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Luka Berulava

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Luka Berulava
Berulava at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.
Native nameლუკა ბერულავა
Born (2002-11-27) 27 November 2002 (age 21)
Moscow, Russia
HometownBerlin, Germany
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
Country Georgia
PartnerKarina Safina
CoachAlexander König, Pavel Sliusarenko
Began skating2005
Medal record
Figure skating: Pairs
Representing  Georgia
(with Safina)
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tallinn Pairs
Representing  Georgia
(with Butaeva)
Winter Youth Olympics
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Lausanne Pairs
Representing Mixed-NOCs
(with Butaeva)
Winter Youth Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2020 Lausanne Team

Luka Berulava (Template:Lang-ru; Georgian: ლუკა ბერულავა, born 27 November 2002) is a Georgian pair skater. With his skating partner, Karina Safina, he is the 2022 World Junior champion, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist, and finished fourth at both the 2022 World Championships and the 2022 European Championships.

Safina/Berulava are the first Georgian pair medalists on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, having won silver at 2021 JGP Slovakia and bronze at 2021 JGP Austria, and the first Georgians to win a Junior World title in any discipline.[1]

With his former partner, Alina Butaeva, Berulava won two medals at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics − bronze in pairs and gold in the team event.

Personal life

Berulava was born on 27 November 2002 in Moscow.[2][3] He resides in Perm.[2]

Career

Berulava began learning to skate in 2005.[2] In 2019, he teamed up with Russia's Alina Butaeva to compete in pair skating. The pair decided to train in Perm, coached by Pavel Sliusarenko and Alexei Menshikov.[2]

2019–20 season

The two made their debut for Georgia in September 2019, placing eighth at an ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in Poland[4] and then sixth at JGP Croatia.[5] Their results earned a spot for Georgia in the pairs' event at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.[6] In November, they took bronze in the junior pairs' category at the Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia.[7] In December, they won the junior event at the Golden Spin of Zagreb.[8]

In January 2020, the pair competed at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland. They finished third in the short program behind two pairs from Russia,[9] then did likewise in the free skating program. Their combined score put them in third place with a bronze medal.[10] This was Georgia's first medal in the Winter Youth Olympic Games, and their tenth medal in the Youth Olympic Games overall.[11] The pair also received a gold medal for their participation in the team event as part of Team Courage, composed also of Arlet Levandi from Estonia, Ksenia Sinitsyna from Russia, and ice dancers Utana Yoshida / Shingo Nishiyama from Japan.[12] Butaeva/Berulava finished the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they placed seventh.[13]

2021–22 season: Debut of Safina/Berulava

After the end of his partnership with Butaeva, Berulava formed a new partnership with Russian pair skater Karina Safina. With international junior competition resuming following the COVID-19 pandemic causing the 2020–21 junior season to be cancelled, Safina/Berulava made their Junior Grand Prix debut at the 2021 JGP Slovakia. they won the silver medal behind gold medal-winning Russian team Mukhortova/Evgenyev, and ahead of third place Russian team Kostiukovich/Briukhanov. Their placement marked the first Junior Grand Prix medal for Georgia in pair skating.[1]

Safina/Berulava next made their senior international debut at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to attempt to qualify a berth for Georgia in the pairs event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The team set a new personal best to win the short program by a narrow margin over German team Hase/Seegert. They fell to third in the free program after losing their forward inside death spiral and one of their lifts, and ultimately finished third overall to successfully qualify an Olympic spot in their discipline for Georgia. Berulava remarked afterward "we would like to have done it in a better, nicer way."[14] Their performance, along with Georgian ice dance team Kazakova/Reviya's podium placement, also qualified a spot for Georgia in the Olympic team event.

Safina/Berulava returned to the Junior Grand Prix circuit in October for their second assignment, the 2021 JGP Austria in Linz. They placed third in both segments to finish third overall behind Russian teams Khabibullina/Knyazhuk and Mukhortova/Evgenyev. Due to the unique qualification process in place for the 2021–22 season, the team did not advance to the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final, despite two podium finishes.[15]

In December, Safina/Berulava faced domestic rivals Metelkina/Parkman for the first time in international competition at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. Safina/Berulava set a new personal best to win the short program, but fell to eighth in the free program standings after errors on their side-by-side jumping passes and losing their forward inside death spiral. The team placed seventh overall, while Metelkina/Parkman advanced onto the podium and took home the silver medal.[15] Metelkina/Parkman initially received the nod for the Georgian pairs berth at the 2022 European Championships, however, Safina/Berulava replaced them after they withdrew from the event on 9 January. At Europeans, Safina/Berulava placed sixth in the short program after falling on their side-by-side triple Salchows. They delivered a stronger performance in the free skate, albeit still struggling with their side-by-side jumps, to climb to fourth in the segment and fourth overall, the best of the non-Russian competitors.[16]

The day after the pairs free skate at the European Championships, Safina/Berulava were officially named to the Georgian team for the 2022 Winter Olympics by the Georgian Figure Skating Federation.[17] Safina/Berulava made their Olympic debut in the team event before the opening ceremony on February 3. They cleanly skated their short program to place sixth in the segment out of nine, and earn five points towards Team Georgia's combined score.[18] However, despite scoring 22 team points overall to tie for fifth place with Team China going into the free skate, Team Georgia lost the tie-breaker and did not advance.[19] In the pairs event, Safina/Berulava were ninth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, for ninth overall.[20][21]

Days after the Olympics concluded, Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the 2022 World Championships. As well, the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier. As those countries' athletes comprised the entirety of the top five pairs at the Olympics, this had a huge impact on the field.[22] Safina and Berulava relocated to train in Italy. They placed fourth in the short program at the World Championships with a clean skate.[23] They were fourth in the free skate as well to finish fourth overall, the only error in the latter segment being Safina doubling out on a triple Salchow attempt.[24]

Due to the pandemic, the World Junior Championships could not be held in their scheduled location of Sofia, and as a result they were moved to Tallinn and held in mid-April, rather than their traditional early March timeframe.[25] As Russian pair teams were banned from attending this event as well, Safina/Berulava entered as heavy favourites for the gold medal.[26][27] They won the short program with a clean skate and a 67.77 score.[28] They won the free skate as well, taking the title by a margin of almost twenty points. Berulava reflected that "it was a long and busy season with many competitions and to end it with a gold medal is really nice."[29]

2022–23 season

Safina and Berulava were assigned to make their senior Grand Prix debut in the fall. Despite dealing with injury in the lead-up to their first event, the 2022 Grand Prix de France, they placed third in the short program, with Safina saying "I am more pleased than not pleased with our performance today because nothing really worked in practice for me. We have still a lot of work ahead of us and I think I've done the maximum of what I can do at the moment."[30] They struggled in the free skate, placing sixth in that segment and dropping to fifth overall.[31] The team later withdrew from their second assignment, the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo.

Programs

With Safina

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2022–2023
[32]
2021–2022
[33]
  • Mahindj Var
    by Nodar Reviya

With Butaeva

Season Short program Free skating
2019–2020
[2]

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Pairs with Safina

International [15]
Event 2021–22 2022–23
Olympics 9th
Worlds 4th
Europeans 4th
GP Finland WD
GP France 5th
CS Golden Spin 7th
CS Warsaw Cup WD
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 3rd
International: Junior [15]
Junior Worlds 1st
JGP Austria 3rd
JGP Slovakia 2nd
Team events
Olympics 6th T
6th P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Pairs with Butaeva

International: Junior [8]
Event 2019–20
Junior Worlds 7th
Youth Olympics 3rd
JGP Croatia 6th
JGP Poland 8th
Volvo Open Cup 3rd
Golden Spin 1st
Team events1
Youth Olympics 1st T
3rd P
1 Medals awarded for team results only.
T = Team result; P = Personal result.

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

With Safina

Senior results

2022–2023 season
Date Event SP FS Total
November 4–6, 2022 2022 Grand Prix de France 3
61.55 		6
100.99 		5
162.44
2021–2022 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 21–27, 2022 2022 World Championships 4
67.36 		4
124.38 		4
191.74
February 18–19, 2022 2022 Winter Olympics 9
66.11 		8
126.33 		9
192.44
February 4–7, 2022 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event 6
64.79 		— 6T
January 10–16, 2022 2022 European Championships 6
61.93 		4
122.12 		4
184.05
December 9–11, 2021 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 1
66.95 		8
112.38 		7
179.33
September 22–25, 2021 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 1
66.46 		3
111.70 		3
178.16

Junior results

2021–2022 season
Date Event SP FS Total
April 13–17, 2022 2022 World Junior Championships 1
67.77 		1
120.35 		1
188.12
October 6–9, 2021 2021 JGP Austria 3
63.04 		3
116.23 		3
179.27
September 1–4, 2021 2021 JGP Slovakia 3
57.64 		2
110.62 		2
168.26

With Butaeva

Junior results

2019–2020 season
Date Event SP FS Total
2–8 March 2020 2020 World Junior Championships 7
55.96 		8
97.21 		7
153.17
10–15 January 2020 2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Team - 3
100.70 		1T/3P
10–15 January 2020 2020 Winter Youth Olympics 3
59.14 		3
98.15 		3
157.29
4–7 December 2019 2019 Golden Spin 3
51.32 		1
91.22 		1
142.54
5–10 November 2019 2019 Volvo Open Cup 3
55.92 		3
100.62 		3
156.54
25–28 September 2019 2019 JGP Croatia 6
51.27 		5
90.78 		6
142.05
18–21 September 2019 2019 JGP Poland 8
45.29 		9
80.73 		8
126.02

References

  1. ^ a b "Russia's next generation shines in Kosice at ISU Junior Grand Prix". International Skating Union. September 6, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Alina BUTAEVA / Luka BERULAVA: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020.
  3. ^ "BERULAVA Luka". lausanne2020.sport. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Junior Pairs". International Skating Union. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Junior Pairs". International Skating Union. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. ^ "ალინა ბუტაევამ და ლუკა ბერულავამ 2020 წლის ზამთრის ახალგაზრდული ოლიმპიური თამაშების ლიცენზია მოიპოვეს" [Alina Butaeva and Luka Berulava Obtained License for Youth 2020 Winter Olympics] (in Georgian). The Recorder. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Volvo Open Cup 40 th". www.kristalice.lv. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Competition Results: Alina BUTAEVA / Luka BERULAVA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020.
  9. ^ Bilikhodze, Elene (10 January 2020). "ალინა ბუტაევასა და ლუკა ბერულავას წყვილმა მოკლე პროგრამა მესამე ადგილზე დაასრულა" [A Pair of Alina Butaeva and Luka Berulava Finished Third in the Short Program]. 1tv.ge (in Georgian). First Channel. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Georgian figure skating couple wins bronze at Winter Youth Olympics". agenda.ge. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  11. ^ "ისტორიაში პირველად, საქართველომ ზამთრის ახალგაზრდულ ოლიმპიურ თამაშებზე მედალი მოიპოვა" [For the first time in its history, Georgia has won a medal at the Winter Youth Olympic Games]. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  12. ^ "ოლიმპიური ოქრო ლოზანიდან" [Olympic gold from Lausanne]. lelo.ge (in Georgian). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  13. ^ Slater, Paula (March 5, 2020). "Panfilova and Rylov claim Pairs' title at Junior Worlds". Golden Skate.
  14. ^ Flade, Tatjana (September 24, 2021). "Germany's Hase and Seegert claim victory on home ice at Nebelhorn". Golden Skate.
  15. ^ a b c d "Competition Results: Karina SAFINA / Luka BERULAVA". International Skating Union.
  16. ^ Slater, Paula (January 14, 2022). "Mishina and Galliamov take European title in Russian sweep". Golden Skate.
  17. ^ Georgian Figure Skating Federation [@figureskatinggeorgia] (14 January 2022). "Olympic Team Announcement - KARINA SAFINA/LUKA BERULAVA will represent Georgia at 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games!!!" – via Instagram.
  18. ^ Slater, Paula (February 4, 2022). "Team USA leads Olympic Figure Skating Team Event". Golden Skate.
  19. ^ Slater, Paula (February 7, 2022). "ROC wins Olympic figure skating team event". Golden Skate.
  20. ^ Slater, Paula (February 18, 2022). "Sui and Han lead Pairs in Beijing with new record score". Golden Skate.
  21. ^ Slater, Paula (February 19, 2022). "Chinese edge out ROC for Pairs' gold in 2022 Beijing Olympics". Golden Skate.
  22. ^ Campigotto, Jesse (March 22, 2022). "Get ready for a bizarre figure skating world championships". CBC Sports.
  23. ^ Slater, Paula (March 23, 2022). "USA's Knierim and Frazier lead Pairs in Montpellier". Golden Skate.
  24. ^ Slater, Paula (March 24, 2022). "USA's Knierim and Frazier take gold in Worlds debut as a team". Golden Skate.
  25. ^ "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2022 allotted to Tallinn (EST)". International Skating Union. March 4, 2022.
  26. ^ "ISU Statement on the Ukrainian crisis – Participation in international competitions of Skaters and Officials from Russia and Belarus". International Skating Union. March 1, 2022.
  27. ^ "2022 World Junior Championships". International Figure Skating.
  28. ^ Slater, Paula (April 14, 2022). "Safina and Berulava stand out in Tallinn". Golden Skate.
  29. ^ Slater, Paula (April 15, 2022). "Safina and Berulava take first Junior World gold for Georgian Pairs". Golden Skate.
  30. ^ "Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps (CAN) grab narrow Pairs lead at Grand Prix de France". International Skating Union. November 4, 2022.
  31. ^ Slater, Paula (November 6, 2022). "Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps win Grand Prix Pairs' title in France". Golden Skate.
  32. ^ "Karina SAFINA / Luka BERULAVA: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Karina SAFINA / Luka BERULAVA: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021.

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