Deniss Vasiļjevs

Deniss Vasiļjevs

Vasiļjevs at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics
Personal information
Country represented Latvia
Born (1999-08-09) 9 August 1999
Daugavpils, Latvia
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Coach Stéphane Lambiel
Former coach Ingrida Snieškienė, Alexei Urmanov, Elena Ivanova
Choreographer Stéphane Lambiel
Former choreographer Benoît Richaud, Valeri Pecherski, Ingrida Snieškienė
Skating club Daugavpils SC
ACBB Boulogne Billancourt
Former skating club COC Courbevoie
Training locations Champéry, Switzerland
Former training locations Daugavpils, Latvia; Sochi, Russia; Boulogne, Paris, Courbevoie, and Chamonix, France
Began skating 2002
ISU personal best scores
Combined total 224.54
2016 Worlds
Short program 81.07
2016 Worlds
Free skate 153.23
2016 NHK Trophy
Medal record
Representing  Latvia
Figure skating: Men's singles
Winter Youth Olympics
2016 Lillehammer Men's singles
Representing Mixed-NOCs

2016 Lillehammer Team

Deniss Vasiļjevs[1] (born 9 August 1999) is a Latvian figure skater. He won two medals at the 2016 Youth Olympics (silver in men's singles and bronze in the team event) and two silver medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series. He is the first Latvian skater to make the podium at a JGP event.

Personal life

Deniss Vasiļjevs was born on 9 August 1999 in Daugavpils, Latvia.[2] His mother is a former dancer.[3] He enjoys drawing[4] and speaks three languages – Latvian, Russian and English.[5]

Career

Vasiļjevs began skating in 2002.[2] As he was often sick, his parents decided to involve him in a sport, first considering swimming and then skating.[6] Around 2010, his parents arranged for him to train under the guidance of Lithuanian coach Ingrida Snieškienė in Paris, France.[3] Due to his schooling, he spends part of the year training in Daugavpils.[3] His figure skating role models include Stéphane Lambiel, Daisuke Takahashi, Patrick Chan, and Javier Fernandez.[7]

2013–14 season: Junior Grand Prix debut

Vasiļjevs debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit in 2013, placing 7th in Riga, Latvia and 10th in Gdańsk, Poland.[8] He was named in Latvia's team to the World Junior Championships, held in March 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Ranked 11th in the short program, he qualified for the free skate where he placed 7th, pulling him up to 8th overall.[9]

2014–15 season

During the 2014–15 figure skating season, Vasiļjevs placed fourth at both of his Junior Grand Prix assignments, in Courchevel, France and Tallinn, Estonia. He won the silver medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, held in January 2015 in Dornbirn, Austria.[10] He began working with Alexei Urmanov before the 2015 World Junior Championships,[7] which took place in March in Tallinn, Estonia. He placed 8th in both segments and 7th overall.[11]

2015–16 season: Senior international debut

Vasiļjevs began the 2015–16 season by winning silver at both of his JGP events, in Riga, Latvia and Toruń, Poland. He is the first Latvian skater to step on a JGP podium.[12][13] Making his senior international debut, he placed 5th at the 2015 Mordovian Ornament before taking the bronze medal at the 2015 Tallinn Trophy.[12]

In January 2016, Vasiļjevs was sent to his first senior ISU Championship – the 2016 Europeans in Bratislava, Slovakia. He finished 12th after placing 14th in the short program and 10th in the free skate.[14] In February, he competed in Hamar, Norway at the 2016 Youth Olympics. Ranked third in the short program and first in the free skate, he finished second overall with a total score 1.09 less than gold medalist Sōta Yamamoto of Japan.[15] His silver is Latvia's first Youth Olympic medal in figure skating. Vasiļjevs was assigned to compete in the mixed NOC team event as a member of Team Discovery. Placing first in his segment,[16] he lifted his team to the bronze medal.[15]

By 2016, Vasiļjevs was training almost full-time with Urmanov in Sochi, Russia.[7] In March, at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, he won a small bronze medal for the short program and finished 8th overall.[17] Later that month, he competed at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. He qualified for the free skate by placing tenth in the short program and went on to finish 14th overall.[18]

2016–17 season

In spring 2016, Vasiļjevs had new programs choreographed by Stéphane Lambiel in Champéry, Switzerland.[13] He was diagnosed with a tear in his left adductor muscle during the off-season and visited Toronto in late July 2016 for physiotherapy.[19][20] On 25 August 2016, he announced that Lambiel had agreed to coach him in Champéry.[21][22]

Making his Grand Prix debut, Vasiļjevs placed 11th at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup and then 6th at the 2016 NHK Trophy.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2016–17
[2]
2015–16
[4][12]
  • Puttin' On the Ritz[23]
    by Irving Berlin
    performed by Taco, Robbie Williams
    choreo. by Benoît Richaud
2014–15
[10][3]
  • Jazz Machine
    by Black Machine
  • Hey! Pachuco!
    (from The Mask)
    choreo. by Benoît Richaud
  • Adagio for Tron
    (from Tron: Legacy)
    by Daft Punk
    choreo. by Benoît Richaud
  • Heart Upon My Sleeve
  • Shame On Me
    by Avicii
2013–14
[8]
  • Jazz Machine
    by Black Machine
  • Hey! Pachuco!
    (from The Mask)
    choreo. by Benoît Richaud

    Competitive highlights

    GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

    International[24]
    Event 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17
    Worlds 14th
    Europeans 12th
    GP NHK Trophy 6th
    GP Rostel. Cup 11th
    CS Mordovian 5th
    CS Tallinn Trophy 3rd
    International: Junior[24][25]
    Youth Olympics 2nd
    Junior Worlds 8th 7th 8th
    JGP Estonia 4th
    JGP France 4th
    JGP Latvia 7th 2nd
    JGP Poland 10th 2nd
    EYOF 2nd
    Bavarian Open 1st J
    Cup of Nice 1st J
    DS Cup 1st J
    Santa Claus Cup 1st J
    Seibt Memorial 1st N 1st J
    Volvo Open Cup 1st J
    Haabersti Cup 1st N
    NRW Trophy 4th N 1st N
    Rooster Cup 1st N 1st N 1st N
    Warsaw Cup 1st N 1st N 1st N
    National
    Latvian Champ. 1st N 1st J 1st J 1st
    Team events
    Youth Olympics 3rd T
    1st P
    TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew
    Levels: N = Advanced novice; J = Junior
    T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

    References

    1. ↑ Mackevičs, Nauris (14 March 2014). "Deniss Vasiļjevs pasaules čempionātu iesāk ar 11. vietu" [Deniss Vasiļjevs starts in 11th place at the World Junior Championships]. Daugavpils Sporta pārvalde (in Latvian). daugavpils.lv.
    2. 1 2 3 "Deniss VASILJEVS: 2016/2017". International Skating Union.
    3. 1 2 3 4 Remmel, Ia (2 March 2015). "Deniss Vasiljevs, a young talent from Latvia". Absolute Skating.
    4. 1 2 Flade, Tatjana (18 May 2015). "Latvia's Deniss Vasiljevs draws attention". Golden Skate.
    5. ↑ This That (3 August 2015). Interview with Deniss Vasiljevs 2015/03/08 (YouTube).
    6. ↑ "Q&A - Deniss Vasiljevs". Artistika Magazine, no. 2. September 2016.
    7. 1 2 3 Smith, Beverley (31 March 2016). "Vasiljevs: fully charged". Wordpress. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016.
    8. 1 2 "Deniss VASILJEVS: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014.
    9. ↑ "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2014 - Junior Men - Result". International Skating Union. 13 March 2014.
    10. 1 2 "Deniss VASILJEVS: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015.
    11. ↑ "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2015 - Junior Men - Result". International Skating Union. 7 March 2015.
    12. 1 2 3 "Deniss VASILJEVS: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.
    13. 1 2 Luchianov, Vladislav (19 September 2016). "Latvian Vasiljevs wants to put home country on map". IceNetwork.com.
    14. ↑ "ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2016 - Men - Result". International Skating Union. 28 January 2016.
    15. 1 2 "Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games -Figure Skating Review" (Press release). International Skating Union. 20 February 2016.
    16. ↑ "Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games - Mixed NOC Team - Men - Free Skating" (Press release). International Skating Union. 20 February 2016.
    17. ↑ "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2016 - Junior Men - Result". International Skating Union. 18 March 2016.
    18. ↑ "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2016 - Men - Result". International Skating Union. 1 April 2016.
    19. ↑ "A few months ago, I started feeling some pain in my left hip.". Facebook. 28 July 2016.
    20. ↑ Tone, Florentina (1 August 2016). "The champions of tomorrow, at 2016 Summer Camp in Champéry". Inside Skating.
    21. ↑ Vasiljevs, Deniss (25 August 2016). "I finally have some updates on my training!" (facebook).
    22. ↑ Golinsky, Reut (12 September 2016). "Deniss Vasiļjevs: "Standing ovation is the highest award any sportsman can get"". Absolute Skating.
    23. ↑ AbsoluteSkating (20 April 2016). "#IceLegends #IL16 Full program of legendary programs by legendary artists." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
    24. 1 2 "Competition Results: Deniss VASILJEVS". International Skating Union.
    25. ↑ "Deniss Vasiljevs". Tracings.net.

    External links

    Media related to Deniss Vasiļjevs at Wikimedia Commons

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