The Latvian Figure Skating Championships () are an annual figure skating competition organized by the Latvian Skating Association () to crown the national champions of Latvia. The first national championships held after Latvia's independence from the Soviet Union took place in Riga in 1992. On three occasions, Latvia has hosted an international competition (the Latvian Trophy), and on two occasions, Latvia and Lithuania co-hosted joint competitions, all of which served as Latvia's national championships.
Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior and junior levels, although each discipline may not necessarily be held every year due to a lack of participants. Deniss Vasiļjevs currently holds the record for winning the most Latvian Championship titles in men's singles (with seven), while Angelīna Kučvaļska and Alma Lepina are tied for winning the most titles in women's singles (with five). Oļegs Šļahovs and Elena Berezhnaya won the most titles in pair skating as a team (with three); Šļahovs won an additional title with a subsequent partner, and is thus tied with Jurijs Saļmanovs for winning the most titles in pair skating as an individual (with four each). Elena Garkushina and Andrei Sitik hold the record in ice dance (with three), while Garkushina won an additional title with a subsequent partner.
History Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1944, but finally achieved independence in August 1991. The first national championships held after Latvia's independence took place in Riga in April 1992. Andrejs Vlaščenko won the men's event after his only competitor, Konstantin Kostin, withdrew from the competition, Alma Lepina won the women's event, and Jeļena Trocenko and Vasilijs Serkovs won the ice dance event.
Controversy arose after the 1993 Latvian Championships when Andrejs Vlaščenko, who had finished in second place, allegedly refused his silver medal and threw away his diploma. Vlaščenko claimed he gave the medal to his brother, while his coach threw out the diploma. Tatjana Strautmane, president of the Latvian Skating Association, annulled his second-place finish, while the full association's presidium later voted to suspend Vlaščenko for the rest of the season. Scandal continued to follow Vlaščenko during his tenure on the Latvian national team. When members of the team met to sign their contracts with the skating federation in June 1993, Vlaščenko failed to appear. The skating federation received a letter soon after from the German Ice Skating Union asking that Vlaščenko be released to allow him to compete for Germany. In 1994, it was discovered that Vlaščenko had applied for German citizenship, having been receiving financial assistance from the German skating federation, even while still representing Latvia in international competition, including at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Figure skating in Latvia has long been hampered by a lack of resources, including available ice, financing, and interest from the general public; as well as low student enrollment. In 1993, the indoor ice rink at the Daugava Stadium was described as "very unpleasant" with concrete showing through the ice surface. The 1994 Latvian Championships featured precisely one man, one woman, one pairs team, and one ice dance team at the senior level. The Latvian Skating Association often invited guest skaters from neighboring countries, such as Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, and Russia, to fill out the competition, and even then, the guest skaters were not top-level competitors. It was only in late 1998 that the first artificial ice rink was built in Latvia following its independence: the Liepāja Olympic Hall in Liepāja. In 2010 and 2017, combined championship competitions were held with Lithuania. In 2012, 2022, and 2023, Latvia hosted an international competition – the Latvian Open; later renamed the Latvian Trophy – which also served as their national championships. In all of these cases, the top Latvian skaters were recognized as the Latvian champions.
Senior medalists
Men's singles +Senior men's event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 1992 Riga Andrejs Vlaščenko No other competitors 1993 Konstantin Kostin Andrejs Vlaščenko No other competitors 1994 Andrejs Vlaščenko No other competitors No senior men's competitors 1998 No competition held No senior men's competitors 2006 Sigulda Romans Panteļejevs Andrejs Brovenko Dmitrijs Kašs Riga No senior men's competitors 2010 Saulius Ambrulevičius Girts Jekabsons No other competitors 2011 Girts Jekabsons No other competitors 2012 No senior men's competitors 2016 Riga Deniss Vasiļjevs Gļebs Basins Lukas Kaugars 2017 Ventspils No other competitors 2018 Mārupe No other competitors 2019 No senior men's competitors 2020 Deniss Vasiļjevs No other competitors 2021–22 No competitions held 2023 Riga Deniss Vasiļjevs No other competitors 2024 Fedirs Kuļišs No other competitors 2025 2026 Fedirs Kuļišs Kirills Korkacs
Women's singles +Senior women's event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 1992 Riga Alma Lepina Ingūna Lukaševica Aija Balode 1993 No other competitors 1994 1995 1996 Valeria Trifancova Jeļena Sirohvatova 1997 Valeria Trifancova Olga Vassiljeva No other competitors 1998 No competition held 1999 Valeria Trifancova No other competitors 2000 Jūlija Šelepena No other competitors 2001 No senior women's competitors 2002 Aleksandra Petuško Olga Zadvornova Maria Balaba 2003 Yulia Tepliha No other competitors 2004 Maria Balaba Elena Kovalova Olga Zadvornova 2005 2006 Sigulda Olga Zadvornova Maria Balaba Anna Strazdiņa 2007 Riga Žanna Pugača Stasija Rage 2008 Stasija Rage No other competitors 2009 Žanna Pugača 2010 Beatričė Rožinskaitė Aida Rybalko 2011 Stasija Rage Kristine Ozola 2012 Alīna Fjodorova Dana Gerasimova 2013 No senior women's competitors 2014 Jelgava Alīna Fjodorova No other competitors 2015 Tukums Angelīna Kučvaļska Ieva Gaile Karlina Monika Pole 2016 Riga Alīna Fjodorova No other competitors 2017 Ventspils Elžbieta Kropa Deimantė Kizalaitė 2018 Mārupe Diāna Ņikitina Darja Šatibelko No other competitors 2019 Angelīna Kučvaļska Elizabete Jubkāne Anastasija Pavlovica 2020 No other competitors No competitions held 2023 Riga Sofja Stepčenko Angelīna Kučvaļska Elizabete Jubkāne 2024 Anastasija Konga 2025 Anastasija Konga Sofja Stepčenko Emilija Ozola 2026 Nikola Fomchenkova Ksenija Heimane
Pairs Elena Berezhnaya and Oļegs Šļahovs were forced to withdraw from the 1996 Latvian Championships after the first day due to illness.
+Senior pairs' event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 1992 Riga No senior pairs competitors 1993 No other competitors 1994 1995 1996 No senior pairs competitors 1997 No other competitors 1998 No competition held 1999 No other competitors 2000 2001 No senior pairs competitors 2002 No other competitors 2003 No other competitors 2004 No other competitors 2005 No senior pairs competitors since 2005
Ice dance Alexandr Kirsanov, the 2000 Latvian Champion in ice dance with his partner Barbara Hanley, was returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with two of his students aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 when their airplane collided with a helicopter upon approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and plunged into the Potomac River. All aboard were killed, including twenty-eight skaters, coaches, and family members returning from the U.S. Championships. +Senior ice dance event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 1992 Riga No other competitors 1993 1994 No other competitors 1995 No senior ice dance competitors 1996 No other competitors 1997 No other competitors 1998 No competition held 1999 No other competitors 2000 No other competitors 2001–03 No senior ice dance competitors 2004 No other competitors 2005 No other competitors 2006 2007 No other competitors 2008 No other competitors No senior ice dance competitors 2018 Mārupe No other competitors 2019 No senior ice dance competitors 2020 No other competitors No senior ice dance competitors since 2020
Junior medalists While junior-level championships were held in Latvia prior to 2008, this is earliest for which full results have been documented.
Men's singles +Junior men's event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 2008 Riga No junior men's competitors 2009 Girts Jekabsons No other competitors 2010 Artūras Ganžela 2011 Germans Salass Maksims Rozkans No other competitors 2012 Maksims Kirilovs 2013 No junior men's competitors 2014 Jelgava Deniss Vasiļjevs Gļebs Basins No other competitors 2015 Tukums No other competitors 2016 Riga Daniels Roščiks 2017 Ventspils Aleksandras Chitrenko No other competitors 2018 Mārupe Kims Georgs Pavlovs Daniels Roščiks Aleksejs Mazaļevskis 2019 No other competitors 2020 Daniels Kočkers No competitions held 2023 Riga Kirils Korkačs Antons Trofimovs Ratmirs Bekišbajevs 2024 Nikolajs Krivošeja Akims Kirilovs 2025 Jānis Znotiņš Kirils Korkačs Ratmirs Bekišbajevs 2026 Nikolajs Krivošeja
Women's singles +Junior women's event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 2008 Riga Žanna Pugača Anna Rage Dana Gerasimova 2009 Alīna Fjodorova 2010 Rimgaile Meskaite Anna Biguna 2011 Karina Rutlauka Samanta Kovalkova 2012 Karine Rutlauka Ieva Gaile 2013 Alīna Fjodorova Angelīna Kučvaļska 2014 Jelgava Angelīna Kučvaļska Kristina Gaile 2015 Tukums Diāna Ņikitina Darja Šatibelko Vlada Ljaha 2016 Riga Aleksandra Butko Anželika Kļujeva 2017 Ventspils Elizabete Jubkāne Greta Morkytė Darja Šatibelko 2018 Mārupe Anete Lāce Nikoļa Mažgane Polina Andrejeva 2019 Arina Somova 2020 Mariia Bolsheva Anastasija Konga No competitions held 2023 Riga Nikola Fomcenkova Lueta Silina Paula Nelsone 2024 Kira Baranovska Nikola Fomcenkova Jelizaveta Derecina 2025 Natasa Jermolicka Ksenija Heimane 2026 Paula Belevica Natasa Jermolicka
Pairs +Junior pairs' event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze No junior pairs competitors 2013 Riga No other competitors No junior pairs competitors 2026 Riga No other competitors
Ice dance +Junior ice dance event medalists Year Location Gold Silver Bronze 2008 Riga No other competitors 2009 No junior ice dance competitors since 2009
Latvia Trophy 2012 Latvian Open +2012 Latvian Open medalists Gold Silver Bronze Senior men Dmitry Kagirov Sarkis Hayrapetyan Girts Jekabsons Alīna Fjodorova Stasija Rage Dana Gerasimova Junior men Slavik Hayrapetyan Germans Salashs Maksims Kirilovs Junior women Karina Rutlauka Ieva Gaile Samanta Kovalkova
2022 Latvia Trophy +2022 Latvia Trophy medalists Gold Silver Bronze Senior men Deniss Vasiļjevs Gleb Smotrov No other competitors Sofja Stepčenko Nina Pinzarrone Marilena Kitromilis Junior men Kyrylo Marsak Kirills Korkacs Daniel Korabelnik Junior women Maria Eliise Kaljuvere Nikola Fomcenkova Stefania Yakovleva
2023 Latvia Trophy +2023 Latvia Trophy medalists Gold Silver Bronze Senior men Deniss Vasiļjevs Lev Vinokur Fedirs Kuļišs Sofja Stepčenko Alina Urushadze Angelīna Kučvaļska Junior men Raffaele Francesco Zich Valerii Karasov Tommaso Barison Junior women Noemi Joos Noelle Streuli Kira Baranovska
Records
+ Discipline Most championship titles Skater(s) Years Men's singles 7 2016–18;2020;2023–25 Women's singles 5 2015–17;2019–20 1992–96 Pairs 4 1999–2000;2002–03 1993–95;1997 Ice dance 4 2004;2006–08 3 2004;2006–07
Notes
References
External links Latvian Skating Association Competition results (2011–2022)