sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Michel Tsiba (born 21 December 1997) is a Dutch pair skater. With his skating partner, Daria Danilova, he is the 2020 Dutch national champion and the 2020 NRW Trophy bronze medalist. They competed in the final segment at the 2020 European Championships and are the first Dutch pair to qualify for the World Championships.

Michel Tsiba
Danilova/Tsiba at the 2020 European Championships
Personal information
Country represented	Netherlands
Born	(1997-12-21) 21 December 1997 (age 24) Groningen, Netherlands
Home town	Zandvoort, Netherlands
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Partner	Daria Danilova
Coach	Pavel Kitashev Knut Schubert Yuri Larionov
Former coach	Viola Striegler Susan Mason Olga Gamaiunova
Choreographer	Joti Polizoakis
Former choreographer	Olga Orlova Paul Boll Mark Pillay Julie Marcotte Susan Mason
Skating club	Ekijsa Amsterdam
Training locations	Berlin, Germany Moscow, Russia
Began skating	2006
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	158.92 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy
Short program	56.27 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy
Free skate	102.65 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy

Personal life

Tsiba was born on 21 December 1997 in Groningen to a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother. He has an older sister.[1] Tsiba is fluent in Russian.[2]

Career

Early career

Tsiba started competing at the age of seven. He originally wanted to compete in ice hockey, but was advised to learn to skate in the figure skating club first.[1] As a child, Tsiba experienced bullying from his peers about being a figure skater, who referred to him as "a ballerina in a tutu" and often called him "gay" or other homophobic remarks.[1] Due to the relative obscurity of figure skating in the Netherlands, he admitted to being jealous of popular speed skaters like Sven Kramer when he was young.[3]

As a singles skater, Tsiba was coached by Viola Striegler and Susan Mason and is the 2014 Dutch junior national and 2018 Dutch national champion. He switched disciplines from men's singles to pair skating because he felt that he was too tall to succeed in learning quadruple jumps.[3] Tsiba had a tryout in summer 2017 that ultimately did not work out. He officially retired from singles skating after winning his first senior national title in 2018.[4]

Tsiba teamed up with Russian skater Daria Danilova for the Netherlands in May 2018. Earlier in the season, he had met one of her coaches at a seminar in Berlin and they arranged a tryout.[3] Danilova/Tsiba alternate training in Berlin and Moscow every three months due to the differences in their respective citizenships' visa requirements.[2] The pair fund over half of their training costs out of pocket via Tsiba's student finances.[1]

2018–2019 season

Danilova/Tsiba won their debut international competition, the 2018 Golden Spin of Zagreb on the junior level. They then placed tenth at the 2019 Bavarian Open. In February, Danilova/Tsiba won the 2019 Dutch junior national title unopposed. However, they missed achieving the minimum TES requirements for the 2019 World Junior Championships.[4]

2019–2020 season

Danilova/Tsiba competed at three Challenger Series events to open the season, finishing tenth at 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, 17th at 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, and 15th at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

At the 2020 European Championships in January, Danilova/Tsiba became the first Dutch pair in 24 years to compete at a European Championships since Jeltje Schulten / Alcuin Schulten last represented the country at the event in 1996.[2] They qualified to the final segment and finished 16th overall. In February, they finished eighth at the Bavarian Open and tenth at the Challenge Cup; the latter event doubled as the Dutch Championships where, as the only Dutch pair, Danilova/Tsiba won their first senior national title.

At the Challenge Cup, Danilova/Tsiba earned the necessary TES minimums for the 2020 World Championships.[5] They are the first Dutch pair in history to qualify for the World Championships.[6] The event was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

2020–2021 season

During the offseason, Tsiba underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus. However, the pair did not start training together again until the end of August due to issues with Danilova's Dutch visa.[8] Danilova/Tsiba made their season debut at the 2020 NRW Autumn Trophy in November and won their first senior international medal, bronze behind Germans Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel and Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert. Making their debut at the World Championships in Stockholm, they placed twenty-second.[9]

2021–2022 season

Beginning the season at the 2021 Lombardia Trophy, Danilova/Tsiba placed eighth.[10] They competed at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, placing ninth and failing to qualify a place at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Their third Challenger event, the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, Danilova/Tsiba were fifteenth. They finished twenty-first at the 2022 European Championships, missing the free skate.[11]

Danilova/Tsiba concluded the season at the 2022 World Championships, where they finished a career-best ninth in a field depleted due to Russia being banned as a result of their invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier.[12][11]

Programs

With Danilova

Season	Short program	Free skating
2020–2022 [13][14][15]	Bad Guy by Billie Eilish performed by Ariana Savalas choreo. by Joti Polizoakis	All by Myself by Eric Carmen I'll Be There for You by The Rembrandts choreo. by Joti Polizoakis
2019–2020 [16]	Don't Stop Me Now by Queen choreo. by Paul Boll	Greased Lighnin' (from Grease) performed by John Travolta Hopelessly Devoted to You (from Grease: Live) performed by Julianne Hough You're the One That I Want (from Grease) performed by John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John choreo. by Olga Orlova
2018–2019 [17]	Secrets by OneRepublic choreo. by Olga Orlova

Men's singles

Season	Short program	Free skating
2017–2018
2016–2017 [18]	Cool (from West Side Story) by Leonard Bernstein performed by Cody Green choreo. by Mark Pillay	James Brown medley by James Brown choreo. by Paul Boll
2015–2016 [19]	Grease by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, John Farrar choreo. by Susan Mason	The Passion of the Christ by John Debney choreo. by Julie Marcotte

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Danilova

International[11]
Event	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23
Worlds		C	22nd	9th
Europeans		16th		21st
GP Finland					TBD
GP Skate America					TBD
CS Finlandia		10th			6th
CS Golden Spin		15th		WD
CS Nebelhorn				9th
CS Warsaw Cup		17th		15th
Bavarian Open		8th
Challenge Cup		10th	7th	2nd
Lombardia Trophy				8th
NRW Trophy			3rd	1st
International: Junior[11]
Bavarian Open	10th
Golden Spin	1st
National[11]
Dutch Champ.	1st J	1st	2nd	1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled Levels: J = Junior

Men's singles

International[20]
Event	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18
CS Tallinn Trophy							23rd
Challenge Cup							13th
Cup of Nice							18th
Universiade						32nd
International: Junior[20]
JGP Austria					21st
JGP France						21st
JGP Germany						27th
JGP Latvia					22nd
Bavarian Open			27th	10th	17th
Challenge Cup			8th	8th		8th
Crystal Skate				6th
Lombardia Trophy			12th	10th		8th
Merano Cup						15th
NRW Trophy			17th	8th	14th	13th
Printemps			14th	9th
Skate Helena					4th
Tallinn Trophy						7th
Toruń Cup				9th
Volvo Open Cup			14th		10th
World Development					6th
International: Adv. novice[21]
Challenge Cup	11th	4th
NRW Trophy	14th
Volvo Open Cup		4th
National[20]
Dutch Champ.	1st N	3rd J	1st J	2nd	2nd	1st J	1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled Levels: J = Junior; N = Novice

References

External links

• Daria DANILOVA / Michel TSIBA at the International Skating Union
• Michel TSIBA at the International Skating Union
• Official website

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