Apollinariia Panfilova

Apollinariia Sergeevna Panfilova (Аполлинария Сергеевна Панфилова, born 23 January 2003) is a retired Russian pair skater.

Panfilova began learning to skate in 2007.

She trained as a single skater in Perm.

Her first pair skating partner was Igor Samoilov, with whom she skated two seasons, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014.

She then skated two seasons with Maksim Selkin, during 2014–2015 and 2015–2016.

Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov began competing together in 2016.

They were coached by Valentina Tiukova and Pavel Sliusarenko at Perm Krai Sports Center in Perm.

Panfilova/Rylov made their international debut in early September 2017 at the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) competition in Riga where they won the gold medal.

They beat the silver medalist, their teammates Boikova/Kozlovskii, by less than 4 points.

They placed third at their second JGP assignment, in Minsk, Belarus.

Their results qualified them for the 2017–18 JGP Final in Nagoya, Japan, where they won the silver medal after placing first in the short program and third in the free skate.

At the 2018 Russian Championships, they placed eighth on the senior level and seventh at the junior event.

Panfilova/Rylov started their season by competing in the 2018 JGP series.

At their first JGP event of the season they won the silver medal in Bratislava, Slovakia.

They were ranked third in the short program and second in the free skate and they were part of a Russian sweep of the pairs' podium.

Panfilova/Rylov were more than 11 points behind the gold medalists, Mishina/Galliamov but they beat the bronze medalists, Akhanteva/Kolesov, by a margin of only 0.13 points.

At their second JGP event of the season they won another silver medal, now in Vancouver, Canada.

Again they were beaten by Mishina/Galliamov.

This time they were beaten by about 10 points.

With two JGP silver medals they qualified for the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final.

At the JGP Final Panfilova/Rylov won the bronze medal after placing second in the short program and third in the free skate.

They were part of a Russian sweep of the pairs' podium.

Panfilova/Rylov were about 4 points behind gold medalists Mishina/Galliamov and about 3 points behind the silver medalists, Kostiukovich/Ialin, who were separated by only 1.1 point.

At the 2019 Russian Championships, Panfilova/Rylov placed seventh at the senior level and third at the junior event.

At the 2019 World Junior Championships, Panfilova/Rylov placed second in the short program, despite a level 2 death spiral element.

They came second in the free program as well, winning the silver medal with a score only 0.57 points behind the winners, Mishina/Galliamov.

A downgraded Euler in their three-jump combination made the difference between silver and gold.

Rylov described himself as "happy but also shocked", believing that they were likely to win bronze as in prior competitions.

Panfilova/Rylov opened their third junior season at the 2019 JGP United States in Lake Placid, New York.

They won the event by a 15-point margin over Russian teammates and silver medalists Akhanteva/Kolesov and set a new personal best in the short program (68.21), missing the junior world record held by Kostiukovich/Ialin by just 0.10 points.

At their second Junior Grand Prix assignment, 2019 JGP Poland held in Gdańsk, Panfilova/Rylov continued their success with another first-place finish.

At this event, they broke the junior world records for both the short program (70.97) and the combined total score (192.73) by setting new personal bests in all three segments.

The team finished more than 26 points ahead of American silver medalists Finster/Nagy.

By winning both of their events and earning a perfect 30 total qualifying points, Panfilova/Rylov advanced to their third consecutive Junior Grand Prix Final as the top-seeded team.

At the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final, Panfilova/Rylov placed first in the short program with a score of 68.80.

However, despite being in the lead, the team was not entirely satisfied with their performance, which was plagued by minor errors.

After the short, Panfilova stated, "It was a practice version of our program. We always want to do our very best when we go out, independently of the placement. Obviously, it is nice to be in first."

In regards to coming into the event as the top-seeded team, Rylov further added, "I think it means more responsibility. Everyone looks at us more than at the others and sometimes that puts pressure on you and sometimes it is the opposite."

With partner Dmitry Rylov, she is the 2020 World Junior champion, the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics champion, 2019–2020 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, 2019 World Junior silver medalist, the 2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, and the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist.

Panfilova/Rylov are the current junior world record holders for both the short and free programs, and the total score for junior pairs.