Asaf Kazimov

Asaf Kazimovich Kazimov (Russian: Асаф Казимович Казимов; born 12 March 2000) is a Russian-born German-Spanish ice dancer who currently competes for Spain. With his skating partner, Sofía Val, he competed at the 2026 Winter Olympics, is the 2025 Winter World University Games champion and the 2023 Trophée Métropole Nice champion.

Kazimov was born on 12 March 2000 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.^[1] He also has a younger brother, Daniel.^[2] Kazimov and his family immigrated to Germany in 2012. He obtained a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at the Technical University of Dortmund before earning a master's degree at the Technical University of Madrid.^[3][4] Additionally, he is able to speak Russian, German, Spanish, and English.^[5][6]

In September 2025, he was granted Spanish citizenship.^[7]

Kazimov began learning how to skate in 2006 in his native Saint Petersburg under the guidance of coach Elena Vlasova. Then he moved to a group led by Valentina Chebotareva, where he studied until he was eleven years old. Kazimov and his family emigrated from Russia to Germany in 2012, and there he took up the sport with his first competitive partner, Diana Scheidt.^[3] Scheidt/Kazimov competed as advanced novices both internationally and domestically during the 2014–15 season before splitting during the first half of 2015.

Kazimov teamed up with his second skating partner, Lara Luft, in 2015.^[8] They competed for Germany for three seasons together, from 2016 to 2019, including three Junior Grand Prix assignments, a bronze medal in the junior ice dance category at the 2017 Christmas Cup, and a silver medal at the 2019 German junior national championship. Luft/Kazimov split in 2019.

Kazimov next formed a partnership with fellow Russian-born skater Viktoriia Lopusova, with whom he competed for three seasons from 2019 to 2022 and made his senior international debut. Lopusova/Kazimov competed at two junior international events during the 2019–20 season and won the bronze medal at the 2019 German junior national championship, but did not appear internationally or domestically during the 2020–21 season.

The team returned to make their senior international debut at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, the final qualifying event to the 2022 Winter Olympics, where they finished fifteenth. They competed at six other international senior B events over the course of the 2021–22 season, and finished 4th at the 2021 German Championships.

Lopusova/Kazimov split in September 2022, despite having prepared for the upcoming 2022–23 season. Following this, Kazimov's coach, Maurizio Margaglio helped him get in contact Spanish coach, Sara Hurtado, who in turn, asked Kazimov if he wanted to have a tryout with her then partnerless student, Sofía Val. Kazimov agreed to this proposal and flew to Madrid for a five-day tryout period that same month. The duo elected to team up for Val's native Spain not long after, and Kazimov relocated to Madrid to train under Hurtado and her former skating partner, Kirill Khaliavin.^[9]

The new team was ineligible to compete internationally until January 2023 when Kazimov received his release from the German Ice Skating Union. Val/Kazimov debuted at the 2023 Challenge Cup at the end of February where they placed sixth of 14 and secured their technical minimum scores to be eligible to compete at the 2023 World Championships.^[10]

At the World Championships in March, Val/Kazimov placed thirtieth in the rhythm dance and did not advance to the free dance portion of the competition.^[10]

Val/Kazimov opened their first full competitive season with a thirteenth-place finish at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial. They set new personal bests in both segments of competition, as well as overall, at their next ISU Challenger Series assignment, the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy, where they placed sixth. The team won their first international medal a week later at the 2023 Trophée Métropole Nice, taking the title ahead of Lithuanian and Chinese teams Ramanauskaitė/Kizala and Xiao/He.^[10]

Competing at their first Spanish Championships in December, Val/Kazimov won the silver medal behind the new team Smart/Dieck.^[11] Despite the latter being the national champions, it was initially announced by the Spanish federation that Val/Kazimov would represent the country at the 2024 European and World Championships. Following controversy around the criteria used to arrive at this result, on 27 December the Spanish federation announced that Smart/Dieck would instead be given the country's lone World Championship berth, while Val/Kazimov would go to the European Championships.^[12][13]

In the rhythm dance at the European Championships in Kaunas, Val lost a level on her twizzle sequence, and both partners had low levels on their step sequences. They were twenty-third in the segment, and missed the cut for the free dance.^[14]

Val/Kazimov opened their second full competitive season with an eleventh-place finish at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. They set new personal bests in both segments of competition, as well as overall, at their second ISU Challenger Series assignment, the ISU 2024 CS Tallinn Trophy, where they placed sixth. Besides, the team won their first medal of the season (silver) at the 2024 Pavel Roman Memorial, and gold at the 2025 Ephesus Cup in Izmir, Turkey. However, the gold medal won at the 2025 Winter University Games was very special for them.

Competing at the Spanish Championships in December, Val/Kazimov won for second consecutive year the silver medal behind the team Smart/Dieck.^[15]

Val/Kazimov began their season in August by winning gold at the 2025 International Ice Dance Dordrecht. They then competed at the ISU Skate to Milano, the final qualifying event for the 2026 Winter Olympics. At the event, Val/Kazimov won the bronze medal and with this result, won a second Olympic spot for Spain at the upcoming Olympics.^[15][16]

The duo subsequently competed on the 2025–26 Challenger Series, finishing sixth at the 2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, seventh at the 2025 CS Warsaw Cup, and fifth at the 2025 CS Tallinn Trophy.^[15]

In December, Val/Kazimov won the silver medal at the 2026 Spanish Championships. The following month, they won gold at the 2026 Sofia Trophy and finished fourteenth at the 2026 European Championships in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom. In February they competed at the Olympics, where they placed 20th in the rhythm dance, and 19th in the free dance and overall.^[15] In spite of being confirmed for the World Championship in Prague, they decided to withdraw due to Kazimov's illness and surgery, so the Olympics brought an end to their season.

• Sofía Val & Asaf Kazimov at the International Skating Union
• Sofía Val & Asaf Kazimov at Skating Scores
• Viktoriia Lopusova & Asaf Kazimov at the International Skating Union
• Viktoriia Lopusova & Asaf Kazimov at Skating Scores
• Lara Luft & Asaf Kazimov at the International Skating Union
• Lara Luft & Asaf Kazimov at Skating Scores
• Diana Scheidt & Asaf Kazimov at Skating Scores
• Asaf Kazimov at Milano Cortina 2026
• Asaf Kazimov at Olympics.com
• Asaf Kazimov at Olympedia
• Asaf Kazimov on Instagram