Juri Kurakin (born 3 August 1987) is a former competitive

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

who is best known for his partnership with

Barbora Silná Barbora (; ) is a Czech and Slovak female given name. It was derived from the Greek word ''barbaros'' () meaning "foreign", a variant of " Barbara". It is the 36th most popular given name in the Czech Republic (as of 2007). Notable people with th ...

for

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Together, they won three Austrian national titles and reached the final segment at three ISU Championships. Earlier in his career, Kurakin competed for

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Personal life

Kurakin was born 3 August 1987 in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, Estonia. He is the younger brother of Dmitri Kurakin, an ice dancer who competed internationally for Estonia and Germany.

Career

Early career

Kurakin began learning to skate in 1992. Early in his career, he competed with Alexandra Baurina for Estonia. In 2005, Kurakin began skating with Ina Demireva, with whom he represented

. Initially coached by Oksana Potdykova, Demireva/Kurakin decided to train under Svetlana Alexeeva and Elena Kustarova in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons. They switched to Oleg Volkov and

Alexander Zhulin Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (; born 20 July 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist ( 1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 Europ ...

for their final season together, 2008–09.

Partnership with Silná

Kurakin teamed up with Czech-Austrian skater

in 2010. The two decided to represent Austria. In the 2010–11 season, they were coached by Dmitri Sildoja and Vitali Schulz in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

and Vienna. The following season, training under Muriel Zazoui and

Romain Haguenauer Romain Haguenauer (born 16 July 1976) is a French ice dancing coach, choreographer, and former competitor. He is best known for his work with the French five-time World and 2022 Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron; and with ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, they won their first Austrian national title. During the next two seasons, they finished second to Kira Geil / Tobias Eisenbauer at the Austrian Championships. In the 2013–14 season, they switched to Barbara Fusar-Poli in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Having missed qualifying for the free dance at three ISU Championship, Silná/Kurakin were successful for the first time at the 2015 Europeans in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where they finished 18th. At the 2015 Worlds in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, they ranked 21st in the short and did not advance further. Stefano Caruso joined Fusar-Poli as the duo's coach in the 2015–16 season. Silná/Kurakin reached the final segment at the 2016 Europeans in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and at the 2016 Worlds in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where they placed 17th and 20th, respectively. They announced their retirement on 3 August 2016 due to Silná's back problems.

Programs

With Silná

With Demireva

Results

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

With Silná for Austria

With Demireva for Bulgaria

With Baurina for Estonia

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurakin, Juri Bulgarian male ice dancers Estonian male ice dancers Austrian male ice dancers Living people 1987 births Figure skaters from Tallinn Estonian people of Russian descent 21st-century Estonian sportsmen 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen