Nikita Volodin

Nikita Andreyevich Volodin (Никита Андреевич Володин, born 29 June 1999) is a Russian pair skater who currently competes for Germany. With his current partner, Minerva Fabienne Hase, he is the 2024 World bronze medalist, the 2023–24 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time ISU Grand Prix gold medalist and two-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (including gold at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy).

With his former partner, Alina Ustimkina, competing for Russia, he is the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy champion and 2016 Youth Olympic bronze medalist.

Personal life
Nikita Andreyevich Volodin was born on 29 June 1999 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Career
Volodin began skating in 2003.

Partnership with Ustimkina
Volodin and Alina Ustimkina debuted their partnership in September 2014. They competed at events within Russia during their first season together and began appearing internationally in the 2015–16 season. In August 2015, they were sent to Riga, Latvia to compete at their first ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignment, placing fifth. In November, they won the junior gold medal at the NRW Trophy, outscoring silver medalists Anna Dušková / Martin Bidař by 19.22 points.

In January 2016, Ustimkina/Volodin placed fifth at the Russian Junior Championships. In February, they represented Russia at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway. Ranked third in both segments, they were awarded the bronze medal behind Ekaterina Borisova / Dmitry Sopot and Dušková/Bidař. Assigned to Team Determination for the mixed NOC team event, Ustimkina/Volodin placed third in their segment and their team finished 8th.

Ustimkina and Volodin ended their partnership in late 2017.

Partnership with Atakhanova
Volodin and Amina Atakhanova teamed up in early 2018, coached by Alexei Sokolov in Saint Petersburg. In April 2018, they won gold at the Russian Youth Championships Elder Age. Their partnership ended following that season.

Partnership with Hase
In June 2022, Volodin was introduced by coach Dmitry Savin to German pair skater Minerva Fabienne Hase, whose long partnership with Nolan Seegert had ended following the 2022 Winter Olympics. Agreeing to skate together and represent her country, they trained through the 2022–23 season while waiting for Volodin to be released by the Figure Skating Federation of Russia.

2023–24 season
Volodin was released by the Russian federation in May 2023, and he and Hase continued training in Berlin with Savin, Rico Rex, and Knut Schubert as their coaches.

Hase/Volodin debuted as a team at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy, where they won the silver medal behind reigning Italian European champions Conti/Macii, and finishing ahead of domestic rivals Hocke/Kunkel. Hase said it felt "so good to be back and even be on the podium in our first competition." They went on to win a Challenger gold medal on home soil at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, after coming back from placing third in the short program.

Hase/Volodin made their senior Grand Prix debut at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo. They placed third in the short program behind Shanghai Trophy champions Peng/Wang and Conti/Macii after an error on their throw triple loop, but won the free skate despite jump errors and rose to take the gold medal. Hase admitted that the result felt "very lucky," but that it was "a special moment for both of us." They went on to win the 2023 NHK Trophy as well, improving on all their personal bests in the process and qualifying to the Grand Prix Final as the second seed.

Volodin having become ill following the NHK Trophy, the team was uncertain of their ability to compete. Returning to China for the Final, held in Beijing, they performed their first full run-through since the NHK Trophy in training. Hase/Volodin set a new personal best score to win the short program narrowly over Canadians Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps and Italians Conti/Macii. They finished second in the free skate behind Conti/Macii, but won the gold medal by 0.55 points over the Italian team. Hase said they were "overwhelmed." Hase became ill following the German Championships, as a result of which the team had only ten days of training prior to the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas. They entered as perceived favourites, finishing second in the short program. They had an error-riddled free skate, culminating in an aborted lift, that saw them place sixth in the segment and drop to fifth place overall. This was the team's first time missing the podium in competition. Hase said that they "have to appreciate what we have already achieved this season," and vowed that they would get used to the pressure of being the favourites.

Following the disappointment at the European Championships, Hase/Volodin performed in the Art on Ice skating show, which they would later credit with aiding them with performing in front of large audiences. At the 2024 World Championships, they placed fourth in the short program, 0.78 points behind Conti/Macii in third place. Despite Hase making a Salchow error in the free skate, they came third in that segment, and rose to third overall to claim the bronze medal. This was the first World medal for both, and the first for a German skater since Savchenko/Massot's gold medal in 2018. Volodin said that "I can't believe at the moment that I won a medal at the real world championships. Maybe after some time."

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

Detailed results
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.