Lausanne, Switzerland

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Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin of Russia didn’t need long to get to the top: Less than two years after teaming up, this young couple won the World Junior title in 2018 in their debut at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia last March. Now the Muscovites have taken the next step and will debut at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Helsinki (FIN) this week.

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin RUS 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)  929367746 (1)

ISU World Junio Figure Skating Championships 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

For the lively Daria, now 15, pair skating was a fresh start after she actually had retired from the sport for eight months when she was twelve years old. After training first in her home town of Zelenograd near Moscow and then in Moscow under various coaches, she started to skate in Eteri Tutberidze’s group. “She suggested me to switch to pair skating. At this moment I was not ready for that and I decided to stop,” the skater recalled. “I didn’t have the best jumps and I had to fix the mistakes, re-learn things. So I decided I have enough from the sport and I focused on school. But after a while I thought – why not? Why shouldn’t I try pairs and if I don’t do it, I’ll never forgive myself later.”

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin RUS 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)  929367630

ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Pavliuchenko came back and joined the group of pair skating coach Sergei Dobroskokov, who had a partner for her right away: Denis Khodykin, who is three and a half years older. He already had some pair skating experience, but his previous two partnerships hadn’t worked out. “In singles, I didn’t really have a future. The triple Axel didn’t work and during puberty I had put on weight. The triples were not consistent,” he shared. “In my last singles competition, I messed up badly and they told me – ‘do pairs.’”

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin Sergei Rosliakov Sergei Dobroskokov 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Coach Sergei Rosliakov and Sergei Dobroskokov in the background with Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Daria and Denis soon turned out as a perfect match on the ice. They progressed fast under coaches Dobroskokov and Sergei Rosliakov, but learning the pairs elements was not a walk through the park. “Each element has its nuances and difficulties that you have to overcome,” Khodykin pointed out. The skaters felt that the side by side spins and the death spirals were especially hard to learn. Daria was not afraid of lifts and throws, though. “I just did everything,” she said with a laugh. “I was afraid,” admitted Denis. “I didn’t know how Daria would behave when we did it for the first time and I have the responsibility.”

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin RUS 2018©International Skating Union (ISU) GettyImages 930493528

ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

It’s the versatility of Pair Skating that the young team enjoys a lot. “It’s the learning process, the elements and their diversity. At first, everything was new and that attracted me. Single skating is one thing – it’s mostly jumps and spins, but in pairs we have the twist, the throws, pair elements,” Pavliuchenko explained. “We want to do the elements better and better. And when in one moment you land a great jump with a cool exit or you do a huge twist – that is wow. When you work on new elements, it is interesting, a certain thrill, you learn and learn and you hope it will work out,” her partner added.

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin RUS 2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 928658392 (1)

ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Over the summer, Pavliuchenko/Khodykin not only got two new programs – “When Winter Comes” in the Short Program and “The Great Gatsby” in the Free Skating – but they also learned new lifts and started to include the side by side triple flip into their long program – as currently the only pair team in the world. The Muscovites are setting themselves apart also by unusual transitions and rarely seen moves such as the forward-outside death spiral. “We’re working with our acrobatic coach on mini lifts (transitional lifts) and we’ll try to include them into our programs,” Denis, 19, said.

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin RUS 2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 929357334 (1)

ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

The skaters feel that their relationship is like between brother and sister – including arguments. “We argue about different things, starting from questions about life,” Daria said. “And we argue about what to skate first in practice, the long or the short program,” Denis continued. “Sometimes there is a bad me inside me and I don’t want to give in,” Daria admitted. Luckily, they always reconcile quickly.

Pavliuchenko/Khodykin started their season with the Challenger Series event Finlandia Trophy and the international competition in Ice Star in Minsk and now will compete in their first Grand Prix. “We try not to make any differences between the competitions as they are more or less the same, but the Grand Prix means more responsibility,” Denis said.

Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin RUS 2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 852146610

ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Minsk 2017©International Skating Union (ISU)

Three things Daria would take if sent to an isolated island:

“I’m taking chocolate, a map and a suitcase.”

Three things Denis would take if sent to an isolated island:

“I would take a lighter, an axe and a book.”

Follow Daria & Denis:

Instagram: daria_pavlyuchenko; denkhodykin