Serafima Sakhanovich

Sakhanovich at the2019 Skate Canada
Personal information
Native name	Серафима Андреевна Саханович
Full name	Serafima Andreyevna Sakhanovich
Born	(2000-02-09)9 February 2000 (age 25) Saint Petersburg, Russia
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Coach	Angelina Turenko
Skating club	Olympic School St. Petersburg
Began skating	2007
Retired	November 5, 2021
Medal record Representing Russia Figure skating:Ladies' singles World Junior Championships 2014 Sofia Ladies' singles 2015 Tallinn Ladies' singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2013–14 Fukuoka Ladies' singles 2014–15 Barcelona Ladies' singles

Serafima "Sima" Andreyevna Sakhanovich (Russian:Серафима Андреевна Саханович; born 9 February 2000) is a retired Russianfigure skater. She has won six medals on theISU Challenger Series circuit, and is the2017 C.S. Warsaw Cup champion, and the2018 C.S. Tallinn Trophy champion. She is also the 2019Denis Ten Memorial champion.

On the junior level, she is a two-timeJunior World silver medalist (2014-2015), a two-timeJunior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the 2013JGP Estonia champion, the 2014JGP Japan champion, the 2014JGP Slovenia champion, and the 2014Russian junior national champion.

Serafima "Sima"^[1] Andreyevna Sakhanovich was born 9 February 2000 inSaint Petersburg.^[2] She has two older sisters.^[3]

Sakhanovich began skating in 2007, coached from the start by Alina Pisarenko in Saint Petersburg.^[4]

Sakhanovich finished 12th at the2012 Russian Junior Championships. At the2013 Russian Championships, she placed fourth in her senior national debut and then won silver on the junior level behindElena Radionova.

Sakhanovich made her international debut in the 2013–2014 season. After placing fourth at theISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia, she then won the gold medal in her next JGP event inEstonia.^[5] Her results qualified her for theJGP Final inFukuoka, Japan, where she won the silver medal behind teammateMaria Sotskova. Sakhanovich finished sixth on the senior level at theRussian Championships and went on to win the junior national title ahead of Sotskova. She placed second in both segments at the2014 World Junior Championships and was awarded the silver medal. Gold went toElena Radionova and bronze toEvgenia Medvedeva, producing Russia's second consecutive sweep of the World Junior ladies' podium. She experienced pain in her right foot during the event but her condition improved after a month's rest.^[3]

Unable to find a sponsor in Saint Petersburg, Sakhanovich decided to relocate to Moscow, where she joinedEteri Tutberidze.^[3]

Sakhanovich's first assignment of the2014 JGP series was inLjubljana,Slovenia. In the short program, she became the first female skater competing on the junior level to ever surpass the 40-point mark for TES and her overall score was the highest ever achieved in the Junior Grand Prix series by any lady skater.^{[citation needed]} She won the gold medal ahead of Japan'sYuka Nagai. After another gold medal in Japan, she qualified for the2014–15 JGP Final inBarcelona. In Spain, she won the silver medal behind teammateEvgenia Medvedeva after placing second in both segments.

Competing on the senior level at the2015 Russian Championships, Sakhanovich placed 11th in the short program but 5th in the free skate, allowing her to move up to 5th overall. At the 2015 Russian Junior Nationals, she placed 4th in the short and second in the free on her way to the bronze medal. She made the team for the2015 World Junior Championships inTallinn, Estonia, where she won the silver medal behindEvgenia Medvedeva after placing second in the short and third in the free.

On 9 April 2015, R-Sport news agency reported that Sakhanovich had rejoined her former coach inSaint Petersburg, Alina Pisarenko, and that she hoped to master the quad Salchow in the following season.^[6] She said that she had changed coaches because her family was unable to live in two different cities at once.^[7]

Sakhanovich started her season by placing 7th at the2015 JGP in Spain. She then made a coaching change, moving from Alina Pisarenko toEvgeni Rukavicin, and withdrew from theJGP in Croatia in order to adjust to her new training situation and to change her free program.^[8]

Making her senior international debut, Sakahnovich competed at twoISU Challenger Series events; she finished fourth at the2015 CS Ice Challenge and took silver at the2015 CS Warsaw Cup with a new season's best score of 176.41 points. Her results at bothRussian Championships were the lowest of her career. After placing tenth at the senior event in December, she finished 17th at the junior event in January, having ranked last in the free skate with four falls on her jumps.

Sakhanovich started her season by competing in twoISU Challenger Series events. In mid September she competed at the2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy where she placed 6th and in early October she competed at the2016 CS Finlandia Trophy where she finished 8th.

Making herGrand Prix debut, Sakhanovich placed 7th at the2016 Skate America. She then competed at the2016 CS Tallinn Trophy where she won the silver medal behind her teammateStanislava Konstantinova.

She finished 12th at the2017 Russian Championships. She was coached byEvgeni Rukavicin in Saint Petersburg.^[9]

In late September 2017, Sakhanovich changed coaches, deciding to joinEvgeni Plushenko at his skating school in Moscow.^[10]

Sakhanovich started her season by winning twoISU Challenger Series medals. In late October she competed at the2017 CS Minsk-Arena Ice Star where she won the silver medal behindElizabet Tursynbayeva. She then skated at the2017 CS Warsaw Cup where she won the gold medal.

She placed fifth at her Grand Prix assignment,2017 Skate America, and ninth at the2018 Russian Championships. In addition to Plushenko, she trained underYulia Lavrenchuk until Lavrenchuk's departure at the end of the season.^[11] After returning to Saint Petersburg, Sakhanovich decided to be coached byAngelina Turenko.^[11]

In mid-November, Sakhanovich skated at the2018 CS Alpen Trophy, winning the silver medal behind her teammateAnna Tarusina. Two weeks later she competed at the2018 CS Tallinn Trophy where she won the gold medal with a personal best score of 202.62 points. She did not compete at the2019 Russian Championships, but later placed fifth at theBavarian Open.

Sakhanovich began the season at the inauguralDenis Ten Memorial Challenge inAlmaty, winning the event.^[12] She received her firstGrand Prix assignment in two years, the2019 Skate Canada International, where she placed eighth.^[13] She placed twelfth at the2020 Russian Championships.

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

Media related toSerafima Sakhanovich at Wikimedia Commons

• Serafima Sakhanovich at theInternational Skating Union
• Serafima Sakhanovich onInstagram

• 2000 births
• Russian female single skaters
• World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Living people
• Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg
• 21st-century Russian sportswomen

• CS1 uses Russian-language script (ru)
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Russian-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014
• Commons category link from Wikidata