- Joined
- Jun 26, 2012
Daria Danilova (born 8 September 2002) and Michel Tsiba (born 21 December 1997) are a Dutch Pair team. Together they are the 2020 Dutch national champions and the 2020 NRW Trophy bronze medalist. They competed in the final segment at the 2020 European Championships and are the first Dutch pair to qualify for the World Championships. As the WC in 2020 were cancelled they could not take part. However, they took part in the 2021 WC in Stockholm as the first Dutch pair ever at a WC, but did not make it to the Free Skate. Although they missed the OG in 2022, they were 9th at the WC in the same year albeit with a very low number of Pairs entrants. In 2023 they were 13th. but the number of entrants had gone up substantially. The year after they were 14th, and then in 2025 they were 15th, and qualified for the Olympics in 2026 according to the ISU rules. However, the Dutch Olympic Committee required them to get a certain number of points at one competition in the fall. They could choose two competitions where they would get that number. They did not succeed. However the Skating Federation requested the Olympic Committee to let go regardless. This request was anwered affirmatively. Daria and Michel will be the first Dutch pairs ever to compete at an Olympic Games.
Danilova was born in Moscow, Russia. She started as a single's skater but did not qualify for the Russian National Championships. She started pair skating in 2017 with her first (Russian) partner but it did not work out. She has learnt to speak Dutch quite well. Danilova obtained Dutch citizenship in 2024 to become eligible for the 2026 Winter Olympics. She has a pet dog. Tsiba was born in Groningen to a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother. He has an older sister. Tsiba is fluent in Russian. Tsiba first skated singles but after becoming the Dutch National Champion in 2018 he switched to pairs and joined up with Danilova.
Danilova/Tsiba alternate training in Heerenveen (NL) and Moscow. The pair fund over half of their training costs out of pocket via Tsiba's student finances, and are also supported by the late Joan Haanappel Figure skating Association. They experienced some difficulties internationally due to Daria originally coming from Moskou, but with her obtaining Dutch citizenship this should now be in the past. Both skaters try not to let the harrowing war influence their skating. They are also a couple off-ice.
They are coached by Dmitri Savin, Fedor Klimov, Pavel Kitashev, and Knut Schubert
Biographical lnformation
ISU bio:
http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00106631.htm
Wikipedia
Daria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daria_Danilova
Michel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Tsiba
Social Media
Instagram:
Daria: https://www.instagram.com/da.ryad/
Michel: https://www.instagram.com/micheltsiba/
Michel's Website: https://micheltsiba.com/
Season 2018-2019
Danilova/Tsiba won their debut international competition, the 2018 Golden Spin of Zagreb on the junior level. They then placed tenth at the 2019 Bavarian Open. In February, Danilova/Tsiba won the 2019 Dutch junior national title unopposed. However, they missed achieving the minimum TES requirements for the 2019 World Junior Championships.
Season 2019-2020
Danilova/Tsiba competed at three Challenger Series events to open the season, finishing tenth at 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, 17th at 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, and 15th at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. At the 2020 European Championships in January, Danilova/Tsiba became the first Dutch pair in 24 years to compete at a European Championships since Jeltje Schulten / Alcuin Schulten last represented the country at the event in 1996. They qualified to the final segment and finished 16th overall. In February 2020, they finished eighth at the Bavarian Open and tenth at the Challenge Cup; the latter event doubled as the Dutch Championships where, as the only Dutch pair, Danilova/Tsiba won their first senior national title.
At the Challenge Cup, Danilova/Tsiba earned the necessary TES minimums for the 2020 World Championships. They are the first Dutch pair in history to qualify for the World Championships. The event was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Season 2020-2021
During the offseason, Tsiba underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus. However, the pair did not start training together again until the end of August due to issues with Danilova's Dutch visa. Danilova/Tsiba made their season debut at the 2020 NRW Autumn Trophy in November and won their first senior international medal, bronze behind Germans Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel and Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert.
Season 2021-2022
Beginning the season at the 2021 Lombardia Trophy, Danilova/Tsiba placed eighth. They competed at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, placing ninth and failing to qualify a place at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Their third Challenger event, the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, Danilova/Tsiba were fifteenth. They finished twenty-first at the 2022 European Championships, missing the free skate.
Danilova/Tsiba concluded the season at the 2022 World Championships, where they finished a career-best ninth in a field depleted due to Russia being banned as a result of their invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier.
Season 2022-2023
For the first time ever Dutch Pairs skaters took part in the GP series. Daria and Michel started the season by competing at Finlandia Trophy where they were 6th. They were announced to take part in the Skate America GP but withdrew due to visa problems for Daria. Later they were listed for NHK in Japan and the Finland Espoo GP's where they were 6th and 5th respectively. They are scheduled to compete at Golden Spin as well.
Season 2023-2024
It seemed Michjel's shoulder injury was healed. They started off the season at the Challenger Lombardia Trophy where they ended 6th. At the Budapest trophy they got a medal as they ended in 3rd place. At their GP assignments (they had two this season) the were 7th and 5th, while at European's they ended an encouraging 8th. They could not attend National's (at the Challenge Cup) but ended the season in 14th place at World's.
Season 2024-2025
At first they were granted only one assignment at the GP's, but they eventually got a second one. They were 7th and 5th at those. They only wenst to one Challenger in the fall, the Warsaw Cup where they were 5th. At european's they were 10th, which rather disappointed them. This was turned about at the Challenge Cup (also the Nationals) where they managed to reacht 2nd place and a silver medal. They were also officially Dutch Champions again. At the Road to 26 trophy they ended in 6th, while at world's they were 15th. This placement qualified The Netherlands for the OG in 2026, in effect themselves as there is no other Dutch Pair. However, as the Dutch Olympic Committee required a 14th placement, they will have to do some work in fall of 2025 to actually go the OG.
Season 2025-2026.
In the fall of 2025 they did quite a few competitions, including Challengers in Japan, Georgia (where Michel injured his shoulder), Germany and Croatia as well as the NHK trophy (their only GP), but did not manage to obtain the points needed to comply with the demands of the Dutch Olympic Committee. This requirement put them under a lot of stress, which did not help their chances of going. However, in the end the Skating Federation made a request to let them go regardless, and this was granted.
Programmes
Results:
Danilova was born in Moscow, Russia. She started as a single's skater but did not qualify for the Russian National Championships. She started pair skating in 2017 with her first (Russian) partner but it did not work out. She has learnt to speak Dutch quite well. Danilova obtained Dutch citizenship in 2024 to become eligible for the 2026 Winter Olympics. She has a pet dog. Tsiba was born in Groningen to a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother. He has an older sister. Tsiba is fluent in Russian. Tsiba first skated singles but after becoming the Dutch National Champion in 2018 he switched to pairs and joined up with Danilova.
Danilova/Tsiba alternate training in Heerenveen (NL) and Moscow. The pair fund over half of their training costs out of pocket via Tsiba's student finances, and are also supported by the late Joan Haanappel Figure skating Association. They experienced some difficulties internationally due to Daria originally coming from Moskou, but with her obtaining Dutch citizenship this should now be in the past. Both skaters try not to let the harrowing war influence their skating. They are also a couple off-ice.
They are coached by Dmitri Savin, Fedor Klimov, Pavel Kitashev, and Knut Schubert
Biographical lnformation
ISU bio:
http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00106631.htm
Wikipedia
Daria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daria_Danilova
Michel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Tsiba
Social Media
Instagram:
Daria: https://www.instagram.com/da.ryad/
Michel: https://www.instagram.com/micheltsiba/
Michel's Website: https://micheltsiba.com/
Season 2018-2019
Danilova/Tsiba won their debut international competition, the 2018 Golden Spin of Zagreb on the junior level. They then placed tenth at the 2019 Bavarian Open. In February, Danilova/Tsiba won the 2019 Dutch junior national title unopposed. However, they missed achieving the minimum TES requirements for the 2019 World Junior Championships.
Season 2019-2020
Danilova/Tsiba competed at three Challenger Series events to open the season, finishing tenth at 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, 17th at 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, and 15th at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. At the 2020 European Championships in January, Danilova/Tsiba became the first Dutch pair in 24 years to compete at a European Championships since Jeltje Schulten / Alcuin Schulten last represented the country at the event in 1996. They qualified to the final segment and finished 16th overall. In February 2020, they finished eighth at the Bavarian Open and tenth at the Challenge Cup; the latter event doubled as the Dutch Championships where, as the only Dutch pair, Danilova/Tsiba won their first senior national title.
At the Challenge Cup, Danilova/Tsiba earned the necessary TES minimums for the 2020 World Championships. They are the first Dutch pair in history to qualify for the World Championships. The event was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Season 2020-2021
During the offseason, Tsiba underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus. However, the pair did not start training together again until the end of August due to issues with Danilova's Dutch visa. Danilova/Tsiba made their season debut at the 2020 NRW Autumn Trophy in November and won their first senior international medal, bronze behind Germans Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel and Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert.
Season 2021-2022
Beginning the season at the 2021 Lombardia Trophy, Danilova/Tsiba placed eighth. They competed at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, placing ninth and failing to qualify a place at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Their third Challenger event, the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, Danilova/Tsiba were fifteenth. They finished twenty-first at the 2022 European Championships, missing the free skate.
Danilova/Tsiba concluded the season at the 2022 World Championships, where they finished a career-best ninth in a field depleted due to Russia being banned as a result of their invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier.
Season 2022-2023
For the first time ever Dutch Pairs skaters took part in the GP series. Daria and Michel started the season by competing at Finlandia Trophy where they were 6th. They were announced to take part in the Skate America GP but withdrew due to visa problems for Daria. Later they were listed for NHK in Japan and the Finland Espoo GP's where they were 6th and 5th respectively. They are scheduled to compete at Golden Spin as well.
Season 2023-2024
It seemed Michjel's shoulder injury was healed. They started off the season at the Challenger Lombardia Trophy where they ended 6th. At the Budapest trophy they got a medal as they ended in 3rd place. At their GP assignments (they had two this season) the were 7th and 5th, while at European's they ended an encouraging 8th. They could not attend National's (at the Challenge Cup) but ended the season in 14th place at World's.
Season 2024-2025
At first they were granted only one assignment at the GP's, but they eventually got a second one. They were 7th and 5th at those. They only wenst to one Challenger in the fall, the Warsaw Cup where they were 5th. At european's they were 10th, which rather disappointed them. This was turned about at the Challenge Cup (also the Nationals) where they managed to reacht 2nd place and a silver medal. They were also officially Dutch Champions again. At the Road to 26 trophy they ended in 6th, while at world's they were 15th. This placement qualified The Netherlands for the OG in 2026, in effect themselves as there is no other Dutch Pair. However, as the Dutch Olympic Committee required a 14th placement, they will have to do some work in fall of 2025 to actually go the OG.
Season 2025-2026.
In the fall of 2025 they did quite a few competitions, including Challengers in Japan, Georgia (where Michel injured his shoulder), Germany and Croatia as well as the NHK trophy (their only GP), but did not manage to obtain the points needed to comply with the demands of the Dutch Olympic Committee. This requirement put them under a lot of stress, which did not help their chances of going. However, in the end the Skating Federation made a request to let them go regardless, and this was granted.
Programmes
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | Take Back the Power by Raury | Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin |
| 2024-2025 |
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| 2023-2024 |
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| 2022-2023 |
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| 2020–2022 |
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| 2019–2020 |
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| 2018–2019 |
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Results:
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