# Inga Gurgenidze

Inga Zurabovna Gurgenidze (Georgian: ინგა ზურაბის ასული გურგენიძე, Russian: Инга Зурабовна Гургенидзе; born 23 April 2009), born Inga Zurabovna Nikitina, is a Russian-born Georgian figure skater who represents Georgia in women's singles. She is the 2022 JGP Italy bronze medalist, the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial junior champion, the 2022 Bosphorus Cup junior silver medalist, and the 2023 Dragon Trophy junior champion. She finished within the top ten at the 2023 World Junior Championships. She is the twenty-third woman in history to have successfully landed a triple Axel jump in competition.

## Personal life

Gurgenidze was born on 23 April 2009 in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. Part of her family is from Georgia, including her grandmother, who she used to visit every summer as a child.
She initially competed under her mother's surname, Nikitina, until the 2021–22 season when she changed it to her father's surname, Gurgenidze.
In addition, she has expressed interest in learning the English and Georgian languages.
Gurgenidze's figure skating idols are Julia Lipnitskaia, Evgenia Medvedeva, and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

## Career
### Early career

Gurgenidze began figure skating in 2013 and has been coached by Liudmila Gafarova since a very young age.
She competed at the 2022 Russian Junior Championships, finishing in fifteenth place.

### 2022–23 season

In August 2022, it was confirmed that Russian-born Gurgenidze would be representing Georgia in international competition, having never previously skated for Russia internationally. She made her international debut on the Junior Grand Prix series. She began her season with a fourth-place finish at 2022 JGP Latvia. At her second even, the 2022 JGP Italy, Gurgenidze won the bronze medal.
Gurgenidze then went on to win gold at the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, silver at the 2022 Bosphorus Cup, and another gold at the 2023 Dragon Trophy. She finished the season at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta. After placing a disappointing nineteenth in the short program, Gurgenidze managed to skate a solid free program, placing seventh in that segment of the competition and finishing in ninth place overall.

### 2023–24 season

In her second Junior Grand Prix season, Gurgenidze came ninth at the 2023 JGP Hungary and sixth at the 2023 JGP Armenia. She successfully defended her gold medal at the 2023 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge and then won gold at the 2023 Bosphorus Cup to conclude the fall season.
Gurgenidze represented Georgia in the women's event at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, coming fifth. At the 2024 World Junior Championships, she placed twelfth.

### 2024–25 season

During the off-season, Gurgenidze worked with Russian choreographer, Sergey Plishkin, on her free skate to music from the film, Dancer in the Dark. Regarding the program's concept, Gurgenidze explained that she plays a blind woman dancing in the dark and moving her soul while still unable to see. She would begin the season by competing on the 2024-25 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, finishing fifth at 2024 JGP Turkey. At her second junior grand prix event, 2024 JGP China, Gurgenidze's coach, Liudmila Gafarova, was unable to attend due to visa issues. Gurgenidze would place a disappointing thirteenth-place in the short program but managed to skate a solid free skate that included a clean triple axel. She would finish third in that segment of the competition and finish sixth overall. In late November, Gurgenidze would compete on the junior level at the 2024 NRW Trophy, where she took the gold medal.
Finishing the season at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Gurgenidze placed second in the short program with a score of 67.47. She received a silver small medal for the segment. She struggled during the free skate, however, placing eleventh in that segment and dropping to sixth place overall.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | Tango Time by Atomic Overture choreo. by Ivan Volobuev | Dancer in the Dark 107 Steps by Björk, Siobhan Fallon, & Vince Mendoza Cvalda by Björk, Catherine Deneuve, & Vince Mendoza choreo. by Sergey Plishkin | |
| 2023–2024 | Winter (from The Four Seasons) by Antonio Vivaldi performed by Ulytau choreo. by Evgeni Ilin | Memphisto's Lullaby by Yair Albeg, Or Kribos Breathing Under Water (from Frightmare) by Ghostwriter Dissociative Identity Disorder (from Frightmare) by Ghostwriter choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova | |
| 2022–2023 | Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) performed by Winati, Moonshine, Bellman ft. Louise CS Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova | Memphisto's Lullaby by Yair Albeg, Or Kribos Breathing Under Water (from Frightmare) by Ghostwriter Dissociative Identity Disorder (from Frightmare) by Ghostwriter choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova | Temperature (DJ Kantik Club Mix) by Sean Paul Tokyo Drift (from Fast & Furious) by Teriyaki Boyz choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova The Devil You Know by Kovacs choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova |
| 2021–2022 | Waltz (from Giselle) by Adolphe Adam performed by Alexander Kopylov & Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova | Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) performed by Tanghetto Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics choreo. by Ilona Bikmetova | |

## Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

### For Georgia

International: Junior :
| Event | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Youth Olympics | | 5th | |
| Junior Worlds | 9th | 12th | 6th |
| JGP Armenia | C | 6th | |
| JGP China | | | 6th |
| JGP Hungary | | 9th | |
| JGP Italy | 3rd | | |
| JGP Latvia | 4th | | |
| JGP Turkey | | | 5th |
| Bosphorus Cup | 2nd | 1st | |
| Denis Ten Memorial | 1st | 1st | |
| Dragon Trophy | 1st | | |
| NRW Trophy | | | 1st |

### For Russia

National :
| Event | 21–22 |
| Russian Jr. Champ. | 15th |
| Russian Cup Final | 10th |

## Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 190.52 | 2022 JGP Italy |
| Short program | TSS | 63.04 | 2022 JGP Italy |
| Short program | TES | 37.34 | 2022 JGP Italy |
| Short program | PCS | 26.73 | 2024 World Junior Championships |
| Free skating | TSS | 128.69 | 2024 JGP China |
| Free skating | TES | 74.72 | 2024 JGP China |
| Free skating | PCS | 58.92 | 2022 JGP Italy |
Personal best highlighted in bold.

### For Georgia

2024–25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| Feb. 25 – Mar. 2, 2025 | 2025 World Junior Championships | 2 67.47 | 11 115.57 | 6 183.04 |
| November 11–17, 2024 | 2024 NRW Trophy | 1 65.30 | 1 112.89 | 1 178.19 |
| October 9–12, 2024 | 2024 JGP China | 13 50.45 | 3 128.69 | 6 179.14 |
| September 18–21, 2024 | 2024 JGP Turkey | 6 59.93 | 5 111.03 | 5 170.96 |
| 2023–24 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| Feb. 26 – Mar. 3, 2024 | 2024 World Junior Championships | 7 62.28 | 16 110.59 | 12 172.87 |
| January 28–30, 2024 | 2024 Winter Youth Olympics | 7 57.99 | 6 115.42 | 5 173.41 |
| Nov. 27 – Dec. 3, 2022 | 2023 Bosphorus Cup | 1 64.49 | 1 111.83 | 1 176.52 |
| November 2–5, 2023 | 2023 Denis Ten Memorial | 3 54.22 | 1 109.54 | 1 163.76 |
| October 4–7, 2023 | 2023 JGP Armenia | 6 55.47 | 5 110.43 | 6 165.90 |
| September 20–23, 2023 | 2023 JGP Hungary | 13 54.32 | 8 105.53 | 9 159.85 |
| 2022–23 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2023 | 2023 World Junior Championships | 19 52.02 | 7 120.48 | 9 172.50 |
| February 9–12, 2023 | 2023 Dragon Trophy | 4 53.73 | 1 124.09 | 1 177.82 |
| Nov. 29 – Dec. 3, 2022 | 2023 Bosphorus Cup | 2 52.58 | 1 118.47 | 2 171.05 |
| October 26–29, 2022 | 2022 Denis Ten Memorial | 1 63.62 | 1 110.56 | 1 174.18 |
| October 12–15, 2022 | 2022 JGP Italy | 4 63.04 | 3 127.48 | 3 190.52 |
| September 7–10, 2022 | 2022 JGP Latvia | 5 58.80 | 4 121.48 | 4 180.28 |