Maxim Kovtun

Personal life

Maxim Pavlovich Kovtun was born 18 June 1995 in Yekaterinburg. His two older brothers formerly competed in figure skating and his father, Pavel, is a skating coach and former pair skater.

Career

Taken to the ice rink by his father, Kovtun began skating at age four in Yekaterinburg and was coached mainly by Maria Voitsekhovskaia in his early years. He also trained in ice hockey but chose skating at age ten.

2011–12 season: JGP and senior debuts

In the spring of 2011, Kovtun began training with Nikolai Morozov. He debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) circuit in the 2011–12 season, winning gold at his first event in Romania and then silver in Estonia. He qualified for the 2011–12 JGP Final where he finished fourth. At the 2012 Russian Championships, Kovtun finished 12th on the senior level and won the bronze medal on the junior level. He was assigned to the 2012 World Team Trophy—his first senior international event—following Sergei Voronov's injury-related withdrawal. He finished 12th at the event.

2012–13 season: Gold at JGP Final

In the summer of 2012, Kovtun switched coaches to Elena Buianova (Vodorezova). He began the 2012–13 season by winning a pair of gold medals at JGP events in Croatia and Germany. In Croatia, he scored a personal best 80.00 points in free skating TES. Kovtun qualified for the JGP Final in Sochi, Russia, where he won gold by eleven points over silver medalist Joshua Farris. At the event, he scored 149.78 points for his free skate which included a 4T-3T, 3A-3T and 3A.

Kovtun said he would try two quads in his free program at the 2013 Russian Championships. Although he finished 5th on the senior level, he was named in the Russian team to the 2013 European Championships because Russian regulations guaranteed berths only to the top two finishers while a committee had the right to choose the third entry. In his European debut, Kovtun placed 7th in the short program, 4th in the free skate, and 5th overall with a total score of 226.57 points. In the free skate, his fourth combination (3S-2T) was deemed invalid. Kovtun finished 17th in his first World Championships, held in London, Ontario, Canada. He was 8th in the men's event at the 2013 World Team Trophy and Team Russia finished 4th.

2013–14 season: First senior national title

Kovtun found his short program for the 2013–14 season very challenging, stating, "When we [began training the program], it was just hell. [...] I needed half an hour to learn one step, so it took a very long time to put this all together." He made his senior Grand Prix debut at the 2013 Cup of China. He placed second in the short—landing a 4S-3T, 4T and 3A—and first in the free skate, in which he landed a 4S, 4S-2T, 3A-2T and 3A. Kovtun won the silver medal overall behind China's Han Yan. He won another silver medal at the 2013 Rostelecom Cup. The results qualified him to his first senior Grand Prix Final. He finished fifth at the event in Fukuoka, Japan.

At the 2014 Russian Championships, Kovtun placed second in the short program and first in the free skate. He was awarded the gold medal ahead of three-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko. After Kovtun again placed fifth at the European Championships, Russia's sole spot in the men's event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was assigned to Plushenko. Kovtun was sent to the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. He placed seventh in the short program, fifth in the free skate, and finished fourth overall behind Spain's Javier Fernández.

2014–15 season: Silver at Europeans

For the 2014–15 Grand Prix season, Kovtun was assigned to compete at the Cup of China and Trophée Bompard. He placed first in both segments to win the gold medal in China, ahead of the Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Richard Dornbush. He then won the gold medal in France ahead of Tatsuki Machida and Denis Ten. Kovtun qualified to the Grand Prix Final as the only skater that won both of his assignments. He placed third in the short program, skating last, and then fifth in the free skate, finishing fourth overall behind his teammate Sergei Voronov.

At the 2015 Russian Championships, Kovtun won his second national title. At the 2015 European Championships, he ranked fourth in the short program and second in the free skate, ending in second place overall, behind Javier Fernández. He then finished 7th at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China.

2015–16 season

Kovtun started the 2015–16 season with gold at the 2015 CS Mordovian Ornament. Turning to the Grand Prix series, he placed second in the short program (SP) at the 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard. Due to the November 2015 Paris attacks, the free skate was cancelled and the SP standings were deemed the final results. Kovtun finished tenth at his second GP event, the 2015 NHK Trophy, which meant he did not qualify for the Final. In December, he won his third consecutive national title, at the 2016 Russian Championships in his home city of Yekaterinburg.

In late January, Kovtun was awarded the bronze medal at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, having placed second in the short and sixth in the free. He finished 18th at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. On 16 May 2016, Buyanova announced that Kovtun had left her group and joined Inna Goncharenko.

2016–17 season

After taking the bronze medal at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, Kovtun finished 7th at both of his Grand Prix assignments, the 2016 Skate America and 2016 Cup of China. At the 2017 Russian Championships, he received the bronze medal, having finished third to Mikhail Kolyada and Alexander Samarin. He said that he had begun consulting a psychologist.

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. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.