Nikolaj Memola
Nikolaj Memola (born 18 November 2003) is an Italian figure skater. He is the 2023 World University Games bronze medalist, a two-time bronze medalist in the ISU Challenger Series (at the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy and the 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy), and the 2023 Italian national silver medalist.
Nikolaj Memola | ||||||||||||
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![]() Memola at the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final | ||||||||||||
Born | Monza, Italy | 18 November 2003|||||||||||
Hometown | Monza, Italy | |||||||||||
Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||
Figure skating career | ||||||||||||
Country | ![]() | |||||||||||
Coach | Olga Romanova | |||||||||||
Skating club | IceLab Bergamo | |||||||||||
Began skating | 2008 | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Memola is also the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist (including gold at the 2022 JGP Latvia), and a top-ten finisher at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics and the 2022 and 2023 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
Personal life
Memola was born on November 18, 2003 in Monza, Italy, to an Italian father and a Russian mother.[1][2]
He is a student at the University of Milan and is able to speak English fluently.[3][1][4]
Career
Early years
Memola began learning to skate in 2008.[1] He is coached by his mother, Olga Romanova.[5]
He debuted in the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in October 2018, placing nineteenth in Slovenia. Memola competed at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland, placing eighth.[6]
2021–22 season
Memola finished fourth at the 2021 JGP Austria in October 2021. He made his senior international debut later that month, placing fourth at Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur. In November, he finished ninth at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, his first appearance in the Challenger series. He stepped onto his first senior international podium in December, taking gold at the Santa Claus Cup in Hungary.[6]
Following the withdrawal of Matteo Rizzo, Italy selected Memola to skate at the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.[7] Competing in his first ISU Championship, he qualified for the final segment by placing twelfth in the short program and finished fifteenth overall.[6] He ended the season by making his debut appearance at the World Junior Championships, where he placed seventh.[8]
2022–23 season
Planning a second split season between junior and senior, Memola had two assignments on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning silver at his first assignment, the 2022 JGP Czech Republic.[9] The following week at the 2022 JGP Latvia in Riga, he won the gold medal. Memola's results qualified him for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final, which he stated he was particularly "happy" about as the event was being held in Italy that year. He said that he hoped to introduce a quad into the free skate in time.[10] Returning to the Challenger series, Memola won bronze medals at both the Lombardia and Budapest Trophies.[6]
Competing at the Junior Grand Prix Final on home ice in Turin, Memola finished second in the short program, saying afterward that it was "very important to me that I did such a good skate at home, in Italy, and on the Olympic ice."[11] He went on to win the free skate and the gold medal, albeit without attempting a quadruple jump as he had earlier hoped. This was the first Junior Grand Prix Final title for an Italian man and the first for Italy in any discipline since the ice dance team Faiella/Milo in the inaugural 1997–98 edition. Memola admitted afterward, "I started the season with the goal in mind coming here to Torino, but the first place was not my goal, and then the medal came, and I'm extremely happy."[12]
Shortly after the Junior Grand Prix Final, Memola attended his first senior national championships and won the silver medal. He finished first in the free skate at the event.[13] He was then assigned to compete at the 2023 Winter World University Games, where he won the bronze medal.[14]
In his final assignment of the season, Memola competed at the 2023 World Junior Championships. After stepping out of his jump combination in the short program, he finished sixth in that segment.[15] He placed fourth in the free skate and rose to fourth overall, 1.35 points back of bronze medalist Nozomu Yoshioka. Memola did not attempt any quadruple jumps during the free program, having found them insufficiently secure in practice that day and not wanting to risk it.[16]
2023–24 season
Over the summer, Memola trained at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club in Toronto, Ontario.[17] In his first competition, he finished eighth at the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International, before finishing sixth at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.[6]
Programs
Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
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2023–2024 [18][19] |
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2022–2023 [20] |
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2021–2022 [1] |
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2020–2021 |
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2019–2020 [21] |
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2018–2019 [22] |
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Competitive highlights
Senior level
- GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
- CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
- WD – Withdrew from competition
Season | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023-24 |
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European Championships | 15th | ||
GP Finland | TBD | ||
GP France | TBD | ||
CS Autumn Classic | 8th | ||
CS Budapest Trophy | 3rd | 1st | |
CS Finlandia Trophy | 6th | ||
CS Lombardia Trophy | WD | 3rd | |
CS Warsaw Cup | 9th | WD | |
Santa Claus Cup | 1st | ||
Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur | 4th | ||
World University Games | 3rd | ||
Italian Championships | 2nd |
Junior level
- JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
- N – Novice level
Season | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
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Junior World Championships | 7th | 4th | |||||||
Youth Olympics | 8th | ||||||||
JGP Final | 1st | ||||||||
JGP Austria | 4th | ||||||||
JGP Czech Republic | 2nd | ||||||||
JGP Italy | 16th | ||||||||
JGP Latvia | 18th | 1st | |||||||
JGP Slovenia | 19th | ||||||||
Coupe du Printemps | 2nd N | ||||||||
Crystal Skate of Romania | 1st | ||||||||
Cup of Tyrol | 1st N | 3rd | |||||||
Dragon Trophy | 2nd N | 1st N | 4th | ||||||
Egna Spring Trophy | 6th N | 2nd N | 3rd | 1st | 1st | ||||
European Youth Olympic Festival | 11th | ||||||||
IceLab Cup | 2nd | ||||||||
Lombardia Trophy | 5th N | ||||||||
Merano Cup | 3rd N | 4th N | 2nd N | 6th | |||||
Skate Celje | 2nd N | 3rd | |||||||
Skate Victoria | 2nd | ||||||||
Sofia Trophy | 2nd | ||||||||
Italian Championships | 2nd N | 2nd N | 1st N | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st |
Detailed results
Segment | Type | Score | Event |
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Total | TSS | 250.37 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy |
Short program | TSS | 88.99 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy |
TES | 50.82 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy | |
PCS | 38.17 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy | |
Free skating | TSS | 161.38 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy |
TES | 84.62 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy | |
PCS | 77.42 | 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy | |
Senior level
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 20–24, 2021 | ![]() |
3 | 72.36 | 2 | 130.73 | 4 | 203.09 |
Nov 17–20, 2021 | ![]() |
12 | 69.59 | 7 | 142.00 | 9 | 211.59 |
Dec 6–12, 2021 | ![]() |
1 | 78.00 | 1 | 150.35 | 1 | 228.35 |
Jan 10–16, 2022 | ![]() |
12 | 73.98 | 14 | 132.55 | 15 | 206.53 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 16–19, 2022 | ![]() |
4 | 81.68 | 3 | 148.84 | 3 | 230.52 |
Oct 13–16, 2022 | ![]() |
3 | 78.78 | 4 | 152.69 | 3 | 231.47 |
Dec 15–18, 2022 | ![]() |
3 | 80.32 | 1 | 161.37 | 2 | 241.69 |
Jan 13–15, 2023 | ![]() |
4 | 78.96 | 4 | 152.37 | 3 | 231.33 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 14–17, 2023 | ![]() |
8 | 70.27 | 7 | 129.11 | 8 | 199.38 |
Oct 4–8, 2023 | ![]() |
3 | 82.03 | 8 | 140.95 | 6 | 222.98 |
Oct 13–15, 2023 | ![]() |
1 | 88.99 | 2 | 161.38 | 1 | 250.37 |
Nov 3–5, 2023 | ![]() |
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Nov 17–19, 2023 | ![]() |
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Junior level
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 24–28, 2017 | ![]() |
1 | 31.06 | 1 | 76.55 | 1 | 107.61 |
Nov 15–19, 2017 | ![]() |
7 | 40.01 | 6 | 78.76 | 6 | 118.77 |
Nov 22–26, 2017 | ![]() |
2 | 48.33 | 4 | 77.08 | 3 | 125.41 |
Dec 13–16, 2017 | ![]() |
4 | 49.34 | 4 | 99.01 | 4 | 148.35 |
Feb 8–11, 2018 | ![]() |
4 | 41.25 | 4 | 72.86 | 4 | 114.11 |
Apr 4–8, 2018 | ![]() |
5 | 42.72 | 3 | 81.43 | 3 | 124.15 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 3–6, 2018 | ![]() |
18 | 41.71 | 20 | 69.20 | 19 | 110.91 |
Dec 13–16, 2018 | ![]() |
2 | 53.08 | 3 | 84.15 | 2 | 137.23 |
Feb 13–14, 2019 | ![]() |
11 | 46.73 | 10 | 90.98 | 11 | 137.71 |
Feb 26 – Mar 3, 2019 | ![]() |
3 | 51.93 | 3 | 93.75 | 3 | 145.68 |
Mar 28–31, 2019 | ![]() |
1 | 54.30 | 2 | 96.70 | 1 | 151.00 |
Apr 9–14, 2019 | ![]() |
2 | 59.69 | 2 | 109.99 | 2 | 169.68 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 4–7, 2019 | ![]() |
18 | 48.82 | 18 | 86.37 | 18 | 135.19 |
Oct 2–5, 2019 | ![]() |
15 | 55.39 | 17 | 103.12 | 16 | 158.51 |
Nov 1–3, 2019 | ![]() |
2 | 56.91 | 2 | 101.16 | 2 | 158.07 |
Dec 12–15, 2019 | ![]() |
2 | 64.23 | 2 | 94.58 | 2 | 158.81 |
Jan 10–15, 2020 | ![]() |
7 | 62.18 | 8 | 114.37 | 8 | 176.55 |
Feb 12–18, 2020 | ![]() |
2 | 56.20 | 2 | 115.40 | 2 | 171.60 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Apr 9–11, 2021 | ![]() |
1 | 62.33 | 2 | 111.82 | 2 | 174.15 |
Apr 29 – May 2, 2021 | ![]() |
1 | 68.23 | 2 | 113.87 | 1 | 182.10 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 6–9, 2021 | ![]() |
4 | 71.05 | 7 | 126.58 | 4 | 197.63 |
Feb 12–13, 2022 | ![]() |
1 | 78.75 | 1 | 140.96 | 1 | 219.71 |
Apr 13–17, 2022 | ![]() |
10 | 71.42 | 6 | 141.52 | 7 | 212.94 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
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P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Aug 31 – Sep 3, 2022 | ![]() |
4 | 71.56 | 2 | 142.55 | 2 | 214.11 |
Sep 7–10, 2022 | ![]() |
1 | 83.04 | 1 | 142.72 | 1 | 225.76 |
Dec 8–11, 2022 | ![]() |
2 | 79.84 | 1 | 150.66 | 1 | 230.50 |
Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2023 | ![]() |
6 | 76.72 | 4 | 139.72 | 4 | 216.44 |
References
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
- "Nikolaj Memola – 2022 Lombardia Trophy". YouTube. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA ITA SP 2023 FISU Winter University Games". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- "Nikolaj Memola – 2022 Lombardia Trophy". YouTube. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- "Nikolaj Memola – 2022 Lombardia Trophy". YouTube. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- "Competition Results: Nikolaj MEMOLA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
- "Figura Europei di Tallinn: Nikolaj Memola sostituisce Matteo Rizzo" [Nikolaj Memola replaces Matteo Rizzo] (in Italian). Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio. 9 January 2022. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
- Slater, Paula (16 April 2022). "USA's Ilia Malinin takes gold in Tallinn". Golden Skate.
- "Newcomers dominate at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava (CZE)". International Skating Union. 5 September 2022.
- "Memola (ITA), Smith/Deng (USA) sealing spots in Junior Final with win at ISU JGP Riga". International Skating Union. 12 September 2022.
- "Lucas Broussard (USA) takes Short Program at Junior Grand Prix Final". International Skating Union. 8 December 2022.
- "Memola (ITA) delights home crowd with Italy's first Junior Final single skating gold medal". 10 December 2022.
- Contino, Maurizio (31 December 2022). "'Saranno Campioni': Nikolaj Memola, l'atipico gigante del pattinaggio artistico dalla eleganza innata" ['They will be Champions': Nikolaj Memola, the atypical giant of figure skating with an innate elegance]. OA Sport (in Italian).
- "Figura, Nikolaj Memola medaglia di bronzo ai FISU Games! Settima Marina Piredda" [Figure skating, Nikolaj Memola wins the bronze medal at the FISU Games! Marina Piredda seventh.] (in Italian). Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio. 16 January 2023.
- "Kao Miura (JPN) wins Men's Short Program at ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships". International Skating Union. 3 March 2023.
- Slater, Paula (5 March 2023). "Japan's Kao Miura takes World Junior title". Golden Skate.
- Memola, Nikolaj. "Toronto Cricket Club". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023.
- "2023-24 Programs". Instagram. 24 May 2023.
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022.
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020.
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019.
- "Nikolaj MEMOLA". rinkresults.com.