Olympic Figure Skating Qualification in Beijing

The road to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics has officially narrowed, as the ISU Olympic Qualification Tournament concluded on September 21 in Beijing, determining the final skaters and teams who will join the Olympic roster next February.

For Team Armenia, the event was historic. The country entered three disciplines: Semyon Danilyants in men’s singles, the pair Karina Akopova / Nikita Rakhmanin, and the dance duo Kristina Dobroserdova / Alessandro Pellegrini.

The breakthrough came in pairs skating, where Akopova and Rakhmanin delivered a stunning performance to secure second place overall, earning Armenia’s only Olympic quota from this competition. Their qualification means Armenia will officially be represented in figure skating at Milano 2026.

Other Armenian entries fell short of quota places:

• Danilyants finished 11th in men’s singles, with only the top five skaters advancing.
• Dobroserdova / Pellegrini placed 18th in ice dance, missing out as only four quota spots were available.

Olympic Quotas Awarded in Beijing

Men’s Singles

• Pyotr Gumennik (Neutral Athlete, Russia)
• Kim Hyun-gyeom (South Korea)
• Donovan Carrillo (Italy)
• Kyrylo Marsak (Ukraine)
• Lee Yu-hsiang (Chinese Taipei)

Women’s Singles

• Adeliia Petrosian (Neutral Athlete, Russia)
• Anastasiia Gubanova (Georgia)
• Loena Hendrickx (Belgium)
• Viktoria Safonova (Neutral Athlete, Belarus)
• Zhang Ruiyang (China)

Pairs

• China
• Armenia
• Japan

Ice Dance

• Lithuania
• Australia
• Spain
• China

With quotas now finalized, all eyes turn toward the Grand Prix season and European/World Championships, where Olympic contenders will polish their programs ahead of the biggest stage in Milano.

Source: article by Vahe Hakobyan on sportaran.com, published September 22, 2025.

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By Vitalina Andrushchenko, Staff Writer