarenko (born January 5, 2001) is an Americanice dancer. With his skating partner,Christina Carreira, he is a two-timeFour Continents bronze medalist (2022,2024), the2018 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist, three-timeISU Grand Prix medalist (one silver, two bronzes), a ten-time medalist on theISU Challenger Series (four golds, five silvers, two bronzes), and a five-timeU.S. national medalist. He represented the United States at the2026 Winter Olympics.

At the junior level, they are also two-time World Junior medalists (silver in2018, bronze in2017), the2017–18 JGP Final silver medalists, and the2018 U.S. national junior champions.

Anthony Ponomarenko was born on January 5, 2001, inSan Jose, California. He is the son of 1992 Olympic ice dancing championsMarina Klimova andSergei Ponomarenko and has an elder brother, Timothy.^[1][2]

Ponomarenko started skating in 2005.^[2] He was a single skater for about four years before switching to ice dancing.^[1] His partnership with Sarah Feng began in 2010. The two won the bronze medal in novice ice dancing at the2014 U.S. Championships. After Ponomarenko ended his partnership with Sara Feng in January 2014, he later moved toNovi, Michigan, to train underIgor Shpilband.^[3]

In April 2014, Ponomarenko teamed up with Canadian ice dancerChristina Carreira. The two decided to represent the United States. Ponomarenko's mother,Marina Klimova, thought the team would eventually be a good match after seeing Carreira in Lake Placid, New York.^[3] TheirJunior Grand Prix (JGP) debut came in September 2014; they placed fifth inOstrava, Czech Republic, and then fourth inTallinn, Estonia. They finished fifth in the junior event at the2015 U.S. Championships.^[4]

Competing in the2015 JGP series, Carreira/Ponomarenko placed fourth inRiga, Latvia, and then won the silver medal inToruń, Poland. They received the pewter medal for fourth place at the2016 U.S. Championships.^[4]

Carreira/Ponomarenko won silver medals at both of their JGP events and finished fourth at the JGP Final, held in December inMarseille, France. In January, they took the silver medal at the2017 U.S. Championships, having placed third in the short and second in the free.^[4] Ranked sixth in the short and third in the free, they won the bronze medal at the2017 World Junior Championships, which took place in March inTaipei, Taiwan.^[3]

Winning gold at both of their JGP assignments, in addition to theLake Placid Ice Dance International, Carreira/Ponomarenko capped off 2017 with a second-place finish and won silver at the JGP Final, held in December inNagoya, Japan. The following month they became the new US junior champions at the2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In March, they won silver at the2018 World Junior Championships.^[4]

Pasquale Camerlengo joined their coaching team ahead of the 2018–2019 season.^[5] Making their senior international debut, Carreira/Ponomarenko achieved silver at the2018 CS U.S. Classic inSalt Lake City, having finished second toHubbell/Donohue. They won the bronze medal at the2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. For theirGrand Prix debut, Carreira/Ponomarenko finished fifth at the2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. At their second assignment, they won the bronze medal at the2018 Rostelecom Cup.^[6] Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, they won the gold medal at the2018 CS Tallinn Trophy.^[4]

Carreira/Ponomarenko concluded their season at the2019 U.S. Championships, where they placed fifth.^[7]

Beginning on theChallenger series, Carreira/Ponomarenko won silver for the second consecutiveU.S. Classic and a second bronze medal atNebelhorn Trophy. They won gold at their final Challenger event in November, theAsian Open Trophy, having finished first in both segments.^[4]

At their firstGrand Prix, the2019 Skate America, they placed sixth in the rhythm dance after errors on their twizzles. Carreira remarked it was "probably the worst time we have ever performed" the program.^[8] They remained in sixth place after the free dance, which Ponomarenko called "redeeming."^[9] At their second GP event, the2019 NHK Trophy, they finished fifth in the rhythm dance, but a lift error in the free dance placed them seventh in the free and sixth overall.^[10]

Carreira/Ponomarenko placed fourth in the rhythm dance at the2020 U.S. Championships.^[11] Fourth in the free dance as well, they would have placed third in that segment but for the invalidation of their choreographic character step sequence due to a violation of the distance requirement. Taking the pewter medal, they stood on the senior national podium for the first time in their careers.^[12]

Carreira broke her foot during the spring quarantine period in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic, though she had recovered by the time the rink reopened in the summer.^[13] With the pandemic affecting international travel, Carreira/Ponomarenko were assigned to compete at the2020 Skate America, attended mainly by dance teams training in the United States.^[14] They won the bronze medal.^[15]

On January 10, it was announced that they had withdrawn from the2021 U.S. Championships.^[16] Carreira confirmed it was a positive COVID test of a rinkmate that caused their withdrawal.^[17]

On January 27, Carreira announced onInstagram that she and Ponomarenko would be departing their longtime coachIgor Shpilband.^[18] Two weeks later, U.S. Figure Skating announced that Carreira and Ponomarenko would be moving to train at the Ice Academy of Montreal's new Ontario campus inLondon, Ontario, coached by former Olympic championScott Moir.^[19]

Carreira/Ponomarenko began their season at the2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, where they placed fourth.^[20] They were eighth at the2021 CS Finlandia Trophy.^[21]

On theGrand Prix, Carreira/Ponomarenko placed eighth at the2021 Skate Canada International.^[22] They were fourth after the rhythm dance at the2021 Internationaux de France, but dropped to fifth overall with a seventh-place free dance after an extended lift deduction.^[23]

At the2022 U.S. Championships, Carreira/Ponomarenko were fifth in the rhythm dance but fell to seventh place after the free dance.^[24] They were named to the team for theFour Continents Championships inTallinn later in January. Third in both segments, they won the bronze medal in their first appearance at a senior championship event. Carreira said they were "happy we're able to end our season with our best free dance, I think. So yes, we're overall really happy, and we want to continue growing into the next quad."^[25]

Following the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, Ponomarenko required ankle surgery, which delayed their preparations for the coming season. He revealed that he had been suffering ongoing ankle pain since "severely" spraining it in 2015 and developing joint damage. After years of skating through the pain, it had reached the point where "every opinion I heard was: 'Get the surgery.' Since the Olympic quad was over, this was the time to get the surgery done to make sure I'm fully ready for the next four years." While Ponomarenko spent three months recuperating inColorado Springs, Carreira continued training by herself in London. When they resumed working together in May, retired ice dancersMadison Hubbell andAdrián Díaz joined their coaching team.^[26]

Foregoing theChallenger series to start the season, Carreira and Ponomarenko made their season debut on theGrand Prix at the2022 MK John Wilson Trophy inSheffield. They placed fourth in both segments and fourth overall, 11.53 points back of Canadian bronze medalistsLajoie/Lagha, their former junior rivals.^[27] At the2022 Grand Prix of Espoo, Carreira/Ponomarenko were third in the rhythm dance, 1.14 points clear of home teamTurkkila/Versluis, and described themselves as "really happy with the performances."^[28] In the free dance, they slipped to fourth in that segment and fourth overall, being overtaken by the Finns for the bronze medal.^[29][30]

Following the Grand Prix, Carreira/Ponomarenko made a belated Challenger appearance, winning gold at the2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.^[31] With presumptive national silver medalistsHawayek/Baker sitting out the2023 U.S. Championships for health reasons, the national podium was more open than would otherwise have been the case. Considered likely bronze medalists going in, Carreira/Ponomarenko unexpectedly placed fourth in the rhythm dance due to a twizzle error.^[32] In the free dance they overtook new teamZingas/Kolesnik for the bronze medal.^[33]

As national bronze medalists, they were named to the2023 Four Continents Championship team, and also as first alternates for the2023 World Championships, the third berth there having been given to Hawayek/Baker.^[34] They placed fourth in the rhythm dance at Four Continents, 2.07 points back of third-place Lajoie/Lagha.^[35] Fifth in the free dance, they remained in fourth place, beating domestic rivalsGreen/Parsons.^[36]

On February 24, it was announced that Hawayek/Baker had withdrawn from the World Championships due to continued health problems. As first alternates, Carreira/Ponomarenko were called up to make their Worlds debut.^[37] They finished tenth.^[4]

For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, Carreira and Ponomarenko had the entire offseason for training and other upgrades, which in this case included new equipment, nutritional plans, and athletic trainers.^[38] Starting the season at the2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Carreira/Ponomarenko came fourth, before winning the silver medal at the2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.^[4] On theGrand Prix, they came fourth at the2023 Grand Prix de France. Carreira said that despite some technical errors, "we put out two solid performances this weekend that we are proud of."^[39] They followed this with a fourth-place finish at the2023 Grand Prix of Espoo.^[40]

In advance of the2024 U.S. Championships, Carreira/Ponomarenko were preemptively named to the American team for the2024 Four Continents Championships inShanghai, which was to take place the following weekend.^[41] At the national championships, the team finished second in the rhythm dance segment, before winning the free dance segment over a flu-strickenChock/Bates; the latter remained in first place overall on the strength of their rhythm dance lead, and Carreira/Ponomarenko claimed the national silver medal for the first time.^[42] At the Four Continents Championships, they finished third in the rhythm dance. They were only fifth in the free dance after a twizzle error from Carreira, but remained third overall, 1.07 points clear of fellow American teamZingas/Kolesnik in fourth. Claiming their second championship bronze, Ponomarenko noted that they team had experienced much in the two years since their first, including "lows" relating to his ankle surgery, so "being back here and having these two years of growth with Christina and the rest of our coaching team, it's a big significant moment."^[43]

At the2024 World Championships inMontreal, Quebec, Canada, Carreira/Ponomarenko finished a new high seventh overall with a total score of 200.32 points. Carreira said that hitting the 200-point mark had been a goal for the team "for a couple of years and it's of course great to have reached that."^[44]

Carreira/Ponomarenko began the season by competing on the2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, winning silver at the2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and gold at the2024 CS Budapest Trophy.^[4] They then went on to compete on the2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, and in their first event, the2024 NHK Trophy, they won the silver medal, unexpectedly overtaking the higher-seeded Lithuanian teamReed/Ambrulevicius. Ponomarenko called reaching the podium "a testament of the hard work that we've put in the past few summers and seasons."^[45] This was their third Grand Prix medal, and their first at a "fully international" Grand Prix since 2018.^[46] They won the bronze medal at their second event, the2024 Cup of China. With these results, they were designated as first alternates for the2024–25 Grand Prix Final.^[47] Carreira would later say that this "gave us motivation for the second half of the season. We want to attack, and we want to prove that we're part of the top group."^[48]

In advance of the2025 U.S. Championships inWichita, Carreira, Ponomarenko, and their coaches made revisions to theirCarmen program, aiming for "a really refreshed look," which also included new costuming.^[48] Competing in Wichita, they finished second in both segments, claiming their second consecutive national silver medal, with Ponomarenko opining that they were skating "a step closer to what we can do in practice."^[49]

Assigned to both major ISU championships, Carreira/Ponomarenko came fourth at the2025 Four Continents Championships inSeoul, South Korea, finishing 3.96 points behind Canadian bronze medalistsLajoie/Lagha.^[50]

At the2025 World Championships, held on home ice inBoston, Massachusetts, United States, they came sixth in the rhythm dance, narrowly missing the final group of the free skate, with a score 0.26 points back of Lajoie/Lagha in fifth. Their 81.51 points was a new personal best. They came fifth in the free dance, rising to fifth overall, having overtaken Lajoie/Lagha and holding off the rising SpaniardsSmart/Dieck, who were third in the segment.^[51]

Carreira/Ponomarenko opened their season by winning the silver medal at the2025 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.They went on to compete on the2025–26 Grand Prix series, placing fourth at2025 Skate Canada International and fifth at2025 Skate America.^[52]

Disappointed with the first half of the season, the team decided to change their free dance, opting to return to theirPerfume: The Story of a Murderer program from 2023–24 season. Speaking on this decision, Carreira shared, "I feel like bringing Perfume back brought back a spark and confidence in us, and it's been working super well. We made some changes, but the essence of the program is still the same."^[53]

In January, Carreira/Ponomarenko won the bronze medal at the2026 U.S. Championships behindChock/Bates andZingas/Kolesnik.^[54] "It means everything for us to be standing here," said Carreira. "It’s such an honor to be standing with these teams. Everyone here is so talented and we’re just really proud. We had a bit of a rocky start to this season but I’m happy that we kind of got our act together after the Grand Prix, and we were able to deliver good performances here."^[55] They were subsequently named to the2026 Winter Olympic team.^[56][55]

Results in the2018–19 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 12–16, 2018	2018 CS U.S. International Classic	2	68.61	2	105.43	2	174.04
Sep 26–29, 2018	2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	3	69.56	3	107.93	3	177.49
Nov 2–4, 2018	2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki	4	66.93	5	100.35	5	167.28
Nov 16–18, 2018	2018 Rostelecom Cup	2	69.01	3	105.20	3	174.21
Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2018	2018 CS Tallinn Trophy	2	69.58	1	110.64	1	180.22
Jan 19–27, 2019	2019 U.S. Championships	4	75.23	5	114.78	5	190.01

Results in the2019–20 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Jul 30 – Aug 2, 2019	2019 Lake Placid Ice Dance	2	72.57	2	105.15	2	177.72
Sep 17–22, 2019	2019 CS U.S. International Classic	2	77.18	2	111.29	2	188.47
Sep 25–28, 2019	2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	2	76.99	4	113.43	3	190.35
Oct 18–20, 2019	2019 Skate America	6	70.41	6	110.14	6	180.55
Oct 30 – Nov 3, 2019	2019 CS Asian Open Trophy	1	78.40	1	113.15	1	191.55
Nov 22–24, 2019	2019 NHK Trophy	5	75.25	7	107.01	6	182.26
Jan 20–26, 2020	2020 U.S. Championships	4	78.02	4	116.14	4	194.16

Results in the2020–21 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Oct 23–24, 2020	2020 Skate America	3	78.63	3	107.15	3	185.78

Results in the2021–22 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 10–12, 2021	2021 CS Lombardia Trophy	4	69.08	6	103.70	4	172.78
Oct 7–10, 2021	2021 CS Finlandia Trophy	6	72.36	8	105.91	8	178.27
Oct 29–31, 2021	2021 Skate Canada International	8	68.96	8	99.80	8	168.76
Nov 19–21, 2021	2021 Internationaux de France	4	70.74	7	105.17	5	175.91
Jan 3–9, 2022	2022 U.S. Championships	5	77.90	7	107.92	7	185.82
Jan 18–23, 2022	2022 Four Continents Championships	3	69.35	3	106.32	3	175.67

Results in the2022–23 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Nov 11–13, 2022	2022 MK John Wilson Trophy	4	75.00	4	112.42	4	187.42
Nov 25–27, 2022	2022 Grand Prix of Espoo	3	76.20	4	112.60	4	188.80
Dec 7–10, 2022	2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	2	76.54	1	114.77	1	191.31
Jan 23–29, 2023	2023 U.S. Championships	4	77.37	3	121.08	3	198.45
Feb 7–12, 2023	2023 Four Continents Championships	4	76.97	5	112.81	4	189.78
Mar 22–26, 2023	2023 World Championships	10	75.24	11	114.86	10	190.10

Results in the2023–24 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 20–23, 2023	2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	6	65.82	4	112.09	4	177.91
Oct 6–8, 2023	2023 CS Finlandia Trophy	2	74.15	3	116.99	2	191.14
Nov 3–5, 2023	2023 Grand Prix de France	4	72.94	4	113.76	4	186.70
Nov 17–19, 2023	2023 Grand Prix of Espoo	4	74.58	4	114.18	4	188.76
Jan 22–28, 2024	2024 U.S. Championships	2	83.19	1	126.85	2	210.04
Jan 30 – Feb 4, 2024	2024 Four Continents Championships	3	77.47	5	116.67	3	194.14
Mar 18–24, 2024	2024 World Championships	8	79.26	7	121.06	7	200.32

Results in the2024–25 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 18–21, 2024	2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	2	77.66	2	119.85	2	197.51
Oct 11–13, 2024	2024 CS Budapest Trophy	1	77.44	1	117.25	1	194.69
Nov 8–10, 2024	2024 NHK Trophy	2	79.64	2	119.33	2	198.97
Nov 22–24, 2024	2024 Cup of China	3	79.22	4	118.96	3	198.18
Jan 20–26, 2025	2025 U.S. Championships	2	82.86	2	127.93	2	210.79
Feb 19–23, 2025	2025 Four Continents Championships	4	79.30	4	117.78	4	197.08
Mar 25–30, 2025	2025 World Championships	6	81.51	5	123.37	5	204.88

Results in the2025–26 season ^[52]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 25–27, 2025	2025 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	2	76.11	2	116.24	2	192.35
Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2025	2025 Skate Canada International	3	76.83	4	114.40	4	191.23
Nov 14–16, 2025	2025 Skate America	5	72.74	4	113.29	5	186.03
Jan 4–11, 2026	2026 U.S. Championships	3	83.29	3	123.66	3	206.95
Feb 6–19, 2026	2026 Winter Olympics	11	78.15	10	119.47	11	197.62

Results in the2014–15 season ^[52]

Date	Event	SD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Aug 26–29, 2014	2014 JGP Czech Republic	4	48.61	5	78.37	5	126.98
Sep 23–26, 2014	2014 JGP Estonia	4	50.62	6	76.98	4	127.60
Jan 18–25, 2015	2015 U.S. Championships (Junior)	4	55.32	6	76.59	5	131.91

Results in the2015–16 season ^[52]

Date	Event	SD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Jul 30–31, 2015	2015 Lake Placid Ice Dance (Junior)	2		2		2	135.90
Aug 26–29, 2015	2015 JGP Latvia	2	57.23	5	74.02	4	131.25
Sep 23–26, 2015	2015 JGP Poland	2	61.13	2	85.02	2	146.15
Jan 15–24, 2016	2016 U.S. Championships (Junior)	4	64.81	5	87.98	4	152.79

Results in the2016–17 season ^[52]

Date	Event	SD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Aug 24–27, 2016	2016 JGP France	2	60.44	2	87.94	2	148.38
Sep 14–17, 2016	2016 JGP Russia	2	63.10	2	94.09	2	157.19
Dec 8–11, 2016	2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final	4	61.39	4	88.59	4	149.98
Jan 14–22, 2017	2017 U.S. Championships (Junior)	3	66.77	2	98.29	2	165.06
Mar 15–19, 2017	2017 World Junior Championships	6	60.53	3	94.15	3	154.68

Results in the2017–18 season ^[52]

Date	Event	SD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Jul 27–29, 2017	2017 Lake Placid Ice Dance (Junior)	1	62.20	1	87.56	1	149.76
Aug 30 – Sep 2, 2017	2017 JGP Austria	1	57.82	1	87.57	1	145.39
Sep 20–23, 2017	2017 JGP Belarus	1	63.77	1	86.28	1	150.05
Dec 7–10, 2017	2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final	2	64.10	2	87.66	2	151.76
Dec 29, 2017 – Jan 8, 2018	2018 U.S. Championships (Junior)	1	68.70	1	90.48	1	159.18
Mar 5–11, 2018	2018 World Junior Championships	6	60.85	2	86.83	2	147.68

• Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko official website
• Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko at theInternational Skating Union
• Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko at Skating Scores
• Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko atU.S. Figure Skating
• Anthony Ponomarenko atTeam USA
• Anthony Ponomarenko atMilano Cortina 2026
• Anthony Ponomarenko atOlympics.com
• Anthony Ponomarenko atOlympedia

• 2001 births
• Living people
• American male ice dancers
• American people of Russian descent
• Figure skaters from San Jose, California
• Figure skaters at the 2026 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters for the United States
• World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
• 21st-century American sportsmen

• Articles with short description
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