Dmitry Epstein (born 10 August 1993) is a Dutch

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 ...

. He has won four senior international medals with his skating partner, Nika Osipova. Earlier in his career, he skated with his twin sister, Rachel. The two competed at three consecutive World Junior Championships.

Personal life

Dmitry Epstein and his twin sister, Rachel, were born on 10 August 1993 in

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

, Netherlands.

Career

Early years

Epstein began learning to skate in 2003. Early in his career, he skated in partnership with his twin sister, Rachel. The two competed in novice pairs during the 2008–09 season and moved up to juniors the following season. They represented the Netherlands at three consecutive World Junior Championships (

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

). The Epstein twins trained in

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2023 this had grown to 126.998 ...

, Netherlands;

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, Norway; and

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 ...

, Russia. Their coaches included Alexander Artyshenko, Arina Ushakova, Pavel Kitashev, Zsolt Kerekes, Dmitri Boyenko, Aneta Kowalska, and Chris Laheij. Beginning with the 2018–19 season, Epstein skated two seasons with Finland's

Liubov Efimenko Liubov Efimenko (born 20 June 1999) is a Finnish figure skater. She is the 2014 Finnish national silver medalist and has won three senior international medals, including bronze at the 2014 Nordics and silver at the 2016 Skate Helena. She has a ...

for the Netherlands. In February 2019, making their international debut, they finished seventh at the

Bavarian Open The Bavarian Open is an international figure skating competition held in February at the Eissportzentrum Oberstdorf in Oberstdorf, Germany. It is organized by the Skating Union of Bavaria. Since 2011, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eisla ...

and fourth at the

International Challenge Cup The International Challenge Cup (formerly known as the Ennia Challenge Cup and the Aegon Cup) is an annual figure skating competition generally held in the Netherlands during the last week in February. Although the competition had been held for ...

. In September, they placed eleventh at the

2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held in September 2019 in Oberstdorf, Germany. 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. Entries ...

. The two were coached by Dmitri Kaplun in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

2020–21 season

Epstein teamed up with Russia's Nika Osipova after contacting her via a website, IcePartnerSearch. He said, "It was in the middle of the pandemic, so we couldn't meet or try out together on the ice if it would work. We wanted to lose as little time as possible, so as soon as traveling became possible again, she immediately came to The Hague. We immediately started skating together and since then she has stayed in the Netherlands." Osipova/Epstein decided to represent the Netherlands. In February 2021, they placed sixth at the

, their sole international event that season.

2021–22 season

In October, Osipova/Epstein placed 15th at 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, an ...

. In November, they were second of two pairs at the

NRW Trophy The NRW Trophy (also known as the NRW Summer Trophy or the NRW Autumn Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 2007, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eisla ...

. They won bronze at the

in January 2022 and at the

in February.

2022–23 season

Epstein continued to be affected by lung problems related to

long COVID Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

, having first developed the disease two years earlier. In November 2022, Osipova/Epstein won silver at the

Ice Challenge The IceChallenge (2021 held as Cup of Austria; originally called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen) is an annual international figure skating competition, organized by the Grazer Eislaufverein and generally held every autumn in Graz, Austria. In som ...

in Austria. Later that month, they competed at the

2022 Grand Prix of Espoo The 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo was the sixth event of the 2022–23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo, Finland, from November 25-27. Medal ...

, to which they were invited a couple of weeks before the event. Making their

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, they placed fifth in Finland. Osipova/Epstein edged out Daria Danilova / Michel Tsiba to claim the Netherlands' only pair skating berth at the 2023 European Championships.

Programs

With Nika Osipova

With Liubov Efimenko

With Rachel Epstein

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 ...

Pairs with Nika Osipova

Pairs with Liubov Efimenko

Pairs with Rachel Epstein

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Dmitry 1993 births Dutch male pair skaters Living people Sportspeople from Enschede 21st-century Dutch sportsmen