Serafima Sakhanovich

Personal life

Serafima "Sima" Andreyevna Sakhanovich was born 9 February 2000 in Saint Petersburg. She has two older sisters.

Early career

Sakhanovich began skating in 2007, coached from the start by Alina Pisarenko in Saint Petersburg.

Sakhanovich finished 12th at the 2012 Russian Junior Championships. At the 2013 Russian Championships, she placed fourth in her senior national debut and then won silver on the junior level behind Elena Radionova.

2013–14 season: First medal at Junior Worlds

Sakhanovich made her international debut in the 2013–14 season. After placing fourth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia, she then won the gold medal in her next JGP event in Estonia. Her results qualified her for the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where she won the silver medal behind teammate Maria Sotskova. Sakhanovich finished sixth on the senior level at the Russian Championships and went on to win the junior national title ahead of Sotskova. She placed second in both segments at the 2014 World Junior Championships and was awarded the silver medal. Gold went to Elena Radionova and bronze to Evgenia Medvedeva, producing Russia's second consecutive sweep of the World Junior ladies' podium. She experienced pain in her right foot during the event but her condition improved after a month's rest.

Unable to find a sponsor in Saint Petersburg, Sakhanovich decided to relocate to Moscow, where she joined Eteri Tutberidze.

2014–15 season: Second silver medal at Junior Worlds

Sakhanovich's first assignment of the 2014–15 JGP season was in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In the short program, she became the first female skater competing on the junior level to ever surpass the 40-point mark for TES and her overall score was the highest ever achieved in the Junior Grand Prix series by any lady skater. She won the gold medal ahead of Japan's Yuka Nagai. After another gold medal in Japan, she qualified for the 2014–15 JGP Final in Barcelona. In Spain, she won the silver medal behind teammate Evgenia Medvedeva after placing second in both segments.

Competing on the senior level at the 2015 Russian Championships, Sakhanovich placed 11th in the short program but 5th in the free skate, allowing her to move up to 5th overall. At the 2015 Russian Junior Nationals she placed 4th in the short and second in the free on her way to the bronze medal. She made the team for the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, where she won the silver medal behind Evgenia Medvedeva after placing second in the short and third in the free.

On April 9, 2015, R-Sport news agency reported that Sakhanovich had rejoined her former coach in Saint Petersburg, Alina Pisarenko. Sakhanovich said she hoped to master the quad salchow in the following season. She said she changed coaches because her family was unable to live in two different cities at once.

2015–16 season: Senior international debut

Sakhanovich started her season by placing 7th at the 2015 JGP in Spain. She then made a coaching change, moving from Alina Pisarenko to Evgeni Rukavicin, and withdrew from the JGP in Croatia in order to adjust to her new training situation and to change her free program.

Making her senior international debut, Sakahnovich competed at two ISU Challenger Series events; she finished fourth at the 2015 CS Ice Challenge and took silver at the 2015 CS Warsaw Cup with a new season's best score of 176.41 points. Her results at both Russian Championships were the lowest of her career. After placing tenth at the senior event in December, she finished 17th at the junior event in January, having ranked last in the free skate with four falls on her jumps.

Competitive highlights

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