Fedirs Kuļišs

Fedirs Kuļišs (Ukrainian: Федір Куліш; born 26 March 2005) is a Ukrainian-Latvian figure skater. He is the 2026 Latvian national champion, 2025 Volvo Open Cup champion, and two-time Daugava Open Cup champion (2025-26). On the junior level, he is the 2023 JGP Armenia bronze medalist.

Additionally, while competing for Ukraine, he won the 2021 Ukrainian national bronze medal.

Kuļišs represented Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Kuļišs was born on March 26, 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine.^[1] Both his parents died from COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic.^[2]

In March 2022, he fled Ukraine following the country's Russian invasion and settled in Riga, Latvia. Kuļišs, who was sixteen at the time, was legally adopted by his figure skating coach, Olga Kovalkova.^[2][3] In December 2025, he became a citizen of Latvia and subsequently adopted the Latvianized spelling of his name.^[4][5]

Kuļišs' parents signed him up for figure skating when he was five years old as a way to improve his weak immune system.^[3] His first figure skating coach was Dmitri Shkidchenko.^[6]

Kuļišs made his junior national debut at the 2019 Ukrainian Junior Championships, finishing in eleventh place.^[7][8]

Making his junior international debut at the 2019 Ice Star, Kuļišs finished the event in eighth place.^[9]

He subsequently finished eighth on the senior level at the 2020 Ukrainian Championships and eighth on the junior level.^[9][7][8]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 ISU Junior Grand Prix series was cancelled.^[10] As a result, Kuļišs only competed in domestic events.^[7]

In February, he won the silver medal on the junior level at the 2021 Ukrainian Championships and bronze on the senior level.^[7][9][8]

Coached by Alexander Artyshchenko, Kuļišs made his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut at 2021 JGP Slovenia, finishing in eighth place. He then went on to debut on the senior international level at the 2021 Autumn Talents Cup, placing fifth.^[6][9]

In December, he finished sixth at the 2022 Ukrainian Championships and a couple weeks later, placed seventh at the 2022 Ukrainian Junior Championships.^[9][7]

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a massive invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Kuļišs fled to Latvia the following month.^[3] Learning of Kuļišs' situation, Riga-based figure skating coach, Olga Kovalkova, invited him to train under her at the Kristal Ice Skating Club and ultimately finance his skating career.^[2]

Deciding to switch countries and compete for Latvia, Kuļišs was required to sit out of competitions for a year and a half pending his release from the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation.^[2]

Making his return to competition, Kuļišs competed on the 2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix, finishing fifth at the 2023 JGP Turkey and winning the bronze medal at 2023 JGP Armenia. Between the two events, he competed on the senior level, winning the silver medal at the 2023 Jelgava Cup and finishing fifteenth at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial.^[11]

Following a fourteenth-place finish at the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy, Kuļišs went on to win the gold medal on the junior level at the 2023 Volvo Open Cup and bronze on the senior level 2023 Latvia Trophy.^[11]

Selected to compete at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, Kuļišs placed twenty-ninth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition. He followed this up by finishing fourth on the junior level at the 2024 Volvo Open Cup.^[11]

Kuļišs finished the season by competing at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. He placed twenty-fifth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition.^[11]

Kuļišs started the season by finishing fourth at the 2024 Volvo Open Cup and fifth at the 2024 Denkova-Staviski Cup. In December, at the 2025 Latvian Championships, Kuļišs won the silver medal behind Deniss Vasiļjevs.^[11]

Following a gold medal win at the 2025 Volvo Open Cup, Kuļišs went on to compete at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. He placed fifteenth in the short program and fourteenth in the free skate, finishing fourteenth overall.^[11]

Kuļišs subsequently placed seventh at the 2025 Sonja Henie Trophy and won the gold medal at the 2025 Daugava Open.^[11]

Due to Deniss Vasiļjevs's top ten finish at the 2024 World Championships, Latvia was granted two berths for men's singles skating at the 2025 edition in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Kuļišs was thus named to the World team. This marked the first time in history two Latvian men's singles skaters competing at a World Championships.^[12][13] At the event, Kuļišs placed twenty-third in the short program and twenty-fourth in the free skate, finishing twenty-fourth overall. His placement, in addition to Vasiļjevs's eleventh-place finish won Latvia two quotas for men's singles skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics.^[14][15]

Kuļišs began his season by winning gold at the 2025 Jelgava Cup and bronze at the 2025 Volvo Open Cup (Fall). In December, he won his first national title at the 2025 Latvian Championships.^[11]

In January, Kuļišs competed at the 2026 European Championships in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom, where he placed fifteenth overall. The following week, he won the silver medal at the 2026 Volvo Open Cup (Spring) and gold at the 2026 Silver Skate Winter Cup the week after.^[11]

On 10 February, Kuļišs competed in the short program segment at the 2026 Winter Olympics, placing twenty-eighth. He did not advance to the free skate segment.^[11]

• Fedir Kulish at the International Skating Union
• Fedir Kulish at Skating Scores (for Latvia)
• Fedir Kulish at Skating Scores (for Ukraine)
• Fedir Kulish at Milano Cortina 2026
• Fedir Kulish at Olympics.com
• Fedir Kulish at Olympedia
• Fedirs Kuļišs at the Latvijas Olimpiskā komiteja (in Latvian)
• Fedir Kulish on Instagram