Nikita Katsalapov

Nikita Gennadyevich Katsalapov (Russian: Никита Геннадьевич Кацалапов; born 10 July 1991) is a Russian ice dancer. With Victoria Sinitsina, he is the 2016 Russian national silver medalist.
With former partner Elena Ilinykh, he is a 2014 Olympic champion in the team event, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in ice dancing, a three-time European medalist (silver in 2013 and 2014; bronze in 2012), and the 2010 World Junior champion.

Katsalapov was born on 10 July 1991 in Moscow.

Katsapalov began in single skating but struggled with some jumps and decided to try ice dancing. He was paired with Elena Ilinykh by Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, who were the team's first coaches. In 2005, they attended a training camp under Alexander Zhulin who was preparing Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov for their Olympic gold-medal winning season. Despite feeling inspired, they split shortly afterward—Ilinykh said they were too young at the time to understand partnership, "We didn't understand at all that you need to talk to each other, to find a compromise. There were these foolish, stupid quarrels. It just didn't work." Katsalapov then skated with Angelina Kabysheva until 2008.

Junior career

Ilinykh/Katsalapov decided to team up again in spring 2008 after she returned to Russia. They began training again with Alexander Zhulin in Moscow and began competing together in the 2008–09 season, placing fourth at the Russian Junior Championships.

During the 2009–10 season, Ilinykh/Katsalapov competed for the first time on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. At their first event, the event in Budapest, Hungary, they won the gold medal. At their second event, in Torun, Poland, they won a second gold medal and qualified for the JGP Final. After winning the silver medal behind Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin at the Final and at the Russian Junior Championships, they moved past them to win gold at the 2010 World Junior Championships. They were named Discovery of the Year at the 2010 Crystal Ice Awards held in October 2010 in Moscow.

2010–11 season

For the 2010–11 season, Ilinykh/Katsalapov chose a ballet-themed free dance to Don Quixote: "[Zhulin] wanted us to do something classical Russian, and only very few people have done a real ballet program in dance." Ilinykh's tutu was made at the Bolshoi. They made their senior debut at the 2010 NHK Trophy where they finished fourth. At their next event, 2010 Cup of Russia, they won the bronze medal, their first medal on the senior Grand Prix series. At the 2011 Russian Nationals, they were second after the short dance behind Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev but placed fourth in the free dance to finish third overall behind Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko. However, their bronze medal was enough to earn them their first berth to the European Championships.

At the 2011 Europeans, Ilinykh/Katsalapov set new personal bests in the short dance (60.93), free dance (92.55) and combined total (153.48) to finish fourth in their debut at the event. They were in a battle with Riazanova/Tkachenko for Russia's second of only two berths to the 2011 World Championships. By finishing ahead of them, Ilinykh/Katsalapov won the right to make their senior Worlds debut. They finished seventh at the event. Following the end of the season, they ended their collaboration with Alexander Zhulin and Oleg Volkov to begin working with new coach Nikolai Morozov in May 2011. During the off-season, they spent some time in the U.S. preparing for the 2011–12 season.

2011–12 season

For the 2011–12 Grand Prix season, Ilinykh/Katsalapov were assigned to 2011 NHK Trophy and 2011 Trophée Eric Bompard. At NHK Trophy, they placed first in the short dance but in the warm-up before the free dance Ilinykh crashed into the boards and injured her knee. The couple finished the competition, winning the bronze medal, but withdrew from the exhibitions. Ilinykh/Katsalapov then finished fourth at the 2011 Trophee Eric Bompard. They won the silver medal at the 2012 Russian Championships. At the 2012 European Championships, Ilinykh/Katsalapov were seventh in the short dance but set a personal best in their free dance, resulting in an overall total of 153.12 points. They won the bronze medal at the event and then performed with Art on Ice. Ilinykh/Katsalapov finished 5th—the highest of the three Russian teams—at the 2012 World Championships. Their final event of the season was the 2012 World Team Trophy.

2012–13 season

Ilinykh/Katsalapov started their season with gold at the 2012 Crystal Skate of Romania. They won silver at their first 2012–13 Grand Prix event, the 2012 Rostelecom Cup. At the 2012 NHK Trophy, Ilinykh/Katsalapov were third after the short dance. Ilinykh fell ill before the free dance due to food poisoning but went on to compete. They placed second in the segment and won the silver medal. They qualified for the 2012 Grand Prix Final in Sochi, Russia, and finished sixth at the event. At the 2013 Russian Championships, Ilinykh/Katsalapov won the silver medal behind defending national champions Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev. At the 2013 European Championships, they placed second in the short dance and first in the free dance. They won the silver medal, just 0.11 of a point behind gold medalists Bobrova/Soloviev. Ilinykh/Katsalapov finished 9th at the 2013 World Championships.

2013–14 season

Katsalapov at the awarding ceremony for Russian athletes with President Vladimir Putin

Ilinykh/Katsalapov's first assignment of the 2013–14 Grand Prix season was the 2013 NHK Trophy where they placed fourth. At their next event, the 2013 Trophee Eric Bompard, they scored personal bests in both segments, finishing with an overall score of 171.89 points and winning the silver medal ahead of French ice dancers Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat.

Ilinykh/Katsalapov won their third national silver medal at the 2014 Russian Championships behind Bobrova/Soloviev and then won silver at the 2014 European Championships with an overall score 1.1 points less than gold medalists Cappellini/Lanotte. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Ilinykh/Katsalapov were assigned to the free dance in the inaugural team event. They placed third in their segment and Team Russia won the gold medal. Ilinykh/Katsalapov then won the bronze medal in the individual ice dancing event behind champions Meryl Davis / Charlie White and silver medalists Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir. They scored personal bests in both segments and an overall total of 183.48 points.

The next month, Ilinykh/Katsalapov traveled to Saitama, Japan for the 2014 World Championships. On 26 March 2014, just before the short dance, ITAR-TASS reported that they would split after the competition. Katsalapov had a serious error on the twizzles and they placed fifth in the short dance. Despite winning the next segment, they finished off the podium in the closely contested event. Their total score was just 1.05 less than the gold medalists. On 4 April 2014, Katsalapov confirmed to Ilinykh that he wanted to end their partnership.

On 11 April 2014, Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina applied for approval of their partnership from the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR). They then traveled to Michigan to train for three weeks under Marina Zueva.

2014–15 season

Sinitsina/Katsalapov made their competitive debut at the 2014 Rostelecom Cup, a Grand Prix event in Moscow; they placed fourth in both segments and finished well behind their former partners. At the 2014 NHK Trophy, they finished fifth in the short dance, eighth in the free dance after falling on one lift and aborting another, and eighth overall. They were fourth at the 2015 Russian Championships.

2015–16 season

A stress fracture in his foot that kept Katsalapov off the ice in early 2015 recurred in the summer of 2015, keeping the duo out of test skates organized by the FSFR. Competing in the 2015–16 Grand Prix series, Sinitsina/Katsalapov won the silver medal at the 2015 Skate America, obtaining the highest total technical elements score in the free dance, and then bronze at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, behind Italians Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte. They were the second highest-ranked Russian couple in the Grand Prix rankings, behind Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev who also won one silver and one bronze but had a higher total short dance score, and were the first alternates for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final. In December, Sinitsina/Katsalapov won the silver medal behind Bobrova/Soloviev at the 2016 Russian Championships in Yekaterinburg.

In January, Sinitsina/Katsalapov finished fourth behind Bobrova/Soloviev at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. They placed ninth at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.

2016–17 season

In mid-2016, Sinitsina/Katsalapov returned to train in Moscow, naming Oleg Volkov as their coach. They later added Elena Tchaikovskaya to their coaching team. They took the bronze medal at the 2017 Russian Championships.

With Sinitsina

With Ilinykh

Ilinykh and Katsalapov won the 2010 World Junior Championships.

Ilinykh and Katsalapov at 2010 Cup of Russia

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

With Sinitsina

With Ilinykh

The short dance at 2011 Worlds

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

With Sinitsina

Sinitsina and Katsalapov at the 2016 World Championships

With Ilinykh

Ilinykh and Katsalapov performing their gala at the 2013 Trophee Eric Bompard

Ilinykh and Katsalapov Free dance at the 2012 Rostelecom Cup

Ilinykh and Katsalapov at the 2012 World Championships

The short dance at 2011 Trophée Bompard