Sofia Vyacheslavovna Samodurova (pronounced ''Sah-moh-DOO-roh-vah''; russian: Софья Вячеславовна Самодурова; born 30 July 2002) is a Russian retired figure skater. She is the 2019 European champion, the

2019 CS Ice Star The 2019 CS Ice Star was held in October 2019 in Minsk, Belarus. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ...

champion, the

2018 Rostelecom Cup The 2018 Rostelecom Cup was the fifth event of six in the 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held on November 16–18, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. Medals were awarded in ...

silver medalist, and the

2018 Skate America The 2018 Skate America was the first event of six in the 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington on October 19–21. ...

bronze medalist. On the junior level, she is the 2017 JGP Croatia and 2017 JGP Italy champion. Since retiring from competition, she works as a skating coach.

Personal life

Samodurova was born on 30 July 2002 in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Si ...

, Russia.

Career

Early career

Samodurova began learning to skate in 2007. She finished sixteenth at the 2015 Russian Junior Championships and sixth the following year at the 2016 Russian Junior Championships

2016–2017 season

Coached by

Tatiana Mishina Tatiana Nikolaevna Mishina (russian: Татьяна Николаевна Мишина), née: Oleneva (Оленева) is a Russian figure skating coach and former competitor for the Soviet. She is the 1973 Soviet national champion. Career Mish ...

and

Oleg Tataurov Oleg Stanislavovich Tataurov (russian: Олег Станиславович Татауров; born 23 August 1972) is a Russian figure skating coach and former competitor who represented the Soviet Union and Russia. He won silver and bronze medals a ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Samodurova finished fourth in her

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) debut, which took place in September 2016 in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Japan. Called in as a reserve replacement, she placed ninth at her first senior nationals, the 2017 Russian Championships in December 2016. In February, she finished twelfth at the 2017 Russian Junior Championships. She culminated her season by winning a silver medal behind teammate Elizaveta Nugumanova at the

Triglav Trophy The Triglav Trophy is an annual international figure skating competition held in the spring in Jesenice, Slovenia. The competition takes its name from the nearby mountain Triglav Triglav (; german: Terglau; it, Tricorno), with an elevation o ...

2017–2018 season

Coached by Mishina and

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 ...

, Samodurova started her season with gold at the 2017 JGP in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, Croatia, having obtained a total score 12 points greater than the silver medalist, Mako Yamashita. The following month, she edged out

Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeyevna Kostornaia (russian: Алёна Сергеевна Косторная; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European champion, the 2019–20 Grand Prix Final champion, a six-time Grand Prix medal ...

by 0.04 for the gold at the JGP in

Egna Neumarkt (literally "new market"; ; it, Egna ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 5,001 and an area of .All de ...

, Italy. Samodurova was the second-ranked qualifier (behind

Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Trusova ( rus, Александра Вячеславовна Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, the 2021 Wor ...

) for the 2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, Japan. She finished sixth at the Final. Her season ended at the 2018 Russian Championships, where she finished eleventh.

2018–2019 season

Samodurova started her season off at the

2018 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy was held in September 2018 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2018–19 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Entries The ...

. Placing second in the short program and fourth in the free skate, she placed second overall, earning the silver medal, trailing behind fellow Russian competitor

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Elizaveta Sergeyevna Tuktamysheva ( ; rus, Елизавета Серге́евна Туктамышева, , jɪlʲɪzɐˈvʲetə tʊktɐˈmɨʂɨvə; born 17 December 1996) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2015 World champion, the 202 ...

. She made her Grand Prix debut at

Skate America Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: men ...

, where she won the bronze medal behind

Satoko Miyahara is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2015 World silver medalist, the 2018 World bronze medalist, the 2016 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2014, 2015), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist ...

and

Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese competitive figure skater. She is the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2022 World champion, the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time NHK Trophy champion, the 2022 Skate America champion, and a three-time Japanese national ...

with a personal best score of 198.70 points. In mid-November she competed at the

where she won the silver medal behind Alina Zagitova after placing second in both programs. With one Grand Prix silver medal and one bronze medal she qualified for the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final, where she finished fifth with a personal best score of 204.33 points: "Achieving the season's best was great. I believe that today I did everything to the maximum." At the 2019 Russian Championships, Samodurova placed sixth in both programs and overall. She was the third-ranked skater eligible to compete at senior international competitions, behind

Stanislava Konstantinova Stanislava Andreyevna Konstantinova (russian: Станислава Андреевна Константинова; born 14 July 2000) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2019 Winter Universiade bronze medalist, 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki silve ...

and Alina Zagitova. At the 2019 European Championships in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, Samodurova placed second in the short program behind Zagitova, passed the 70-point mark for the first time. In the free program, Zagitova skated poorly, while Samodurova skated a clean program and won the European title ahead of Zagitova and Finnish figure skater

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the d ...

. Of the result, she said "I can't find words to describe what I am feeling now. I am European Champion and that's so awesome!" Samodurova was assigned to the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Saitama along with Zagitova and

Evgenia Medvedeva Evgenia Armanovna Medvedeva (alt. spelling: Yevgenia Medvedeva; rus, Евгения Армановна Медведева, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪjə mʲɪˈdvʲedʲɪvə; born 19 November 1999), is a competitive Russian figure skater. She is a tw ...

. She placed ninth in the short program, and expressed disappointment that her scores were lower than those at the European Championships. She rose to eighth place in the free skate, making only one minor error on a double jump, and said she felt "only happiness" with the result. Samodurova concluded the season as part of the bronze medal-winning Team Russia at the

2019 World Team Trophy The World Team Trophy was a team cue sports event, held in Roissy-en-France, Paris, France. The event was held between 11–12 March 2019. The event sees teams of three players from different disciplines compete in the disciplines of pool, snooke ...

2019–2020 season

Samodurova admitted to having some issues in training for the new season after falling multiple times at the Russian test skate events. On the Challenger series, she placed sixth at the

2019 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy was held in September 2019 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dance. Entries The International S ...

before winning the

. On the Grand Prix, she was fifth at the

2019 Cup of China The 2019 Shiseido, SHISEIDO Cup of China was the fourth event of the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Chongqing Huaxi Culture and Sports Center in Chongqing, ...

, after struggling with underrotations on several jumping passes. Fourth at the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, she finished the season with a ninth-place finish at the 2020 Russian Championships.

2020–2021 season

Samodurova performed her short program at the senior Russian test skates, but withdrew from the free skate due to a cold. She placed fourth at both the second and third stages of the Russian Cup series, qualifying for the 2020 Russian Championships. 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 identi ...

limiting international travel, Samodurova competed at the 2020

Ice Star The Minsk-Arena Ice Star, or simply Ice Star, is an international figure skating competition. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dancing on the senior, junior, and novice levels. The inaugural event was held i ...

, winning the bronze medal. She was assigned to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, the ISU having run the Grand Prix based mainly on geographic location. She was sixth in the short program, but dropped to seventh place after the free skate. At the 2021 Russian Championships, Samodurova placed tenth.

2021–2022 season

Samodurova picked music from

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', ''Phone Booth'' ...

' ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...

'' score for the free program, citing parallels between the title character and her own life as a "fighter." She made her season debut at the 2021 Budapest Trophy, winning the bronze medal. Samodurova's lone Grand Prix assignment for the season was initially the 2021 Cup of China, but following its cancellation she was reassigned to the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. She placed seventh at the event, and pronounced herself "really happy" with her free skate despite a triple flip error. At the 2022 Russian Championships, Samodurova finished in eleventh place. Following the national championships, Samodurova decided to retire, and informed her coach that she intended to move to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

to live with her parents and extended family. However, her coach

persuaded her to remain as a coach at his skating school working with younger children.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix''

Detailed results

Senior level

''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.'' Personal bests highlighted in bold.

Junior level

2017-2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Sofia Samodurova jsfb dave5680

Personal bests highlighted in ''italic''.

References

External links

* * {{NavigationEuropeanChampionsFigureSkatingLadies 2002 births Russian female single skaters European Figure Skating Championships medalists Living people Sportspeople from Krasnoyarsk