Alexei Alexandrovich Sitnikov (; born 23 May 1986) is a former competitive ice dancer. Competing for Azerbaijan with Julia Zlobina, he is the 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, 2013 Volvo Open Cup champion, 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist, and 2013 Winter Universiade silver medalist. They competed at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, finishing 12th, and have placed as high as sixth at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

(2014).

Career

Career for Russia

Zlobina and Sitnikov teamed up in June 2001. Early in their career, they represented Russia and were coached by Igor Gavrin and later Olga Riabinina. In 2005, they moved with Riabinina from Kirov to

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

. In 2006, Zlobina/Sitnikov won the bronze medal in Hungary and gold in the Czech Republic on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. Their final international event representing Russia was the

2008 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy took place between September 25 and 29, 2008 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf. The compulsory dance was the Viennese Waltz. The competition held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany and is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby ...

, where they finished 5th. In May 2009, they moved with Riabinina to Moscow and joined Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alexeeva's group. In the 2009–10 season, Zlobina/Sitnikov made no international appearances but competed at the Russian Championships, where they finished 5th.

Career for Azerbaijan

Zlobina/Sitnikov decided to represent Azerbaijan and made their first appearance for the country at the 2011 Estonian Championships, competing as guests. In mid-2011, they switched to another Moscow-based coaching team,

Alexander Zhulin Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (; born 20 July 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist ( 1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 Europe ...

and Oleg Volkov, with Zhulin also serving as their choreographer. In the 2011–12 season, Zlobina/Sitnikov won the bronze medal at the

2011 Ondrej Nepela Memorial The 2011 Ondrej Nepela Memorial ( sk, Memoriál Ondreja Nepelu) was the 19th edition of an international figure skating competition annually held in Slovakia. It was held from September 28 to October 2, 2011 at the Ondrej Nepela Ice Rink in Brati ...

and gold at the Istanbul Cup. Their first major international event was the 2012 European Championships, where they finished 10th. They then placed 17th at the 2012 World Championships. Zlobina/Sitnikov began the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season by taking gold at Ice Star in Belarus and then silver at the

2012 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 27–29, 2012 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf. The event is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany and is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain. It is one of the first international senior com ...

. They finished sixth at their first Grand Prix event since 2007, the 2012 Skate Canada, and fifth at the

2012 Trophee Eric Bompard 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. After placing seventh at the 2013 European Championships, the team finished 16th at the 2013 World Championships and qualified a spot for Azerbaijan in the ice dancing event at the

. Zlobina/Sitnikov changed coaches before the 2013–14 season, joining Igor Shpilband and

Alexei Gorshkov Alexei Yurievich Gorshkov (russian: Алексей Юрьевич Горшков; born 30 January 1967) is a Russian ice dancing coach. Coaching career Gorshkov coaches in Odintsovo, near Moscow. His notable senior dance teams are: * Albena D ...

Novi, Michigan Novi ( ) is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,243, an increase of 20% from the 2010 census. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Novi is located about northwest of the city of D ...

. They had a weak start to their season, placing eighth at the

2013 Skate America The 2013 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 17 ...

but went on win gold at the 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb, Volvo Open Cup, and

Ukrainian Open The Ukrainian Open is a senior international figure skating competition. The inaugural event was held in December 2013 in Kyiv. Not held in the following two seasons, the event was scheduled to return 9–13 November 2016 as part of the ISU Chal ...

, and silver at the

2013 Winter Universiade The 2013 Winter Universiade, the XXVI Winter Universiade, was a winter multi-sport event which took place in Trentino, Italy between 11 and 21 December 2013. This was the first time that a Winter Universiade happened after the Summer Universia ...

. They placed sixth at the 2014 European Championships, a career high.

Programs

(with Zlobina)

Results

With Zlobina for Azerbaijan

With Zlobina for Russia

References

External links

*
Julia Zlobina / Alexei Sitnikov
at Sport-folio {{DEFAULTSORT:Sitnikov, Alexei Living people 1986 births Sportspeople from Kirov, Kirov Oblast Russian male ice dancers Azerbaijani male ice dancers Russian emigrants to Azerbaijan Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Azerbaijan Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games silver medalists for Azerbaijan Competitors at the 2013 Winter Universiade 21st-century Russian sportsmen