Maria Sotskova

Personal life

Maria Romanovna Sotskova was born on 12 April 2000 in Reutov, Moscow Oblast, Russia. As a young child, she was engaged in both skating and rhythmic gymnastics but dropped gymnastics after her coach said that she needed to choose.

Skating career

Sotskova began skating at the age of four after her mother decided to bring her to the ice rink. Her first coach was Svetlana Panova. Her figure skating idol is Carolina Kostner.

2012–13 season

In the 2012–13 season, Sotskova won a bronze medal behind Serafima Sakhanovich at the 2013 Russian Junior Championships.

2013–14 season: JGP Final champion

Sotskova made her junior international debut at the 2013–14 Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in Riga, Latvia; she won the silver medal behind Evgenia Medvedeva by a margin of 3.03 points. At her next JGP assignment, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, she finished 2nd to Alexandra Proklova by over 15 points. Sotskova's silver medals qualified her for the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where she defeated teammates Sakhanovich and Medvedeva for the gold. She then took silver behind Sakhanovich at the 2014 Russian Junior Championships and was assigned to the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She withdrew due to a meniscus injury.

2014–15 season

In the 2014–15 JGP season, Sotskova took silver in Tallinn, Estonia, finishing second to Japan's Miyu Nakashio by 0.97, and then won gold in Zagreb, Croatia, by a margin of 1.4 points over Karen Chen of the United States. She finished 4th in Barcelona, Spain at her second JGP Final. Making her senior national debut, she placed 6th at the Russian Championships before winning the junior silver medal. Concluding her season, she placed 5th at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn.

2015–16 season: World Junior silver medalist

In June 2015, Sotskova went to Artesia, California to get her programs choreographed, and work with Rafael Arutyunyan on her jumps. In the 2015–16 JGP season, she won gold at her events in Riga, Latvia and Linz, Austria, resulting in qualification to her third JGP Final. Her first senior gold medal came at the Tallinn Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series event in November.

At the 2015–16 JGP Final in Barcelona, Sotskova placed fourth in the short and second in the free skate, taking the silver medal ahead of Japan's Marin Honda. At the Russian Championships, she finished fifth on the senior level, in December, and went on to win the junior silver medal, in January. In February, Sotskova represented Russia at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway, winning the silver medal behind teammate Polina Tsurskaya. In March, she was awarded silver at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, after finishing between Honda and Higuchi.

Following the end of the season, she switched from Svetlana Panova to Elena Vodorezova (Buyanova) because CSKA Moscow has better training conditions.

2016–17 season: Grand Prix debut

In 2016–17, Sotskova began her season at the 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial; she placed second in the short and first in the free skate to win the gold medal ahead of teammate Yulia Lipnitskaya. Making her Grand Prix debut, she won silver at the 2016 Trophée de France and bronze at the 2016 NHK Trophy, earning qualification to the Grand Prix Final in Marseille. In December, she finished 5th in France and then received the bronze medal at the Russian Championships, having ranked second in the short and third in the free skate.

Competitive highlights

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

Detailed results

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