Misha Mitrofanov (born June 12, 1997) is an American

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 ...

. With his skating partner,

Audrey Lu Audrey Lu (born August 30, 2002) is an American pair skater. With her skating partner, Misha Mitrofanov, she is the 2022 Four Continents champion, 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, 2018 CS U.S. International Classic silver medalist, and ...

, he is the 2022 Four Continents champion,

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- ...

champion, 2018 CS U.S. International Classic silver medalist, and 2022 U.S. national bronze medalist.

Personal life

Mitrofanov was born on June 12, 1997, in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. He is the eldest of two children born to Yelena, a real estate agent, and Gennadiy, a natural gas and oil marketer. He has a sister, Nina. After graduating (in May 2016) from

Spring Creek Academy Spring Creek Academy is a Dallas-area private school. Located in Plano, Texas, Spring Creek Academy opened in 1996, and currently serves approximately 200 students in grades K-12. It offers all core and academic elective courses required to meet ...

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

, he began studying sports medicine at the

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas. It is one of the largest public universities in the Dallas area and the northernmost institution of the University of Texas system. It wa ...

Career

Early years

Mitrofanov began learning to skate in 2001. He was coached by Alexei Mantsorov from 2005 to 2014. Skating in the novice pairs' category, he placed 8th at the 2015 U.S. Championships with Emily Chan, and 6th at the 2016 U.S. Championships with Ashlee Raymond.

2016–2017 season

Mitrofanov teamed up with

in May 2016. Making their international debut, the pair placed 12th 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 the Czech Republic in September 2016. Their season came to an end in November, after Mitrofanov dislocated his shoulder at the Midwestern Sectional Championships. He underwent shoulder surgery and resumed training after six months.

2017–2018 season

Lu/Mitrofanov placed 5th at both of their JGP assignments. In January, they won the junior pairs' title at the 2018 U.S. Championships; they ranked first in both segments and outscored the silver medalists by 17.74 points. In March, the pair placed 5th (6th in the short program, 4th in the free skate) at the 2018 World Junior Championships in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Bulgaria.

2018–2019 season

Making their senior international debut, Lu/Mitrofanov won silver at the 2018 CS U.S. International Classic in mid-September, and then placed fifth at the

2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held in September 2018 at the Eissportzentrum Oberstdorf. It is part of the 2018–19 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance ...

. They were invited to two

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 ...

events, the

2018 NHK Trophy The 2018 NHK Trophy was the fourth event of six in the 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Hiroshima Green Arena in Hiroshima on November 9–11. Medals were awa ...

and

2018 Internationaux de France The 2018 Internationaux de France was the sixth event of six in the 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Patinoire Polesud in Grenoble on November 23–25. Medals ...

, where they placed seventh and sixth, respectively. Debuting at senior Nationals at the 2019 U.S. Championships, they placed sixth.

2019–2020 season

Lu/Mitrofanov began the season with a fifth-place finish at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic. On the

, they were eighth at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup. They concluded the season at the 2020 U.S. Championships, where they finished sixth.

2020–2021 season

With 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 ...

affecting international travel, Lu/Mitrofanov were assigned to attend the

2020 Skate America The 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America was the first event in the 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 23–24. Med ...

, the

having been arranged primarily based on training location. They placed third in the short program, 3.31 points ahead of national pewter medalists Cain-Gribble/ LeDuc. Coming fourth in the free skate, their lead from the short program was nevertheless enough to remain in third place overall, winning the bronze medal. Competing at the 2021 U.S. Championships, Lu/Mitrofanov placed third in the short program with a clean skate. They were fourth in the free skate, dropping to fourth place overall and winning the pewter medal.

2021–2022 season

After beginning the season with some minor America competitions, Lu/Mitrofanov competed on the

at the

2021 NHK Trophy The 2021 NHK Trophy was the fourth event in the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo on November 12–14. Medals were award ...

, finishing in fifth place. They went on to finish in fourth at the

2021 Rostelecom Cup The 2021 Rostelecom Cup was the sixth event in the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi on November 26–28. Medals were award ...

, after which Lu said they were "satisfied" with the results on the Grand Prix that year. They next competed at the

, where they won the gold medal, their first

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

title. Lu/Mitrofanov won the bronze medal at the 2022 U.S. Championships. Mitrofanov said they were "very happy and grateful" for the event and its large audience. As a result of their placement, they were assigned to compete at the 2022 Four Continents Championships in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, and named second alternates to the American Olympic team. Lu/Mitrofanov won both segments of the Four Continents competition to take the gold medal. In March, the cast list for the ice show An Evening with Champions was announced, announcing Mitrofanov skating with Hazel Collier.

Programs

(with Lu)

Competitive highlights

''GP:

; 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 ...

. Pewter medals (4th place) awarded only at U.S. national, sectional, and regional events.''

Pairs with Lu

Pairs with Chan and Raymond

Men's singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitrofanov, Misha 1997 births American male pair skaters Living people People from Madison, Wisconsin 21st-century American people