Natalia Zabiiako
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Natalia Aleksandrovna Zabiiako (russian: Наталья Александровна Забияко, born 15 August 1994) is a Russian-Estonian competitive
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 ...
. Competing for Russia with
Alexander Enbert Alexander Yuryevich Enbert (russian: Александр Юрьевич Энберт; born 17 April 1989) is a Russian retired pair skater. With Natalya Zabiyako, he was the 2019 World bronze medalist, 2018 European bronze medalist, 2018 Grand ...
, she was the 2019 World bronze medalist, 2018 European bronze medalist,
2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki The 2018 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix of Helsinki was held in Helsinki, Finland, from November 2–4. It was the third event of the 2018–2019 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senio ...
champion, 2018 NHK Trophy champion,
2016 Rostelecom Cup The 2016 Rostelecom Cup was the third event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Megasport Arena in Moscow on November 4–5. Medals were award ...
silver medalist, and three-time Russian national medalist. Zabiiako competed for Estonia until 2014, partnered with Sergei Muhhin, Sergei Kulbach, and Alexandr Zaboev. With Zaboev, she placed tenth at the 2014 European Championships. Although they qualified a spot for Estonia in the pairs' event 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 ...
, they did not compete in Sochi because Zaboev's fast-track citizenship application was declined.


Personal life

Zabiiako was born 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 ' ...
, Estonia. Her mother is an Estonian citizen, and her father holds an
Estonian alien's passport An Estonian Alien's Passport ( et, välismaalase pass) is a travel document that may be issued to a person who is stateless or of undefined citizenship residing in Estonia by the Police and Border Guard Board of the Ministry of Internal Affair ...
. From 2010 to 2014, Zabiiako lived in the United States with a Russian emigrant family. In April 2014, she said she planned to move to Moscow and apply for Russian citizenship. She became a Russian citizen on 19 December 2014. Zabiiako entered into a relationship with Russian tennis player
Daria Kasatkina Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. She is currently the Russian No. 1 player in singles. She made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings towards the end of the 2018 season and has been ranked ...
. It became public after Kasatkina posted a photo with her girlfriend on Instagram. Zabiiako also shared several photos with Kasatkina on her Instagram profile.


Career for Estonia

Zabiiako began skating when she was four years old. At age 15, she switched from singles to pairs, partnering with Sergei Muhhin. They made their international debut at the 2009
ISU Junior Grand Prix in Belarus The ISU Junior Grand Prix in Belarus (sometimes titled Minsk Ice or Golden Lynx) is an international figure skating competition. Sanctioned by the International Skating Union, it is held in the autumn in some years as part of the JGP series. Minsk a ...
and placed sixteenth at the 2010 World Junior Championships.


Partnership with Kulbach

Later in 2010, Zabiiako teamed up with Ukrainian skater Sergei Kulbach to represent Estonia. After debuting at the
2010 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy took place between September 23 and 26, 2010 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf.http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100925&content_id=15065688&vkey=ice_news The competition is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germ ...
, the pair placed thirteenth at the 2011 European Championships and sixteenth at the 2011 World Championships. Zabiiako injured her back as a result of a fall at the
NRW Trophy The NRW Trophy (also known as the NRW Summer Trophy or NRW Autumn Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia and since 2007, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eislauf ...
in December 2011, preventing them from competing at the 2012 European Championships. On 15 February 2012, it was reported that Zabiiako and Kulbach had parted ways.


Partnership with Zaboev

In October 2012, Zabiiako teamed up with Russian-born skater Alexandr Zaboev to compete for Estonia. By finishing ninth at the
2013 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 26–28, 2013 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf. It is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany and is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain. Medals were awarded in men's and ladies' singles, pair ...
, they earned a spot for Estonia in pair skating 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 ...
in
Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...
. Zaboev applied for Estonian citizenship, required to represent the country at the Olympics, but in November 2013, Estonia denied his fast-track application. Zabiiako/Zaboev placed tenth at the 2014 European Championships and nineteenth at the 2014 World Championships. In late March 2014, Zabiiako ended their partnership, saying he was too difficult to work with and the Estonian Skating Federation did not provide them with equal financial support. In early April 2014, the Secretary General of the Estonian Skating Union submitted an official rebuttal to Zabiiako's statements. The Secretary General called Zabiiako's statements concerning the Skating Union and her partner slanderous and untrue; "Sport - is voluntary, and each person has a right to make decisions, but to justify their actions do not have to lie and defame their partners."


Move to Russia

In April 2014, Zabiiako said she would move to Moscow to work with
Nina Mozer Nina Mikhailovna Mozer (russian: Нина Михайловна Мозер; born 28 August 1964) is a Russian pair skating coach based in Moscow. She is best known for coaching Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov and Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov, ...
and try out with different skaters, intending to compete for Russia. ISU rules require skaters to sit out a certain period of time after a country change. In summer 2014 Zabiiako and
Yuri Larionov Yuri Yuryevich Larionov (russian: link=no, Юрий Юрьевич Ларионов, born 19 August 1986) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Vera Bazarova, he is the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time European m ...
decided to skate together. In June 2015, she said that their partnership had ended.


2015–16 season: Beginning of partnership with Enbert

In July 2015, the Russian media reported that Zabiiako had teamed up with
Alexander Enbert Alexander Yuryevich Enbert (russian: Александр Юрьевич Энберт; born 17 April 1989) is a Russian retired pair skater. With Natalya Zabiyako, he was the 2019 World bronze medalist, 2018 European bronze medalist, 2018 Grand ...
and that she had been released to represent Russia internationally. Zabiiako/Enbert's international debut came in October 2015 at the
2015 Mordovian Ornament The 2015 Mordovian Ornament is a senior international figure skating competition in the 2015–16 season. A part of the 2015–16 ISU Challenger Series, the 1st edition of the annual event were held on 15–18 October 2015 at the Palace of Sports ...
, a Challenger Series (CS) event at which they won a silver medal. In November, the pair appeared for the first time on the
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 ...
series, placing fifth at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup. In early December, they finished fourth at the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb and third in the CS standings. At the 2016 Russian Championships, the pair placed fifth in both segments and overall.


2016–17 season

Zabiiako/Enbert started the 2016–17 season on the Challenger Series, obtaining the bronze medal at the 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial. Turning to the
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 ...
series, the pair won the silver medal at the
2016 Rostelecom Cup The 2016 Rostelecom Cup was the third event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Megasport Arena in Moscow on November 4–5. Medals were award ...
, having placed first in the short and second in the free behind Germany's
Aliona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko ( uk, Олена Валентинівна Савченко, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a Ukrainian-born German pair ...
/
Bruno Massot Bruno Massot (born 28 January 1989) is a French-German pair skating coach and former competitor. Competing with Aljona Savchenko for Germany, he is the 2018 Olympic Champion, the 2018 World Champion, a two-time European silver medalist, and t ...
. They then placed fourth at the
2016 Trophée de France The 2016 Trophée de France was the fourth event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on November 11–13. Medals we ...
. These results didn't qualify them to the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final but they were the 1st alternates and were called up after
Aliona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko ( uk, Олена Валентинівна Савченко, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a Ukrainian-born German pair ...
/
Bruno Massot Bruno Massot (born 28 January 1989) is a French-German pair skating coach and former competitor. Competing with Aljona Savchenko for Germany, he is the 2018 Olympic Champion, the 2018 World Champion, a two-time European silver medalist, and t ...
withdrew. Zabiiako/Enbert placed fourth at the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final after placing fifth in both the short program and the free skate. In December 2016 Zabiiako/Enbert won the bronze medal at the 2017 Russian Championships after placing third in both the short program and the free skate. In January 2017 they competed at the 2017 European Championships where finished fifth after placing fifth in both the short program and the free skate. In March 2017 Zabiiako/Enbert finished twelfth at the 2017 World Championships.


2017–18 season

Zabiiako/Enbert began their season on the Challenger Series, winning a gold medal at both the
2017 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy was a senior international figure skating competition held in September 2017 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2017–18 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' si ...
and
2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy The 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy was held in September 2017. It is an annual senior international figure skating competition held in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was part of the 2017–18 ISU Challenger Series. Medals will be awarded in the disciplin ...
. In their first Grand Prix event of the season, Zabiiako/Enbert placed fourth at 2017 Skate Canada after placing fourth in both the short program and free skate. In their second Grand Prix event at 2017 Skate America, Zabiiako/Enbert placed fourth after ranking fourth in the short program and fifth in the free skate. The pair did not quality for the 2017-18 Grand Prix Final. In December 2017 Zabiiako/Enbert won their 3rd 2017–18 Challenger Series gold medal when they won the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. A few weeks later they placed third at the 2018 Russian Championships, earning places on the Russian national team for the
2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...
. In January 2018 they won the bronze medal at the
2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...
after placing second in the short program and third in the free skate. At the Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...
, South Korea, Zabiiako/Enbert placed third in the free skate portion of the team event, earning a silver medal as part of the Russian team. They then placed seventh at the pairs event with a personal best score of 212.88 points. In March 2018 Zabiiako/Enbert finished fourth at the 2018 World Championships after placing fourth in the short program and sixth in the free skate.


2018–19 season

Zabiiako/Enbert started their season in mid September 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 ...
where they won the gold medal ahead of their teammates
Aleksandra Boikova Aleksandra Igorevna Boikova (russian: Александра Игоревна Бойкова, born 20 January 2002) is a Russian pair skater. With her skating partner, Dmitrii Kozlovskii, she is the 2020 European champion, the 2021 World bronze m ...
/
Dmitrii Kozlovskii Dmitrii Eduardovich Kozlovskii (formerly Nekhviadovich; russian: Дмитрий Эдуардович Козловский (Нехвядович), born 23 December 1999) is a Russian pair skater. With his skating partner, Aleksandra Boikova, he i ...
. In early November Zabiiako/Enbert won their first
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 ...
gold medal at the
2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki The 2018 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix of Helsinki was held in Helsinki, Finland, from November 2–4. It was the third event of the 2018–2019 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senio ...
. They ranked second in the short program and first in the free skate and beat the silver medalists,
Nicole Della Monica Nicole Della Monica (born 3 June 1989) is a retired Italian pair skater. With her former partner Matteo Guarise, she is a seven-time Italian national champion (2016–22) and has represented Italy at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. W ...
/
Matteo Guarise Matteo Guarise (born 15 September 1988) is an Italian pairs figure skater and roller skater. Guarise is the 2008 World champion in pairs roller skating with Sara Venerucci. With his former figure skating partner Nicole Della Monica, he is a seve ...
, by about 13 points. Zabiiako described their first Grand Prix victory as "a good experience for us." Only one week later Zabiiako/Enbert won their second Grand Prix gold medal at the 2018 NHK Trophy with a personal best score of 214.14 points. They ranked first in both programs and beat the silver medalist,
Peng Cheng Peng Cheng (; ; April 23, 1997) is a Chinese pair skater. With current partner Jin Yang, she is a two-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2020, bronze in 2019), two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist ( 2018–19, 2019–20), and the 2 ...
/
Jin Yang Jin Yang (; ; born in Harbin) is a Chinese male pair skater. With current partner Peng Cheng, he is a two-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2020, bronze in 2019), two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist ( 2018–19, 2019–20), and ...
, by about 7 points. With two Grand Prix gold medals they qualified for the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final. In second after the short program, an underrotated side-by-side jump from Zabiiako followed by an aborted lift toward the end of their program dropped them to fourth in the free skate and fourth overall. Zabiiako remarked that "probably some parts of our program were not quite ready yet, but we will improve them." At the 2019 Russian Championships, Zabiiako/Enbert won the silver medal, placing second in both the short and free programs. Enbert said "we’re pleased with what we showed in the free skating. We fixed some issues from the Final and skated at a higher level here in
Saransk Saransk (russian: Саранск, p=sɐˈransk; mdf, Саранск ошсь, Saransk oš; myv, Саран ош, Saran oš) is the capital city of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic centre. It is located i ...
." Zabiiako/Enbert were named to Russia's team for the 2019 European Championships, but withdrew on December 27, 2018 due to medical issues. They were replaced by
Daria Pavliuchenko Daria Maksimovna Pavliuchenko (russian: Дарья Максимовна Павлюченко, born 31 December 2002) is a Russian pair skater. With her skating partner, Denis Khodykin, she is the 2020 European bronze medalist, the 2019 Internati ...
/
Denis Khodykin Denis Sergeevich Khodykin (russian: Денис Сергеевич Ходыкин, born 6 July 1999) is a Russian pair skater. With his skating partner, Daria Pavliuchenko, he is the 2020 European bronze medalist, the 2019 Internationaux de Fran ...
. One week prior to the 2019 World Championships, the skaters were declared fit to compete, and they won their first World medal—a bronze. They concluded their season at the 2019 World Team Trophy as part of Team Russia, where they won the bronze medal.


Retirement

Zabiiako/Enbert did not compete during the
2019–20 figure skating season The 2019–20 figure skating season began on July 1, 2019, and ended on June 30, 2020. During this season, elite skaters competed on the ISU Championship level at the 2020 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, European, 2020 Four Continents ...
due to Enbert's illness. On February 26, 2020, it was announced that while Enbert was healthy again, they would not be returning to competition. In the same year, a documentary film "Unbroken" was released about two pair skating teams Cain-Gribble / LeDuc (USA) and Zabiiako / Enbert (Russia).


Attempt to resume a career in Canada

On May 18, 2022, it was announced that Zabiiako "is resuming her career and will compete for Canada" with Zachary Daleman as her partner under the guidance of a coach Bruno Marcotte. On July 20, 2022, it was announced that Zabiiako no longer trains in Canada and the request of the Canadian Figure Skating Federation was withdrawn.


Programs


With Enbert


With Larionov


With Zaboev


With Kulbach


With Muhhin


Records and achievements

(with Enbert) * Set the pairs' world record of the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system for the short program (72.50 points) 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 ...
.


Competitive highlights

''GP:
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 ...
; 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 ...
''


With Enbert for Russia


With Larionov for Russia


With Zaboev for Estonia


With Kulbach for Estonia


With Muhhin for Estonia


Detailed results

''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.'' With Enbert


References


External links

* * ! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" ,
World Record Holders In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabiiako, Natalia Estonian female pair skaters Russian female pair skaters World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists 1994 births Living people Figure skaters from Tallinn Estonian LGBT people Estonian people of Russian descent Naturalised citizens of Russia Estonian emigrants to Russia Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of Russia Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in figure skating Olympic silver medalists for Olympic Athletes from Russia LGBT figure skaters