 Davis and Smolkin after their rhythm dance at the2025 World Championships | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | Глеб Борисович Смолкин | ||||||
| Full name | Gleb Borisovich Smolkin | ||||||
| Born | (1999-08-27)August 27, 1999 (age 26) | ||||||
| Home town | Alexandria, Virginia, United States | ||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||
| Country |  Georgia (since 2023) Russia (2018–23) | ||||||
| Discipline | Ice dance | ||||||
| Partner | Diana Davis (since 2018) | ||||||
| Coach | Marie-France Dubreuil Romain Haguenauer Patrice Lauzon Pascal Denis Josée Piché | ||||||
| Began skating | 2003 | ||||||
| Medal record | |||||||
| |||||||
Gleb Borisovich Smolkin (Russian:Глеб Борисович Смолкин;Georgian:გლებ ბორისოვიჩ სმოლკინი, born 27 August 1999) is a Russianice dancer who currently representsGeorgia. RepresentingRussia with his partner,Diana Davis, he is the2021 CS Warsaw Cup champion and the2022 Russian national silver medalist. Again representing Georgia, Smolkin and Davis competed at the2026 Winter Olympics (Milano Cortina).
On the junior level, Davis/Smolkin are the 2020Russian junior national bronze medalists, finished in the top five at the2020 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, and competed at the2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final.
Smolkin was born on 27 August 1999 inSaint Petersburg, Russia. He is the son of Russian actorBoris Smolkin [ru] and his wife, Svetlana. He has one half-brother, Vladimir.
During a hiatus from figure skating in 2014, Smolkin briefly played professionalbeach soccer as a member of theBSC Lokomotiv Moscow team.[1]
In March 2022, Smolkin married his skating partner,Diana Davis, at age 22 and 19.[2]
Smolkin began learning how to skate in 2004. He competed as asingle skater until the2014–15 season when he took a year-long hiatus from the sport. He returned to figure skating in November 2015 to compete as an ice dancer with his first partner, Ekaterina Mironova. The team competed together until spring of 2016 before parting ways. During the2016–17 season Smolkin teamed up with Svetlana Lizunova, but the partnership was short-lived and lasted only a season before Smolkin began competing with his current partner,Diana Davis, coached bySvetlana Alexeeva and her team inMoscow.[1]
Davis/Smolkin made their junior international debut in September 2018 at the2018 JGP Croatia. The team finished third overall at the event behind Russian teammatesKhudaiberdieva/Nazarov in first and Georgian competitorsKazakova/Reviya in second, but despite their podium placement did not receive a second JGP assignment.[3]
The team competed three more times internationally during the season, finishing third in the junior event at the 2018Volvo Open Cup and second at both the 2018Tallinn Trophy (junior) and the 2018 Russian-Chinese Youth Winter Games. At the2019 Russian Junior Figure Skating Championships in February, they finished ninth.[3]
In the summer before the start of the season, Davis and Smolkin relocated their training base from Moscow toNovi, Michigan to work withIgor Shpilband andPasquale Camerlengo. The team opened their season in August at the2019 JGP United States where they won the silver medal behind American training-matesNguyen/Kolesnik. At their second assignment,2019 JGP Russia, the team again finished second overall, this time behind fellow Russian competitorsShanaeva/Naryzhnyy, and with 26 qualifying points they advanced to the2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final. The team competed just once more before the Junior Grand Prix Final, taking the junior title at the 2019Volvo Open Cup.[4]
At the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final, Davis/Smolkin entered the competition as the bottom seeded team and had a disappointing outing, finishing sixth in both segments of competition and sixth overall. However, they regrouped in the interim between the Final and the2020 Russian Junior Championships and managed to earn the bronze medal at junior nationals, earning a spot on Russian team for the2020 World Junior Championships. Competing at Junior Worlds, Davis/Smolkin scored personal bests in both segments of competition as well as overall, and finished in fifth.[4]
After Davis sustained an ankle fracture in July 2020, her long-term recovery and a subsequent illness delayed Davis/Smolkin's return to full-time training.[5] They did not compete at the2021 Russian Junior Championships in January, but planned to return to Russia for the Russian Cup Final in March.[6] At the Russian Cup Final, Davis/Smolkin placed first in both the rhythm dance and the free dance to take the junior title by a margin of about 5 points over silver medalistsKaganovskaia/Angelopol. They retained theirAristocats rhythm dance from the season prior, but debuted a new free dance to selections from the soundtrack ofMoulin Rouge!.
Davis/Smolkin received their first senior-levelGrand Prix assignment to the2021 Skate Canada International, which was not without controversy in Russia as both they and theMorozov/Bagin, another team with political pull with the Russian Figure Skating Federation, received invitations, while other teams with higher rankings did not.[7] In order to guarantee admission to Canada during the pandemic, both were vaccinated with thePfizer–BioNTech vaccine in addition to having previously received Russia's ownSputnik V vaccine.[8] The team debuted their programs for the Olympic season at the 2021 senior Russian test skates in September.[9]
Davis/Smolkin made their senior international debut the week after test skates at the2021 U.S. International Classic inNorwood, Massachusetts. At the event, the team won the silver medal behind American teamHubbell/Donohue.[4] Going on to the Grand Prix, they placed fifth at Skate Canada International with new personal bests in both segments and overall.[10]
Following their stint on the Grand Prix circuit, Davis/Smolkin competed at back-to-backISU Challenger Series events in November. At the2021 CS Cup of Austria, they finished just off the podium in fourth and set new personal bests in both segments of competition, as well as overall. Davis/Smolkin then competed at the2021 CS Warsaw Cup, where they won their first international title. They upgraded their three new personal bests previously set at Cup of Austria the week before to take the gold medal ahead of Japanese teamMuramoto/Takahashi in second, and American teamGreen/Parsons in third.[4]
At their first seniorRussian Championships in December, Davis/Smolkin controversially placed third in the rhythm dance ahead of longtime Russian number three teamZahorski/Guerreiro, outscoring them in the segment by over five points. In the free dance, Davis/Smolkin were able to capitalize on the withdrawal of top Russian teamSinitsina/Katsalapov due to injury and advance to second in the segment. They took the silver medal behind new national championsStepanova/Bukin. Their placement was, again, not without controversy, with even bronze medalistEgor Bazin questioning the fairness of the scoring. As a result of their placement, Davis/Smolkin were assigned to the2022 European Championships as one of three dance teams representing Russia.[11]
Davis/Smolkin made theirEuropean Championships debut in January inTallinn,Estonia. They placed eighth in the rhythm dance and seventh in the free dance to place seventh overall. When asked about the controversies surrounding their national placements, Smolkin remarked "after the Russian nationals, we stopped paying attention to all that. We let the redundant things go."[12]
Davis/Smolkin were officially named to theRussian team for the2022 Winter Olympics on 20 January.[13] Competing in the2022 Winter Olympicsdance event, they placed fourteenth in the rhythm dance. Afterward the team rebuffed queries from reporters about a burgeoningdoping scandal involvingKamila Valieva, a student of Davis' mother Eteri Tutberidze.[14] Davis/Smolkin held their standing of fourteenth place in the free dance to finish fourteenth overall in their Olympic debut.[15]
Davis/Smolkin, along with their Russian compatriots, were barred from international competition indefinitely by theInternational Skating Union on 1 March 2022 due to the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team chose to remain in the United States rather than return to Russia to compete domestically during the2022–23 season, sparking rumors that they planned to transition to representing the U.S. as Davis is a dual citizen. Speculation was further fueled by the revelation that Davis and Smolkin wed on 18 March 2022, and were working towards attaining agreen card for Smolkin.[16] The team, along withRussian Figure Skating Federation spokesperson Olga Ermolina, denied that they would discontinue representing Russia.[17] However, this changed on 5 June 2023 when it was announced that Davis/Smolkin had been released by the Russian Figure Skating Federation and would continue their ice dance career representingGeorgia.[18] Davis is of Georgian heritage through her maternal grandparents.
Davis/Smolkin began their career under the Georgian flag with a victory at theLake Placid Ice Dance International. On theChallenger circuit, they won the silver medal at the2023 CS Nepela Memorial, before taking gold at both the2023 CS Nepela Memorial and the2023 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge.[4]
Making theirEuropean Championship debut for Georgia at the2024 edition inKaunas, coming eighth.[19] They went on to finish twelfth at the2024 World Championships.[4]
Following the end of the 2023–24 season, Davis/Smolkin switched training locations to the Ice Academy of Montreal. They had intended to begin the season at the2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, but had to withdraw the day before it commenced when he suffered a muscle injury. As a result, they made their debut on theGrand Prix circuit at the2024 Skate America. They ranked third in the rhythm dance with a score of 73.16. Fourth in the free dance, they dropped to fourth overall, finishing 4.56 points behind Spanish bronze medalistsSmart/Dieck. Smolkin opined that it "was a good start into the season, and we felt good on the ice today. After yesterday, I know Diana wanted a medal, so that is of course a bit disappointing, but we are still a young team."[20] One week later, they won silver at the2024 CS Nepela Memorial.[21] They placed eighth at their second Grand Prix, the2024 Cup of China.[22]
In December, Davis and Smolkin competed at a secondChallenger, collecting their second silver medal of the season at the2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.[4] The following month they placed eighth at the2025 European Championships inTallinn, Estonia.[23]
At the2025 World Championships inBoston, Massachusetts, United States, Davis/Smolkin were fourteenth in the rhythm dance. Tenth in the free dance, they moved up to tenth overall. In the process, they qualified a berth for Georgia at the2026 Winter Olympics, which Smolkin said was "definitely something we're proud of."[24]
Selected to compete for Team Georgia at the2025 World Team Trophy, Davis/Smolkin placed fifth in the ice dance event and Team Georgia finished sixth overall.[21][25][26]
Davis/Smolkin kicked off the season in October with two wins at back-to-backChallenger Series events at2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge and2025 CS Trialeti Trophy. They followed up with a fifth-place finish at2025 Grand Prix de France. “It was physically and mentally challenging because I got a bit sick the last days and wasn’t physically feeling my best," said Smolkin after the free dance. "Also, we had three competitions in a row. We want to work on our levels. We do have a little time off now and then will prepare for Finland.”[27] They subsequently placed sixth at2025 Finlandia Trophy.[28]
In January, Davis/Smolkin competed at the2026 European Championships, finishing in sixth place overall. "I think we’ve achieved our goals for this competition," said Smolkin. “We can do better, but our coaches are very pleased with both programs. It’s by far the best of the season so far."[29]
On February 6, Davis/Smolkin placed sixth in the Rhythm Dance at the2026 Winter Olympics Figure Skating Team Event. “It’s been great,” said Smolkin. “I mean, in general, it’s been a bit exhausting, so we are trying to manage our excitement. I think the performance was quite good. We know we can do a bit better."[30] The following day, the team finished fourth in the free dance, adding points to Team Georgia's standing. “We had a couple of moments that we will have to check on, but I think this is good before the individual event,” said Smolkin. “We were doing what we were training for, and now what happens now is out of our control. We know what we are capable of."[31]
| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 [32] |
| ||
| 2024–25 [33] |
|
| |
| 2023–24 [34] |
| ||
| 2021–22 [35] |
|
|
|
| 2020–21 |
| ||
| 2019–20 [36] |
| ||
| 2018–19 [37] |
|
|
| Season | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics | 13th | ||
| Winter Olympics (Team event) | 4th | ||
| World Championships | 12th | 10th | |
| European Championships | 8th | 8th | 6th |
| World Team Trophy | 6th (5th) | ||
| GPCup of China | 8th | ||
| GPFrance | 5th | ||
| GPFinland | 6th | ||
| GPSkate America | 4th | ||
| CSBudapest Trophy | 1st | ||
| CSDenis Ten Memorial | 1st | 1st | |
| CSGolden Spin of Zagreb | 2nd | ||
| CSNepela Memorial | 2nd | 2nd | |
| CSTrialeti Trophy | 1st | ||
| Lake Placid Ice Dance | 1st |
| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Winter Olympics | 14th |
| European Championships | 7th |
| Russian Championships | 2nd |
| GPSkate Canada | 5th |
| CSCup of Austria | 4th |
| CSWarsaw Cup | 1st |
| U.S. Classic | 2nd |
| Season | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Junior Championships | 5th | ||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 6th | ||
| Russian Championships | 9th | 3rd | |
| JGPCzech Republic | 3rd | ||
| JGPRussia | 2nd | ||
| JGPUnited States | 2nd | ||
| Russian–Chinese Winter Youth Games | 2nd | ||
| Russian Cup | 2nd | 1st | |
| Tallinn Trophy | 2nd | ||
| Volvo Open Cup | 3rd | 1st |
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 203.39 | 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy |
| Rhythm dance | TSS | 80.35 | 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy |
| TES | 46.17 | 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy | |
| PCS | 34.44 | 2024 CS Nepela Memorial | |
| Free dance | TSS | 123.04 | 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy |
| TES | 70.24 | 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy | |
| PCS | 53.30 | 2024 CS Nepela Memorial |
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Aug 1–2, 2023 |  2023 Lake Placid Ice Dance International | 2 | 74.35 | 1 | 117.47 | 1 | 191.82 |
| Sep 28–30, 2023 |  2023 CS Nepela Memorial | 2 | 77.62 | 4 | 111.32 | 2 | 188.94 |
| Oct 13–15, 2023 |  2023 CS Budapest Trophy | 1 | 75.21 | 1 | 116.63 | 1 | 191.84 |
| Nov 1–4, 2023 |  2023 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | 1 | 76.56 | 1 | 116.11 | 1 | 192.67 |
| Jan 10–14, 2024 |  2024 European Championships | 7 | 76.33 | 8 | 113.13 | 8 | 189.46 |
| Mar 18–24, 2024 |  2024 World Championships | 12 | 74.46 | 14 | 113.88 | 12 | 188.34 |
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Oct 18–20, 2024 | 2024 Skate America | 3 | 73.16 | 4 | 113.89 | 4 | 113.89 |
| Oct 24–26, 2024 |  2024 CS Nepela Memorial | 2 | 80.32 | 2 | 121.55 | 2 | 201.87 |
| Nov 22–24, 2024 |  2024 Cup of China | 8 | 70.53 | 7 | 111.79 | 8 | 182.32 |
| Dec 4–7, 2024 |  2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 3 | 70.62 | 2 | 107.97 | 2 | 178.59 |
| Jan 28 – Feb 2, 2025 |  2025 European Championships | 10 | 73.82 | 8 | 116.33 | 8 | 190.15 |
| Mar 26–30, 2025 | 2025 World Championships | 14 | 73.22 | 10 | 117.28 | 10 | 190.50 |
| Apr 17–20, 2025 |  2025 World Team Trophy | 5 | 76.47 | 4 | 118.44 | 6 (5) | 194.91 |
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Oct 1–4, 2025 | 2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | 1 | 77.94 | 1 | 115.20 | 1 | 193.14 |
| Oct 8–11,2025 | 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy | 1 | 80.35 | 1 | 123.04 | 1 | 203.39 |
| Oct 17–19, 2025 |  2025 Grand Prix de France | 4 | 77.80 | 5 | 116.47 | 5 | 194.27 |
| Nov 21–23, 2025 |  2025 Finlandia Trophy | 7 | 70.42 | 5 | 113.71 | 6 | 184.13 |
| Jan 13–18, 2026 |  2026 European Championships | 6 | 78.67 | 6 | 120.64 | 6 | 199.31 |
| Feb 6–8, 2026 |  2026 Winter Olympics – Team event | 6 | 78.97 | 4 | 117.82 | 4 | N/a |
| Feb 9-11, 2026 | 2026 Winter Olympics | 13 | 77.15 | 11 | 118.787 | 13 | 196.02 |
| 2021–22 season | ||||
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 12–14, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics | 14 71.66 | 14 108.16 | 14 179.82 |
| January 10–16, 2022 | 2022 European Championships | 8 73.32 | 7 113.29 | 7 186.61 |
| December 21–26, 2021 | 2022 Russian Championships | 3 83.99 | 2 123.71 | 2 207.70 |
| November 17–20, 2021 | 2021 CS Warsaw Cup | 1 81.30 | 1 118.60 | 1 199.90 |
| November 11–14, 2021 | 2021 CS Cup of Austria | 4 73.37 | 4 111.25 | 4 184.62 |
| October 29–31, 2021 | 2021 Skate Canada International | 7 70.66 | 5 109.91 | 5 180.57 |
| September 15–18, 2021 | 2021 U.S. International Classic | 2 75.21 | 2 115.42 | 2 190.63 |
| 2020–21 season | ||||
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 26 – Mar. 2, 2021 | 2021 Russian Cup Final | 1 74.22 | 1 112.16 | 1 186.38 |
| 2019–2020 season | ||||
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
| March 2–8, 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | 5 66.53 | 5 98.69 | 5 165.22 |
| February 4–8, 2020 | 2020 Russian Junior Championships | 3 70.91 | 3 110.06 | 3 180.97 |
| December 5–8, 2019 | 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final | 6 59.89 | 6 92.32 | 6 152.21 |
| November 5–10, 2019 | 2019 Volvo Open Cup | 1 68.00 | 1 99.17 | 1 167.17 |
| September 11–14, 2019 | 2019 JGP Russia | 2 64.79 | 3 93.45 | 2 158.24 |
| August 28–31, 2019 | 2019 JGP United States | 2 62.12 | 2 98.05 | 2 160.17 |
| 2018–2019 season | ||||
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
| Jan. 31 – Feb. 4, 2019 | 2019 Russian Junior Championships | 9 60.31 | 9 93.78 | 9 154.09 |
| February 20–23, 2019 | 2018 Russian-Chinese Youth Winter Games | 1 61.15 | 2 94.05 | 2 155.20 |
| Nov. 25 – Dec. 2, 2018 | 2019 Tallinn Trophy | 2 62.16 | 2 89.00 | 2 151.16 |
| November 6–11, 2018 | 2018 Volvo Open Cup | 3 61.78 | 3 92.65 | 3 154.43 |
| September 26–29, 2018 | 2018 JGP Czech Republic | 3 56.55 | 3 92.07 | 3 148.62 |
