Natalia Kaliszek Explained

Natalia Kaliszek
Birth Date:17 May 1996
Birth Place:Toruń, Poland
Partner:Maksym Spodyriev
Formerpartner:Yaroslav Kurbakov
Michał Kaliszek
Coach:Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka
Anastasia Vykhodtseva
Formercoach:Dorota Siudek
Mariusz Siudek
G. Dybinska
V. Belousowski
E. Gres
Choreographer:Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka
Formerchoreographer:Vladimir Czeryszew
Valerie Saurette
Skating Club:MKS Axel Toruń
Currenttraininglocations:Toruń
Beganskating:2000
Retired:2022
Combined Total:185.35
Combined Date:2019 Europeans
Sd Score:74.19
Sd Date:2019 Internationaux de France
Fd Score:112.48
Fd Date:2019 Europeans

Natalia Kaliszek (pronounced as /pl/; born 17 May 1996) is a retired Polish ice dancer. With her skating partner, Maksym Spodyriev, she has won medals on the ISU Challenger Series, including gold at the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy, and eight Polish national titles. They have represented Poland at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, as well as the European and World championships. At the junior level, they placed in the top ten at the 2015 Junior Worlds.

Personal life

Natalia Kaliszek was born on 17 May 1996 in Toruń, Poland. She has two siblings, Michał and Anna, both of whom have competed in figure skating. In May 2022 she married Miłosz Wąsik,[1] they have a baby born at the beginning of 2023.[2]

Early career

Natalia Kaliszek competed in ladies' singles as a child. In 2007, she teamed up with her brother, Michał Kaliszek, to compete in pair skating. In 2009, they appeared at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events, placing thirteenth and eighteenth.

In 2010, the two switched to ice dancing at the suggestion of Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka. In the 2011–2012 season, the Kaliszeks received two JGP assignments, finishing eleventh at both, and debuted on the senior level at the Pavel Roman Memorial, where they placed fifth. They were sent to the 2012 World Junior Championships in Minsk, Belarus, but were eliminated after the preliminary round. They trained in Toruń and ended their partnership after the 2012–2013 season.

In 2013, Kaliszek teamed up with Russian ice dancer Yaroslav Kurbakov. The two were coached by Nowak-Trębacka and represented Poland. They placed ninth and thirteenth at their JGP assignments and second at the Polish Junior Championships. They parted ways at the end of the season.

Partnership with Spodyriev

2014–2015 season

In 2014, Kaliszek began competing with Ukrainian ice dancer Maksym Spodyriev for Poland, coached by Nowak-Trębacka in Toruń. The two made their international debut at the Volvo Open Cup, where they took the junior silver medal. Switching to the senior level, they placed sixth at a Challenger Series (CS) event, the Warsaw Cup, before winning gold at the Santa Claus Cup. They won the Polish national title at the Four Nationals in December 2014 and took bronze the following month at the Toruń Cup.

Kaliszek/Spodyriev were selected to represent Poland at the European Championships, held in late January 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden. Ranked fifteenth in the short dance, they qualified to the free dance, where they placed fourteenth and rose to fourteenth overall. In early March, they made their second and final appearance on the junior level, competing at the World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia; they placed tenth in the short dance, sixth in the free dance, and seventh overall. Later in March, they traveled to Shanghai, China, for the World Championships but were eliminated after placing twenty-fourth in the short dance.

2015–2016 season

Kaliszek/Spodyriev competed in three 2015–16 Challenger Series competitions. After placing seventh at the Nebelhorn Trophy, they won bronze at the Mordovian Ornament and silver at the Warsaw Cup. They finished third in the Challenger Series ranking.

Kaliszek/Spodyriev placed eleventh at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, having ranked eleventh in both segments. At the 2016 World Championships in Boston, they placed fourteenth in the short dance, sixteenth in the free dance, and sixteenth overall. At the end of May 2016, it was announced that the International Skating Union had chosen the foxtrot portion of their short dance to become a pattern dance.

2016–2017 season

Starting their season on the Challenger Series, Kaliszek/Spodyriev placed fourth at the 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial and fifth at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, in early October. During training in early November, they had a fall related to poor rink conditions in Toruń, which resulted in her blade cutting two of his fingers. Later in the same month, they debuted on the Grand Prix series, having received invitations to two events. The duo finished fifth at the 2016 Cup of China and seventh at the 2016 NHK Trophy.

In January 2017, Kaliszek/Spodyriev finished 8th at the European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In March, they placed fifteenth in the short, thirteenth in the free, and fourteenth overall at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Due to their result, Poland qualified a spot in the ice dancing event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

2017–2018 season

Kaliszek/Spodyriev began the season with a tenth-place finish at the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy, the first of two Challenger events the team would take on that year. On the Grand Prix, they placed ninth at Skate Canada and eighth at the Internationaux de France. Following the end of the Grand Prix, they won gold at the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy, followed by a bronze medal at the Santa Claus Cup. They repeated as champions at the Polish Figure Skating Championships for the fourth consecutive time and were named to Poland's Olympic team, as well as to the European and World championships.

Competing at the 2018 European Championships, Kaliszek/Spodyriev placed tenth. Competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics ice dance event, they placed fourteenth in the short dance. Kaliszek/Spodyriev were one of three teams in the competition whose rhumba pattern dance made use of the song "Despacito", along with South Koreans Yura Min / Alexander Gamelin and the Chinese team of Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu. The effect of the song's ubiquity was heightened further because Kaliszek/Spodyriev and the Min/Gamelin skated consecutively and attracted comments on social and entertainment media. The duo qualified for the free dance, placing fifteenth and fourteenth overall. They concluded the season at the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy, where they placed seventeenth.

2018–2019 season

The 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy marked Kaliszek/Spodyriev's first event of the new season, placing eighth. On the Grand Prix, they placed sixth at Skate America and fifth at the Rostelecom Cup. Following the Grand Prix, they competed at the 2018 Warsaw Cup, winning the silver medal behind Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro. They went on to compete in two more Challenger events, winning the bronze medal at the Tallinn Trophy and silver at Golden Spin. In December, Kaliszek/Spodyriev won their fifth national title.

Competing in the rhythm dance at the 2019 European Championships, they placed fourth and were the only team to receive a perfect score on the Tango Romantica pattern dance. They placed fifth in the free dance and fifth overall. They placed eleventh at the 2019 World Championships.

2019–2020 season

The pattern dance based on Kaliszek and Spodyriev's 2015–16 "Tea for Two" short dance, formally known as the Tea Time Foxtrot, was adopted for use in the junior international competitive season. Kaliszek and Spodyriev spent much of the preseason teaching the dance at seminars for junior dance teams.

Beginning the season at the 2019 Shanghai Trophy, they won the bronze medal there before winning silver at the 2019 CS Ice Star. On the Grand Prix, they placed sixth at the 2019 Internationaux de France. At the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, they placed fourth in the rhythm dance despite a serious error on the Finnstep pattern dance, exiting hold midway through. They remained in fourth place overall following the free dance.

Polish champions again, Kaliszek/Spodyriev, finished the season at the 2020 European Championships, where they placed ninth. They had been assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

2020–2021 season

With the pandemic limited international opportunities, Kaliszek/Spodyriev won the Four National Championships again before competing at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, where they placed twelfth. This qualified one berth for a Polish dance team at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

2021–2022 season

Kaliszek/Spodyriev began the new season on the Grand Prix at 2021 Skate America, where they finished eighth. They withdrew from several other events, including the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, before winning the Polish national title again. They were named to the Polish Olympic team for the second time and then competed at the 2022 European Championships, finishing fourteenth.

Competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the dance event, Kaliszek/Spodyriev were fifteenth in the rhythm dance. Kaliszek fell at the end of their program, as a result of which they placed last in the free dance and dropped to seventeenth overall.

Spodyriev's native country, Kaliszek and Spodyriev's club welcomed many refugee Ukrainian skaters, notably fellow ice dancers Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin. The duo were scheduled to compete at the 2022 World Championships, but withdrew after a positive COVID test.

On July 16, they announced their retirement from competitive figure skating. [3]

Programs

With Spodyriev

SeasonShort danceFree danceExhibition
2021–2022
  • Quick Musical Doodles
  • Glory
2020–2021
  • Everybody Say Yeah
  • Everybody Say Yeah
2019–2020
  • Everybody Say Yeah
  • Everybody Say Yeah
2018–2019
  • Passion for Tango
  • Bout Time
  • I Feel Like I'm Drowning
  • Bout Time
2017–2018
2016–2017
  • Back to the Dirty Town
  • Sax

----

2015–2016
  • Rain Waltz
  • Tea For Two
  • Crystallize
2014–2015
  • Snow

With Michał Kaliszek

SeasonShort danceFree dance
2011–2012
  • Angelina
Short programFree skating
2009–2010
2008–2009

Competitive highlights

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

With Spodyriev

International
Event14–1515–1616–1717–1818–1919–2020–2121–22
align=left 14th 17th
align=left 24th 16th 14th 17th 11th C 12th WD
align=left 14th 11th 8th 10th 5th 9th 14th
align=left 5th
align=left 8th 6th
align=left 7th
align=left 5th 4th WD
align=left 6th 8th
align=left 9th
align=left WD
align=left 5th 10th
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left 7th 8th
align=left 4th
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left 6th bgcolor=silver 2nd WD WD
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
International: Junior
align=left 7th
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
National
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled

With Kurbakov

International
Event2013–14
align=left 13th
align=left 9th
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd J
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd J
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd J
National
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd J
J = Junior level

With Michał Kaliszek

Ice dancing

International
Event2010–112011–122012–13
align=left 12th
align=left 5th
align=left 4th
International: Junior
align=left 28th
align=left 11th
align=left 11th
National
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd J bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
J = Junior level

Pair skating

International
Event2007–082008–092009–10
align=left 18th
align=left 13th
align=left 4th J
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st N
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd N
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st N bgcolor=cc9966 3rd J bgcolor=silver 2nd J
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd N bgcolor=cc9966 3rd J
National or regional
align=left 4th
align=left 1st N* bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left Polish Youth Olympics bgcolor=gold 1st J
align=left Mazovia Cup bgcolor=gold 1st N bgcolor=gold 1st J bgcolor=silver 2nd J
align=left International Czech Champ. bgcolor=silver 2nd J
Levels: J = Junior; N = Novice
* Competed unofficially.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Natalia Kaliszek wyszła za mąż. Ślub toruńskiej olimpijki w katedrze św. Janów [zdjęcia] ]. 2023-12-17 . Nowości Dziennik Toruński . pl-PL.
  2. Web site: 2023-04-26 . [Trzy miesiące pięknej miłości] ]. 2023-12-17 . Instagram.
  3. Web site: Kochani! . July 16, 2022 . Natalia Kaliszek & Maksym Spodyriev's Facebook.