Ksenia Stolbova

Ksenia Stolbova
Stolbova/Klimov at 2012 European Championships
Personal information
Full name	Ksenia Andreyevna Stolbova
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1992-02-07) 7 February 1992 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Height	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Partner	Fedor Klimov
Former partner	Artur Minchuk
Coach	Nina Mozer
Former coach	Ludmila Velikova, Vladislav Zhovnirski
Choreographer	Alla Kapranova
Former choreographer	Alexander Stepin
Skating club	SDUSHOR St. Petersburg
Training locations	Moscow
Former training locations	Saint Petersburg
Began skating	1997
World standing	3 (As of 18 January 2015)[1]
Season's bests	3 (2013–14)[2] 14 (2012–13)[3] 13 (2011–12)[4] 18 (2010–11)[5] 29 (2009–10)[6]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	218.68 2014 Winter Olympics
Short program	76.15 2014 Worlds
Free skate	143.47 2014 Winter Olympics
Medal record Competitor for  Russia Pairs Figure skating Olympic Games Gold 2014 Sochi Team Silver 2014 Sochi Pairs World Championships Silver 2014 Saitama Pairs European Championships Silver 2014 Budapest Pairs Silver 2015 Stockholm Pairs Bronze 2012 Sheffield Pairs Grand Prix Final Silver 2014–15 Barcelona Pairs Winter Universiade Gold 2013 Trentino Pairs World Junior Championships Silver 2011 Gangneung Pairs Bronze 2010 The Hague Pairs Junior Grand Prix Final Silver 2010–11 Beijing Pairs

Ksenia Andreyevna Stolbova (Russian: Ксе́ния Андре́евна Столбо́ва; born 7 February 1992) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Fedor Klimov, she is the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, the 2014 Olympic champion in the team event, the 2014 World silver medalist, a two-time European medalist (2012, 2014), the 2013 Winter Universiade champion, a two-time World Junior medalist (2010, 2011), and a two-time Russian national champion (2014, 2015).

Career

Early career

Ksenia Stolbova became interested in skating at the age of three but did not begin skating until a few years later after badgering her family. After a number of years in single skating, she wanted to try something different and made the switch to pair skating at the age of 14.^[7] Stolbova skated with Artur Minchuk for two years.

2009–2011

In spring 2009, coach Ludmila Velikova partnered Stolbova with Fedor Klimov.^[7] They trained in Saint Petersburg.

During their first season together, the pair placed 2nd and 7th at their two Junior Grand Prix events, and 7th at the Final. The pair won the Russian Junior title and then bronze at Junior Worlds in 2010.

During the 2010–11 season, Stolbova/Klimov won both of their JGP events and qualified for the JGP Final. They also debuted on the senior GP circuit, finishing 5th at Skate America. They won silver at the Junior Grand Prix Final. At the 2011 Russian Championships, Stolbova/Klimov finished sixth overall in their senior national debut and won their second junior national title. They were the silver medalists at the 2011 World Junior Championships.

2011–2012 season

For the Grand Prix season, Stolbova/Klimov were assigned to 2011 Trophée Eric Bompard, where they finished 7th, and 2011 Cup of Russia, where they finished 4th. Third in the short program and second in the long at the 2012 Russian Championships, the pair won their first senior national medal, silver.

Stolbova/Klimov were originally the first alternates for the 2012 European Championships but Alexander Smirnov had an emergency surgery and was not able to recover in time. Replacing Kavaguti/Smirnov at the event, Stolbova/Klimov set new personal bests in their short and long program to win their first European medal, bronze.

2012–2013 season

For the 2012–13 season, Stolbova/Klimov worked on upgrading their twist to a triple.^[8] They began their international season at the 2012 Coupe de Nice, where they took the silver. Stolbova/Klimov won their first senior Grand Prix medal, bronze, at the 2012 Cup of China, and finished 5th at the 2012 Trophée Eric Bompard.^[8] They won the bronze medal at the 2013 Russian Championships.

First alternates for the 2013 European Championships, Stolbova/Klimov were called up to replace Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov who withdrew due to Larionov's wrist injury.^[9] After finishing sixth at Europeans in Zagreb, they won their first senior international title at the 2013 Bavarian Open. In April 2013, the pair said they wanted to move to Moscow to work with Nina Mozer, who agreed to take them in her group.^[10][11][12] The move was opposed by Oleg Nilov, the head of the Saint Petersburg skating association, arguing against a concentration of skaters in Moscow,^[13] but was authorized by the Russian skating federation.^[14]

2013–2014 season

In 2013–14, Stolbova/Klimov started their Grand Prix season with a bronze medal at the 2013 Skate America. After placing sixth in the short program and third in the free skate, they finished fourth overall at the 2013 Cup of Russia behind Canadian pair Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch. Stolbova/Klimov won the gold medal at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy and then took their first national title at the 2014 Russian Championships, scoring 0.45 more than the 2012 national champions, Bazarova/Larionov.

At the 2014 European Championships, Stolbova/Klimov placed fourth in the short, first in the free skate, and scored a total of 207.98 points to win the silver medal behind Volosozhar/Trankov and ahead of Bazarova/Larionov. All three pairs were sent to the 2014 Winter Olympics. Assigned to the free skate in the inaugural Olympic team event, Stolbova/Klimov placed first in their segment and Team Russia went on to win the gold medal. In the pairs event, Stolbova/Klimov placed third in the short and advanced to second after the free skate with an overall score of 218.68 points. They won the silver medal ahead of four-time World champions Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy who took the bronze medal. Stolbova/Klimov won the silver medal in their first appearance at the 2014 World Championships.

2014-2015 season

For the 2014-2015 Grand Prix season, Stolbova and Klimov won both their Grand Prix events at 2014 Rostelecom Cup and 2014 Trophee Eric Bompard and placed second at the 2014–15 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. They won their second consecutive title at the 2015 Russian Figure Skating Championships^[15] and went on to win silver at the 2015 European Figure Skating Championships.

Personal life

Stolbova is a student at the Lesgaft Academy of Physical Education in Saint Petersburg.^[7]

Programs

(with Klimov)

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2014-2015	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Tan Dun	Notre-Dame de Paris (musical) by Richard Cocciante	Memories of Sochi
2013–2014 [16]	Surrender by Jesse Cook	The Addams Family by Marc Shaiman	Laugh, I Nearly Died by The Rolling Stones La Strada by Nino Rota
2012–2013 [8][17]	Interview with the Vampire by Elliot Goldenthal	The Addams Family by Marc Shaiman	Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy
2011–2012 [18][19]	Boléro by Maurice Ravel	Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin	La Strada by Nino Rota
2010–2011 [20]	Asturias by Isaac Albéniz	La Strada soundtrack by Nino Rota	Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy
2009–2010 [21]	Russian Fantasy by unknown	Oriental Fantasy by unknown

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series (began in the 2014–15 season); JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Klimov

International[22]
Event	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15
Olympics					2nd
Worlds					2nd
Europeans			3rd	6th	2nd	2nd
Grand Prix Final						2nd
GP Bompard			7th	5th		1st
GP Cup of China				3rd
GP Rostelecom			4th		4th	1st
GP Skate America		5th			3rd
Universiade					1st
Bavarian Open				1st
Cup of Nice				2nd
Warsaw Cup					1st
International: Junior[22]
Junior Worlds	3rd	2nd
JGP Final	7th	2nd
JGP Austria		1st
JGP Belarus	7th
JGP U.K.		1st
JGP U.S.	2nd
National
Russian Champ.		6th	2nd	3rd	1st	1st
Russian Junior	1st	1st
Team events
Olympics					1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

With Minchuk

Event	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
Russian Championships			11th
Russian Junior Championships	12th	10th

References

External links

Media related to Ksenia Stolbova at Wikimedia Commons

• Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov at the International Skating Union

Russian champions in figure skating – Pairs 1993: Evgenia Shishkova / Vadim Naumov 1994: Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov 1995: Marina Eltsova / Andrei Bushkov 1996: Evgenia Shishkova / Vadim Naumov 1997–1998: Marina Eltsova / Andrei Bushkov 1999–2002: Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze 2003–2005: Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin 2006: Maria Petrova / Alexei Tikhonov 2007: Maria Mukhortova / Maxim Trankov 2008–2010: Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov 2011: Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov 2012: Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov 2013: Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov 2014–2015: Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov