Alina Urushadze

Alina Urushadze
Urushadze at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Native nameალინა ურუშაძე
Born (2004-01-07) 7 January 2004 (age 20)
Riga, Latvia
HometownRiga, Latvia
Height1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country Georgia (2018–2024)
 Latvia (till 2018)
CoachAndrejs Brovenko
Skating clubSkating Skills
Began skating2008
RetiredNovember 19, 2024

Alina Urushadze (Georgian: ალინა ურუშაძე, Russian: Алина Урушадзе; born 7 January 2004) is a retired Latvian-born Georgian-Russian figure skater who represented Georgia.[2] She is the 2019 Bosphorus Cup silver medalist and the 2019 Volvo Open Cup bronze medalist. She placed 11th at the 2019 World Junior Championships and 5th at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.

Personal life

Urushadze was born in Riga, Latvia on 7 January 2004.[3] She has an older brother and younger sister. Her paternal grandfather is Georgian, which aided in her process to obtain Georgian citizenship.[4]

She has expressed interest in becoming a figure skating coach after retiring from competitive figure skating.[4]

Career

Urushadze began skating in 2008.[5][2] She initially skated for Latvia until 2018 when Mariam Giorgobiani, the president of the Georgian Figure Skating Federation, approached Urushadze due to her Georgian surname and asked if she would be interested in representing Georgia. Urushadze agreed to this and began representing Georgia in October 2018 at the age of thirteen.[2][4]

2018–2019 season

In October 2018, Urushadze made her ISU Junior Grand Prix series debut in Yerevan, Armenia at the 2018 JGP Armenia. Despite placing fifth in both the short program and the free skate, she finished sixth overall and did not receive another Junior Grand Prix assignment for the season. Throughout the rest of the season, Urushadze went on to compete in the junior category at a number of smaller events, before wrapping up with her two largest events of the season: the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival and the 2019 World Junior Championships. At EYOF, Urushadze placed fourth in the short program, but fell to seventh after the free skate and sixth overall.

At Junior Worlds the following month, Urushadze ranked fifteenth after the short program, which put her in the third-to-last warm-up group for the free skate, where she placed eleventh, rising to eleventh overall.

2019–2020 season

Given two assignments on the Junior Grand Prix, Urushadze placed eighth in France and sixth in Croatia. After competing at a number of small senior competitions, winning medals at two of them, she competed at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, where she placed fifth. Making her senior ISU Championship debut, she placed fifteenth at the 2020 European Championships.[6] She concluded the season with a fifteenth-place finish at the 2020 World Junior Championships.

Urushadze had been assigned to make her World Championship debut in Montreal, but they were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[7]

2020–2021 season

With the pandemic continuing to limit international events, the ISU opted to assign the Grand Prix based primarily on geographic location. Urushadze made her Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, finishing tenth among the ten competitors.[8] She placed twentieth at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[9] Urushadze's result qualified a berth for Georgia at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[10]

2021–2022 season

Urushadze began the season by competing on the Junior Grand Prix series, finishing seventh at the 2021 JGP France I. She went on to finish fifth at the 2021 Budapest Trophy. At the 2021 Volvo Open Cup, Urushadze won the gold medal before finishing seventeenth at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup.[11]

The Olympic spot for Georgia was ultimately awarded to Anastasia Gubanova.[4]

2023–2024 season

In June 2023, the Georgian Figure Skating Federation announced that Urushadze would return to competition after a season of not competing.[12] It was also announced that Urushadze had left Moscow, returned to her hometown of Riga, and training under former coach, Andrejs Brovenko.[13]

She finished tenth at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy and the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy. Urushadze then competed at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, finishing twenty-second.[14]

She would announce her retirement from competitive figure skating in November 2024.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2023–2024
[13]
2022–23 Did not compete this season
2021–2022
2020–2021
[15]
2019–2020
[16]
2018–2019
[3]

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[14]
Event 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22 23–24
Worlds C 20th
Europeans 15th 22nd
GP Rostelecom 10th
CS Budapest Trophy 10th
CS Lombardia Trophy WD 10th
CS Warsaw Cup WD 17th
Budapest Trophy 5th
Golden Bear 7th
Istanbul Cup 2nd
Volvo Open Cup 3rd 1st
International: Junior[14]
Youth Olympics 5th
Junior Worlds 11th 18th
JGP Armenia 6th
JGP Croatia 6th
JGP France 8th 7th
EYOF 6th
Ice Star 4th
Istanbul Cup 2nd
Prague Ice Cup 2nd
Skate Helena 1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled

Detailed results

Senior level

2023–24 season
Date Event SP FS Total
10-14 January 2024 2024 European Figure Skating Championships 23
50.54 		21
90.12 		22
140.66
13-15 October 2023 2023 CS Budapest Trophy 15
50.88 		10
102.49 		10
153.37
8–10 September 2023 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy 7
54.11 		9
98.49 		10
152.69

Junior level

2021–22 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
17–20 November 2021 2021 CS Warsaw Cup Senior 14
54.11 		19
93.28 		17
147.39
3–7 November 2021 2021 Volvo Open Cup Senior 3
55.36 		1
122.93 		1
178.29
14–17 October 2021 2021 Budapest Trophy Senior 5
60.32 		5
118.82 		5
179.14
18–21 August 2021 2021 JGP France I Junior 7
52.29 		7
90.59 		7
142.88
2020–21 season
22–28 March 2021 2021 World Championships Senior 18
59.89 		20
109.12 		20
169.01
20–22 November 2020 2020 Rostelecom Cup Senior 10
55.86 		10
94.82 		10
150.68
2019–20 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
2–8 March 2020 2020 World Junior Championships Junior 18
52.68 		18
95.43 		18
148.11
24–25 January 2020 2020 European Championships Senior 12
59.56 		18
95.25 		15
154.81
10–15 January 2020 2020 Winter Youth Olympics Junior 5
63.10 		6
116.40 		5
179.50
25–30 November 2019 2019 Bosphorus Cup Senior 1
56.68 		2
100.23 		2
156.91
5–10 November 2019 2019 Volvo Open Cup Senior 4
57.07 		3
106.76 		3
163.83
24–27 October 2019 2019 Golden Bear of Zagreb Senior 7
53.95 		11
93.26 		7
147.21
25–28 September 2019 2019 JGP Croatia Junior 5
55.98 		9
97.60 		6
153.58
21–24 August 2019 2019 JGP France Junior 8
55.89 		8
102.13 		8
158.02
2018–2019 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
4–10 March 2019 2019 World Junior Championships Junior 15
52.53 		11
105.43 		11
157.96
13–14 February 2019 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival Junior 4
55.99 		7
95.30 		6
151.29
16–19 January 2019 2019 Skate Helena Junior 1
51.83 		2
94.88 		1
146.71
28–29 November 2018 2018 Bosphorus Cup Junior 2
50.36 		2
94.30 		2
144.66
9–11 November 2018 2018 Prague Ice Cup Junior 3
46.79 		1
93.08 		2
139.87
18–21 October 2018 2018 Ice Star Junior 4
49.18 		3
89.94 		4
139.12
10–13 October 2018 2018 JGP Armenia Junior 5
58.31 		5
107.06 		6
165.37

References

  1. ^ "ISU World Standings for Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance : Ladies". International Skating Union. March 3, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Уроженка Латвии Алина Урушадзе гордится тем, что выступает за Грузию". Грузия Online. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  3. ^ a b "Alina URUSHADZE: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ a b c d ""I didn't think it would be that hard. For some reason, I wasn't destined to go to this Olympics. So, I'll prepare for the next one." interview with Georgian skater Alina Urushadze". FS Gossips. FS Gossips. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  5. ^ "На ЧЕ они могли выступать за Россию: ученик Тутберидзе, надежда Азербайджана и юные звезды из Грузии - 21 января 2020 - Sport24".
  6. ^ "2020 ISU European Figure Skating Championships Results". International Skating Union.
  7. ^ Ewing, Lori (March 11, 2020). "World figure skating championships cancelled in Montreal". CBC Sports.
  8. ^ "ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2020". International Skating Union.
  9. ^ "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 Results – Ladies". International Skating Union.
  10. ^ "Communication No. 2388". International Skating Union. April 1, 2021.
  11. ^ "Alina URUSHADZE: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ "Return". Facebook. Facebook. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Alina URUSHADZE: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ a b c "Competition Results: Alina URUSHADZE". International Skating Union.
  15. ^ "Alina URUSHADZE: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ^ "Alina URUSHADZE: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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