Makar Suntsev (born 4 October 2004) is a Finnish

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 ...

. Born in Russia, he is the 2024 Finnish Champion, a two-time Finnish national silver medalist (2022, 2023), and a two-time bronze medalist at the Nordic Championship bronze medalist (2023 and 2024).

Personal life

Suntsev was born on October 4, 2004 in

Perm, Russia Perm (, ; ; ), previously known as Yegoshikha, Yagoshikha (; 1723–1781) and Molotov (; 1940–1957), is the administrative centre of Perm Krai in the European part of Russia. It sits on the banks of the Kama River near the Ural Mountains, co ...

. He also has an older sister. At the age of five, Suntsev moved with his family to

Kotka Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...

, Finland. He graduated from Karhula High School before enrolling at the

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

in 2024 to study business.

Career

Early career

When he was a young child, Suntsev's mother, Tatiana Lebedeva, worked as a figure skating coach in

. After Suntsev turned three, Lebedeva started bringing him to the rink so he could sit at the sidelines while she coached. He began skating in 2008 at the age of four under his mother's tutelage. After relocating to

, Finland, Lebedeva got a job as a coach at the Kotkan Taitoluistelu, where Suntsev would continue to train. He debuted as a competitor on the novice level at the 2018 Nordic Championships, where he finished fifth.

2018–19 season

Moving up to the junior level, Suntsev competed at the 2019 Finnish Junior Championships and finished fourth. He subsequently finished fourth at the 2019 Nordic Championships and won the bronze medal at the 2019 Tallink Hotels Cup.

2019–20 season

Suntsev started the season by debuting on the

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 ...

series, finishing twenty-fourth at 2019 JGP Poland. He would subsequently compete on the junior level at the 2019 Halloween Cup, where he placed eighth. In December, he won the silver medal at the 2020 Finnish Junior Championships. He then continued competing on the junior international level, placing sixth at the 2020 Mentor Toruń Cup and fifth at the 2020 Nordic Championships.

2020–21 season

During this season, Suntsev only appeared at one competition, the 2021 Tallink Hotels Cup. He finished the event in sixth place.

2021–22 season

Suntsev began the season by competing on the

2021–22 ISU Junior Grand Prix The 2021–22 ISU Junior Grand Prix was a series of junior international competitions organized by the International Skating Union that were held from August 2021 through December 2021. It was the junior-level complement to the 2021–22 ISU Gran ...

series, finishing sixth at the 2021 JGP France and fourteenth at the

2021 JGP Slovakia 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 ...

. He then made his senior international debut by competing on the

2021–22 ISU Challenger Series The 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2021. It was the eighth season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Competitions This season, the ...

, placing twenty-second 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 ...

, twenty-first at the

2021 CS Cup of Austria The 2021 CS Cup of Austria by Icechallenge was held on November 11–14, 2021 in Graz, Austria. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance. Entri ...

, and twentieth at the

2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held on December 7–11, 2021 in Sisak, Croatia. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. T ...

. Between the latter two events, Suntsev finished sixth at the 2021 Tallinn Trophy. In December, Suntsev would win his first senior national medal, a silver at the 2021 Finnish Championships. He subsequently finished sixth at the 2022 Sofia Trophy, eighth at the 2022 Bellu Memorial, and sixth at the 2022 Tallink Hotels Cup. Selected to represent Finland at the 2022 World Junior Championships 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, Suntsev finished in twenty-sixth place.

2022–23 season

Makar Suntsev at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy

Suntsev started the season by competing on the

2022–23 ISU Junior Grand Prix The 2022–23 ISU Junior Grand Prix was a series of junior international competitions organized by the International Skating Union that were held from August 2022 through December 2022. It was the junior-level complement to the 2022–23 ISU Gran ...

series, finishing eleventh at 2022 JGP France and fifth at 2022 JGP Latvia. He then went on to compete on the

2022–23 ISU Challenger Series The 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2022. It was the ninth season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Competitions This season, the se ...

, finishing thirteenth at the

2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 21–24, 2022, in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was the third event of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entrie ...

, sixteenth at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy, and twenty-first at the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup. One week following the latter event, Suntsev placed fifth at the 2022 Tallinn Trophy. In mid-December, Suntsev won his second consecutive national silver medal at the 2023 Finnish Championships. He subsequently placed twenty-sixth at the

2023 Winter World University Games The Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, commonly known as Lake Placid 2023, was a collegiate Multi-sport event, multi-sport winter sports held between January 12 to January 22, 2023 and had Lake Placid, New York, Lake Placid, New York, ...

, won bronze at the 2023 Nordic Championships, and finished ninth at the 2023 Tallink Hotels Cup. Suntsev closed the season by competing at the 2023 World Junior Championships in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, Canada, where he placed twenty-ninth.

2023–24 season

Suntsev began the season by the season by competing at the

2023–24 ISU Challenger Series The 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2023. It was the tenth season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Competitions This season, the se ...

, finishing thirteenth at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy and tenth at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy. Following a fourth-place finish at the 2023 Tirnavia Ice Cup, Suntsev was selected as a host representative to compete at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo. He finished in twelfth at the event. Going on to compete at the

2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held on December 6–9, 2023, in Sisak, Croatia. It was the ninth and final event of the 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

, Suntsev placed seventh. In mid-December, Suntsev won the senior national title at the 2024 Finnish Championships and as a result, was selected to compete at the 2024 European Championships in

Kaunas, Lithuania Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. He finished in twentieth place overall. One month later, Suntsev would win the bronze medal at the 2024 Nordic Championships and sixth at the 2024 Tallink Hotels Cup. Finnish national silver medalist,

Valtter Virtanen Valtter Virtanen (born 4 June 1987) is a Finnish figure skater. He is a three-time Nordic Figure Skating Championships, Nordic medalist (gold in 2022, silver in 2016, bronze in 2014) and a eight-time Finnish Figure Skating Championships, Finnish n ...

, was ultimately selected as the men's singles skating representative to compete at the 2024 World Championships due to Suntsev failing to score minimum technical scores to compete at the World Championships.

2024–25 season

During the summer off-season, Suntsev moved from his hometown of

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

to attend university in the latter city. While he continued being coached by his mother, Liana Ocheretna and Aleksei Saks also began coaching him in

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

, a city closer to his school. He started the season by competing on the

2024–25 ISU Challenger Series The 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2024. It was the tenth season of the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions. Competitions The International Skating Union ...

, finishing sixteenth at the 2024 CS Lombardia Trophy and fifth at the 2024 CS Budapest Trophy. Assigned to the 2024 GP Finlandia Trophy, Suntsev came in tenth place.

Programs

Competitive highlights

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level

References

External links

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Makar Suntsev
at SkatingScores.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Suntsev, Makar 2004 births Living people Finnish male single skaters Russian emigrants to Finland 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Competitors at the 2025 Winter World University Games