Nikita Katsalapov: biography, sports career and personal life of the skater

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Katsalapov Nikita is a Russian figure skater. In 2014, he won gold at the Olympic Games in Sochi in team competitions. Then he became the Honored Master of Sports of the Russian Federation. To date, his partner is Victoria Sinitsina, choreographer - S. Petukhov, and coaches - E. Chaikovskaya, A. Zhulin and P. Durnev.

Early years

Nikita was born in 1991, July 10, in Moscow. His mother was a professional figure skater, but due to an injury, the woman said goodbye to the sport. For the first time Katsalapov stood on the ice at the age of 4. Later, the future champion was interested in acting. For some time, Nikita played in children's performances of the Aleko Theater, but when life confronted him with a choice, the guy, without hesitation, preferred sports.

Katsalapov's first coach was M. Druzik, who was later replaced by N. Dubinskaya. Initially, he performed with single numbers, but soon Nikita's mother found him a partner in the person of E. Ilinykh. Unfortunately, Lena left for the USA to train, because she did not find a common language with 13-year-old Katsalapov. The boy, in turn, returned to singles.

First sporting successes

In 2008, a couple of Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, whose photo is located below, returned to the ice. Soon the skaters became part of the youth national team of Russia thanks to the victory at the Cup final in Tver. In 2010, Ilinykh and Katsalapov won the silver medal at the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo. At the same time, in The Hague, the couple won first place at the world championship in figure skating.

Following performances with the Ilyins

In 2010, Nikita and Elena made their debut at the adult stage of the Japanese NHK Trophy. The skaters took 4th place. The couple achieved the same result at the 2011 Russian Championship in the free dance. In the end, this competition ended for the Ilyins and Katsalapov in third place. This allowed them to get to the European Championship 2011. At the competition, the couple took 4th place.

Then the skaters reached a new level and got the opportunity to represent Russia at the 2011 World Championships. Elena and Nikita managed to win a decent seventh place. Soon followed by a change in their coach to N. Morozov and preparation for new competitions. The 2012 World Championship ended for Nikita Katsalapov and Elena Ilinykh in fifth place. In 2014, at the Olympics in Sochi, figure skaters faced worthy opponents in the person of Canadians Virtue / Moir and French Bourzat / Pechalat. The couple won only bronze, but in the team competition they won the long-awaited gold medal.

Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina

The first joint numbers of the skaters turned out to be a failure. In 2015, Nikita and Victoria took 2nd place at the stage of the Grand Prix series of the Skate America tournament. In addition, the skaters once again updated their personal records in the free and short dances. In 2016, at the European Championships, the couple was in fourth place. In the spring, Katsalapov underwent surgery on his shoulder and underwent a course of rehabilitation.

For the Russian Championship 2017, the couple trained with Oleg Volkov. They demonstrated new dances to the audience of the Open Rentals in September 2016. At the international start of the Cup of China, V. Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov were awarded the fourth place. They soon competed at the NHK Trophy in Sapporo and placed fifth. At this stage, E. Chaikovskaya joined the coaches of Victoria and Nikita. The Russian Championship, held in Chelyabinsk, ended for the skaters with a bronze medal. They achieved the same result in Minsk during the Challenger series. Participation in the NHK Trophy 2017 tournament brought them fourth place, and the pair returned from the stage, which was held in the USA, with a bronze medal.

As for the personal life of Nikita Katsalapov, there is practically no information about this. The athlete does not like to flaunt his personal affairs and relationships.