Andrei Mozalev

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The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment

Spoiler: #8

#8. Andrei won the short program at the Panin Memorial for the first time since 2020.

Georgy Pokhilyuk, a representative of the Tutberidze team, and other coaches watch closely as Andrei performs his short program.
St. Petersburg, Figure Skating Academy, 10/11/2025.
Photo by Alexei Parf from his social media.​

Were you pleasantly surprised too? For me, this was the first sign, the first indication that the 2025-26 season is shaping up, if not successfully, then at least promisingly for Andrei.

The “Panin Memorial” was the first major event of the season in Russia, a second-tier domestic tournament, but with a very strong field of competitors. The men’s singles competition, in particular, featured a very strong lineup. The top skaters showcased their new programs for the season, demonstrated their readiness, and tested their skills against their rivals. I’m using past tense verbs because, unfortunately, for the 2026–27 season, this tournament has been moved to late December, and it’s unlikely that top athletes will participate now: at that point, they’ll be fully focused on preparing for the Russian Championships. As a result, it will lose its strategic significance and turn into a minor local event. That’s sad, but well, perhaps the Moscow fall competitions will become such strategically important events.

But last year it still was the important event, the first tournament of the season. Here Andrei presented his new programs (he wasn’t invited to the national team’s test skates last year). His short program, “Everybody,” caused a sensation, especially since the skater performed it brilliantly and didn’t make a single mistake. For the first time since 2020, he won the short program at this tournament, and for the first time in several seasons, he scored over 95 points in the short program (this will be his best season in terms of short program scores until December 2025).

Andrei won the short program ahead of Dikidji, Ugozhaev, Lutfullin and Vetlugin, proving that he is ready to compete for the top spots at major events. It was awesome, and it is undoubtedly one of the season’s most significant events.

 

[Mariott]

The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment

Spoiler: #7

#7. Andrei was invited to the Channel One Cup for the first time since 2023.

Andrei carries toys collected from the ice during the fun relay races at the Channel One Cup.
St. Petersburg, Yubileyny arena, 03/22/2026.
Photo by Irina Tsimfer from her social media.​

The Channel One Cup is a commercial event organized by Russia’s Channel One, held since 2021, in recent years at the end of the sports season. Figure skaters are divided into several teams, each including representatives from all disciplines. The teams compete against each other; each team receives a cash prize, but the winning team’s prize is significantly larger than that of the other teams.

All Russian figure skaters want to participate in this competition because it is prestigious, lucrative, and the television network invests heavily in promoting each participant, boosting their popularity. Since this is a commercial tournament, the organizers themselves choose whom they want to invite to participate. In the last few seasons, only skaters who finished in the top five at the Russian Championships could be absolutely certain they would be invited. Everyone else hoped, but could not be sure. The selection criteria changed every year. The organizers mixed up the lineup, inviting strong juniors and retired athletes, and partially entrusting the selection of participants to spectators, sports journalists, and the federation, etc.

Because Andrei had two unsuccessful seasons, he didn’t receive an invitation and was forced to miss the tournament in 2024 and 2025, which left him deeply upset and feeling disappointed in himself. This year he was invited — and this event had a huge impact on his emotional state and self-esteem. He performed well, earned a cash prize, and had a great time with friends. It really was a successful season.
Welcome back, Andrei!

 

[Mariott]

The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment

Spoiler: #6

#6. Andrei won the Channel One Cup for the first time since 2022.

Andrei takes a lap of honor with his trophy in hand at the Channel One Cup. St. Petersburg, Yubileyny arena, 03/22/2026.
Photos by Irina Tsimfer from her social media accounts.​

Now that was a comeback!
Red is a lucky color for this guy! Andrei won the First Channel Cup as part of the “Red Machine” team in 2021 and 2022, then broke his winning streak and took silver in 2023, didn’t receive an invitation and missed the tournament twice in 2024 and 2025, and in 2026 he returned and won gold for the third time — again on the red team! What a guy!

Of course, Andrei wasn’t flawless in the short program, but aside from a fall on his opening quadruple Salchow, everything else in the program was executed perfectly, especially the light and soaring 3A. On the second day of the competition, Andrei had an excellent performance in the pairs jumping competition alongside Nikita Sarnovsky and in the jumping relay, confidently landing both a 3A and three types of quads, including a 4F, which he only began attempting in competition this season. And during the relay, when he had to navigate obstacles at speed on one leg, he displayed masterful skating skills, outperforming even some of the top ice dancers in this regard.

Congratulations on your third team gold, Andrei! Look who’s back!

 

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Funny First-Person spins

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[Mariott]

The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment.

Spoiler: #5

#5. Andrei is performing the 4F in competition again for the first time since February 2021.

Andrei lands a quadruple jump during a jumping competition (in the semifinals of the men’s individual competitions).
Moscow, Tatiana Navka Ice Palace. 01/31/2026.

Photo by Dmitry Golubovich from a public photo bank.
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All previous events were very enjoyable and inspiring, but still not that significant for the athlete’s career and future development. This, however, is a very big deal. Just think about it: a 23-year-old skater is once again attempting quad jump — a jump that many believed had long been lost! The last attempt, I remind you, took place on February 26, 2021, in the free skate at the Russian Cup Final. Exactly five years have passed.

The first official attempt at a 4F in the 2025–26 season took place at the Russian Jumping Championships in the men’s individual competition—it was under-rotated by less than a quarter turn (q), resulting in a deduction of 0.73 points from the jump’s base value. Andrei said in an interview that he and Alisa Dvoeglazova had considered the possibility of jumping a parallel solo 4F or 4Lz, but deemed it too risky and settled on the more reliable 4T.

Later at the I.S. Rusakov Memorial competition Andrei attempted a quad flip in his free skate for the first time, but it was unsuccessful—he underrotated by more than a quarter turn and fell. He also failed to cleanly land a 4F in the Russian Grand Prix Final; that attempt also ended in a fall. Nevertheless, this was the first time Andrei had attempted a program with four quads, and in the Russian Grand Prix Final, he managed to cleanly land three of the four quads.

At the end of the season, at the Channel One Cup, Andrei successfully landed a 4F during the jump relay; the jump looked clean, but since the judges’ scores from the Channel One Cup are not published, we are unlikely to ever know whether the judges had any complaints about Andrei’s jump.

To sum it all up, we can conclude that Andrei is capable of executing a clean 4F solo, but is still having difficulty landing it in his free skate. But that’s not all! On his birthday (Andrei turned 23), he posted a video of a successful attempt at a 4Lz, a jump he had never performed in competition before. During the spring tour of Eteri Tutberidze’s show, Andrei successfully landed solo 4F and 4Lz jumps. Perhaps in the 2026–27 season, we’ll see four different quads in Andrei’s programs!

It’s so great when an athlete at this age diversifies his content and learns new, highly complex jumps. Go, Andrei!

 

[Mariott]

The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment.

Spoiler: #4

#4. Andrei perfectly performed his short program and made it into the top 3 after the short program at the Russian Championships.

Andrei and his coaches await the announcement of the short program scores. St. Petersburg, Yubileyny Arena, 12/19/2025.
Photo by Maria Evteeva from her social media.​

Admit it, you were all surprised—no one expected this. Not even Andrei himself. Well, men’s singles figure skating is always a roller coaster ride—or even Russian roulette. Especially in Russia; after all, we invented both of these games. Despite a less-than-ideal start to the season, and despite an unsuccessful practice session before the short program—where Andrei couldn’t land a single jump—he took to the ice and did everything his coaches could have hoped for, and even a little more. And it was wonderful.

Andrei achieved his season best, came close to his career-best short program score (97.16 points; his best at international competitions is 99.76), and entered the top three after the short program, trailing only national team leaders Gumennyk and Semenenko.
Thus, two seasons later, Andrei repeated his achievement from the 2023 Russian Championships. Incidentally, the top three after the short program were the same back then. Even Matvey Vetlugin ended up in fourth place, just as he did in 2026. A complete coincidence.

 

[Mariott]

The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment.

Spoiler: #3

#3 Andrei earned his bachelor's degree in “figure skating coaching” from the Lesgaft University in St. Petersburg

Andrei, wearing a suit with an Olympic pin in his lapel, poses with his diploma in hand at the bachelor’s degree graduation ceremony.
St. Petersburg, Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health, 07/09/2025.
Photo by an unknown photographer from Andrei Mozalev’s social media accounts.​

To some this might not seem like the most significant event of the season—especially when compared to finishing in the top three in the short program at the national championships. But it is undoubtedly one of the most important events in any person’s life, one that shapes their personality and future path. Andrei earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and sports and obtained an official certification as a figure skating coach. Now he can officially work as a coach and pursue a career in this field. Which is exactly what he’s doing, coaching children and adult amateurs at Eteri Tutberidze’s center.

Now he knows exactly what he’ll do after his athletic career ends. It’s very important for anyone to have a clear vision of their future path and to know that they’ll have help and support along the way. Congratulations, Bachelor!

 

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Moved like Michael

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The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment.

Spoiler: #2

#2 Andrei finished in the top 6 at RusNat and qualified for the national team

Coaches are closely watching Andrei perform his free skate at the 2026 Russian Championships. St. Petersburg, Yubileyny Arena, 12/21/2025.
Photo by Divine Melody from her social media.​

It’s great when you win the short program or finish in the top 3, but figure skating is always a two-part competition—the free skate is just as important. In this case, Andrei wasn’t able to skate a flawless program, but he still successfully landed three quads; however, he made mistakes on both 3A, receiving a disappointing REP and losing a lot of points as a result. Nevertheless, based on his total score across both programs, he placed sixth and ultimately made the national team’s main team for the 2026–27 season.

After two seasons away, Andrei is returning to the national team and immediately joining the main squad. That’s really cool! Next season, he’ll receive funding and various opportunities available only to national team members. On top of that, it’s prestigious, and this achievement should have a positive impact on his self-esteem. In an interview, Andrei said he’s very happy that, as he gets older, he isn’t losing his edge but continues to develop and get stronger. We’re so happy for him! May it keep going this way!

Yes, even this event ranks second on my list, because something even more important happened to Andrei last season.
What was it? Come back tomorrow—and you'll find out!

 

[Mariott]

The Top 10 most important events of the 2025-26 season for Andrei Mozalev, with photos of the moment.

Spoiler: #1

#1 Andrei made several historical records during the jumping tournament in a duet with Alisa Dvoeglazova

Alisa Dvoeglazova and Andrei Mozalev perform a jumping sequence in unison against the backdrop of their group photo on the scoreboard. Moscow, Tatiana Navka Sports Palace. January 31, 2026.
Photo by Yulia Komarova from her social media.
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Finishing in the top 3 in the short program at the national championships and making the national team (the main list)—these were all very pleasant and important events for Andrei last season. But this is a much more significant event. To some extent, it is a historic event that will become part of the history of figure skating in Russia and in the sport as a whole.

The Russian Jumping Championships is a tournament with an ambiguous status. On the one hand, it is a commercial competition sponsored by private companies. On the other hand, it is one of the competitions on RusFed’s official calendar; all jumps are judged by officially accredited judges and scored according to the ISU scale. RusFed representatives have repeatedly stated that all records set at this championship will be recorded and officially recognized. In any case, this tournament was conceived to allow skaters to attempt unusual and difficult jumps and jump combinations outside of their competitive programs, with their records evaluated by judges and officially recognized.

In Russia (and even more so abroad), the victory of Alisa Dvoeglazova and Andrei Mozalev in the pairs competition did not cause much of a stir. Meanwhile, they set several records in a single evening:
1) for the first time in history, a man and a woman simultaneously landed a 4T (in official competition, with positive GOEs);
2) for the first time in history, a man and a woman simultaneously landed a 4T+Eu+3S+Eu+3S sequence (in official competition, with positive GOEs);
3) it is highly likely that this man and woman also became the first skaters in history to perform a 3Lz+3T+Eu+3S+Eu+3S+2A combination (in official competition, with positive GOEs);
4) In addition, Andrei and Alisa became the first-ever Russian champions in the pairs jumping category, which is also a nice little piece of history in its own right.

I don’t know if even one of these records will be officially recognized. Nevertheless, Alisa and Andrei have achieved something that will definitely go down in figure skating history. Even if their record is never officially recognized, from this year onward, whenever the topic of pair jumps or difficulty comes up, someone is bound to mention Dvoeglazova and Mozalev’s parallel quads. Thus, their names are already etched in history. Who knows—maybe, over time, they’ll form a competitive pair and set other records at international competitions? In any case, this is one of the most significant events not only of the season but of Andrei’s entire career.

Well, my rankings are complete — and I’m ready to say goodbye to the 2025–26 season.
We’re eagerly awaiting the 2026–27 season! I hope we’ll see some spoilers for the new season’s programs very soon.

 

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First traning after vacation

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Happy International Olympic Day!

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First traning after vacation ​

Backstage

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