Luka Berulava
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Luka Berulava (russian: Лука Берулава; ka, ლუკა ბერულავა, born 27 November 2002) is a Georgian
pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...
, who currently competes with Anastasia Metelkina. Together they are two-time
ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
gold medalists. Berulava first emerged on the international scene with partner Alina Butaeva, with whom he won two medals at the
2020 Winter Youth Olympics The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (german: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2020; french: Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse d'hiver de 2020; it, Giochi olimpici giovanili invernali del 2020; rm, Gieus olimpics da giuvenils d'enviern 2020), offic ...
− bronze in pairs and gold in the team event. He then formed a new partnership with Karina Safina. Safina/Berulava were the first Georgian pair medalists on the
ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
circuit, having won silver at 2021 JGP Slovakia and bronze at 2021 JGP Austria, and the first Georgians to win a World Junior title in any discipline when they won gold in
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
. At the senior level they won a bronze medal at the
2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 22–25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. It was also the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the discipli ...
, achieved notable fourth-place finishes at both the 2022 World Championships and the
2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The tournament began three days after the conclusion of the 2022 Commo ...
, and represented Georgia at the
2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
.


Personal life

Berulava was born on 27 November 2002 in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He resides in
Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia ** Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administra ...
.


Career

Berulava began learning to skate in 2005. In 2019, he teamed up with Russia's Alina Butaeva to compete in
pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...
. The pair decided to train in
Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia ** Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administra ...
, coached by Pavel Sliusarenko and
Alexei Menshikov Alexei Alexeyevich Menshikov (russian: Алексей Алексеевич Меньшиков; born 11 March 1984) is a Russian former pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as ...
.


2019–20 season: Youth Olympics medals

The two made their debut for Georgia in September 2019, placing eighth at an
ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
(JGP) event in
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and then sixth at JGP Croatia. Their results earned a spot for Georgia in the pairs' event at the
2020 Winter Youth Olympics The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (german: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2020; french: Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse d'hiver de 2020; it, Giochi olimpici giovanili invernali del 2020; rm, Gieus olimpics da giuvenils d'enviern 2020), offic ...
. In November, they took bronze in the junior pairs' category at the
Volvo Open Cup Volvo Open Cup is a figure skating competition held in Riga, Latvia. It was part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014–15 season. The competition may include men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing at various levels. ...
in
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
, Latvia. In December, they won the junior event at the Golden Spin of Zagreb. In January 2020, the pair competed at the
2020 Winter Youth Olympics The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (german: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2020; french: Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse d'hiver de 2020; it, Giochi olimpici giovanili invernali del 2020; rm, Gieus olimpics da giuvenils d'enviern 2020), offic ...
in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
, Switzerland. They finished third in the short program behind two pairs from Russia, then did likewise in the free skating program. Their combined score put them in third place with a bronze medal. This was Georgia's first medal in the
Winter Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...
, and their tenth medal in the
Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...
overall. The pair also received a gold medal for their participation in the team event as part of Team Courage, alongside
Arlet Levandi Arlet Levandi (born 28 November 2005) is an Estonian figure skater. He is the 2022 Tallink Hotels Cup champion and a two-time Estonian national silver medalist (2021–2022). On the junior level, he is the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival c ...
from Estonia,
Ksenia Sinitsyna Kseniia Alexeyevna Sinitsyna (russian: Ксения Алексеевна Синицына; born 5 August 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 Youth Olympic silver medalist, the 2020 Youth Olympic Champion in the team event, the ...
from Russia, and ice dancers
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/ Nishiyama from Japan. Butaeva/Berulava finished the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they placed seventh.


2021–22 season: Debut of Safina/Berulava

After the end of his partnership with Butaeva, Berulava formed a new partnership with Russian pair skater Karina Safina. With international junior competition resuming following the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
causing the 2020–21 junior season to be cancelled, Safina/Berulava made their
Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
debut at the 2021 JGP Slovakia. they won the silver medal behind gold medal-winning Russian team Mukhortova/ Evgenyev, and ahead of third place Russian team Kostiukovich/ Briukhanov. Their placement marked Georgia's first
Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
medal in pair skating. Safina/Berulava next made their senior international debut at the
2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 22–25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. It was also the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the discipli ...
to attempt to qualify a berth for Georgia in the pairs event at the
2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
. The team set a new personal best to win the short program by a narrow margin over German team
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/ Seegert. They fell to third in the free program after losing their forward inside death spiral and one of their lifts, and ultimately finished third overall to successfully qualify for an Olympic spot in their discipline for Georgia. Berulava remarked afterwards, "we would like to have done it in a better, nicer way." Their performance, along with Georgian ice dance team Kazakova/ Reviya's podium placement, also qualified a spot for Georgia in the Olympic team event. Safina/Berulava returned to the Junior Grand Prix circuit in October for their second assignment, the 2021 JGP Austria in
Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
. They placed third in both segments to finish third overall behind Russian teams Khabibullina/ Knyazhuk and Mukhortova/Evgenyev. Due to the unique qualification process for the 2021–22 season, the team did not advance to the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final, despite two podium finishes. In December, Safina/Berulava faced domestic rivals Metelkina/ Parkman for the first time in international competition at the
2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held on December 7–11, 2021 in Sisak, Croatia. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance. The non- ...
. Safina/Berulava set a new personal best to win the short program but fell to eighth in the free program standings after errors on their side-by-side jumping passes and losing their forward inside death spiral. The team placed seventh overall, while Metelkina/Parkman advanced onto the podium and took home the silver medal. Metelkina/Parkman initially received the nod for the Georgian pairs berth at the
2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The tournament began three days after the conclusion of the 2022 Commo ...
; however, Safina/Berulava replaced them after they withdrew from the event on 9 January. At Europeans, Safina/Berulava placed sixth in the short program after falling on their side-by-side triple Salchows. They delivered a stronger performance in the free skate, albeit still struggling with their side-by-side jumps, to climb to fourth in the segment and fourth overall, the best of the non-Russian competitors. The day after the pairs free skate at the European Championships, Safina/Berulava were officially named to the Georgian team for the
2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
by the Georgian Figure Skating Federation. Safina/Berulava made their Olympic debut in the team event before the opening ceremony on February 3. They cleanly skated their short program to place sixth in the segment out of nine and earn five points towards Team Georgia's combined score. However, despite scoring 22 team points overall to tie for fifth place with Team China going into the free skate, Team Georgia lost the tie-breaker and did not advance. In the pairs event, Safina/Berulava were ninth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, for ninth overall. Days after the Olympics concluded,
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
ordered an
invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...
, as a result of which the
International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Net ...
banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the 2022 World Championships. As well, the
Chinese Skating Association The Chinese Skating Association (CSA) was founded in 1956. It hosts the annual Chinese Figure Skating Championships and the Cup of China. Notable people in Chinese figure skating *Yao Bin & Luan Bo Pairs team now coaches - first Chinese pair sk ...
opted not to send athletes to compete in
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
. As those countries' athletes comprised the entirety of the top five pairs at the Olympics, this greatly impacted the field. Safina and Berulava relocated to train in Italy. They placed fourth in the short program at the World Championships with a clean skate. They were fourth in the free skate to finish fourth overall, the only error in the latter segment being Safina doubling out on a triple Salchow attempt. Due to the pandemic, the World Junior Championships could not be held in their scheduled location of
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, and as a result, they were moved to
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and held in mid-April, rather than their traditional early March timeframe. As Russian pair teams were also banned from attending this event, Safina/Berulava entered as heavy favourites for the gold medal. They won the short program with a clean skate and a 67.77 score. They also won the free skate, taking the title by a margin of almost twenty points. Berulava reflected that "it was a long and busy season with many competitions and to end it with a gold medal is really nice."


2022–23 season

Safina and Berulava were assigned to make their senior
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
debut in the fall. Despite dealing with an injury in the lead-up to their first event, the
2022 Grand Prix de France The 2022 Grand Prix de France was the third event in the 2022–23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Angers on November 4–6. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of ...
, they placed third in the short program, with Safina saying, "I am more pleased than not pleased with our performance today because nothing really worked in practice for me. We have still a lot of work ahead of us, and I think I've done the maximum of what I can do at the moment." They struggled in the free skate, placing sixth in that segment and dropping to fifth overall. The team later withdrew from their second assignment, the
2022 Grand Prix of Espoo The 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo was the sixth event in the 2022–23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo from November 25-27. It was the repl ...
. After missing most of the season, Safina/Berulava returned to compete at the 2023 World Championships, but struggled at the event and came nineteenth. The following month, Safina announced that Berulava had opted to end their partnership. He subsequently confirmed this, expressing "deep gratitude to Karina."


2023–24 season: Debut of Metelkina/Berulava

On June 5, it was announced by the Georgian Federation that Berulava had teamed up with Anastasia Metelkina. Metelkina/Berulava opted to make their competitive debut on the
Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
, winning the gold medal at the 2023 JGP Turkey in
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. Despite two falls in their free skate, their margin of victory over American silver medalists
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/
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was almost 27 points. Two weeks later they competed their second event, the 2023 JGP Hungary in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. They again won easily, despite difficulties on their jump elements. Metelkina/Berulava's results qualified them to the
Junior Grand Prix Final The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final or JGP Final (titled the ISU Junior Series Final in the 1997–98 season) is the culmination of a series of junior-level competitions – the ISU Junior Grand Prix organized by the International Skating Union. Medals ...
in December; they said they planned on getting senior-level experience in the meantime.


Programs


With Metelkina


With Safina


With Butaeva


Competitive highlights

''CS: Challenger Series; JGP:
Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
''


Pairs with Metelkina


Pairs with Safina


Pairs with Butaeva


Detailed results

''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.''


With Metelkina


With Safina


Senior results


Junior results


With Butaeva


Junior results


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berulava, Luka 2002 births Figure skaters at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics Male pair skaters from Georgia (country) Living people Sportspeople from Perm, Russia Figure skaters from Moscow Russian sportspeople of Georgian descent Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Georgia (country) World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists