Mark Gorodnitsky

Mark Gorodnitsky (מארק גורודניצקי; born March 23, 2001) is an Israeli figure skater. He is the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial bronze medalist, the 2018 Volvo Open Cup silver medalist and a four-time Israeli national champion (2020, 2022-24).

Personal life
Gorodnitsky was born on March 23, 2001, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada to a Latvian mother and Belarusian father. His sister, Maya, who is three years younger, has also competed in figure skating for Israel on the international junior level.

Gorodnitsky graduated from Richmond Green Secondary School in 2019, where he was part of the high performance athlete program.

Early career
Gorodnitsky began learning to skate in 2005 at around the age of four, and has been coached by Andrei Berezintsev and Inga Zusev at the Richmond Training Centre in Richmond Hill, Ontario since the age of five.

Due to Gorodnitsky's father, Dmitry, having previously lived in Israel for eight years, the Israel Ice Skating Federation reached out to Gorodnitsky's parents when Gorodnitsky was fourteen years old, asking if he would be interested in competing for Israel. Ultimately, Gorodnitsky agreed to the request.

2015–16 season
He debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in October 2015 at the 2015 JGP Croatia, placing twentieth. In February, he competed at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Norway and finished 13th. He did not advance to the free skate at the 2016 World Junior Championships, held a month later in Debrecen, Hungary.

2016–17 season
Gorodnitsky began the season by placing tenth and fifteenth, respectively at the 2016 JGP Japan and the 2016 JGP Germany. He then placed sixth at the 2016 Santa Claus Cup.

At the 2016–17 Israeli Championships, Gorodnitsky won the bronze medal and was sent to compete at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic but did not advance to the free skate, finishing thirtieth overall. He went on to compete at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, finishing twenty-second overall.

2017–18 season
Gorodnitsky started the season with a seventh-place finish at the 2017 JGP Austria and tenth-place finish at the 2017 JGP Poland. He also finished ninth at the 2017 CS Autumn Classic International.

He went on to win the gold medal at the 2017 Golden Spin of Zagreb on the junior level. At the 2017–18 Israeli Junior Championships, Gorodnitsky won the gold medal.

He then competed at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, placing eighteenth in the short program, fourteenth in the free program, and fourteenth overall.

2018–19 season
Gorodnitsky started the season competing at the 2018 JGP Austria and 2018 JGP Slovenia, placing seventh and sixth, respectively. He then placed ninth at the CS Autumn Classic International for the second year in a row.

Gorodnitsky went on to win his first senior international medal, taking silver at the Volvo Open Cup. At the 2018–19 Israeli Championships, Gorodnitsky won his second national bronze medal.

Competing at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Gorodnitsky ranked fifteenth in the short program, eighteenth in the free skate, and seventeenth overall.

2019–20 season
Gorodnitsky began his season competing on the Junior Grand Prix series, placing fifth at the 2019 JGP France and seventh at the 2019 JGP Croatia. He also competed at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, 2019 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, and the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, respectively finishing seventh, fifth, and twelfth.

At the 2019–20 Israeli Championships, Gorodnitsky won his first senior national title. He was then sent to compete at the 2020 European Championships in Graz, Austria, where he finished seventeenth.

2020–21 season
Gorodnitsky was assigned to make his Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Skate Canada International, but the event was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. He did not compete for the rest of the reason.

2021–22 season
Gorodnitsky began his season with an eleventh-place finish at the 2021 Cranberry Cup. He then went on to place eighth at the 2021 U.S. Classic, twentieth at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, and fifteenth at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

At the 2021–22 Israeli Championships, Gorodnitsky won his second national title.

Although assigned to compete at the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Gorodnitsky ultimately withdrew from the event due to his coach testing positive for COVID-19. At the 2022 International Challenge Cup, Gorodnitsky finished fourth.

Making his World Championships debut in Montpellier, France, Gorodnitsky placed twenty-fifth in the short program, failing to advance to the free skate.

2022–23 season
Gorodnitsky started the season by winning gold at the 2022 Cranberry Cup International. He went on to finish fourth at the 2022 CS U.S. Classic, ninth at the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup, and sixth at the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

At the 2022–23 Israeli Championships, Gorodnitsky won his third national title.

Competing at the 2023 European Championships in Espoo, Finland, Gorodnitsky finished thirteenth. He then went on to place sixth at the 2023 International Challenge Cup. At the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, Gorodnitsky skated a career best short and free program, ultimately finishing sixteenth at the event.

2023–24 season
Gorodnitsky began the season by winning the gold medal at the 2023 Cranberry Cup International for a second consecutive time. Given two Challenger assignments, he came sixth at the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International before winning the bronze medal at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial. Appearing on the Grand Prix, Gorodnitsky came sixth at the 2023 Skate Canada International. He went on to win the silver medal at the 2023 CS Warsaw Cup behind Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland, earning personal best scores in all competition segments.

In the second half of the season, Gorodnitsky finished twelfth at both the European and World Championships.

Competitive highlights

 * GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
 * CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series