Michel Tsiba Explained

Michel Tsiba
Birth Date:21 December 1997
Birth Place:Groningen, Netherlands
Hometown:Zandvoort, Netherlands
Partner:Daria Danilova
Coach:Pavel Kitashev
Knut Schubert
Aljona Savchenko
Dmitri Savin
Fedor Klimov
Formercoach:Yuri Larionov
Viola Striegler
Susan Mason
Olga Gamaiunova
Choreographer:Nikita Mikhailov
Sofia Evdokimova
Formerchoreographer:Joti Polizoakis
Olga Orlova
Paul Boll
Mark Pillay
Julie Marcotte
Susan Mason
Skating Club:Ekijsa Amsterdam
Currenttraininglocations:Heerenveen, Netherlands
Sochi, Russia
Formertraininglocations:Berlin, Germany
Moscow, Russia
Beganskating:2006
Combined Total:173.85
Combined Date:2023 Worlds
Sp Score:61.24
Sp Date:2023 Worlds
Fs Score:112.61
Fs Date:2023 Worlds

Michel Tsiba (born 21 December 1997) is a Dutch pair skater. With his skating partner, Daria Danilova, he is the 2020 Dutch national champion and the 2020 NRW Trophy bronze medalist. They competed in the final segment at the 2020 European Championships and are the first Dutch pair to qualify for the World Championships.

Personal life

Tsiba was born on 21 December 1997 in Groningen to a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother. He has an older sister. Tsiba is fluent in Russian.

Career

Early career

Tsiba started competing at the age of seven. He originally wanted to compete in ice hockey, but was advised to learn to skate in the figure skating club first. As a child, Tsiba experienced bullying from his peers about being a figure skater, who referred to him as "a ballerina in a tutu" and often called him "gay" or other homophobic remarks. Due to the relative obscurity of figure skating in the Netherlands, he admitted to being jealous of popular speed skaters like Sven Kramer when he was young.

As a singles skater, Tsiba was coached by Viola Striegler and Susan Mason and is the 2014 Dutch junior national and 2018 Dutch national champion. He switched disciplines from men's singles to pair skating because he felt that he was too tall to succeed in learning quadruple jumps. Tsiba had a tryout in summer 2017 that ultimately did not work out. He officially retired from singles skating after winning his first senior national title in 2018.

Tsiba teamed up with Russian skater Daria Danilova for the Netherlands in May 2018. Earlier in the season, he had met one of her coaches at a seminar in Berlin and they arranged a tryout. At the start of their partnership, Danilova/Tsiba alternated training in Berlin and Moscow every three months due to the differences in their respective citizenships' visa requirements. The pair fund over half of their training costs out of pocket via Tsiba's student finances.

2018–2019 season

Danilova/Tsiba won their debut international competition, the 2018 Golden Spin of Zagreb on the junior level. They then placed tenth at the 2019 Bavarian Open. In February, Danilova/Tsiba won the 2019 Dutch junior national title unopposed. However, they missed achieving the minimum TES requirements for the 2019 World Junior Championships.

2019–2020 season

Danilova/Tsiba competed at three Challenger Series events to open the season, finishing tenth at 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, 17th at 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, and 15th at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

At the 2020 European Championships in January, Danilova/Tsiba became the first Dutch pair in 24 years to compete at a European Championships since Jeltje Schulten / Alcuin Schulten last represented the country at the event in 1996. They qualified to the final segment and finished 16th overall. In February, they finished eighth at the Bavarian Open and tenth at the Challenge Cup; the latter event doubled as the Dutch Championships where, as the only Dutch pair, Danilova/Tsiba won their first senior national title.

At the Challenge Cup, Danilova/Tsiba earned the necessary TES minimums for the 2020 World Championships. They are the first Dutch pair in history to qualify for the World Championships. The event was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020–2021 season

During the offseason, Tsiba underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus. However, the pair did not start training together again until the end of August due to issues with Danilova's Dutch visa. Danilova/Tsiba made their season debut at the 2020 NRW Autumn Trophy in November and won their first senior international medal, bronze behind Germans Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel and Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert. Making their debut at the World Championships in Stockholm, they placed twenty-second.

2021–2022 season

Beginning the season at the 2021 Lombardia Trophy, Danilova/Tsiba placed eighth. They competed at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, placing ninth and failing to qualify a place at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Their third Challenger event, the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, Danilova/Tsiba were fifteenth. They finished twenty-first at the 2022 European Championships, missing the free skate.

Danilova/Tsiba concluded the season at the 2022 World Championships, where they finished a career-best ninth in a field depleted due to Russia being banned as a result of their invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier.

2022–2023 season

Danilova/Tsiba decided that the Russian invasion of Ukraine would not affect their training in Russia, opting to spend about half their time in Sochi, Russia, and half in Heerenveen, Netherlands. On training in Russia, they commented: "We don't notice the war here. It's shockingly quiet." They were unable to compete at the 2022 Skate America because Danilova's visa application was declined.

Danilova/Tsiba began their season with a sixth-place finish at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy. They finished sixth as well at the 2022 NHK Trophy, their Grand Prix debut, and then fifth at the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo. Nika Osipova / Dmitry Epstein won the Netherlands' only pair skating berth at the 2023 European Championships. Domestic rivals Osipova/Epstein won the Netherlands' only pair skating berth at the 2023 European Championships. However, due to Danilova/Tsiba's ninth-place finish at the prior year's World Championships, both teams were able to attend the 2023 edition in Saitama. Both Dutch teams qualified for the free skate segment, a first in the history of the event, with Danilova/Tsiba finishing thirteenth, the higher-ranked of the two.

2023–2024 season

Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy, Danilova/Tsiba came sixth. On the Grand Prix, they were seventh at the 2023 Skate Canada International. At the 2023 NHK Trophy they placed fifth, equaling their prior best placement, both praising the reception from the Japanese audience.

Danilova/Tsiba came eighth at the 2024 European Championships. Finishing the season at the 2024 World Championships, they came fourteenth.

Programs

With Danilova

SeasonShort programFree skating
2023–2024
The Hunger Games
2022–2023
Harriet
2020–2022
2020–21
2019–2020
2018–2019

Men's singles

SeasonShort programFree skating
2016–2017
  • James Brown medley
2015–2016
  • Grease

Competitive highlights

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

Pairs with Danilova

International
Event18–1919–2020–2121–2222–2323–2424-25
align=left C 22nd 9th 13th 14th
align=left 16th 21st 8th
align=left 5th
align=left 6th 5th TBD
align=left 7th TBD
align=left 10th 6th
align=left 15th WD 8th
align=left 6th
align=left 9th
align=left 17th 15th
align=left 8th bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left 10th 7th bgcolor=silver 2nd 5th
align=left 8th
align=left 3rd bgcolor=gold1st
International: Junior
align=left 10th
align=left bgcolor=gold1st
National
align=left bgcolor=gold1st J bgcolor=gold1st bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold1st bgcolor=silver 2nd
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled
Levels: J = Junior

Men's singles

International
Event11–1212–1313–1414–1515–1616–1717–18
align=left 23rd
align=left 13th
align=left 18th
align=left 32nd
International: Junior
align=left 21st
align=left 21st
align=left 27th
align=left 22nd
align=left 27th 10th 17th
align=left 8th 8th 8th
align=left 6th
align=left 12th 10th 8th
align=left 15th
align=left 17th 8th 14th 13th
align=left 14th 9th
align=left 4th
align=left 7th
align=left 9th
align=left 14th 10th
align=left World Development 6th
International: Adv. novice
align=left 11th 4th
align=left 14th
align=left 4th
National
align=left bgcolor=gold1st N 3rd J bgcolor=gold1st J bgcolor=silver2nd bgcolor=silver2nd bgcolor=gold1st J bgcolor=gold1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled
Levels: J = Junior; N = Novice

Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

With Danilova

2023–24 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
March 18–24, 20242024 World Championshipsalign=center 17
59.07		align=center 12
113.17 		align=center 14
172.24
January 8–14, 20242024 European Championshipsalign=center 10
53.95		align=center 8
113.37		align=center 8
167.32
November 24–26, 20232023 NHK Trophyalign=center 6
58.61		align=center 5
118.93		align=center 5
177.54
October 27–29, 20232023 Skate Canada Internationalalign=center 6
57.17		align=center 6
107.84		align=center 7
165.01
October 13–15, 20232023 Budapest Trophyalign=center 3
61.66		align=center 4
107.73		align=center bgcolor=cc9966 3
169.39
September 8–10, 20232023 CS Lombardia Trophyalign=center 8
53.58		align=center 6
106.89		align=center 6
160.47
2022–23 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
March 20–26, 20232023 World Championshipsalign=center 12
61.24		align=center 12
112.61		align=center 13
173.85
February 23–26, 20232023 International Challenge Cupalign=center 5
57.28		align=center 5
100.50		align=center 5
157.78
Jan. 31 – Feb. 5, 20232023 Bavarian Openalign=center 1
66.00 		align=center 2
101.49 		align=center bgcolor=silver 2
167.49
November 25–27, 20222022 Grand Prix of Espooalign=center 5
56.41		align=center 6
89.74		align=center 5
146.15
November 17–20, 20222022 NHK Trophyalign=center 6
54.46		align=center 6
101.38		align=center 6
155.84
October 4–9, 20222022 CS Finlandia Trophyalign=center 6
56.27		align=center 5
102.65		align=center 6
158.92
2021–22 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
March 21–27, 20222022 World Championshipsalign=center 11
49.52		align=center 9
99.03		align=center 9
148.55
February 24–27, 20222022 International Challenge Cupalign=center 2
53.57		align=center 2
95.83 		align=center bgcolor=silver 2
149.40
January 10–16, 20222022 European Championshipsalign=center 21
36.86		align=center –align=center 21
36.86
November 17–20, 20212021 CS Warsaw Cupalign=center 14
55.45 		align=center 15
89.28		align=center 15
144.73
November 4–7, 20212021 NRW Trophyalign=center 1
50.61 		align=center 1
101.85		align=center bgcolor=gold 1
152.46
September 22–25, 20212021 CS Nebelhorn Trophyalign=center 8
55.39		align=center 9
89.87		align=center 9
145.26
September 10–12, 20212021 Lombardia Trophyalign=center 7
45.14 		align=center 8
88.73		align=center 8
133.87
2020–21 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
March 22–28, 20212021 World Championshipsalign=center 22
43.12 		align=center –align=center 22
43.12
February 26–28, 20212021 International Challenge Cupalign=center 8
48.87		align=center 6
88.23		align=center 7
137.10
November 26–29, 20202020 NRW Trophyalign=center 3
43.86 		align=center 4
70.88		align=center bgcolor=ccc9966 3
114.74
2019–20 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
February 20–23, 20202020 International Challenge Cupalign=center 5
51.81 		align=center 10
85.92		align=center 10
137.73
February 3–9, 20202020 Bavarian Openalign=center 8
46.92 		align=center 9
83.91 		align=center 8
130.83
January 20–26, 20202020 European Championshipsalign=center 16
46.10 		align=center 16
70.20		align=center 16
116.30
December 4–7, 20192019 CS Golden Spin of Zagrebalign=center 13
47.86		align=center 16
87.85		align=center 15
135.71
November 14–17, 20192019 CS Warsaw Cupalign=center 18
38.90		align=center 18
80.54		align=center 17
119.44
October 11–13, 20192019 CS Finlandia Trophyalign=center 9
43.56		align=center 10
75.34		align=center 10
118.90

Junior results

2018–19 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
February 21–24, 20192019 Dutch Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 1
43.33		align=center 1
74.44		align=center bgcolor=gold 1
117.77
February 5–10, 20192019 Bavarian OpenJunioralign=center 12
36.74 		align=center 10
73.18		align=center 10
109.92
December 5–8, 20182018 Golden Spin of ZagrebJunioralign=center 1
37.67		align=center 1
76.33		align=center bgcolor=gold 1
114.00

External links

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