# Vladimir Litvintsev

Vladimir Andreyevich Litvintsev (Russian: Владимир Андреевич Литвинцев; born 18 February 2001) is a Russian-Azerbaijani figure skater who represents Azerbaijan in men's singles. He is the 2018 Volvo Open Cup champion, the 2019 Open Ice Mall Cup champion, and the 2018 Ice Star silver medalist. Litvintsev represented Azerbaijan at the 2022 Winter Olympics and finished 18th overall.

## Personal life

Litvintsev was born on 18 February 2001 in Ukhta in the Komi Republic in Russia. His family moved to Moscow when he was nine.
In 2020, Litvintsev began his studies at the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture. He graduated from it in 2025.
His biggest inspirations from the world of figure skating are Guillaume Cizeron, Patrick Chan, and Nathan Chen. Besides skating, Litvintsev is passionate about music; he is a beatmaker and also learning to play the piano.

## Career
### Early years

Litvintsev began learning to skate in 2004 as a three-year-old. At that time, he was training together with his older brother Andrey and Dmitri Aliev at a local lake.
After moving to Moscow, Litvintsev trained at the CSKA Moscow sports club until January 2011 and then moved to Sambo 70, where he was coached by Alexei Chetverukhin, Vladimir Kotin, and Anastasia Kazakova.
He made no international appearances for Russia.

### 2018–2019 season

In October, making his international debut for Azerbaijan, Litvintsev finished 8th at the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Later that month, he made his first appearance in the senior ranks, winning the silver medal at the 2018 Minsk-Arena Ice Star, behind Latvia's Deniss Vasiļjevs and ahead of Armenia's Slavik Hayrapetyan. In November, he took gold at the 2018 Volvo Open Cup – his first senior title – by a margin of about nine points over silver medalist Mark Gorodnitsky. At his first Challenger series event, the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy, he finished ninth overall after scoring personal bests in both the free program and overall.
In January 2019, Litvintsev was named to Azerbaijan's team for the 2019 European Championships in Minsk, Belarus. He placed fourteenth in the short program and advanced to the final segment. Appearing at his first World Championships, he placed seventeenth.

### 2019–2020 season

Litvintsev suffered a leg injury over the summer that forced him to withdraw from both of his Challenger series assignments, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial and 2019 CS Ice Star. Making his Grand Prix debut at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, he placed eleventh.
After a poor sixteenth-place showing at the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb and a victory at the Toruń Cup, Litvintsev concluded his season at the European Championships, where he placed ninth. He had been assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but those were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

### 2020–2021 season

Litvintsev has been suffering from pain in both knees. This problem was exacerbated after he had spent around three months off the ice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to affect international travel, the ISU opted to run the Grand Prix based primarily on geographic location. Litvintsev was assigned to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, where he placed tenth.
In January 2021, Litvintsev moved to Angels of Plushenko Figure Skating Academy to train with Sergei Rozanov. He placed twenty-seventh in the short program at 2021 World Championships and did not advance to the free skate competition.

### 2021–2022 season

Litvintsev and his coach Sergei Rozanov left Angels of Plushenko for Dynamo in the summer of 2021 and also spent seven weeks training in Italy and France. A foot stress fracture limited the intensity of Litvintsev's training. Later, during the season, Litvintsev returned to his former coaches at Koniok Tchaikovskoi club.
Litvintsev began the season at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, where he placed first in the short program, but dropped to fourth overall after coming fifth in the free skate. At 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, he was sixth after the short program and overall, although he scored fifth in the free skate. This result qualified a place for Azerbaijan at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
At the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Litvintsev finished in the eighth place.
Litvintsev was a flag bearer for Azerbaijan's national team at the 2022 Winter Olympics. He achieved a new personal best of 84.15 in the short program of the men's event, finishing eighteenth in that segment and qualifying to the free skate. Nineteenth in the free skate, he remained eighteenth overall.
At the 2022 World Championships, Litvintsev achieved a new personal best in the short program and finished in sixteenth place overall.

### 2022–2023 season

Litvintsev won a bronze medal at the 2022 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge and the gold at the Bosphorus Cup. At the 2023 World Championships, Litvintsev finished in eleventh place overall, having earned new personal best scores in the free skate and total score.

### 2023–2024 season

Beginning the season on the Grand Prix, Litvintsev came eighth in the short program, but rose to fifth overall with a third-place free skate. He attracted notice for wearing a tiger print shirt for his The Lion King short program, remarking afterward that "it was not my idea, but we did it on purpose and now everybody is talking about it." He would then go on to win gold at the 2023 Bosphorus Cup.
In January, he competed at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, where he finished sixteenth. One month later, he would compete at the 2024 Merano Cup, where he won the silver medal.
At the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Litvintsev placed twenty-fifth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment.

### 2024–25 season

Litvintsev began the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, finishing thirteenth at the 2024 Lombardia Trophy and winning silver at the 2024 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Litvintsev finished fifth at 2024 Skate Canada International and ninth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skate | Exhibition |
| 2018–19 | Abbey Road Blues by Era choreo. by Anastasia Kazakova | The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky choreo. by Anastasia Kazakova | — |
| 2019–20 | Blues for Klook by Eddy Louiss choreo. by Anastasia Kazakova | Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen performed by Jeff Buckley choreo. by Nikolai Morozov | — |
| 2020–21 | Concerto de Espana by Benise Fuego choreo. by Vladimir Kalinin | Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen performed by Jeff Buckley choreo. by Nikolai Morozov | — |
| 2021–22 | Prelude in C-sharp minor by Sergei Rachmaninov performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy choreo. by Sergei Rozanov | Joker Smile performed by Jimmy Durante Bathroom Dance by Hildur Guðnadóttir Rock and Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter choreo. by Sergei Rozanov | — |
| 2022–23 | La Cena (from Lady Caliph) by Ennio Morricone choreo. by Galina Ishchenko | Joker Smile performed by Jimmy Durante Bathroom Dance by Hildur Guðnadóttir Rock and Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter choreo. by Sergei Rozanov | — |
| 2023–24 | Circle of Life (from The Lion King) by Elton John and Tim Rice arranged by Hans Zimmer choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov | The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Epic Version) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky performed by Alala Carol of the Bells by Mykola Leontovych performed by Tommee Profitt Fall on Me by Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov | Let It Be by The Beatles |
| 2024–25 | Game of Thrones Medley by AtinPiano choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov | The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Epic Version) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky performed by Alala Carol of the Bells by Mykola Leontovych performed by Tommee Profitt Fall on Me by Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli choreo. by Nikita Mikhailov | Let It Be by The Beatles |

## Competitive highlights

* GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
* JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
* CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
* WD – Withdrew from competition
* C – Event was cancelled
Competition placements at senior level :
| Season | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
| Winter Olympics | | | | 18th | | | |
| World Championships | 17th | C | 27th | 16th | 11th | 25th | TBD |
| European Championships | 16th | 9th | | 8th | | 16th | 15th |
| Azerbaijani Championships | 1st | | | | | | |
| GP NHK Trophy | | | | | | | 9th |
| GP Rostelecom Cup | | 11th | 10th | | | | |
| GP Skate America | | | | | | 5th | |
| GP Skate Canada | | | | | | | 5th |
| CS Denis Ten Memorial | | | | | 3rd | | 2nd |
| CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | | 16th | | | | | |
| CS Lombardia Trophy | | | | 4th | | | 13th |
| CS Nebelhorn Trophy | | | | 6th | | | |
| CS Tallinn Trophy | 9th | | | | | | |
| Bosphorus Cup | | | | | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Merano Ice Trophy | | | | | | 2nd | |
| Ice Star | 2nd | | | | | | |
| Mentor Toruń Cup | | 1st | | | | | |
| Volvo Open Cup | 1st | 3rd | | | | | |
Competition placements at junior level :
| Season | 2018–19 |
| World Junior Championships | 13th |
| JGP Slovenia | 8th |
| Open Ice Mall Cup | 1st |

## Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 251.76 | 2023 World Championships |
| Short program | TSS | 85.83 | 2022 World Championships |
| Short program | TES | 47.86 | 2019 World Championships |
| Short program | PCS | 39.01 | 2022 World Championships |
| Free skating | TSS | 169.05 | 2023 World Championships |
| Free skating | TES | 91.40 | 2023 World Championships |
| Free skating | PCS | 78.50 | 2022 European Championships |

### Senior level

Results in the 2024–25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Sep 12–15, 2024 | 2024 CS Lombardia Trophy | 15 | 60.03 | 12 | 123.77 | 13 | 183.80 |
| Oct 3–5, 2024 | 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | 3 | 84.03 | 3 | 161.97 | 2 | 246.00 |
| Oct 25–27, 2024 | 2024 Skate Canada International | 6 | 79.11 | 7 | 143.79 | 5 | 222.90 |
| Nov 8–10, 2024 | 2024 NHK Trophy | 6 | 81.85 | 8 | 143.82 | 9 | 225.67 |
| Nov 28 – Dec 1, 2024 | 2024 Bosphorus Cup | 1 | 78.21 | 1 | 147.20 | 1 | 225.41 |
| Jan 28 – Feb 2, 2025 | 2025 European Championships | 11 | 77.86 | 16 | 130.97 | 15 | 208.83 |
2023–24 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 18–24, 2024 | 2024 World Championships | 25 72.16 | - | 25 72.16 |
| February 23–25, 2024 | 2024 Merano Ice Trophy | 3 80.03 | 2 148.54 | 3 228.57 |
| January 10–14, 2024 | 2024 European Championships | 20 69.72 | 15 139.49 | 16 209.21 |
| Nov. 27 – Dec. 3, 2023 | 2023 Bosphorus Cup | 6 62.13 | 1 158.97 | 1 221.10 |
| October 20–22, 2023 | 2023 Skate America | 8 74.61 | 3 162.83 | 5 237.44 |
| 2022–23 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 22–26, 2023 | 2023 World Championships | 10 82.71 | 10 169.05 | 11 251.76 |
| October 26–29, 2022 | 2022 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | 3 64.00 | 3 124.77 | 3 188.77 |
| 2021–22 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 21–27, 2022 | 2022 World Championships | 14 85.83 | 15 147.79 | 16 233.62 |
| February 8–10, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics | 18 84.15 | 19 155.04 | 18 239.19 |
| January 10–16, 2022 | 2022 European Championships | 7 83.46 | 7 161.24 | 8 244.70 |
| September 22–25, 2021 | 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 6 80.54 | 5 148.11 | 6 228.65 |
| September 10–12, 2021 | 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy | 1 80.83 | 5 137.97 | 4 218.80 |
| 2020–21 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 22–28 March 2021 | 2021 World Championships | 27 68.43 | — | 27 68.43 |
| 20–22 November 2020 | 2020 Rostelecom Cup | 9 81.55 | 10 158.24 | 10 239.79 |
| 2019–20 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 20–26 January 2020 | 2020 European Championships | 17 70.04 | 8 151.05 | 9 221.09 |
| 4–7 December 2019 | 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 14 68.47 | 19 116.65 | 16 185.12 |
| 15–17 November 2019 | 2019 Rostelecom Cup | 12 54.42 | 9 154.65 | 11 209.07 |
| 6–10 November 2019 | 2019 Volvo Open | 8 65.48 | 3 141.94 | 4 207.42 |
| 2018–19 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 18–24 March 2019 | 2019 World Championships | 16 81.46 | 19 149.38 | 17 230.84 |
| 21–27 January 2019 | 2019 European Championships | 14 73.60 | 15 130.68 | 16 204.28 |
| 26–29 November 2018 | 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy | 6 66.41 | 10 121.80 | 9 188.21 |
| 6–11 November 2018 | 2018 Volvo Open Cup | 2 74.10 | 1 135.87 | 1 209.97 |
| 18–21 October 2018 | 2018 Minsk-Arena Ice Star | 3 72.78 | 2 134.74 | 2 207.52 |

### Junior level

Results in the 2018–19 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Oct 3–10, 2018 | 2018 JGP Slovenia | 7 | 67.96 | 8 | 113.35 | 8 | 181.31 |
| Feb 20–23, 2019 | 2019 Open Ice Mall Cup | 1 | 71.03 | 1 | 132.26 | 1 | 203.29 |
| Mar 4–10, 2019 | 2019 World Junior Championships | 16 | 68.94 | 14 | 127.99 | 13 | 196.93 |