Diāna Ņikitina

Diāna Ņikitina
Ņikitina at the 2018 European Championships
Personal information
Born (2000-12-09) 9 December 2000
Riga, Latvia
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Figure skating career
CountryLatvia
CoachStephane Lambiel
Skating clubJLSS Jelgava
Began skating2004
Retired2018?
Medal record
Figure skating: Ladies' singles
Representing Mixed-NOCs
Winter Youth Olympics
2016 Lillehammer Team

Diāna Ņikitina (born 9 December 2000) is a Latvian former figure skater. She is the 2017 Golden Bear of Zagreb champion, the 2018 Cup of Tyrol silver medalist, and the 2018 Latvian national champion. She competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, placing 26th.

Earlier in her career, Ņikitina placed within the top ten at two World Junior Championships and won silver in the team event at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Early life

Diāna Ņikitina was born on 9 December 2000 in Riga, Latvia.[1] She studied through distance education at Riga Secondary School No. 1.[2] She began skating at age four after being given a pair of skates for her birthday.[3]

Career

Ņikitina competed internationally on the novice level in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons.

She moved up to the junior level in the 2014–15 season. Making her ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut, Ņikitina placed 11th in Japan in September 2014 and 5th in Croatia the following month. In March 2015, she competed at the World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, and qualified for the free skate by placing 13th in the short program. Her 10th place in the free lifted her to 10th overall.[4]

During the 2015–16 JGP series, Ņikitina placed 12th in Latvia and 5th in Poland. She then collected three junior international medals – gold at the Volvo Open Cup, bronze at the Tallinn Trophy, and silver at the Toruń Cup.[4] In February 2016, Ņikitina represented Latvia at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway; she placed 5th in the individual event and won silver in the team event.[3] In March, she finished 10th at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.[4]

In 2016, she moved to Switzerland to be coached by Stéphane Lambiel. An ankle injury prevented her from competing very much during the 2016–2017 season.[5]

Ņikitina made her senior debut in 2017.[3] She placed 10th at the 2017 Ondrej Nepela Trophy and won the Golden Bear of Zagreb and the Latvian Championships. At the 2018 European Championships, she placed 36th.[6]

She placed 26th at the 2018 Winter Olympics, which was her last competition.[5] She, along with Deniss Vasiļjevs, were the first figure skaters to represent Latvia at the Olympics since the 1994 Winter Olympics.[6] Her choice of music (Soldier of Love by Sade) and costume, which consisted of a pantsuit with black accessories rather than the more typical dresses worn in skating, attracted media attention and praise.[7]

Ņikitina required surgery for an injury afterward, and she ended her competitive career. She said that she did not receive financial support from the Latvian Skating Association despite meeting several placement targets they had set throughout her career, and she lost motivation to continue competing.[5]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating
2017–2018
[1]
2016–2017
[8]
2015–2016
[9]
2014–2015
[10]
2013–2014
2012–2013

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[4]
Event 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18
Olympics 26th
Europeans 36th
CS Ondrej Nepela 10th
Cup of Tyrol 2nd
Golden Bear 1st
International: Junior[4][11]
Junior Worlds 10th 10th 30th
Youth Olympics 5th
JGP Croatia 5th
JGP Czech Rep. 7th
JGP Germany WD
JGP Japan 11th
JGP Latvia 12th
JGP Poland 5th
Jégvirág Cup 1st
Tallinn Trophy 3rd
Toruń Cup 2nd
Volvo Open Cup 1st 1st
National[4][11]
Latvian Champ. 1st J 1st J 1st
Team events
Youth Olympics 2nd T
2nd P

References

  1. ^ a b "Diana NIKITINA: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018.
  2. ^ Druvietis, Gatis (30 December 2015). "Daiļslidotāja Ņikitina: "Man vajag, lai viss ir perfekti"" [Figure skater Nikitina: "I need everything to be perfect"]. Žurnāls "Sports" (in Latvian). sportacentrs.com.
  3. ^ a b c Ozola, Marta (19 December 2017). "Sievišķīgā atgriešanās: Uz olimpiskajām spēlēm dosies arī jelgavniece Diāna Ņikitina" [Feminine return: Jelgava resident Diāna Nikitina will also go to the Olympic Games]. LA.LV (in Latvian). Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Competition Results: Diana NIKITINA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Kellar, Anna (23 September 2025). "Skaters criticise Latvian federation's delayed and inconsistent funding". Anything GOEs. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Ar asarām acīs un trenera apskāvienos: Diāna Ņikitina olimpiskajā debijā gūst milzu saviļņojumu" [With tears in her eyes and hugs from her coach: Diana Nikitina gets a huge thrill in her Olympic debut]. jauns.lv (in Latvian). 21 February 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  7. ^ ""Jaunā ledus karaliene!" Mūsu daiļslidotāja Ņikitina ar savu priekšnesumu sajūsminājusi cilvēkus visā pasaulē" ["The New Ice Queen!" Our figure skater Nikitina has thrilled people all over the world with her performance]. jauns.lv (in Latvian). 23 February 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  8. ^ "Diana NIKITINA: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Diana NIKITINA: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Diana NIKITINA: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Diana Nikitina". Tracings.net.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.