Semenenko Wins Nepela Memorial

Evgeni Semenenko © Pinterest

Evgeni Semenenko turned a career-best short program into victory at the 2026 ISU Challenger Series Nepela Memorialin Bratislava, Slovakia. The Individual Neutral Athlete delivered a 101.16-point short program before maintaining his lead in the free skate to finish first with 292.09 points overall.

The 23-year-old opened his short program with a quadruple loop and followed it with a quadruple Salchow-triple toe-loop combination. He then fought through a difficult triple Axel to become the first skater in the competition to break the 100-point barrier.

His 101.16 was a personal best and gave him a narrow advantage over Italy’s Daniel Grassl, who scored 99.10. Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan was third after the short program with 95.98.

The free skate brought another strong performance. Semenenko landed five quadruple jumps and scored 190.93 for the segment, giving him a total of 292.09 and victories in both segments.

Grassl and Shaidorov Complete the Podium

Grassl remained Semenenko’s closest challenger throughout the competition. The Italian scored 179.70 in the free skate and finished second overall with 278.80 points.

For Shaidorov, Nepela Memorial represented his first competition since one of the biggest moments of his career: his unexpected Olympic gold at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.

The Kazakh skater had entered the Olympic free skate in fifth place before moving dramatically up the standings to claim the men’s singles title. In Bratislava, he finished third with 272.75 points, scoring 176.77 in the free skate.

The final men’s top 10 were:

1. Evgeni Semenenko — 292.09
2. Daniel Grassl — 278.80
3. Mikhail Shaidorov — 272.75
4. Gleb Lutfullin — 251.46
5. Adam Siao Him Fa — 249.35
6. Adam Hagara — 225.18
7. Vladimir Samoilov — 220.05
8. Samy Hammi — 218.10
9. Andreas Nordeback — 216.39
10. Grigory Fedorov — 213.80

A Difficult Event for Siao Him Fa

Former world medallist Adam Siao Him Fa had a more challenging competition. He finished ninth after the short program with 79.18 points.

The French skater stepped out of his opening quadruple toe loop and then fell on a quadruple Salchow. The mistakes also meant he did not complete the required jumping combination in the short program.

He recovered strongly in the free skate, however, earning 170.17 points, the fourth-highest free-skate score in the men’s competition. That lifted him to fifth overall.

More Champions in Bratislava

The men’s event was only one part of the 34th Nepela Memorial.

In women’s singles, Kim Yuseong of the Republic of Korea produced a major comeback. Fourth after the short program with 61.27 points, she landed a triple Axel in the free skate and scored a personal-best 141.43 for the segment. Her total of 202.70 points put her ahead of Lee Hae-in, who finished second with 190.55.

Ice dance was won by Spain’s Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck, who scored 197.22 points. Finland’s Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis were second with 194.10, while U.S. duo Oona Brown and Gage Brown took third with 190.81.

The Bratislava Challenger therefore produced several different stories: a breakthrough score above 100 points, the return of an Olympic champion, a comeback victory in the women’s event and another successful outing for one of the leading ice-dance teams.

For Semenenko, though, the headline belongs to a complete performance — 101.16 in the short program, 190.93 in the free skate and 292.09 overall — turning a personal-best start into the Nepela Memorial title.

Source: article on olympics.com published September 26, 2026.

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By Vitalina Andrushchenko, Staff Writer