Nikita Maximovich Starostin (russian: Никита Максимович Старостин; born 13 June 2002) is a Russian-
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
figure skater
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
, who represents Germany internationally.
Personal life
Starostin was born on June 13, 2002 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Prior to becoming a figure skater, Starostin also participated in swimming and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
as a child.
Starostin's stepfather is
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, which factored into his decision to represent Germany.
His figure skating idols are Deniss Vasiljevs and Shoma Uno.
Career
Early career
Starostin began figure skating in 2009 after being encouraged by his mother, a former figure skater, to give it a try. According to Starostin, it was difficult for him to initially find someone to coach him in Russia due to him only having started skating at seven years old. Eventually though, Starostin was able to train in a group coached by
Alexei Mishin
Alexei Nikolayevich Mishin (russian: link=no, Алексей Николаевич Мишин; born 8 March 1941) is a Russian figure skating coach and former pair skater. With partner Tamara Moskvina, he is the 1969 World silver medalist and ...
and soon, Svetlana Knorr became his coach.
Representing Russia, he won the bronze medal on the junior level at the 2016 Tallinn Trophy.
In 2018, Starostin would ultimately decide to represent Germany.
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
Starostin started his season with a sixteenth-place finish at the 2019 JGP Russia. He went on to win the 2019 Santa Claus Cup.
At the 2020 German Junior Championships, Starostin won the silver medal. He closed the season with a fifth-place finish at the 2020 Bavarian Open.
Following the season, Starostin left coach, Julia Kulibanova, and began working with Adam Solya in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Netherlands. In 2023, Starostin said that he credits Solya for having always believed in him, stating, "He saw a talent in me that others didn't. We started working together and I decided to move to live in Europe. It turned out to be the right idea – I felt that I had no future in Russia. People didn't believe that I could do more People didn't believe that I could do more. And Adam knows that I can do more."
2020–21 season
Starostin was unable to compete internationally this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021–22 season
Prior to the season, Starostin relocated to Belgium to train and in addition to Adam Solya,
Jorik Hendrickx
Jorik Hendrickx (born 18 May 1992) is a Belgian former competitive figure skater. He is the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champion, the 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist, a three-time Coupe du Printemps champion (2012, 2013, 2016), the 2017 I ...
became one of his coaches. He began the season with twelfth-place finishes at the
2021 CS Lombardia Trophy
The 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy Memorial Anna Grandolfi was held on September 10–12, 2021 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, and ice dan ...
and the
2021 CS Finlandia Trophy
The 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy was held on October 7–10, 2021 in Espoo, Finland. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, pairs, and ...
. He went on to finish eighth at the
2021 CS Cup of Austria
The 2021 CS Cup of Austria by Icechallenge was held on November 11–14, 2021 in Graz, Austria. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance.
Entri ...
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 ...
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 ...
, France.
Starostin then competed at the 2022 International Challenge Cup, placing seventh. At the European Championships, Starostin placed thirteenth after placing fourteenth in the short program and twelfth in the free skate. Debuting at the World Championships, Starostin placed twenty-third in the short program and twenty-second in the free skate, finishing twenty-second overall.
2022–23 season
Starostin began the season with three assignments on the Challenger series, finishing ninth at the
2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
The 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 21–24, 2022 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance.
Entries ...
, fifteenth at the
2022 CS Finlandia Trophy
The 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy was held on October 4–9, 2022 in Espoo, Finland. It was part of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance.
Entries
The I ...
, and winning the bronze medal at the
2022 CS Ice Challenge
The 2022 CS Ice Challenge was held on November 9–13, 2022, in Graz, Austria. It was the eighth event of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance.
Entries
The International Ska ...
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Starostin finished in nineteenth place overall after placing sixteenth in the short program and nineteenth in the free skate.
2023–24 season
Starostin started the season by finishing sixth at the
2023 CS Lombardia Trophy
The 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy Memorial Anna Grandolfi was held on September 8–10, 2023, in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...
. In his second
Challenger
Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to:
Entertainment
Comics and manga
* Challenger (character), comic book character
* ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga
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* ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...
appearance, he was ninth at the
2023 CS Finlandia Trophy
The 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy was held on October 6–8, 2023, in Espoo, Finland. It was part of the 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance.
Entries
The Internation ...
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 at the
2023 Grand Prix of Espoo
The 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo will be the fifth event in the 2023–24 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It will be held at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo from November 17–19. Meda ...