Sofiia Yuriyivna Holichenko (Ukrainian: Софія Юріївна Голіченко; born 23 November 2004) is a Ukrainian pair skater. With her skating partner, Artem Darenskyi, she competed in the final segment at the 2022 European Championships and is the 2022 Ukrainian national champion.

Sofiia Holichenko
Holichenko with Darenskyi at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Personal information
Native name	Софія Юріївна Голіченко (Ukrainian)
Full name	Sofiia Yuriyivna Holichenko
Alternative names	Sofia/Sofiya Golichenko
Country represented	Ukraine
Born	(2004-11-23) 23 November 2004 (age 17) Kyiv, Ukraine
Home town	Kyiv
Residence	Dnipro
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Partner	Artem Darenskyi
Former partner	Ivan Pavlov
Coach	Lilia Batutina
Former coach	Halyna Kukhar
Choreographer	Ivan Lytvynenko
Skating club	MDUSH of Winter Sport, Dnipro
Training locations	Toruń, Poland
Former training locations	Dnipro, Ukraine
Began skating	2007
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	147.61 2022 Europeans
Short program	55.15 2022 Europeans
Free skate	92.46 2022 Europeans

Career

Early career

As a singles skater, Holichenko most notably won the bronze medal at the 2018 Ukrainian junior championships.[1] She competed a single season in pairs with Ivan Pavlov, winning a bronze medal at the senior Ukrainian championships.[2]

2020–2021 season

In June, it was announced that she had formed a new partnership with Artem Darenskyi.[3]

After obtaining the required minimum technical elements scores, Holichenko/Darenskyi were nominated to represent Ukraine at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm. They withdrew a few days before the start of the competition, having tested positive for coronavirus.[4]

2021–2022 season

Holichenko/Darenskyi began the season at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, attempting to qualify a berth for Ukraine at the 2022 Winter Olympics. They placed eleventh at the event, outside the qualifications.[5] However, Ukraine qualified to the Olympic team event due to Anastasiia Shabotova qualifying to the women's competition at Nebelhorn, allowing for a Ukrainian pair to be sent for that.[6] Holichenko/Darenskyi went on to finish fifth at the Budapest Trophy.[5]

After winning their first Ukrainian national title, Holichenko/Darenskyi placed fifteenth at the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn.[5] Days later, they were named to the Ukrainian Olympic team.[7] They finished ninth among nine pairs entered in the short program of the Olympic team event.[8] This was their only performance at the Games, as Team Ukraine did not advance to the second stage of the competition and finished tenth.[9]

The team returned home to Dnipro after the Olympics and immediately found themselves in the midst of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.[10] They enlisted Canadian music editor Hugo Chouinard to change their short program music in advance of the 2022 World Championships in Montpellier, hoping to inspire the country with Ukrainian music.[11] They undertook a six-day journey to France, via Romania, Italy and Poland, with Darenskyi saying that their goal was "to show that Ukrainian athletes are fighting for their country." They received a standing ovation on arrival, and placed thirteenth in the short program with very limited training. In light of this, they opted not to compete in the free skate. They had left home knowing they would not be able to return, instead planning to live and train in the Polish city of Toruń for the foreseeable future.[10]

Programs

With Darenskyi

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series

With Darenskyi

With Pavlov

Ladies' singles

References

External links

• Sofiia HOLICHENKO / Artem DARENSKYI at the International Skating Union
• Sofiia HOLICHENKO / Ivan PAVLOV at the International Skating Union
• Sofiia Holichenko on Instagram