Isabella Tobias (; born August 23, 1991) is an Israeli retired

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 competed for both

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Earlier in her career, Tobias skated with Otar Japaridze for Georgia and with

Deividas Stagniūnas Deividas Stagniūnas (born 28 April 1985) is a Lithuanian former Ice dancing, ice dancer. With Isabella Tobias, he is the 2011 Skate America bronze medalist and placed in the top ten at two European Figure Skating Championships, European Champion ...

for Lithuania. With Stagniūnas, she won the bronze medal at the

2011 Skate America The 2011 Skate America was the first event of six in the 2011–12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on October ...

, placed in the top ten at two

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, and represented Lithuania at the 2014 Winter Olympics in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. Folllwing Stagniūnas' retirement, Tobias competed with Ilia Tkachenko for Israel. Together, they won four medals on the

ISU Challenger Series The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...

Personal life

Isabella Tobias was born August 23, 1991, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She and her family are Jewish. She is the daughter of Stephen Tobias, president and co-founder of I.A. Englander & Co., one of the largest institutional equity derivatives brokers on the American stock exchange. After completing high school, she briefly attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's School of General Studies. From 1999 to 2007 she attended the

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

School of American Ballet and performed with the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

. In October 2012, Tobias applied for Lithuanian citizenship. In December, she was interviewed by the Citizenship Commission and passed the Lithuanian language test; however, the application was denied by Lithuanian President

Dalia Grybauskaitė Dalia Grybauskaitė (; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is the first and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Li ...

on January 7, 2013. It was granted on December 5, 2013. Tobias married Samuel Lites in June 2017. In 2019, Lites decided to finish her degree at Southern Methodist University. She was a member of

Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than ...

sorority there, as well as

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

and the Robert Stewart Hyer Society, and graduated with honors in May 2020.

Early career

Isabella Tobias started skating in 1998 at the age of seven. She took up ice dancing at age 10 and competed with Kurt Lingenfelter on the intermediate level and with James Warren in novice. In 2003, she decided to leave skating to focus on ballet. Tobias returned to skating in September 2007 and teamed up with Otar Japaridze to compete for

. They appeared together on the junior level during the 2007–08 season, placing 14th at the 2008 World Junior Championships.

Partnership with Stagniūnas

In spring 2010, Tobias teamed up with Lithuanian ice dancer

. They initially trained under

Igor Shpilband Igor Yuryevich Shpilband (, born July 14, 1964) is an American ice dancing coach and former competitor for the Soviet Union. He is the 1983 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, World Junior champion with former partner Tatiana Gladkova. P ...

and

Marina Zueva Marina Olegovna Zoueva or Zueva (; born 9 April 1956) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Representing the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman, she placed 5th at the 1977 World Championships and ...

Canton, Michigan Canton Township (commonly known simply as Canton) is a charter township in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Canton is located roughly west of downtown Detroit, and e ...

2010–2011 season

Tobias/Stagniūnas made their debut at the

2010 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy took place between September 23 and 26, 2010 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf. The competition is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany and is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain. It is one of the first internatio ...

, where they placed 11th, and won their first international medal, bronze, at the 2010 NRW Trophy. At their first

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

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 ...

, they placed 12th and 14th respectively.

2011–2012 season

Tobias/Stagniūnas won bronze at a Grand Prix event, the

. They finished 9th at the 2012 European Championships and 18th at the 2012 World Championships.

2012–2013 season

In June 2012, Tobias/Stagniūnas moved from

Novi, Michigan Novi ( ) is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Novi is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census ...

, following coach

. According to

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

rules, Olympic competitors must be citizens of the country they are representing. In order to allow the team to compete at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, Tobias submitted an application for Lithuanian citizenship in October 2012. It was denied on January 7, 2013. Tobias/Stagniūnas withdrew from the 2013 European Championships as a result of Stagniūnas' back problem. By finishing 15th at the 2013 World Championships in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, they

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

a spot for Lithuania in the Olympic ice dancing event.

2013–2014 season

Tobias was granted Lithuanian citizenship in December 2013. Tobias/Stagniūnas placed ninth at the 2014 European Championships in January in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, 17th at the

in February in

, and then 15th at the 2014 World Championships in March in Saitama. In early May 2014, Stagniūnas announced his competitive retirement due to recurring injuries.

Partnership with Tkachenko

Formation

Tobias and Russia's Ilia Tkachenko teamed up in the summer of 2014 to represent Israel. They had skated together previously for six months in 2008.

2015–2016 season

Tobias/Tkachenko began the season on the Challenger Series (CS), winning silver medals at the

Finlandia Trophy The Finlandia Trophy an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by Skating Finland (). The competition debuted in 1995 in Helsinki, and when the ISU launched the ISU Challenger ...

and

Mordovian Ornament The 2015 Mordovian Ornament was 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 Sport ...

. They placed 10th at the 2016 European Championships 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. ...

, Slovakia, and 12th at the 2016 World Championships 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 ...

, United States. They were coached by

and Adrienne Lenda in

2016–2017 season

Tobias/Tkachenko ranked 4th at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International in Canada before making their Grand Prix debut as a team. After placing 6th at the

2016 Skate America The 2016 Skate America was the first 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 Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois, on October 21–23. Medals we ...

and 5th 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 ...

, they won silver behind

Elena Ilinykh Elena Ruslanovna Ilinykh (; born 25 April 1994) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Ruslan Zhiganshin, she is the 2015 Russian national champion. With former partner Nikita Katsalapov, she is a 2014 Olympic champion in th ...

Ruslan Zhiganshin Ruslan Nailevich Zhiganshin (; born 25 September 1992) is a retired Russian ice dancer. With partner Elena Ilinykh, he is the 2015 Russian national champion. With former partner Victoria Sinitsina, he is the 2012 World Junior champion and won ...

at the

2016 CS Tallinn Trophy The 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy was a senior international figure skating competition, held in November 2016 at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia. Its senior categories were part of the 2016–17 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in ...

. The two placed 12th at the 2017 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland. Due to their result, Israel

a spot in the ice dancing event at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

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 Seo ...

, South Korea. They were coached by Shpilband and Lenda in Novi, Michigan. On 12 April 2017, Tobias/Tkachenko announced a coaching change, having decided to join

Marina Zoueva Marina Olegovna Zoueva or Zueva (; born 9 April 1956) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Representing the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman, she placed 5th at the 1977 World Championships and ...

, Oleg Epstein,

Massimo Scali Massimo Scali (born 11 December 1979) is an Italian former competitive Ice dancing, ice dancer. With partner Federica Faiella, he is the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships, 2010 World bronze medalist, a two-time (2009 European Figure Skating ...

, and Johnny Johns at the Arctic Edge in

2017–2018 season

Tobias/Tkachenko withdrew from both of their Grand Prix assignments – the

2017 NHK Trophy The 2017 NHK Trophy was the 4th event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Osaka on November 10–12. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men ...

and

2017 Skate America The 2017 Skate America was the sixth event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Lake Placid, New York, on November 24–26. Medals were awarded in t ...

. Due to Tkachenko's unsuccessful application for Israeli citizenship, they were not included in Israel's team to the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Programs

With Tkachenko

With Stagniūnas

With Japaridze

Results

''GP:

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 ...

; 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 Tkachenko for Israel

With Stagniūnas for Lithuania

With Japaridze for Georgia

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobias, Isabella 1991 births Living people Israeli female ice dancers Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lithuanian female ice dancers Lithuanian people of American descent Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Naturalized citizens of Lithuania Olympic figure skaters for Lithuania Figure skaters from New York City Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Southern Methodist University alumni 21st-century Israeli sportswomen