Katarina Wolfkostin was born on October 9, 2004, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She likes art, music, and drawing animals and fantasy creatures. She has three cats, a corn snake, and two pet cockatiels named Chika and Shirley.[1]
Career
Early career
Wolfkostin began ice skating in 2009 when she was five.[2] She started ice dancing with a partner when she was nine, training in Canton, Michigan, with Marina Zoueva. Wolfkostin and her first partner, John Carlson, placed eighth at the 2016 U.S. Championships in the intermediate division.[3][4] She teamed up with Howard Zhao in the 2016–17 season. Coached by Anjelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo, Wolfkostin/Zhao were the 2017 U.S. national intermediate champions, and the 2018 U.S. national novice champions, in ice dance.[5] Wolfkostin/Zhao placed fourth in the advanced novice division at the 2018 Mentor Toruń Cup.[6]
Wolfkostin/Chen were named as the sole ice dance entrant on the U.S. team for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.[7] They were fifth after the rhythm dance, before placing third in the free dance, to win the bronze medal overall behind Russian dancers Khavronina/Cirisano and Tyutyunina/Shustitsky.[8] Their medal was the first won by Team USA at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.[9][10] Wolfkostin/Chen were drawn as part of Team Determination for the team event, alongside singles skaters Cha Young-hyun of South Korea and Nella Pelkonen of Finland and pairs skaters Brooke McIntosh / Brandon Toste of Canada. They placed fourth in the free dance segment to help Team Determination finish fourth after losing the tie-breaker.
The season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with domestic competitions initially changed to a virtual format, leading up to the 2021 U.S. Championships. Wolfkostin/Chen placed first in the rhythm dance and first in the free dance in both rounds of the 2020 Virtual ISP Points Challenge,[13][14] and second in the free dance at the 2020 Virtual U.S. Championship Series.[15] Wolfkostin/Chen then competed at the 2021 U.S. Championships, after Chen was medically cleared to skate after a second opinion was obtained following a knee injury, originally thought to be an incapacitating ACL tear. Despite the injury, they placed first in both the rhythm and free dance, earning them the gold medal for the national title.[16][17][18]
2021–2022 season
Returning to international competition for the first time in over a year, Wolfkostin/Chen began on the Junior Grand Prix by competing at the first French JGP of 2021, in Courchevel. They placed first in both segments, easily winning the gold medal.[19] At their second event, 2021 JGP Slovenia, they placed third in the rhythm dance but made up ground in the free dance, placing second in that segment and placed second overall.[20] Assigned to their first senior event just a few weeks later, Wolfkostin/Chen placed ninth at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria.[21] Their JGP results had qualified them for the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final, but it was subsequently canceled as a result of travel restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 Omicron variant.[22]
Rather than seeking to defend their national junior title, Wolfkostin/Chen opted to compete as seniors at the 2022 U.S. Championships. They finished in sixth place overall, notably beating former national pewter medalists Carreira/Ponomarenko.[23] When the U.S. team was announced for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Wolfkostin/Chen were named as alternates.[24]
Due to the pandemic, the 2022 World Junior Championships could not be held as scheduled in Sofia in early March and, as a result, were rescheduled for Tallinn in mid-April.[25] Due to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the International Skating Union (ISU) banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating, which had a significant impact on the field of figure skating and ice dance.[26][27] Wolfkostin/Chen were considered frontrunners for the title, however, following a fall at the beginning of the rhythm dance, they placed ninth in that segment, 6.40 points behind third place Bashynska/Beaumont of Canada.[28] Wolfkostin/Chen mounted a comeback in the free dance, placing second in that segment with a score within 0.04 points of their personal best, which raised them to fourth place overall. They finished 0.37 points back of bronze medalists Bashynska/Beaumont.[29]
2022–2023 season
Despite their disappointing result at the World Junior Championships, it did not alter Wolfkostin and Chen's plans to move up to the senior level for the following season. Chen would later explain their reasoning that "we had already competed a bit in seniors last year, and we were excited to move into seniors. We feel that it's inspiring and helps us grow faster. It also relieves a bit of pressure; being the ones who chase after people, instead of being targeted."[30] In addition, Wolfkostin and Chen announced in May that they would be leaving coach Igor Shpilband to train at the new Michigan Ice Dance Academy in Canton, Michigan, under coaches Greg Zuerlein, Tanith Belbin White, and Olympic championCharlie White.[31] This also aligned with their mutual decision to attend the nearby University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.[30]
The team debuted new senior programs at the 2022 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, where they won the bronze medal. Shortly afterward, they appeared on the Challenger series at the 2022 CS U.S. Classic, finishing sixth.[32] At their second Challenger, the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy, Wolfkostin/Chen won the bronze medal, setting three new personal bests in the process.[33] In November, they were invited to make their senior Grand Prix debut, finishing in eighth place at the 2022 Grand Prix de France.[34] They were tenth at the 2022 NHK Trophy, struggling with level issues on several elements.[35] Chen later said that illness and a training injury had hindered them during the Grand Prix.[30] At the 2023 U.S. Championships, they placed tenth in the rhythm dance and fifth in the free dance, resulting in a seventh-place finish overall.[21]
On February 8, 2023, Wolfkostin and Chen announced the end of their partnership, with Wolfkostin stating that she would look for a new partner. She said that "last year had many ups and downs and I'm still trying to figure everything out."[36] Months later, she would add that "we had different goals in mind, and just a couple things that weren't going to work out."[37]
2023–2024 season: First season with Tsarevski
On May 16, 2023, Wolfkostin announced a new ice dance partnership with Dimitry Tsarevski, who moved from Colorado to Michigan to train.[38] Wolfkostin/Tsarevski started their season with successful summer competitions in Dallas and Lake Placid, where they placed first in all events at the senior level.[39] They were then given their first senior international assignment, the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International,[37] where they placed fifth. They again placed fifth at the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy.[40][41] The following month, they placed first in both segments of the senior level of the 2024 U.S. Ice Dance Final,[42] easily winning the gold and qualifying them for the 2024 U.S. Championships. There, they placed eighth in the rhythm dance, seventh in the free dance, and ninth overall, finishing 1.38 points behind sibling team Brown/Brown.[43]
2024–2025 season: Junior Grand Prix Final silver
In June 2024, a new ruling of the ISU Congress resulted in a change of age limit for junior pairs and ice dance teams,[44] and Wolfkostin, 19, and Tsarevski, 20, opted to start the year in the junior division. Wolfkostin reported being off the ice for several months while recovering from a leg fracture, and they waited until July to begin their season.[45] At the 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, they placed second overall.[40] They were then assigned to the JGP Czech Republic, where they clinched the silver medal.[46][47] A few weeks later at the JGP Poland, they won the gold medal, scoring new season's bests and qualifying them for the JGP Final in Grenoble, France. [48][41] There, Wolfkostin/Tsarevski scored 65.57 in the rhythm dance and 99.41 in the free dance, totaling 164.98 points and earning the silver medal in the final.[49]
_50.jpg)
_03.jpg)
