The Nepela Memorial () is an annual

figure skating competition A figure skating competition is a judged sports competition in figure skating. Types of figure skating competitions International International competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) are governed by the union's rules ...

sanctioned by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

(ISU), organized and hosted in

Bratislava, Slovakia Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the capital and largest city of the Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all cities on the river Danube. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, ...

, by the Slovak Figure Skating Association (). The competition debuted in 1993 and is named in honor of

Ondrej Nepela Ondrej Nepela (22 January 1951 – 2 February 1989) was a Slovaks, Slovak Figure skating, figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia. He was the Figure skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics, 1972 Olympic champion, a three-time World Figure Skati ...

, a former Slovak figure skater who competed for

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and won the gold medal at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

. When the ISU launched 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 ...

in 2014, the Nepela Memorial – at that point called the Ondrej Nepela Trophy – was one of the inaugural competitions. The Nepela Memorial has been a Challenge Series every year since, except for 2020 and 2021, when the competitions were cancelled due to 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 ...

. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles,

pair skating 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 ...

, and

ice dance 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. Ac ...

; and as part of the Challenger Series, skaters earn ISU World Standing points based on their results. Three skaters are tied for winning the most Nepela Memorial titles in men's singles (with two each):

Gabriele Frangipani Gabriele Frangipani (born 31 December 2001) is an Italian figure skater. He is the 2019 Toruń Cup silver medalist, the 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist, a five-time Italian national national medalist, and a two-time Italian national junio ...

of Italy,

Mikhail Kolyada Mikhail Sergeyevich Kolyada ( rus, Михаил Сергеевич Коляда, , mʲɪxɐˈil kəlʲɪˈda; born 18 February 1995) is a Russian figure skater. He is a 2018 Olympic silver medalist in the team event, the 2018 World bronze meda ...

of Russia, and

Kensuke Nakaniwa is a Japanese figure skating coach and former competitive singles skater. He is a two-time Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 2003 Winter Universiade bronze medalist, and a three-time Japan national medalist. He finished in the top ten at t ...

of Japan. Likewise, three skaters are tied for winning the most titles in women's singles (also with two each):

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 ...

of Russia, Zuzana Paurova of Slovakia, and

Júlia Sebestyén Júlia Sebestyén (; born 14 May 1981) is a Hungarian former competitive figure skater. She is the 2004 European Champion and 2002–2010 Hungarian national champion. At the 2004 European Figure Skating Championships, she became the first Hun ...

of Hungary.

Dorota Zagorska Dorota Siudek (''née:'' Zagórska) (Polish pronunciation: ; born 9 September 1975 in Kraków) is a Polish retired pair skater who is now a coach. Her partner and husband is Mariusz Siudek. They are the 1999 World bronze medalists, two-time (199 ...

and

Mariusz Siudek Mariusz Krzysztof Siudek (Polish pronunciation: ; born 29 April 1972 in Oświęcim) is a retired Polish pair skater who competed with wife Dorota Siudek (Zagórska). They are the 1999 World bronze medalists, two-time (1999, 2000) European si ...

of Poland hold the record in pair skating (with two each). Seven teams are tied for winning the most titles in ice dance (also with two each):

Agata Błażowska Agata Błażowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born 30 March 1978) is a Polish former competitive ice dancer. With Marcin Kozubek, she is the 1997 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 1997 World Junior bronze medalist, a two-time Ondrej Nepela ...

and

Marcin Kozubek Marcin Kozubek (Polish pronunciation: ; born 21 June 1978) is a Polish former competitive ice dancer. With Agata Błażowska, he is the 1997 World Junior bronze medalist, a two-time Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 1999 Winter Universiade bro ...

of Poland,

Ekaterina Bobrova Ekaterina Alexandrovna Bobrova (; born 28 March 1990) is a Russian retired ice dancer. With partner Dmitri Soloviev, she is the 2014 Olympic champion in the team event, the 2013 World bronze medalist, the 2013 European champion, the 2007 W ...

and

Dmitri Soloviev Dmitri Vladimirovich Soloviev (, born July 18, 1989) is a Russian ice dancer. With partner Ekaterina Bobrova, he is the 2014 Olympic champion in the team event, the 2013 World bronze medalist, the 2013 European champion, the 2007 World Juni ...

or Russia,

Lilah Fear Lilah Fear (born 11 June 1999) is a British-Canadian ice dancer. Representing Great Britain with her skating partner, Lewis Gibson, she is the 2025 World bronze medalist; theirs was the first World medal for Britain in 41 years. Fear is also a ...

and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain,

Julia Golovina Julia Golovina (born 30 May 1982) is a Ukrainian former competitive ice dancer. With former partner Oleg Voiko, she is the 2003 Ukrainian national champion. They competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2006 Winter Olympics, placing 21st an ...

and Oleg Voyko of Ukraine,

Nóra Hoffmann Nóra Hoffmann (born 8 April 1985 in Budapest) is a Hungarian ice dancer. With Maxim Zavozin, she is the 2010 Cup of Russia silver medalist and a two-time (2009, 2010) Hungarian national champion. With Attila Elek, she is a two-time (2003– ...

and Maxim Zavozin of Hungary,

Victoria Sinitsina Victoria Alexandrovna Sinitsina (; born 29 April 1995) is a Russian ice dancer. With Nikita Katsalapov, she is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, 2022 Olympic silver me ...

and

Nikita Katsalapov Nikita Gennadyevich Katsalapov (; born 10 July 1991) is a Russian ice dancer. With Victoria Sinitsina, he is 2022 Olympic silver medalist, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, 2021 World champion, two-time European Champion (20 ...

or Russia, and

Nelli Zhiganshina Nelli Nailevna Zhiganshina (; born 31 March 1987) is a Russian-born German ice dancer. With Alexander Gazsi, she is a six-time German national champion (2007, 2011–2015) and has won twelve international medals. They have placed as high as 6t ...

and

Alexander Gazsi Alexander Gazsi (born 6 October 1984) is a German ice dancer. With partner Nelli Zhiganshina, he is a six-time German national champion (2007, 2011–2015) and has won twelve international medals. They have placed as high as 6th at the European ...

of Germany.

History

The Nepela Memorial is named in honor of

, a Slovak figure skater who competed internationally for

. He was the 1972 Olympic gold medalist, three-time

World champion 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 ...

(1971–73), five-time European champion (1969–73), eight-time Czechoslovak champion (1965–69, 1971–73), and the Slovak athlete of the 20th century. He died in February 1989 at the age of 38. The inaugural edition of the Nepela Memorial – then called the Ondrej Nepela Memorial – was held in 1993 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. ...

. Michael Shmerkin of Israel won the men's event,

Mojca Kopač Mojca Kopač (born 2 May 1975) is a Slovenian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1993 Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 1996 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, and a nine-time Slovenian Figure Skating Championships, Slovenian national c ...

of Slovenia won the women's event,

Victoria Maksyuta Viktoriya Oleksandrivna Maksyuta or Victoria Maxiuta (; born 15 November 1981) is a former pair skater. Competing with Vladislav Zhovnirski for Russia, she became the 1996 World Junior champion, 1997 Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, 1998 Skate ...

and Vladislav Zhovnirski of Russia won the pairs event, and

Marina Anissina Marina Vyacheslavovna Anissina (; born 30 August 1975) is a Franco-Russian ice dancer. Competing with Gwendal Peizerat for France, she is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time ...

and

Gwendal Peizerat Gwendal Peizerat (born 21 April 1972) is a French former competitive ice dancer. With Marina Anissina, he is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time French national champion. Pe ...

of France won the ice dance event. The

was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the

and organized by ISU member nations. The objective is to ensure consistent organization and structure within a series of international competitions linked together, providing opportunities for senior-level skaters to compete at the international level and also earn ISU World Standing points. The Nepela Memorial has been a Challenger Series event every year since, except for 2020 and 2021, as the competition was cancelled both years due to the

. The 2025 Nepela Memorial is scheduled to take place 25–27 September in Bratislava.

Medalists

CS: Challenger Series event

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Records

Cumulative medal count

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Total medals

References

External links

* ()
Ondrej Nepela Memorial
at the Slovak Figure Skating Association {{ISU Challenger Series Nepela Memorial ISU Challenger Series International figure skating competitions hosted by Slovakia