Luka Berulava (Russian: Лука Берулава; Georgian: ლუკა ბერულავა, born 27 November 2002) is a Georgian pair skater. With his skating partner, Karina Safina, he is the 2022 World Junior champion, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist, and finished fourth at both the 2022 World Championships and the 2022 European Championships.
Luka Berulava | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Berulava at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Native name | ლუკა ბერულავა | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (2002-11-27) 27 November 2002 (age 19) Moscow, Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home town | Perm, Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Partner | Karina Safina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former partner | Alina Butaeva | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coach | Pavel Sliusarenko | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former coach | Alexei Menshikov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Choreographer | Nikolai Morozov, Ivan Malafeev | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Training locations | Perm, Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Began skating | 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ISU personal best scores | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Combined total | 192.44 2022 Winter Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Short program | 67.77 2022 Junior Worlds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Free skate | 126.33 2022 Winter Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Safina/Berulava are the first Georgian pair medalists on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, having won silver at 2021 JGP Slovakia and bronze at 2021 JGP Austria, and the first Georgians to win a Junior World title in any discipline.[1]
With his former partner, Alina Butaeva, Berulava won two medals at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics − bronze in pairs and gold in the team event.
Berulava was born on 27 November 2002 in Moscow.[2][3] He resides in Perm.[2]
Berulava began learning to skate in 2005.[2] In 2019, he teamed up with Russia's Alina Butaeva to compete in pair skating. The pair decided to train in Perm, coached by Pavel Sliusarenko and Alexei Menshikov.[2]
The two made their debut for Georgia in September 2019, placing eighth at an ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in Poland[4] and then sixth at JGP Croatia.[5] Their results earned a spot for Georgia in the pairs' event at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.[6] In November, they took bronze in the junior pairs' category at the Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia.[7] In December, they won the junior event at the Golden Spin of Zagreb.[8]
In January 2020, the pair competed at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland. They finished third in the short program behind two pairs from Russia,[9] then did likewise in the free skating program. Their combined score put them in third place with a bronze medal.[10] This was Georgia's first medal in the Winter Youth Olympic Games, and their tenth medal in the Youth Olympic Games overall.[11] The pair also received a gold medal for their participation in the team event as part of Team Courage, composed also of Arlet Levandi from Estonia, Ksenia Sinitsyna from Russia, and ice dancers Utana Yoshida / Shingo Nishiyama from Japan.[12] Butaeva/Berulava finished the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they placed seventh.[13]
After the end of his partnership with Butaeva, Berulava formed a new partnership with Russian pair skater Karina Safina. With international junior competition resuming following the COVID-19 pandemic causing the 2020–21 junior season to be cancelled, Safina/Berulava made their Junior Grand Prix debut at the 2021 JGP Slovakia. they won the silver medal behind gold medal-winning Russian team Mukhortova/Evgenyev, and ahead of third place Russian team Kostiukovich/Briukhanov. Their placement marked the first Junior Grand Prix medal for Georgia in pair skating.[1]
Safina/Berulava next made their senior international debut at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to attempt to qualify a berth for Georgia in the pairs event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The team set a new personal best to win the short program by a narrow margin over German team Hase/Seegert. They fell to third in the free program after losing their forward inside death spiral and one of their lifts, and ultimately finished third overall to successfully qualify an Olympic spot in their discipline for Georgia. Berulava remarked afterward "we would like to have done it in a better, nicer way."[14] Their performance, along with Georgian ice dance team Kazakova/Reviya's podium placement, also qualified a spot for Georgia in the Olympic team event.
Safina/Berulava returned to the Junior Grand Prix circuit in October for their second assignment, the 2021 JGP Austria in Linz. They placed third in both segments to finish third overall behind Russian teams Khabibullina/Knyazhuk and Mukhortova/Evgenyev. Due to the unique qualification process in place for the 2021–22 season, the team did not advance to the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final, despite two podium finishes.[15]
In December, Safina/Berulava faced domestic rivals Metelkina/Parkman for the first time in international competition at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. Safina/Berulava set a new personal best to win the short program, but fell to eighth in the free program standings after errors on their side-by-side jumping passes and losing their forward inside death spiral. The team placed seventh overall, while Metelkina/Parkman advanced onto the podium and took home the silver medal.[15] Metelkina/Parkman initially received the nod for the Georgian pairs berth at the 2022 European Championships, however, Safina/Berulava replaced them after they withdrew from the event on 9 January. At Europeans, Safina/Berulava placed sixth in the short program after falling on their side-by-side triple Salchows. They delivered a stronger performance in the free skate, albeit still struggling with their side-by-side jumps, to climb to fourth in the segment and fourth overall, the best of the non-Russian competitors.[16]
The day after the pairs free skate at the European Championships, Safina/Berulava were officially named to the Georgian team for the 2022 Winter Olympics by the Georgian Figure Skating Federation.[17] Safina/Berulava made their Olympic debut in the team event before the opening ceremony on February 3. They cleanly skated their short program to place sixth in the segment out of nine, and earn five points towards Team Georgia's combined score.[18] However, despite scoring 22 team points overall to tie for fifth place with Team China going into the free skate, Team Georgia lost the tie-breaker and did not advance.[19] In the pairs event, Safina/Berulava were ninth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, for ninth overall.[20][21]
Days after the Olympics concluded, Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the 2022 World Championships. As well, the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier. As those countries' athletes comprised the entirety of the top five pairs at the Olympics, this had a huge impact on the field.[22] Safina and Berulava relocated to train in Italy. They placed fourth in the short program at the World Championships with a clean skate.[23] They were fourth in the free skate as well to finish fourth overall, the only error in the latter segment being Safina doubling out on a triple Salchow attempt.[24]
Due to the pandemic, the World Junior Championships could not be held in their scheduled location of Sofia, and as a result they were moved to Tallinn and held in mid-April, rather than their traditional early March timeframe.[25] As Russian pair teams were banned from attending this event as well, Safina/Berulava entered as heavy favourites for the gold medal.[26][27] They won the short program with a clean skate and a 67.77 score.[28] They won the free skate as well, taking the title by a margin of almost twenty points. Berulava reflected that "it was a long and busy season with many competitions and to end it with a gold medal is really nice."[29]
Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
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2021–2022 [30] |
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Season | Short program | Free skating |
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2019–2020 [2] |
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CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International [15] | ||
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Event | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
Olympics | 9th | |
Worlds | 4th | |
Europeans | 4th | |
GP Finland | TBD | |
GP France | TBD | |
CS Golden Spin | 7th | |
CS Warsaw Cup | WD | |
CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 3rd | |
International: Junior [15] | ||
Junior Worlds | 1st | |
JGP Austria | 3rd | |
JGP Slovakia | 2nd | |
Team events | ||
Olympics | 6th T 6th P | |
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew |
International: Junior [8] | |
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Event | 2019–20 |
Junior Worlds | 7th |
Youth Olympics | 3rd |
JGP Croatia | 6th |
JGP Poland | 8th |
Volvo Open Cup | 3rd |
Golden Spin | 1st |
Team events1 | |
Youth Olympics | 1st T 3rd P |
1 Medals awarded for team results only. T = Team result; P = Personal result. |
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.
2021–2022 season | ||||
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
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March 21–27, 2022 | 2022 World Championships | 4 67.36 |
4 124.38 |
4 191.74 |
February 18–19, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics | 9 66.11 |
8 126.33 |
9 192.44 |
February 4–7, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event | 6 64.79 |
— | 6T |
January 10–16, 2022 | 2022 European Championships | 6 61.93 |
4 122.12 |
4 184.05 |
December 9–11, 2021 | 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 1 66.95 |
8 112.38 |
7 179.33 |
September 22–25, 2021 | 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 1 66.46 |
3 111.70 |
3 178.16 |
2021–2022 season | ||||
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
April 13–17, 2022 | 2022 World Junior Championships | 1 67.77 |
1 120.35 |
1 188.12 |
October 6–9, 2021 | 2021 JGP Austria | 3 63.04 |
3 116.23 |
3 179.27 |
September 1–4, 2021 | 2021 JGP Slovakia | 3 57.64 |
2 110.62 |
2 168.26 |
2019–2020 season | ||||
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
2–8 March 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | 7 55.96 |
8 97.21 |
7 153.17 |
10–15 January 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Team | - | 3 100.70 |
1T/3P |
10–15 January 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics | 3 59.14 |
3 98.15 |
3 157.29 |
4–7 December 2019 | 2019 Golden Spin | 3 51.32 |
1 91.22 |
1 142.54 |
5–10 November 2019 | 2019 Volvo Open Cup | 3 55.92 |
3 100.62 |
3 156.54 |
25–28 September 2019 | 2019 JGP Croatia | 6 51.27 |
5 90.78 |
6 142.05 |
18–21 September 2019 | 2019 JGP Poland | 8 45.29 |
9 80.73 |
8 126.02 |
Media related to Luka Berulava at Wikimedia Commons
Youth Olympic champions in figure skating – team trophy | |
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Bold: Olympic medalists in Figure skating |