Nikolaj Memola | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Nikolaj Memola at the 2024 World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Monza, Italy | 18 November 2003|||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Figure skating career | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Men's singles | |||||||||||||||||||||
Coach | Olga Romanova | |||||||||||||||||||||
Skating club | Fiammo Oro Moena | |||||||||||||||||||||
Began skating | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nikolaj Memola (born 18 November 2003) is an Italian figure skater. He is the 2025 European silver medalist, the 2023 World University Games bronze medalist, a two-time bronze medalist in the ISU Challenger Series (at the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy and the 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy), and the 2024 Italian national champion.
Memola is also the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist (including gold at the 2022 JGP Latvia), and a top-ten finisher at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics and the 2022 and 2023 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
Memola was born on November 18, 2003, in Monza, Italy, to an Italian father and a Russian mother. [1] [2]
He is a student at the University of Milan and is able to speak English fluently. [3] [1] [4]
Memola began learning to skate in 2008. [1] He is coached by his mother, Olga Romanova. [5]
He debuted in the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in October 2018, placing nineteenth in Slovenia. Memola competed at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland, placing eighth. [6]
Memola finished fourth at the 2021 JGP Austria in October 2021. He made his senior international debut later that month, placing fourth at Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur. In November, he finished ninth at the 2021 Warsaw Cup, his first appearance in the Challenger series. He stepped onto his first senior international podium in December, taking gold at the Santa Claus Cup in Hungary. [6]
Following the withdrawal of Matteo Rizzo, Italy selected Memola to skate at the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. [7] Competing in his first ISU Championship, he qualified for the final segment by placing twelfth in the short program and finished fifteenth overall. [6] He ended the season by making his debut appearance at the World Junior Championships, where he placed seventh. [8]
Planning a second split season between junior and senior, Memola had two assignments on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning silver at his first assignment, the 2022 JGP Czech Republic. [9] The following week at the 2022 JGP Latvia in Riga, he won the gold medal. Memola's results qualified him for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final, which he stated he was particularly "happy" about as the event was being held in Italy that year. He said that he hoped to introduce a quad into the free skate in time. [10] Returning to the Challenger series, Memola won bronze medals at both the Lombardia and Budapest Trophies. [6]
Competing at the Junior Grand Prix Final on home ice in Turin, Memola finished second in the short program, saying afterward that it was "very important to me that I did such a good skate at home, in Italy, and on the Olympic ice." [11] He went on to win the free skate and the gold medal, albeit without attempting a quadruple jump as he had earlier hoped. This was the first Junior Grand Prix Final title for an Italian man and the first for Italy in any discipline since the ice dance team Faiella/Milo in the inaugural 1997–98 edition. Memola admitted afterward, "I started the season with the goal in mind coming here to Torino, but the first place was not my goal, and then the medal came, and I'm extremely happy." [12]
Shortly after the Junior Grand Prix Final, Memola attended his first senior national championships and won the silver medal. He finished first in the free skate at the event. [13] He was then assigned to compete at the 2023 Winter World University Games, where he won the bronze medal. [14]
In his final assignment of the season, Memola competed at the 2023 World Junior Championships. After stepping out of his jump combination in the short program, he finished sixth in that segment. [15] He placed fourth in the free skate and rose to fourth overall, 1.35 points back of bronze medalist Nozomu Yoshioka. Memola did not attempt any quadruple jumps during the free program, having found them insufficiently secure in practice that day and not wanting to risk it. [16]
Over the summer, Memola trained at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in Toronto, Ontario. [17] In his first competition, he finished eighth at the 2023 Autumn Classic International, before finishing sixth at the 2023 Finlandia Trophy. [6] He was invited to make his Grand Prix debut at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, where he came eleventh. [18] He improved to sixth place at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo. He expressed his appreciation for competing in such a men's field, saying "they show me what is humanly possible." [19]
Memola won the Italian national title for the first time. [6] He went on to place tenth at the 2024 European Championships. [20] He was then assigned to make his senior World Championship debut at the 2024 edition in Montreal, where he came ninth. Memola called it "amazing" to reach the top ten in his first appearance at the championships, and cited the importance of having done so to retain Italy's second entry in the men's event for the following year. [21]
During the summer off-season, Memola sustained series injuries including two broken ligaments and a broken ankle. As a result, he was only able to begin jumping again in September. [22]
Memola began the season by competing at the 2024 Shanghai Trophy in early October, finishing fourth. He then competed on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, winning silver at the 2024 Nepela Memorial. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Memola finished tenth in the short program at the 2024 Grand Prix de France, but second in the free skate, climbing up to sixth place overall. Three weeks later, he finished tenth at the 2024 Cup of China. [23]
In January, Memola competed at the 2025 European Championships. He was fifth after the short program; in the free skate, he landed two quadruple Lutz jumps and rose to second place to win the silver medal. [24]
Season | Short program | Free skate | Exhibition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
|
| [25] | |
2019–20 |
|
| [26] | |
2020–21 | ||||
2021–22 |
|
| [1] | |
2022–23 |
|
|
| [27] |
2023–24 | [28] [29] | |||
2024–25 |
|
|
| [30] |
Season | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
---|---|---|---|---|
World Championships | 9th | |||
European Championships | 15th | 10th | 2nd | |
Italian Championships | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | |
GP Cup of China | 10th | |||
GP Finland | 5th | |||
GP France | 11th | 6th | ||
CS Autumn Classic | 8th | |||
CS Budapest Trophy | 3rd | 1st | ||
CS Finlandia Trophy | 6th | |||
CS Lombardia Trophy | 3rd | |||
CS Nepela Memorial | 2nd | |||
CS Warsaw Cup | 9th | |||
Merano Ice Trophy | 1st | |||
Santa Claus Cup | 1st | |||
Shanghai Trophy | 4th | |||
Trophée Métropole Nice | 4th | |||
World University Games | 3rd |
Season | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winter Youth Olympics | 8th | |||||
World Junior Championships | 7th | 4th | ||||
Junior Grand Prix Final | 1st | |||||
Italian Championships | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | |
JGP Austria | 4th | |||||
JGP Czech Republic | 2nd | |||||
JGP Italy | 16th | |||||
JGP Latvia | 18th | 1st | ||||
JGP Slovenia | 19th | |||||
Crystal Skate of Romania | 1st | |||||
Cup of Tyrol | 3rd | |||||
Dragon Trophy | 4th | |||||
Egna Spring Trophy | 3rd | 1st | 1st | |||
European Youth Olympic Festival | 11th | |||||
IceLab Cup | 2nd | |||||
Merano Cup | 6th | |||||
Skate Celje | 3rd | |||||
Skate Victoria | 2nd | |||||
Sofia Trophy | 2nd |
Segment | Type | Score | Event |
---|---|---|---|
Total | TSS | 253.12 | 2024 World Championships |
Short program | TSS | 93.10 | 2024 World Championships |
TES | 53.38 | 2024 World Championships | |
PCS | 39.72 | 2024 World Championships | |
Free skating | TSS | 161.38 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy |
TES | 84.62 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy | |
PCS | 80.39 | 2024 World Championships | |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 20–24, 2021 | ![]() | 3 | 72.36 | 2 | 130.73 | 4 | 203.09 |
Nov 17–20, 2021 | ![]() | 12 | 69.59 | 7 | 142.00 | 9 | 211.59 |
Dec 6–12, 2021 | ![]() | 1 | 78.00 | 1 | 150.35 | 1 | 228.35 |
Jan 10–16, 2022 | ![]() | 12 | 73.98 | 14 | 132.55 | 15 | 206.53 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 16–19, 2022 | ![]() | 4 | 81.68 | 3 | 148.84 | 3 | 230.52 |
Oct 13–16, 2022 | ![]() | 3 | 78.78 | 4 | 152.69 | 3 | 231.47 |
Dec 15–18, 2022 | ![]() | 3 | 80.32 | 1 | 161.37 | 2 | 241.69 |
Jan 13–15, 2023 | ![]() | 4 | 78.96 | 4 | 152.37 | 3 | 231.33 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 14–17, 2023 | ![]() | 8 | 70.27 | 7 | 129.11 | 8 | 199.38 |
Oct 4–8, 2023 | ![]() | 3 | 82.03 | 8 | 140.95 | 6 | 222.98 |
Oct 13–15, 2023 | ![]() | 1 | 88.99 | 2 | 161.38 | 1 | 250.37 |
Nov 3–5, 2023 | ![]() | 12 | 70.92 | 9 | 143.71 | 11 | 214.63 |
Nov 17–19, 2023 | ![]() | 7 | 72.11 | 5 | 149.14 | 5 | 221.25 |
Dec 22–23, 2023 | ![]() | 2 | 90.70 | 1 | 157.98 | 1 | 248.68 |
Jan 10–14, 2024 | ![]() | 12 | 72.78 | 9 | 153.10 | 10 | 225.88 |
Feb 23-25, 2024 | ![]() | 1 | 89.41 | 1 | 166.83 | 1 | 256.24 |
Mar 18–24, 2024 | ![]() | 6 | 93.10 | 12 | 160.02 | 9 | 253.12 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 3–5, 2024 | ![]() | 6 | 74.47 | 3 | 156.44 | 4 | 230.91 |
Oct 25–27, 2024 | ![]() | 4 | 76.27 | 2 | 157.15 | 2 | 233.42 |
Nov 1–3, 2024 | ![]() | 10 | 68.71 | 2 | 158.91 | 6 | 227.62 |
Nov 22–24, 2024 | ![]() | 10 | 68.87 | 10 | 145.90 | 10 | 214.77 |
Dec 19–21, 2024 | ![]() | 3 | 86.32 | 1 | 178.22 | 2 | 264.54 |
Jan 28 – Feb 2, 2025 | ![]() | 5 | 84.92 | 2 | 177.69 | 2 | 262.61 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 24–28, 2017 | ![]() | 1 | 31.06 | 1 | 76.55 | 1 | 107.61 |
Nov 15–19, 2017 | ![]() | 7 | 40.01 | 6 | 78.76 | 6 | 118.77 |
Nov 22–26, 2017 | ![]() | 2 | 48.33 | 4 | 77.08 | 3 | 125.41 |
Dec 13–16, 2017 | ![]() | 4 | 49.34 | 4 | 99.01 | 4 | 148.35 |
Feb 8–11, 2018 | ![]() | 4 | 41.25 | 4 | 72.86 | 4 | 114.11 |
Apr 4–8, 2018 | ![]() | 5 | 42.72 | 3 | 81.43 | 3 | 124.15 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 3–6, 2018 | ![]() | 18 | 41.71 | 20 | 69.20 | 19 | 110.91 |
Dec 13–16, 2018 | ![]() | 2 | 53.08 | 3 | 84.15 | 2 | 137.23 |
Feb 13–14, 2019 | ![]() | 11 | 46.73 | 10 | 90.98 | 11 | 137.71 |
Feb 26 – Mar 3, 2019 | ![]() | 3 | 51.93 | 3 | 93.75 | 3 | 145.68 |
Mar 28–31, 2019 | ![]() | 1 | 54.30 | 2 | 96.70 | 1 | 151.00 |
Apr 9–14, 2019 | ![]() | 2 | 59.69 | 2 | 109.99 | 2 | 169.68 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 4–7, 2019 | ![]() | 18 | 48.82 | 18 | 86.37 | 18 | 135.19 |
Oct 2–5, 2019 | ![]() | 15 | 55.39 | 17 | 103.12 | 16 | 158.51 |
Nov 1–3, 2019 | ![]() | 2 | 56.91 | 2 | 101.16 | 2 | 158.07 |
Dec 12–15, 2019 | ![]() | 2 | 64.23 | 2 | 94.58 | 2 | 158.81 |
Jan 10–15, 2020 | ![]() | 7 | 62.18 | 8 | 114.37 | 8 | 176.55 |
Feb 12–18, 2020 | ![]() | 2 | 56.20 | 2 | 115.40 | 2 | 171.60 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Apr 9–11, 2021 | ![]() | 1 | 62.33 | 2 | 111.82 | 2 | 174.15 |
Apr 29 – May 2, 2021 | ![]() | 1 | 68.23 | 2 | 113.87 | 1 | 182.10 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Oct 6–9, 2021 | ![]() | 4 | 71.05 | 7 | 126.58 | 4 | 197.63 |
Feb 12–13, 2022 | ![]() | 1 | 78.75 | 1 | 140.96 | 1 | 219.71 |
Apr 13–17, 2022 | ![]() | 10 | 71.42 | 6 | 141.52 | 7 | 212.94 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Aug 31 – Sep 3, 2022 | ![]() | 4 | 71.56 | 2 | 142.55 | 2 | 214.11 |
Sep 7–10, 2022 | ![]() | 1 | 83.04 | 1 | 142.72 | 1 | 225.76 |
Dec 8–11, 2022 | ![]() | 2 | 79.84 | 1 | 150.66 | 1 | 230.50 |
Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2023 | ![]() | 6 | 76.72 | 4 | 139.72 | 4 | 216.44 |
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