Nikolaj Memola
| Nikolaj Memola | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Country represented |  Italy |
| Born | 18 November 2003 Monza, Italy |
| Home town | Monza, Italy |
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Coach | Olga Romanova |
| Choreographer | Corrado Giordani, Andrea Gilardi |
| Skating club | IceLab Bergamo |
| Former skating club | Agorà Skating Team Milan |
| Training locations | Bergamo, Italy Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Former training locations | Milan |
| Began skating | 2008 |
| ISU personal best scores | |
| Combined total | 231.47 2022 CS Budapest Trophy |
| Short program | 83.04 2022 JGP Latvia |
| Free skate | 152.69 2022 CS Budapest Trophy |
Nikolaj Memola (born 18 November 2003) is an Italian figure skater. He is a two-time ISU Challenger Series medalist, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist, the 2021 Santa Claus Cup champion, and has represented Italy at the European Championships and the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. Domestically, he is the 2021 Italian junior national champion.
Career
Early years
Memola began learning to skate in 2008.[1] He is coached by his mother, Olga Romanova, who is originally from Russia.[2]
He debuted on 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.[3]
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 on the Challenger series. In December, he stepped onto his first senior international podium, taking gold at the Santa Claus Cup in Hungary.[3]
Following the withdrawal of Matteo Rizzo, Italy selected Memola to skate at the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.[4] Competing in his first ISU Championship, he qualified to the final segment by placing twelfth in the short program and finished in fifteenth overall.[3] He ended the season making his debut appearance at the World Junior Championships, where he placed seventh.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7] Returning to the Challenger series, Memola won bronze medals at both the Lombardia and Budapest Trophies.[3]
Programs
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2022–2023 |
|
|
| 2021–2022 [1] |
|
|
| 2020–2021 |
|
|
| 2019–2020 [8] |
|
|
| 2018–2019 [9] |
|
|
Competitive highlights
CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| International[3] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 |
| Europeans | 15th | ||||||||
| CS Budapest Trophy | 3rd | ||||||||
| CS Golden Spin | WD | ||||||||
| CS Lombardia Trophy | WD | 3rd | |||||||
| CS Warsaw Cup | 9th | ||||||||
| Métropole Nice | 4th | ||||||||
| Santa Claus Cup | 1st | ||||||||
| International: Junior[3] | |||||||||
| Junior Worlds | 7th | ||||||||
| Youth Olympics | 8th | ||||||||
| JGP Final | TBD | ||||||||
| JGP Austria | 4th | ||||||||
| JGP Czech Rep. | 2nd | ||||||||
| JGP Italy | 16th | ||||||||
| JGP Latvia | 18th | 1st | |||||||
| JGP Slovenia | 19th | ||||||||
| Crystal Skate | 1st | ||||||||
| Cup of Tyrol | 3rd | ||||||||
| Dragon Trophy | 4th | ||||||||
| Egna Trophy | 3rd | 1st | 1st | ||||||
| EYOF | 11th | ||||||||
| IceLab Cup | 2nd | ||||||||
| Merano Cup | 6th | ||||||||
| Skate Celje | 3rd | ||||||||
| Skate Victoria | 2nd | ||||||||
| Sofia Trophy | 2nd | ||||||||
| International: Advanced novice[10] | |||||||||
| Cup of Tyrol | 1st | ||||||||
| Dragon Trophy | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
| Egna/Gardena | 6th | 2nd | |||||||
| Lombardia | 5th | ||||||||
| Merano Cup | 4th | 2nd | |||||||
| Printemps | 2nd | ||||||||
| Skate Celje | 2nd | ||||||||
| National[3][10] | |||||||||
| Italy | 2nd N | 2nd N | 1st N | 4th J | 2nd J | 2nd J | 2nd J | 1st J | |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew Levels: N = Advanced novice; J = Junior | |||||||||
References
- ^ a b "Nikolaj MEMOLA: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Nikolaj Memola - 2022 Lombardia Trophy". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "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 (April 16, 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. September 5, 2022.
- ^ "Memola (ITA), Smith/Deng (USA) sealing spots in Junior Final with win at ISU JGP Riga". International Skating Union. September 12, 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.
- ^ a b "Nikolaj MEMOLA". rinkresults.com.