Sofia Vyacheslavovna Samodurova (pronounced ''Sah-moh-DOO-roh-vah''; ; born 30 July 2002) is a retired Russian

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, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. 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 single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dance. Entries The Internati ...

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 is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

, 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 (), née: Oleneva (Оленева) (born 16 June 1954) is a Russian figure skating coach and former competitor for the Soviet. She is the 1973 Soviet national champion. Career Mishina won bronze at the 1972 Prize of ...

and

Oleg Tataurov Oleg Stanislavovich Tataurov (; 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 at the Grand Prix International St. Gervais and represented ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 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 figure skating competition, junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded ...

(JGP) debut, which took place in September 2016 in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, 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 international figure skating competition which is generally held in the spring in Jesenice, Slovenia. The competition takes its name from the nearby mountain Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. Medals may be awarded i ...

2017–2018 season

Coached by Mishina and

Alexei Mishin Alexei Nikolayevich Mishin (; born 8 March 1941) is a Russian figure skating coach and former Pair skating, pair skater. With partner Tamara Moskvina, he is the 1969 1969 World Figure Skating Championships, World silver medalist and Soviet Fig ...

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

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Croatia, having obtained a total score 12 points greater than the silver medalist,

Mako Yamashita Mako Yamashita (; born December 31, 2002) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 Skate Canada International, 2018 Skate Canada silver medalist and a two-time medalist at the ISU Challenger Series. On the junior level, she is the 2018 World ...

. The following month, she edged out

Alena Kostornaia Alena Sergeevna Kostornaia (; her first name is properly pronounced Alyona as the Yo (Cyrillic), Cyrillic ё is pronounced yo; born 24 August 2003) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships, 2020 European ...

by 0.04 for the gold at the JGP in

Egna Neumarkt (, ; ) is a (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. It is one of ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of ...

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

Alexandra Trusova Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Ignatova (née Trusova; rus, Александра Вячеславовна Игнатова née Трусова, , ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈtrusəvə; born 23 June 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 O ...

) for the 2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, 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 I ...

. 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 Figure Skating Cham ...

. She made her

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

debut at

Skate America Skate America is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The first Skate America was in held in 1979 in Lake Placid, New York, as a test event fo ...

, 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 medali ...

and

Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, a Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Ska ...

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 Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova ( rus, Алина Ильназовна Загитова, , ɐˈlʲinə zɐˈɡʲitəvə; born 18 May 2002) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Oly ...

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 (; born 14 July 2000) is a retired Russian figure skater. She is the 2019 Universiade, Winter Universiade bronze medalist, 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki silver medalist, a two-time Tallinn Trophy, CS Tallinn Trop ...

and

. At the 2019 European Championships in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, 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-American stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Swed ...

. 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 retired competitive Russian figure skater. She ...

. 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.

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 single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dance. Entries The In ...

before winning the

. On the

, she was fifth at the

2019 Cup of China The 2019 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, China fro ...

, after struggling with underrotations on several jumping passes. Fourth at the

2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held in December 2019 in Zagreb, Croatia. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance Ice dan ...

, 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

limiting international travel, Samodurova competed at the 2020

Ice Star The Ice Star (also known as the Minsk-Arena Ice Star) is an annual international figure skating competition held in Minsk, Belarus. In some years, the event was part of the ISU Challenger Series. Medals may be awarded in Single skating, men's sing ...

, winning the bronze medal. She was assigned to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, the ISU having run the

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 Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

'' 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

assignment for the season was initially the

2021 Cup of China 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, but following its cancellation she was reassigned to the

2021 Gran Premio d'Italia The 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Italian Ice Sports Federation (), and the third event of the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Sk ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

. 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 landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

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:

; 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 ...

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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samodurova, Sofia 2002 births Russian female single skaters European Figure Skating Championships medalists Living people Sportspeople from Krasnoyarsk 21st-century Russian sportswomen