Angelīna Kučvaļska

Angelīna Kučvaļska (born 6 December 1998) is a Latvian figure skater. She is the 2014 CS Volvo Open Cup champion, a two-time Toruń Cup champion (2015, 2016), the 2014 Tallinn Trophy champion, and a five-time Latvian national champion (2015–17, 2019–20). She has competed in the final segment at nine ISU Championships, achieving her best result, fourth, at the 2016 European Championships.

Personal life
Angelīna Kučvaļska was born on December 6, 1998, in Saldus, Latvia. Her father died when she was 12 years old. She was a student at Riga 1st secondary school.

Kučvaļska is currently a student at RISEBA University of Business, Arts and Technology.

Early career
Kučvaļska began skating at the age of three and a half years. Jekaterina Platonova is her first and only coach.

2012–2013 season
Kučvaļska became age-eligible for junior internationals in the 2012–2013 season and placed sixteenth at her sole Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignment in Courchevel, France. She was selected to represent Latvia at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy. Ranked twenty-second in the short program, she qualified to the free skate and finished 20th overall.

2013–2014 season
Kučvaļska competed at two 2013 JGP events, placing fifteenth in Košice and nineteenth in Minsk, and won the junior silver medal at the Bavarian Open. She placed twentieth in both segments and nineteenth overall at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2014–2015 season
Kučvaļska placed seventh at both of her JGP assignments, in Ostrava and Tallinn. Making her senior international debut, she took gold at the 2014 Volvo Open Cup, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) event. Continuing on the senior level, she placed seventh at the CS Warsaw Cup and took gold at the Tallinn Trophy, Latvian Championships, and Toruń Cup. Kučvaļska was named in Latvia's team to the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, and placed seventeenth in the short program, earning qualification to the next segment. After placing fifth in the free skate, she climbed to seventh overall.

2015–2016 season
Kučvaļska was unable to train in July 2015 due to an ankle injury. She began the 2015–16 season at a pair of CS events, placing 10th at the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy before winning silver at the 2015 Denkova-Staviski Cup. Making her Grand Prix debut, she placed 7th in the short program at the 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard in Bordeaux, France; the event was cancelled due to the November 2015 Paris attacks.

At the 2015–16 Latvian Championships, Kučvaļska won her second consecutive national title.

Kučvaļska placed fifth in the short program, fourth in the free skate, and fourth overall at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her placement was the highest by a Latvian skater at the European Championships until Deniss Vasiljevs won the bronze medal in 2022.

Additionally, she went on to finish fifteenth at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts.

2016–2017 season
Kučvaļska began the season by finishing twelfth at the 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial. She then competed at two Grand Prix events, placing eleventh at 2016 Skate America and tenth at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup. Kučvaļska would also go on to compete at the 2016 Volvo Open Cup and the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy, taking gold and finishing seventh, respectively.

At the 2016–17 Latvian Championships, Kučvaļska won her third national title. She then went on to place fifth at the 2017 Mentor Toruń Cup.

Selected to compete at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Kučvaļska finished nineteenth before going on to win a silver medal at the 2017 Coupe du Printemps

Competing at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Kučvaļska finished twenty-second.

2017–2018 season
Beginning the season at the 2017 CS Ice Star, Kučvaļska finished sixteenth, before going on to compete at the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy and placing thirtieth.

At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy, Kučvaļska placed thirty-seventh in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition.

2018–2019 season
Kučvaļska started the season by competing at the 2018 Volvo Open Cup, placing twenty-first. She then went on to place nineteenth at both the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy and 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

At the 2018–19 Latvian Championships, Kučvaļska won her fourth national title. She went on to finish thirteenth at the 2019 Mentor Toruń Cup and seventh at the 2019 Tallink Hotels Cup.

Kučvaļska ended the season by finishing tenth at the 2019 Winter Universiade.

2019–2020 season
Kučvaļska began the season at the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial, finishing nineteenth, before going on to place fifth at the 2019 CS Ice Star, eleventh at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup, and fourth at the 2019 Tallinn Trophy.

She went on to win her fifth national title at the 2019–20 Latvian Championships, before finishing ninth

Competing at the 2020 European Championships in Graz, Austria, Kučvaļska placed thirtieth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition. She went on to finish ninth at the 2020 Tallink Hotels Cup and twentieth at the 2020 International Challenge Cup.

Although she was selected to compete at the 2020 World Championships, the event was ultimately cancelled due to rising concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020–2021 season
Kučvaļska started the season by winning gold at the 2020 Volvo Open Cup, before placing sixteenth at the 2021 Tallink Hotels Cup.

Selected to compete at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, Kučvaļska placed thirty-third in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition.

2021–2022 season
Kučvaļska began the season by winning gold at the 2021 Autumn Talents Cup. She then placed sixth at the 2021 Volvo Open Cup as well as won the silver medal at the 2021 Tallinn Trophy.

She went on to win bronze at both the 2022 Icelab International Cup and the 2022 Sofia Trophy. Kučvaļska ended the season with a seventh-place finish at the 2022 Tallink Hotels Cup.

2022–2023 season
Beginning the season at the 2022 Volvo Open Cup, Kučvaļska finished eighth. She then went on to place fourteenth at the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup, win the silver medal at the 2022 Tallinn Trophy, and place fifth at the 2022 Latvia Trophy.

Selected to compete at the 2023 Winter World University Games, Kučvaļska finished tenth.

2023–2024 season
Making two early appearances on the Challenger circuit, Kučvaļska was fourteenth at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy and seventeenth at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.

Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.