Misha Mitrofanov
Misha Mitrofanov in the free skate of the 2018 Internationaux de France
Born (1997-06-12) June 12, 1997 (age 26)
Madison, Wisconsin
HometownPlano, Texas
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Figure skating career
CountryUnited States
PartnerAlisa Efimova
CoachAleksey Letov, Olga Ganicheva
Skating clubDallas FSC Plano
Began skating2001
Medal record
Representing  United States
Figure skating: Pairs
Four Continents Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tallinn Pairs

Misha Mitrofanov (born June 12, 1997) is an American pair skater. With his her current partner, Alisa Efimova, he is the 2024 U.S. national silver medalist.

With his former skating partner, Audrey Lu, he is the 2022 Four Continents champion, 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, 2018 CS U.S. International Classic silver medalist, and 2022 U.S. national bronze medalist.

Personal life

Mitrofanov was born on June 12, 1997, in Madison, Wisconsin.[1] He is the eldest of two children born to Yelena, a real estate agent, and Gennadiy, a natural gas and oil marketer.[2] He has a sister, Nina.[2] After graduating (in May 2016) from Spring Creek Academy in Plano, Texas, he began studying sports medicine at the University of Texas at Dallas.[2]

Career

Early years

Mitrofanov began learning to skate in 2001.[1] He was coached by Alexei Mantsorov from 2005 to 2014.[2] Skating in the novice pairs' category, he placed 8th at the 2015 U.S. Championships with Emily Chan, and 6th at the 2016 U.S. Championships with Ashlee Raymond.

Partnership with Lu

2016–2017 season

Mitrofanov teamed up with Audrey Lu in May 2016.[3] Making their international debut, the pair placed 12th at an ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in the Czech Republic in September 2016. Their season came to an end in November, after Mitrofanov dislocated his shoulder at the Midwestern Sectional Championships.[3] He underwent shoulder surgery and resumed training after six months.[3]

2017–2018 season

Lu/Mitrofanov placed 5th at both of their JGP assignments. In January, they won the junior pairs' title at the 2018 U.S. Championships; they ranked first in both segments and outscored the silver medalists by 17.74 points. In March, the pair placed 5th (6th in the short program, 4th in the free skate) at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2018–2019 season

Making their senior international debut, Lu/Mitrofanov won silver at the 2018 CS U.S. International Classic in mid-September, and then placed fifth at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. They were invited to two Grand Prix events, the 2018 NHK Trophy and 2018 Internationaux de France, where they placed seventh and sixth, respectively.[4] Debuting at senior Nationals at the 2019 U.S. Championships, they placed sixth.

2019–2020 season

Lu/Mitrofanov began the season with a fifth-place finish at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic. On the Grand Prix, they were eighth at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup. They concluded the season at the 2020 U.S. Championships, where they finished sixth.[5]

2020–2021 season

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting international travel, Lu/Mitrofanov were assigned to attend the 2020 Skate America, the Grand Prix having been arranged primarily based on training location.[6] They placed third in the short program, 3.31 points ahead of national pewter medalists Cain-Gribble/LeDuc.[7] Coming fourth in the free skate, their lead from the short program was nevertheless enough to remain in third place overall, winning the bronze medal.[8]

Competing at the 2021 U.S. Championships, Lu/Mitrofanov placed third in the short program with a clean skate.[9] They were fourth in the free skate, dropping to fourth place overall and winning the pewter medal.[10]

2021–2022 season

After beginning the season with some minor America competitions, Lu/Mitrofanov competed on the Grand Prix at the 2021 NHK Trophy, finishing in fifth place.[11] They went on to finish in fourth at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, after which Lu said they were "satisfied" with the results on the Grand Prix that year.[12] They next competed at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they won the gold medal, their first Challenger title.[13]

Lu/Mitrofanov won the bronze medal at the 2022 U.S. Championships. Mitrofanov said they were "very happy and grateful" for the event and its large audience.[14] As a result of their placement, they were assigned to compete at the 2022 Four Continents Championships in Tallinn, and named second alternates to the American Olympic team. Lu/Mitrofanov won both segments of the Four Continents competition to take the gold medal.[15]

Mitrofanov briefly skated with Hazel Collier for the ice show, An Evening with Champions.[16]

Partnership with Efimova

In June 2023, it was announced that Mitrofanov had teamed up with Finnish-Russian pair skater, Alisa Efimova, and that she would be representing the United States with him, coached by Mitrofanov's longtime coaches, Aleksey Letov and Olga Ganicheva.[17]

Programs

(with Lu)

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2021–2022
[18]
2020–2021
[19]
2019–2020
[20]
2018–2019
[1]
2017–2018
[21]
2016–2017
[22]
  • Memory
    (from Cats)
    by Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • The Music of the Night
    (from The Phantom of the Opera)
    by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix. Pewter medals (4th place) awarded only at U.S. national, sectional, and regional events.

Pairs with Efimova

National[23]
Event 23-24
U.S. Championships 2nd
U.S. Pairs Final 2nd

Pairs with Lu

International[13]
Event 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22
Four Continents 1st
GP France 6th
GP NHK Trophy 7th 5th
GP Rostelecom 8th 4th
GP Skate America 3rd
CS Asian Open WD
CS Finlandia WD
CS Golden Spin 1st
CS Nebelhorn 5th
CS U.S. Classic 2nd 5th
Challenge Cup 2nd
Cranberry Cup 6th
John Nicks Challenge 3rd
International: Junior[13]
Junior Worlds 5th
JGP Belarus 5th
JGP Czech Rep. 12th
JGP Poland 5th
National[2]
U.S. Champ. 1st J 6th 6th 4th 3rd
Midwestern Sect. WD 1st J
ISP Points Chall. 5th
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew
Levels: J = Junior

Pairs with Chan and Raymond

National
Event 2014–151 2015–162
U.S. Championships 8th N 6th N
Midwestern Sectional 4th N 3rd N
Novice level
1 With Emily Chan
2 With Ashlee Raymond

Men's singles

National[24]
Event 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14
U.S. Championships 18th V 12th I
Southwestern Reg. 8th V 8th V 2nd V 5th I 2nd I 5th I 6th N
Levels: V = Juvenile; I = Intermediate; N = Novice

Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

With Mitrofanov

2023–2024 season
Date Event SP FS Total
January 22–28, 2024 2024 U.S. Championships 5
60.48 		1
126.43 		2
186.91

With Lu

Senior results

2021–2022 season
Date Event SP FS Total
January 18–23, 2022 2022 Four Continents Championships 1
68.35 		1
120.75 		1
189.10
January 3–9, 2022 2022 U.S. Championships 3
68.11 		3
123.43 		3
191.54
December 7–11, 2021 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 3
66.41 		2
128.91 		1
195.32
November 12–14, 2021 2021 NHK Trophy 5
64.95 		5
125.08 		5
190.03
November 26–28, 2021 2021 Rostelecom Cup 4
64.97 		4
121.19 		4
186.16
September 9–10, 2021 2021 John Nicks Pairs Challenge 4
66.16 		3
129.04 		3
195.20
August 11–15, 2021 2021 Cranberry Cup International 5
60.75 		9
98.06 		6
158.81
2020–2021 season
Date Event SP FS Total
January 11–21, 2021 2021 U.S. Championships 3
69.56 		4
128.41 		4
197.97
October 23–24, 2020 2020 Skate America 3
67.52 		4
122.13 		3
189.65
October 6, 2020 2020 ISP Points Challenge 4
63.52 		5
112.58 		5
176.10
2019–2020 season
Date Event SP FS Total
February 20–23, 2020 2020 International Challenge Cup 2
62.94 		2
110.54 		2
173.48
January 20–26, 2020 2020 U.S. Championships 5
65.06 		6
116.43 		6
181.49
November 15–17, 2019 2019 Rostelecom Cup 8
54.03 		8
99.58 		8
153.61
September 17–22, 2019 2019 CS U.S. Classic 5
63.87 		5
104.63 		5
168.50
2018–2019 season
Date Event SP FS Total
January 19–27, 2019 2019 U.S. Championships 5
66.21 		6
116.21 		6
182.42
November 23–25, 2019 2018 Internationaux de France 6
56.71 		7
100.57 		6
157.28
November 9–11, 2018 2018 NHK Trophy 7
52.35 		7
96.90 		7
149.25
September 26–29, 2018 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 6
49.47 		4
107.75 		5
157.22
September 12–16, 2018 2018 CS U.S. Classic 2
57.25 		2
86.68 		2
143.93

Junior results

2017–2018 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
March 5–11, 2018 2018 World Junior Championships Junior 6
54.38 		4
105.71 		5
160.09
December 29–January 8, 2018 2018 U.S. Junior Championships Junior 1
60.80 		1
112.51 		1
173.31
November 15–18, 2017 2018 Midwestern Sectional Championships Junior 2
57.39 		1
96.72 		1
154.11
October 4–7, 2017 2017 JGP Poland Junior 6
51.53 		5
99.12 		5
150.65
September 20–23, 2017 2017 JGP Belarus Junior 4
52.94 		6
79.19 		5
132.13
2016–2017 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
August 31–September 3, 2016 2016 JGP Czech Republic Junior 12
44.71 		12
78.48 		12
123.19

References

  1. ^ a b c "Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018.
    "Earlier versions". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Stigall, Kama (September 19, 2018). "Coaches See Champion Qualities in Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov". U.S. Figure Skating.
  4. ^ "Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov Added to Internationaux de France". U.S. Figure Skating. September 28, 2018.
  5. ^ Slater, Paula (January 25, 2020). "Knierim and Knierim reclaim U.S. National title in Pairs". Golden Skate.
  6. ^ "2020 Skate America". International Figure Skating. October 20, 2020.
  7. ^ Slater, Paula (October 24, 2020). "Scimeca Knierim and Frazier take lead in pairs at 2020 Skate America". Golden Skate.
  8. ^ Slater, Paula (October 26, 2020). "Golden debut for Scimeca Knierim and Frazier at 2020 Skate America". Golden Skate.
  9. ^ Slater, Paula (January 14, 2021). "Scimeca Knierim and Frazier lead Pairs in debut at U.S. Nationals". Golden Skate.
  10. ^ Slater, Paula (January 17, 2021). "Knierim and Frazier take title in US Nationals debut". Golden Skate.
  11. ^ Slater, Paula (November 13, 2021). "Mishina and Galliamov storm to gold at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate.
  12. ^ Slater, Paula (November 27, 2021). "Mishina and Galliamov lead Russian sweep at Rostelecom Cup". Golden Skate.
  13. ^ a b c "Competition Results: Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018.
  14. ^ Slater, Paula (January 9, 2022). "Cain-Gribble and LeDuc reclaim U.S. Pairs title". Golden Skate.
  15. ^ Slater, Paula (January 22, 2022). "USA's Lu and Mitrofanov: 'It means everything'". Golden Skate.
  16. ^ "Cast List - An Evening with Championships". An Evening with Champions. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  17. ^ "Figure skater Alisa Efimova will compete for the United States". Athletistic. Athletistic. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021.
  19. ^ "Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020.
  20. ^ "Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019.
  21. ^ "Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018.
  22. ^ "Audrey LU / Misha MITROFANOV: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017.
  23. ^ "USA-Elisa EFIMOVA/Misha MITROFANOV". Skating Scores.
  24. ^ "Misha MITROFANOV". rinkresults.com. Retrieved August 8, 2018.

External links

Four Continents champions in figure skating – Pairs
Golden Spin of Zagreb champions in figure skating – Pairs
Categories