2025-26 German Figure Skating

[TeamGubanova]

Hella Höppner posted some results on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/hella.hoppner
Diana Ziesecke won, Anna Gerke second. Ziesecke won both the SP and the free.
Genrikh Gartung showed his senior programs, so he skated out of competition.
Felix Zeng won, Leon Rojkov won the free. In the short Zeng was first, Robert Wildt second, Soner Öztürk third.
Grimm/Rodin won the RD with 60,83 points.

i'm surprised by this, what happened with Voroteliak, i saw on the jumping she did 3Lz+3T, and she has been hyped up for years and this is her first junior season eligible.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

i'm surprised by this, what happened with Voroteliak, i saw on the jumping she did 3Lz+3T, and she has been hyped up for years and this is her first junior season eligible.

Diana also has a 3Lz+3T (though I think she did a 3F+3T in the Short here) and Anna as well (she did a 3T+3T in the Short). There is very little between them in terms of ability, and I would guess that it came down to an error or two about who placed where. That also includes Sophie, who has a 3Lz+3T as well, but only managed to do a 3Lz+2T in the Short here.

It's also early in the season, so some skaters might be in better form than others already. And at the end, some skaters just transition better to Juniors than others. Adding a whole jump element/combination in the Free is too much for some when they just came out of Novices

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Rhythm Dance sneak peeks:

Grimm/Rodin:


Kobors:


From IG stories & ISU bios, Hemcke/Sladkov's RD music is Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) and Edler/Hörmann's RD is set to Groove Is in the Heart.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

And Free Skate sneak-peeks for the girls:

Diana Ziesecke:

Storm by Eric Radford. She made it hard to beat her here with a clean second half 3Lz+3T.

Anna Gerke:

Thematically, Anna has two strong programs with Dune and Frida

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Some elements from Sophie Erhardt's Free Skate:


And Adelina has a new Michael Jackson FS, but was reusing her costume from last season.


Unwelcome news on the pairs' side of things, though.
Apparently, Anfisa Sevastianova doesn't have a release yet. She competed domestically in Poland for a few years, so I assume that is the federation they'll have to ask for a release. Krebs/Trofymov competed with reduced difficulty after an injury, and Robert Kunkel seems to have injured both hands based on his recent IG stories.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

And confirmation of Robert's injury:



Feels like they're cursed. They're one of my favourite pairs teams, and somehow they constantly have bad luck, I feel so bad for them.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Oh, and from what I heard/could figure out, this is the order of placements at Jr Test Skates, and likely JGP assignments:

Jr Women:

1. Diana Ziesecke -> One JGP
2. Anna Gerke -> One JGP
3. Sophie Erhardt -> First alternate
4. Adelina Voroteliak -> Second alternate

Last JGP spot goes to Diana or Anna, unless both place outside of the top 10 at their JGP, then Sophie gets it​

Jr Men:

1. Felix Zeng -> One JGP
2. Robert Wildt -> One JGP
3. Leon Rojkov -> One JGP
4. Soner Öztürk -> One JGP
5. Michelangelo Caprano
6. Richard von Göler

Genrikh Gartung gets two JGP spots off the bat, the last JGP spot goes to whoever scores highest at their first JGP.​

​

Jr Pairs:

1. Sonja Löwenherz / Robert Löwenherz -> One or two JGP spots
2. Anfisa Sevastianova / Lukas Gneiding - Waiting for release
3. Sophie Krebs / Ilia Trofymov -> One JGP spot

I could imagine the German fed giving the Löwenherz siblings two JGPs from the start, but I could also imagine them waiting for the results at the first JGPs, just to see how Sophie and Ilia look after recovering from the injury.​

​

Jr Ice Dance:

1. Darya Grimm / Grigorii Rodin - Waiting for release

Not sure about the order of the other Ice Dance teams, but it doesn't really matter as they should all get two JGP spots, including Alexia Kruk / Jan Eisenhaber. One team might get two spots with an asterisk, i.e. they'd have to achieve a minimum score at their first JGP assignment to secure the second spot.​

 

[Jumping_Bean]

More content from the boys:

Genrikh's triples from the Free:


Leon Rojkovs's new Avatar Free:

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Felix Zeng's new Yuri on Ice Free (and I will absolutely cry seeing this on the JGP):


Soner Öztürk's new Free:

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Robert Wildt's new Free (Hello carriage!):


Michelangelo Caprano's new Free, including a backflip:

Very ambitious young man, he just needs consistency.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

And a bit of a recap of Junior Test Skates on the Pirouette podcast:



They also released an article (here), but you have to be a member to read it, and it is in German.

In the newsletter, there are more details about Robert's injury (which are also included in the podcast), most importantly that he expects to be back on the ice soon and they are aiming for the Nebelhorn Trophy as their first competition of the season.
There's also a new departure from the German team - Marie Bierwert, who will represent the United Arab Emirates. Marie won the silver medal at 2023/24 German Nationals in the Advanced Novice category. She did not compete at all last season, so she should be eligible to compete in the JGP series . I assume she will be at the Abu Dhabi JGP, at the very least.

And, as expected, we now have confirmation of Jennifer Janse van Rensburg / Benjamin Steffan getting a second Grand Prix assignment at NHK Trophy:

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Last set of content from Junior Test Skates:

Lift from the Kobor twins' Free Dance:


Excerpts from Hemcke/Sladkov's Free Dance:


I'm really looking forward to seeing these two programs in full on the JGP circuit soon.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Krebs/Trofymov's new Free Skate:


Some elements from the Löwenherz siblings' Free Skate:

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Parts of Richard von Göler's Free Skate:


And just barely after the start of the season, we already have our first international medal - Congrats to Alexia Kruk and Jan Eisenhaber for their bronze medal at Lake Placid Ice Dance International. I hope they are able to carry this momentum into their JGP assignments.


In other news, Robert Kunkel is back on the ice and seems to be in good spirits despite his hands still being heavily bandaged.

 

[paulusfr]

This is an excerpt from an interview with Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin for Pirouette magazine. I'm a bit late with it — it was conducted after the '25 World Championships - but I thought there were something worth sharing.

"Our short program is going to be something new — something we've never done before. And neither of us has skated this kind of program with a previous partner. We want to show a different side of ourselves. We have a lot of ideas for the short program. The music will be specially composed just for us.

We're paying for it ourselves, because we want to avoid any issues with music rights. We don’t want to create a program now only to find out six months later that we’re not allowed to perform it. That's why we said: no more risks.

We believe we can create a really strong short program — one that people will hopefully remember, and one that can stand as a true Olympic program. The composer is Maxime Rodriguez from France.

By using a custom composition, we hope to be fully creative and ensure that everything matches perfectly with the elements and choreography. That also gives Paul and Mark (our choreographers) more freedom in their work. I think it might be an exciting experience for them as well, to create something like this with us."

...

"We want to do something new — something that will stay with us. We're very grateful to have the freedom to create programs that reflect our own signature, because in an Olympic season, we want to be remembered."

They also mentioned they plan to include a throw triple flip and slightly adjust the twist technique to get the split. Adding new elements in an Olympic season always carries a bit of risk — but it’s understandable. The competition is getting tougher, and there won't be room on the podium for everyone.



And there is another one:

Nikita: We need more connection with the choreography elements. Sometimes it feels like we're doing elements first and then going back to the program. We're too focused on the elements, and after we do the big elements, we can focus on the choreography. But that's not the right way.

Minerva: To get better, we need to make the hard parts look easy. That's something we still need to work on.

Nikita: And you also need to perform them while being in your best shape, both physically and mentally. If you're not in shape, and you know how many points the elements bring, you'll focus only on them. To have a good flow in the program and show both the elements and choreography, you need to be in the best form possible.

 

[TeamGubanova]

does anyone know what happened to olesya ray? she was such a promising skater

 

[Jumping_Bean]

does anyone know what happened to olesya ray? she was such a promising skater

Olesya skated well at Jr Test Skates last year and was assigned to a JGP. Unfortunately, in the time between Test Skates and her JGP, she got injured and a lengthy recovery period took her out of competitions for almost the whole season.

She's back on the ice now (has been since late February, early March), has had two new programs choreographed by Joti Polizoakis and plans to move up to Seniors this season. I'm expecting her to be at Sr Test Skates next week.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Nikita Volodin has passed both the German language and the naturalisation test:

Newsletter 10. August 2025

Überraschungen beim Cranberry Cup - Nebelhorn Trophy Tickets im Verkauf - Volodin besteht Deutsch-Test - Schweizer Testlaufen ohne Stars - Tkachenko/Kiliakov hören auf

steady.page

Getting citizenship is now only a matter of time. Unfortunately for a lot of prospective citizens, processing times can be lengthy. However, if Nikita is given the same treatment as Bruno Massot, he should be naturalised soon.

 

[ladyjane]

Nikita Volodin has passed both the German language and the naturalisation test:

Newsletter 10. August 2025

Überraschungen beim Cranberry Cup - Nebelhorn Trophy Tickets im Verkauf - Volodin besteht Deutsch-Test - Schweizer Testlaufen ohne Stars - Tkachenko/Kiliakov hören auf

steady.page

Getting citizenship is now only a matter of time. Unfortunately for a lot of prospective citizens, processing times can be lengthy. However, if Nikita is given the same treatment as Bruno Massot, he should be naturalised soon.

Yay!

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Other Hase / Volodin news - Sneak peek of their new Short Program: