Otar Japaridze ( ka, ოთარ ჯაფარიძე; born December 23, 1987) is a Georgian former competitive

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 ...

. With former partner

Allison Reed Allison Lynn Reed (born June 8, 1994) is a Lithuanian-American ice dancer who currently competes for Lithuania with Saulius Ambrulevičius. They are the European Figure Skating Championships, 2024 European bronze medalists, three-time ISU Grand ...

, he represented

Georgia at the 2010 Winter Olympics Georgia participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It marked the fifth time since gaining independence that Georgia sent a delegation, though it had previously competed since 1952 as a member of the Soviet Uni ...

. He later skated with Angelina Telegina.

Personal life

Otar Japaridze was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. His father, Irakli Japaridze, is the president of the Georgian Figure Skating Federation.

Career

Japaridze competed in

single skating Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport conteste ...

until the age of 15 and then switched to

ice dancing 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 ...

. From 2002 through 2004, he competed with Marina Sheltsina. They were the 2004 Georgian national champions. From 2005 through 2007, Japaridze competed with Russian-born Ekaterina Zaikina for Georgia. They competed twice at the World Junior Championships. In the 2007–2008 season, Japaridze competed with American ice dancer

Isabella Tobias Isabella Tobias (; born August 23, 1991) is an Israeli retired ice dancer who competed for both Georgia, Lithuania, and Israel. Earlier in her career, Tobias skated with Otar Japaridze for Georgia and with Deividas Stagniūnas for Lithuania. W ...

for Georgia. In May 2009, Japaridze teamed up with American

to compete for Georgia; they trained in

Mount Laurel, New Jersey Mount Laurel is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township, and all of Burlington County, is a part of the Philadelphia-Reading, Pennsylvania, Reading-Camd ...

with coach and choreographer

Evgeni Platov Evgeni Arkadievich Platov (Ukrainian to English: Ev'heni Arkadievich Platov) (; born August 7, 1967; Ukrainian: Євген Аркадійович Платов) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. He is best known for his partnership with ...

. At the

2009 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy was held between September 23 and 26, 2009 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It served as the final Olympic qualifier to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skati ...

, they qualified a spot for Georgia for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. Reed received a Georgian passport in January 2010, allowing them to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Reed and Japaridze split following the 2010-11 season. In February 2012, Japaridze teamed up with Russian ice dancer Angelina Telegina to compete for Georgia.

Programs

With Telegina

With Reed

With Tobias

With Zaikina

With Sheltsina

Results

''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 Telegina

With Reed

European 2011 Allison REED Otar JAPARIDZE

With Tobias

With Zaikina

With Sheltsina

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Japaridze, Otar 1987 births Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Georgia (country) Living people Sportspeople from Tbilisi Male ice dancers from Georgia (country) Male dancers from Tbilisi