Nazarova & Nikitin (UKR) announce their retirement... and what's next for them

[Sylvia]

Creating a separate thread for yesterday's announcement by Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin that they have decided to end their competitive careers (their first international was a JGP in 2010).

Nazarova: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChMpDaLo9xr/
"Max and I worked together for almost 20 years! Those were great times. There were many funny moments, many times it was hard and even painful! But all these 20 years have all been the best! We have always performed in the first place for the audience. We always wanted to show you new elements, and we always tried to make our programs fun and interesting! ..."

Nikitin: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChMpJ0rIzrm/
"... We are very grateful to everyone who has been with us on this long journey. And thanks to all those who supported and helped us! For such a long time, there were a lot of these people . And a big thank you to all the fans. We wouldn't be able to do anything without you. We have decided to end our sports career. But we do not want to finish with figure skating! We really want to continue to work and please you, but not as athletes!"

Europe on Ice's tweet includes a link to an article from Worlds, ICYMI:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1558536413741830146

Skate Ukraine's results page for them goes back to the 2007-08 season:

Results | Oleksandra Nazarova - Maksym Nikitin | Skate Ukraine

skateukraine.org

 

[Sylvia]

The Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation has published an interview on their website (August 14): Maksym Nikitin/Aleksandra Nazarova: we are leaving, but we are not saying goodbye

Nikitin is currently in the Netherlands as a guest coach for a 2-week camp - machine translated excerpt below:

"We have a lot of ideas left, which the rules did not allow us to implement. It is possible that we can show something "fresh-new" in the near future. We will announce the details later," Maksym Nikitin said in an interview for the UFFC website.

- Maksim, it seems that the decision to leave the competitive arena was spontaneous, because your duo won two stages of the Grand Prix...

- No, on the contrary, we have been thinking about it a lot lately. We both lived a long life in active sports, I have been on the ice for 24 years out of my 28, Sasha - a little less. But even taking this into account, the options were different. When Russia started this terrible war, we decided that it would be better if we continue our careers, because speaking abroad, we can be useful to our country. That is why we delayed a little with the announcement of the end of the performances - we were thinking about how it would be right and what we ourselves want. In the end, we were inclined to the fact that now we will bring more benefit outside the competitive ice. Financial reasons also played a role, in particular, the fact that the parents lost their jobs due to the war. And Sasha and I came to the conclusion that we may not be able to withstand the emotional stress at the starts. For example, at the last World Cup in Montpellier, it was very difficult in this sense. Fortunately,

- What do you plan to do in the future?

- I will say right away: we are not leaving figure skating in any case! Although there are no specific plans yet, it is absolutely clear that we will look for an opportunity to realize ourselves in our sport in a capacity other than as athletes. Previously, we helped Galina Volodymyrivna (Churilova) train young skaters, we would like to continue doing this, especially since they are currently in a difficult situation.

 

[airgelaal]

I saw them for the first time 12 years ago. It was this video from national team test skates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_pOZzB9f3M&ab_channel=IvanDaniluk

By the way, it was the first time I saw Olga Mikutina too
It was clear that they were having fun on the ice. That is why I loved them. They didn't just do their job, they had fun.
I hope they will keep the same attitude towards figure skating in their future work.

 

[allezfred]

I saw them for the first time live when they won bronze at 2015 Junior Worlds in Tallinn. I don’t think I have ever been as moved by a programme as I was by their rhythm dance in Montpellier. There are few skaters who will have retired with such a memorable programme as their last. Looking forward to see what their next steps will be.

 

[Hedwig]

I saw them for the first time live when they won bronze at 2015 Junior Worlds in Tallinn. I don’t think I have ever been as moved by a programme as I was by their rhythm dance in Montpellier. There are few skaters who will have retired with such a memorable programme as their last. Looking forward to see what their next steps will be.

well said.

all the best to them in whatever they are doing now.

 

[Ena Grins]

I've been following them since their junior season that culminated in the bronze at Junior Worlds. They had their ups and downs, but I was always excited to see what they'd do next. Their Montpellier performance required such strength, bravery, and vulnerability and it moved me - a descendant of a Ukrainian refugee - more than maybe any other program ever well. I'm so grateful for the chance to follow them over their competitive careers, and into whatever they do next.

 

[Kelvster]

I also enjoyed their emotional RD at worlds! Would prefer this to Rach2/Irish gibberish any day!!

 

[reut]

First time I saw Sasha and Max was in Innsbruck at Youth Olympic Games where they got silver. I was charmed by their performance and then, while writing an article, I was especially excited to learn that they both come from my hometown, Kharkiv. Since then I followed their career, talked to them a few times for longer/shorter interviews or quotes for my reports. Last time we talked was at Euros, where we mainly talked about their Olympic memories and expectations.

I really loved their programs, their style, their costumes were interesting and showed good taste, they had some unique lifts I really loved. I will really miss them. But then, end of Olympic cycle is always full of goodbyes. They had a career they can be proud of and their last performance was indeed very, very special. We will remember it, they will remember it, their country will remember it. Hope to see them in professionals and maybe as coaches/choreographers at competitions too?

 

[Sylvia]

niceiceprincess has created a touching video tribute spanning N/N's career and Oleksandra's mother thanked her in the comments:

Ice Princess on Instagram: "To my Nazarova & Nikitin 🤍 #oleksandranazarova #maksymnikitin #alexandranazarova #maximnikitin #nazarovanikitin #figureskating #icedance #edit"

115 likes, 12 comments - niceiceprincess on August 15, 2022: "To my Nazarova & Nikitin 🤍 #oleksandranazarova #maksymnikitin #alexandranazarova #maximnikitin #nazarovanikitin #figureskating #icedance #edit".

www.instagram.com

 

[Wyliefan]

Nazarova is joining up with Savchenko to give what looks like online fitness classes: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch-Lh_VouQU/?hl=en

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks, @Stephanie - cross-posting your link (interview is dated Dec. 9, 2022) in this thread :

I'm not sure where to put this but there's a great interview (translated into English) with Max Nikitin here: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles/2022/12/9/7379968/

 

[airgelaal]

Great interview with Sasha and Max about their experiences at the Youth Olympics and the Olympics.
And a little about their current life.
The interview is in Ukrainian, but Google translate works well.

https://noc-ukr.org/news/24369/

I never thought that they were the only Youth Olympics medalists in ice dance who were able to perform at the Olympics.