Viktoriia Andreevna Safonova (; born 8 May 2003) is a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian

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 ...

. She is the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb silver medalist, the

2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 22–25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. It was also the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the disciplin ...

bronze medalist, the 2020

Ice Star The Ice Star (also known as the Minsk-Arena Ice Star) is an annual international figure skating competition held in Minsk, Belarus. In some years, the event was part of the ISU Challenger Series. Medals may be awarded in Single skating, men's sing ...

champion, the 2019

Volvo Open Cup The Volvo Open Cup is an annual international figure skating competition held in Riga, Latvia. In some years, the event is part of the ISU Challenger Series. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance ...

champion, and a five-time Belarusian national champion (2019–23). Competing on the junior level for Russia, she is the 2018

champion.

Personal life

Viktoriia Safonova was born on 8 May 2003 in

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 ...

Career

Early career

Safonova placed fourteenth at the 2018 Russian Junior Championships and eighth at the 2019 Russian Junior Championships. Competing for Russia, she was the 2018

junior champion.

2019–2020 season

Safonova switched to representing Belarus in August 2019, alongside former Russian national teammates Konstantin Milyukov and Victoria Yatsenko / Daniil Parkman. She placed fourth at a Russian domestic event earlier in the summer, but was not included into the national team. Safonova won the Summer Cup of the Skating Union of Belarus in her domestic debut. According to

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 ...

rules for switching nationalities, Safonova was required to sit out international competition for a year dating from her last international appearance, ruling her ineligible for

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 ...

events. Safonova made her international debut for Belarus at the 2019

, where she won the gold medal ahead of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

's Ekaterina Ryabova and Alina Urushadze of

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 ...

. She then placed seventh at 2019 CS Warsaw Cup. Safonova earned personal bests in all segments to win the silver medal at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, behind

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Elizaveta Sergeyevna Tuktamysheva ( ; rus, Елизавета Серге́евна Туктамышева, , jɪlʲɪzɐˈvʲetə tʊktɐˈmɨʂɨvə; born 17 December 1996) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2015 World Figure Skating Cham ...

and ahead of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's Nicole Schott. Safonova won the national title in her first attempt at the 2020 Belarusian Championships, ahead of Milana Ramashova and Anastasiya Sidorenko. She then finished fourteenth at the 2020 European Championships. Safonova had been assigned to compete at the

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 ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, but those were cancelled as a result of the

coronavirus 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 ...

2020–2021 season

Safonova opened her season at the 2020

in October, winning gold ahead of Russians Anastasiia Guliakova and

Sofia Samodurova Sofia Vyacheslavovna Samodurova (pronounced ''Sah-moh-DOO-roh-vah''; ; born 30 July 2002) is a retired Russian figure skater. She is the 2019 European Figure Skating Championships, 2019 European champion, the 2019 CS Ice Star champion, the 2018 ...

. She was assigned to make her

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 at the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, placing eighth at the event. Safonova was scheduled to compete at the 2021 World Championships but was forced to withdraw two days before the ladies' short program due to a positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

test.

2021–2022 season

Following the withdrawal from the World Championships, Safonova competed at the beginning of the new season at the

, seeking a second opportunity to

qualify 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 berth for Belarus at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

. She was third in both segments to win the bronze medal, taking the third of six available spots. She went on to place eighth 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 ...

and repeat as gold medalist at the Ice Star. She won the gold medal at the 2021 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. Safonova was invited to compete on the

at the

2021 Rostelecom Cup The 2021 Rostelecom Cup was the sixth event in the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi on 26–28 November. Medals were awa ...

following the withdrawal of Kazakh skater Elizabet Tursynbaeva. She placed seventh at the event. At the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

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 ...

, Safonova finished ninth. Named to the Belarusian team for the

, Safonova placed seventeenth in the short program of the women's event. Thirteenth in the free skate, she rose to thirteenth overall. In March 2022, the

banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international competitions following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

2025–2026 season

In May 2025, the

announced that Safanova had been approved as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), making them both eligible to compete at the 2025 ISU Olympic Qualifying Competition to vie for a spot to compete at the

2026 Winter Olympics The 2026 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at sites across Lombardy and North ...

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP:

; CS: Challenger Series''

For Belarus

For Russia

Detailed results

For Belarus

For Russia

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Safonova, Viktoriia 2003 births Living people Russian female single skaters Belarusian female single skaters Russian emigrants to Belarus Figure skaters from Moscow Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Belarus 21st-century Belarusian sportswomen 21st-century Russian sportswomen