Denys Strekalin (born 31 March 1999) is a Ukrainian-born pair skater who competes for France. With his partner, Océane Piegad, he is the 2024 French national silver medalist.

Denys Strekalin
Hamon/Strekalin at the 2020 European Championships
Born (1999-03-31) 31 March 1999 (age 25)
Simferopol, Ukraine
Height1.74 m (5 ft 8+12 in)
Figure skating career
Country France
PartnerOcéane Piegad [2022-24]
Cléo Hamon [2016-22]
CoachLaurent Depouilly, Nathalie Depouilly, Dominique Deniaud
Skating clubAsga patinage artistique
Began skating2006

With his former skating partner, Cléo Hamon, he is a two-time French national champion (2020, 2021), 2018 Volvo Open Cup champion, and has competed in the final segment at three World Junior Championships (2017–2019).

Career

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In Ukraine

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Strekalin began learning to skate in 2006.[1] Competing in men's singles, he placed seventh at the Ukrainian Junior Championships in 2013 and 2015.[2] He also trained in pair skating with Sofiia Nesterova.[1]

Partnership with Hamon

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Early seasons

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In August 2016, Strekhalin teamed up with Cleo Hamon to compete for France in pairs.[1] Coached by Mehdi Bouzzine in Courbevoie, they made their international debut in February 2017, placing seventh in junior pairs at the Bavarian Open. In March, they placed fourteenth at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.[3]

In September 2017, Hamon/Strekalin debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series, placing eighth in Riga, Latvia. In December, appearing on the senior level, they won silver at the French Championships, behind Lola Esbrat / Andrei Novoselov. In March, they finished eleventh at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Competing in the 2018 JGP series, Hamon/Strekalin placed sixth in Linz, Austria, and fifth in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Making their senior international debut, the pair took gold at the Volvo Open Cup in November 2018. In March 2019, they finished ninth at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

2019–20 season

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After placing eighth at the 2019 JGP United States, Hamon/Streklain debuted on the senior Challenger series with a seventh-place finish at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. They would go on to place tenth at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup and ninth at their first European Championships.[4] Hamon/Strekalin also won the French senior national title for the first time, due to the absence of James/Cipres from the competition season. They finished the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they placed fifth.[5] Hamon/Strekalin were scheduled to participate in the 2020 World Championships in Montreal, which would have been their senior World debut, but these were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

2020–21 season

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With the pandemic ongoing, Hamon/Strekalin began the new season at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where only pairs training in Europe competed.[7] They were fourth after the short program, and after the top-ranked Hase/Seegert withdrew, they placed third in the free and won the bronze medal.[8]

Hamon/Strekalin were scheduled to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Internationaux de France, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.[9]

In February, they won their second straight National title.[10] Later that month, they competed at the International Challenge Cup, placing fifth. On 1 March they were named to the team for the 2021 World Championships.[11] They placed twentieth in their World Championship debut.[12] Hamon/Strekalin finished the season at the 2021 World Team Trophy, where they finished fifth in both segments, and Team France finished in fifth place overall.[13][14][15]

2021–22 season

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Hamon/Strekalin began the season at the 2021 Lombardia Trophy, where they finished in fourth place.[16]

They were originally scheduled to compete at the Nebelhorn Trophy, where the final Olympics spots would be decided, but were later replaced by Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre. It was later announced that Hamon would be taking a break from figure skating due to health issues from burnout, and that had been the reason for them being replaced at the Nebelhorn Trophy.[17]

Partnership with Piegad

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2022–23 season

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On 31 January 2022 Strekalin announced that he had formed a new partnership with former singles skater Océane Piegad.[18] Coached by Laurent Depouilly, Nathalie Depouilly, and Dominique Deniaud, the pair made their competitive debut at the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they finished in eleventh place, and then competed at the 2022 Master's de Patinage, winning the silver medal.[19]

Invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Grand Prix de France, they finished seventh of seven teams at the event. They went on to place fourth at the 2022 Bavarian Open and seventh at the 2023 International Challenge Cup.[19]

2023–24 season

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Piegad/Strekalin began the season with a tenth-place finish at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy, before coming seventh at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.[19] Appearing on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, they finished fifth.[20]

2024-25 season

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Piegad/Strekalin were assigned to the 2024 Grand Prix de France.[21] They withdrew from the competition on September 17.[22] On September 23, they announced their spilt due to injury.[23]

Programs

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With Piegad

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Season Short program Free skating
2023–2024
[24]
2022–2023
[25]

With Hamon

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Season Short program Free skating
2021–2022
[26]
2020–2021
[27]
2019–2020
[28]
2018–2019
[1]
2017–2018
[29]
  • Deep Shadow
    by T.T.L.
  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
    • The Hanging Tree
      performed by L.E.J
    • The Mockingjay Theme
      choreo. by Leonie Corbin
2016–2017
[3]
  • I Want You Back
    performed by Tony Succar, Tito Nieves
    choreo. by Leonie Corbin

Competitive highlights

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GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Pairs with Piegad for France

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International [19]
Event 22–23 23–24 24-25
Europeans 12th
GP France 7th 5th WD
CS Finlandia 7th
CS Golden Spin WD
CS Lombardia Trophy 10th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 11th
CS Warsaw Cup WD
Bavarian Open 4th
Challenge Cup 7th
Trophée Nice 2nd
National [19]
French Nationals 2nd
Master's de Patinage 2nd WD
TBD = Assigned

Pairs with Hamon for France

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International[30]
Event 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22
Worlds C 20th
Europeans 9th
GP France C WD
CS Finlandia Trophy 7th
CS Lombardia Trophy 4th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 3rd WD
CS Warsaw Cup 10th
Challenge Cup WD
Volvo Open Cup 1st
International: Junior[30]
Junior Worlds 14th 11th 9th 5th
JGP Austria 6th
JGP Czech Rep. 5th
JGP Latvia 8th
JGP Poland 15th
JGP United States 8th
Bavarian Open 7th
Tallinn Trophy 2nd
National[30]
French Champ. 2nd 2nd 1st 1st
French Junior 1st 1st 1st 1st
Masters 1st J 1st
Team events
World Team Trophy 5th T
5th P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled
T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Men's singles for Ukraine

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National[2]
Event 2012–13 2014–15
Ukrainian Junior Champ. 7th 7th

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Denys STREKALIN". rinkresults.com.
  3. ^ a b "Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017.
  4. ^ "2020 ISU European Figure Skating Championships Results". International Skating Union.
  5. ^ Slater, Paula (March 5, 2020). "Panfilova and Rylov claim Pairs' title at Junior Worlds". Golden Skate.
  6. ^ Ewing, Lori (March 11, 2020). "World figure skating championships cancelled in Montreal". CBC Sports.
  7. ^ "2020 NEBELHORN TROPHY". International Figure Skating. September 19, 2020. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  8. ^ "ISU CS Nebelhorn Trophy 2020 Results". International Skating Union.
  9. ^ "Grand Prix of France figure skating event canceled due to coronavirus". Olympic Channel. 20 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Championnat de France ELITE". February 6, 2021.
  11. ^ "Mondiaux: La Sélection Française" [Worlds: The French Selection] (in French). Fédération Française des Sports de Glace. March 1, 2021. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  12. ^ "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 Results – Pairs". International Skating Union.
  13. ^ Slater, Paula (April 15, 2021). "2021 World Team Trophy: Day 1". Golden Skate.
  14. ^ Slater, Paula (April 16, 2021). "2021 World Team Trophy: Day 2". Golden Skate.
  15. ^ Slater, Paula (April 17, 2021). "2021 World Team Trophy: Day 3". Golden Skate.
  16. ^ "Lombardia Trophy 2021". Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio.
  17. ^ @cleo_denys.sk8 (September 20, 2021). "Bonjour à tous. Cléo et Denys ne seront pas à Oberstdorf cette semaine pour le challenger séries" [Hello everyone. Cléo and Denys will not be in Oberstdorf this week for the series challenger.] – via Instagram.
  18. ^ Strekalin, Denys [@den_strekalin] (January 31, 2022). "Hello everyone, we would like to announce that from today @piegad and I are officially starting our partnership🎉" – via Instagram.
  19. ^ a b c d e "Competition Results: Oceane PIEGAD / Denys STREKALIN". International Skating Union.
  20. ^ "Pereira/Michaud (CAN) claim first ISU Grand Prix crown at Grand Prix de France". International Skating Union. October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  21. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2024/25 - Pair Skating". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024.
  22. ^ @AnythingGOE (September 17, 2024). "Maia Mazzara and Natacha Lagouge / Arnaud Caffa have received host picks at Grand Prix de France" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ @piegad_strekalin (September 23, 2024). "👋🏻Bonsoir à tous!" [Hello everyone!] (in French) – via Instagram.
  24. ^ "Oceane PIEGAD / Denys STREKALIN: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023.
  25. ^ "Oceane PIEGAD / Denys STREKALIN: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019.
  29. ^ "Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018.
  30. ^ a b c "Competition Results: Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018.
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