Sofia Samodurova

Sofia Vyacheslavovna Samodurova, born on July 30, 2002, in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, began her figure skating journey in 2007. Her early career saw her steadily climb the ranks, placing sixteenth at the 2015 Russian Junior Championships and improving to sixth the following year at the 2016 Russian Junior Championships. She made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in September 2016 in Yokohama, Japan, finishing fourth. Later that season, she placed ninth at the 2017 Russian Championships and earned a silver medal at the Triglav Trophy.

Her junior career saw significant achievements, including winning gold at the 2017 JGP in Zagreb, Croatia, with a score significantly higher than the silver medalist, Mako Yamashita. She followed this with another gold at the JGP in Egna, Italy, narrowly defeating Alena Kostornaia. Samodurova qualified for the 2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final, where she finished sixth. These junior successes laid the groundwork for her breakthrough at the senior level.

The 2018–2019 season marked Samodurova’s senior debut, starting with a silver medal at the 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy. She secured a bronze medal at Skate America and a silver medal at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup, qualifying for the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final, where she achieved a personal best score of 204.33 points and placed fifth. Her most notable victory came at the 2019 European Championships in Minsk, where she, as the underdog, delivered a clean program to win the European title, surpassing Olympic champion Alina Zagitova. She concluded that season with an eighth-place finish at the 2019 World Championships and contributed to Team Russia’s bronze medal at the 2019 World Team Trophy. After retiring from competitive skating on April 29, 2022, Samodurova transitioned into a coaching role at Alexei Mishin’s skating school, working with younger athletes.