Daria Romanovna Usacheva (pronounced Usachyova; Russian: Дарья Романовна Усачёва, born 22 May 2006) is a retired Russian figure skater. She is the 2021 Skate America silver medalist.
| Daria Usacheva | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Usacheva in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Daria Romanovna Usacheva | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Native name | Дарья Романовна Усачёва | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Daria Usachyova | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 May 2006 Khabarovsk, Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Eteri Tutberidze, Sergei Dudakov | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Sambo 70 (Khrustalnyi) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Began skating | 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 7 September 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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On the junior level, she is the 2020 World Junior silver medalist, the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge champion, and the 2020 Russian junior national bronze medalist.[3]
Personal life
editUsacheva was born in Khabarovsk on 22 May 2006.[4] Her figure skating idol is her training mate, 2018 Olympic champion Alina Zagitova.[5]
Career
editEarly years
editUsacheva began learning how to skate in 2009 at the age of three in her native Khabarovsk. After moving to Moscow with her family, Usacheva trained for several years in the group of Oksana Bulycheva at Sambo 70. After parting ways with Bulycheva, she trained under Anna Tsareva for a year before finally moving into Eteri Tutberidze's group within the same training complex.[6]
2019–2020 season: Junior international debut
editUsacheva made her junior international debut in September 2019 at the 2019 JGP Latvia. She placed first in the short program at the event, but fell to third in the free skate to finish second overall behind South Korean skater Lee Hae-in. At her second Junior Grand Prix assignment, 2019 JGP Croatia, Usacheva duplicated her result from JGP Latvia, again earning a silver medal behind Lee Hae-in. In light of her results, and with 26 qualifying points in hand, Usacheva advanced to her first Junior Grand Prix Final.[7]
Usacheva next competed in the junior ladies category at the inaugural Denis Ten Memorial Challenge where she won both the short program and the free skate to earn her first international gold medal ahead of training mate Maiia Khromykh in second and Bulgarian competitor Maria Levushkina in third.[8]
In December 2019, Usacheva competed at the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy. She set new personal best scores in both the free skate (despite errors) and overall to win the bronze medal behind gold medalist and training mate Kamila Valieva and American silver medalist Alysa Liu.[9] In an interview with Sports.ru following the event, Usacheva stated that she'd begun training a triple axel and that she hoped to debut the element at the 2020 Russian Junior Figure Skating Championships in February 2020.[6]
Usacheva did not compete again until the 2020 Russian Junior Figure Skating Championships where she won the bronze medal behind training mates Kamila Valieva and Sofia Akatieva. Usacheva executed both of her programs cleanly for the first time in competition all season, and due to her result was named to the Russian team for the 2020 World Junior Championships in March along with Valieva and training mate and fifth-place finisher Maiia Khromykh, as silver medalist Akatieva and fourth-place finisher Sofia Samodelkina were ineligible due to age. Usacheva was the sole skater among the top five to not attempt a triple axel or quadruple jump.
At the 2020 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Usacheva placed third in the short program behind training partner Kamila Valieva and Lee Hae-in of South Korea after under-rotating the second jump in her triple flip-triple toeloop combination.[10] In the free skate, Usacheva delivered a clean performance for the first time internationally to rise to second place behind Valieva and ahead of American Alysa Liu, setting new personal bests in the free skate and overall. Usacheva and Lee were the only two skaters in the top five to not attempt a triple axel or quadruple jump.[11]
2020–21 season
editUsacheva made her senior domestic debut at the second stage of the Russian Cup in Moscow. She placed second after the short program and third in the free skate behind teammate Kamila Valieva and former teammate Alexandra Trusova, skating two clean programs and earning the bronze medal. At the third stage in Sochi, she led Anna Shcherbakova after the short program and finished second in the free skate and overall after a fall from a triple flip-triple toeloop combination.[12]
Usacheva's results qualified her to the 2021 Russian Championships, where she placed third in the short program, behind Shcherbakova and Valieva but narrowly ahead of Trusova.[13] Fourth in the free skate, she dropped to fourth place overall, the highest-ranked skater who did not attempt a quadruple jump.[14]
Following the national championships, Usacheva participated in the 2021 Channel One Trophy, a televised team event organized in lieu of the cancelled European Championships. She was selected for the Red Machine team captained by Alina Zagitova, and placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate. The Red Machine won the trophy.[15][16] Subsequently she also participated in the Russian Cup Final, where she won the bronze medal.[17][18]
2021–22 season: Senior international debut
editUsacheva debuted her programs for the Olympic season along with her fellow Russian national team members at the 2021 Russian test skate event in September. She mentioned in an interview with Channel One Russia at the event that she'd suffered a minor injury two weeks before that affected her preparation for the season, as well as her work towards attaining a triple Axel.[19]
Due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was some concern over whether or not Usacheva and several of her compatriots would be able to obtain travel visas to the United States in a timely enough manner to compete at the first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2021 Skate America. Fortunately, she and the rest of the Russian delegation were able to obtain proper documentation two weeks ahead of the event in order to attend.[20]
At Skate America, Usacheva's senior international debut, she cleanly skated her short program to score a new personal best and place second in the segment behind training-mate Alexandra Trusova. In the free skate, Usacheva struggled technically in the latter half of the program and fell to fourth in the segment, but her lead from the short was enough to keep her on the podium with the silver medal overall behind Trusova and ahead of South Korean competitor You Young.[21][22] Usacheva entered her second Grand Prix, the 2021 NHK Trophy, as one of the favorites for the gold medal following Trusova's withdrawal due to injury. However, in the warm-up for the short program she injured herself while attempting a triple flip, and was forced to withdraw from the event as well. Match TV initially reported that she was suffering from a hip fracture, but in subsequent Russian Figure Skating Federation announced that Usacheva suffered detachment of the ligament of one of the internal muscles of the right upper leg in the growth zone of the femur and that was not considered to be a long-term problem.[23] Nevertheless, the injury prevented Usacheva from competing at the 2022 Russian Championships in December. She returned to training in March 2022.
Usacheva announced her retirement from competitive figure skating on 7 September 2023.[24] After that she became a coach at Adelina Sotnikova figure skating school.[25][26]
Programs
edit
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–2022 [27] |
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| 2020–2021 [28] |
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| 2019–2020 [29] |
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| 2018–2019 |
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| 2017–2018 |
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Competitive highlights
edit.jpg)
GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| International[4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 |
| GP Skate America | 2nd | |||
| GP NHK Trophy | WD | |||
| International: Junior [4] | ||||
| Junior Worlds | 2nd | |||
| JGP Final | 3rd | |||
| JGP Croatia | 2nd | |||
| JGP Latvia | 2nd | |||
| Denis Ten Memorial | 1st | |||
| National[4] | ||||
| Russian Champ. | 4th | WD | ||
| Russian Junior Champ. | 10th | 3rd | ||
| Russian Cup Final | 2nd J | 3rd | ||
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew Levels: J = Junior | ||||
Detailed results
editSmall medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Personal bests highlighted in bold.
Senior level
edit| 2021–22 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12–14 November 2021 | 2021 NHK Trophy | WD |
WD |
WD |
| 22–24 October 2021 | 2021 Skate America | 2 76.71 |
4 140.60 |
2 217.31 |
| 2020–21 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 26 Feb. – 2 Mar. 2021 | 2021 Russian Cup Final domestic competition |
2 79.12 |
2 150.59 |
3 229.71 |
| 5–7 February 2021 | 2021 Channel One Trophy | 3 80.84 |
4 155.04 |
1T/4P 235.88 |
| 24–26 December 2020 | 2021 Russian Figure Skating Championships | 3 76.72 |
4 153.84 |
4 230.56 |
| 9–10 December 2020 | 2020 Moscow Championships | 1 74.44 |
1 143.69 |
1 218.13 |
| 23–27 October 2020 | 2020 Cup of Russia Series, 3rd Stage, Sochi domestic competition |
1 78.41 |
2 146.78 |
2 225.19 |
| 10–13 October 2020 | 2020 Cup of Russia Series, 2nd Stage, Moscow domestic competition |
2 80.39 |
2 152.81 |
3 233.20 |
Junior level
edit
| 2019–20 season[30] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| 2–8 March 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | Junior | 3 68.45 |
2 139.29 |
2 207.74 |
| 4–8 February 2020 | 2020 Russian Junior Championships | Junior | 2 73.77 |
3 143.53 |
3 217.30 |
| 5–8 December 2019 | 2019–20 JGP Final | Junior | 2 70.15 |
3 130.22 |
3 200.37 |
| 29 Oct. – 2 Nov. 2019 | 2019 Russian Cup Stage 3 | Junior | 1 73.27 |
1 139.51 |
1 212.78 |
| 10–13 October 2019 | Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | Junior | 1 74.46 |
1 136.79 |
1 211.25 |
| 25–28 September 2019 | 2019 JGP Croatia | Junior | 1 71.09 |
2 126.10 |
2 197.19 |
| 4–7 September 2019 | 2019 JGP Latvia | Junior | 1 69.04 |
3 125.36 |
2 194.40 |
References
edit- ^ "ISU World Standings 2019/2020. Ladies". isu.org. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ "ISU Season's World Ranking 2019/2020. Ladies". isu.org. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ , "Usacheva Daria Romanovna" Archived 14 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, FSkate, 16 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Daria Usacheva". International Skating Union.
- ^ "Дарья Усачева: "Мой кумир – Алина Загитова. У нее очень сильный характер"" [Daria Usacheva: "My idol is Alina Zagitova. She has a very strong character."]. sport.business-gazeta.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Интервью призера юниорского финала Гран-при 2019 года Дарьи Усачевой: о медали и группе Тутберидзе!" [Interview with the bronze medalist of the Junior Grand Prix Final of 2019, Daria Usacheva: about the medal and the Tutberidze group!]. sports.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 February 2020.
- ^ "Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "DENIS TEN MEMORIAL CHALLENGE 2019 PROTOCOL". p. 22.
- ^ "Kamila Valieva beats Alysa Liu to junior ladies' Grand Prix Final crown". Olympic Channel Services S.L. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ Slater, Paula (6 March 2020). "Kamila Valieva front runner at Junior Worlds". Golden Skate.
- ^ Slater, Paula (7 March 2020). "Kamila Valieva captures Junior World gold in season debut". Golden Skate.
- ^ "2020 CUP OF RUSSIA SERIES". Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ Flade, Tatjana (25 December 2020). "Shcherbakova edges Valieva for lead in Ladies Short at Russian Nationals". Golden Skate.
- ^ Flade, Tatjana (26 December 2020). "Shcherbakova wins impressive battle; takes third title at Russian Nationals". Golden Skate.
- ^ Goh, ZK (6 February 2021). "Valieva leads the way as Team Zagitova's "Red Machine" lead at Channel One Cup". Olympic Channel.
- ^ Goh, ZK (7 February 2021). "Alina Zagitova's "Red Machine" win Channel One Cup". Olympic Channel.
- ^ Goh, ZK (27 February 2021). "Kamila Valieva in pole position at Russian Cup Final after short program". Olympic Channel.
- ^ Jiwani, Rory (28 February 2021). "Juniors dominate as Kamila Valieva takes Russian Cup Final win". Olympic Channel.
- ^ Melnik, Jan (11 September 2021). "Дарья Усачева: "Тройной аксель? Случилась небольшая травма, за две недели до прокатов я его не прыгала, но как только приеду, то начну работу над ним"" [Daria Usacheva: "Triple Axel? There was a minor injury, two weeks before the rental, I did not jump it, but as soon as I arrive, I will start working on it"]. sports.ru (in Russian).
- ^ Lapteva, Anna (8 October 2021). "Александр Коган: "Все заявленные на этап Гран-при фигуристы, у которых не было виз в США, сегодня их получили"" [Alexander Kogan: "All the skaters declared for the Grand Prix stage who did not have visas to the United States received them today"]. sports.ru (in Russian).
- ^ Sullivan Hill, Maura (25 October 2021). "Alexandra Trusova fights through injury to claim gold at 2021 Skate America". Figure Skaters Online.
- ^ Slater, Paula (24 October 2021). "Russia's Trusova seizes gold at 2021 Skate America". Golden Skate.
- ^ "Japanese stars lead NHK Trophy; Russian withdraws after bad fall". NBC Sports. 12 November 2021.
- ^ "Фигуристка Усачева завершила карьеру в 17 лет" [Figure skater Usacheva retired at 17]. RIA Novosti Sport (in Russian). 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ "Фигуристка Усачева будет работать в школе олимпийской чемпионки Сотниковой". TACC. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "Восходящая звезда фигурного катания из России завершила карьеру в 17 лет". РБК Спорт (in Russian). 25 August 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "Daria USUsachevaCHEVA: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Daria Usacheva: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Daria Usacheva: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Skating Scores. Daria Usacheva". skatingscores.com. Retrieved 12 February 2020.