Deniss Vasiļjevs

Deniss Vasiļjevs (born 9 August 1999) is a Latvian figure skater.

He is the 2022 European bronze medalist, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy silver medalist, a four-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (including gold at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy), and a six-time Latvian national champion (2016–18, 2020, 2022-23).

Deniss Vasiļjevs was born on 9 August 1999 in Daugavpils, Latvia.

His mother is a former dancer.

Vasiļjevs began skating in 2002.

As he was often sick, his parents decided to involve him in a sport, first considering swimming and then skating.

Around 2010, they arranged for him to train under the guidance of Lithuanian coach Ingrida Snieškienė in Paris, France.

Due to his schooling, he spent part of the year training in Daugavpils.

His figure skating role models include Stéphane Lambiel, Daisuke Takahashi, Patrick Chan, and Javier Fernández.

Ranked 11th in the short program, he qualified for the free skate, where he placed 7th, pulling him up to 8th overall.

He finished 12th after placing 14th in the short program and 10th in the free skate.

Vasiļjevs debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit in 2013, placing 7th in Riga, Latvia and 10th in Gdańsk, Poland.

He was named in Latvia's team to the World Junior Championships, held in March 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

During the 2014–15 figure skating season, Vasiļjevs placed fourth at both of his Junior Grand Prix assignments, in Courchevel, France and Tallinn, Estonia.

He qualified for the free skate by placing tenth in the short program and finishing 14th overall.

He won the silver medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, held in January 2015 in Dornbirn, Austria.

He began working with Alexei Urmanov before the 2015 World Junior Championships, which took place in March in Tallinn, Estonia.

He placed 8th in both segments and 7th overall.

Vasiļjevs began the 2015–16 season by winning silver at both of his JGP events in Riga, Latvia and Toruń, Poland.

He is the first Latvian skater to step on a JGP podium.

Making his senior international debut, he placed 5th at the 2015 Mordovian Ornament before taking the bronze medal at the 2015 Tallinn Trophy.

Earlier in his career, Vasiļjevs became the 2016 Youth Olympics silver medalist and won two silver medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series.

He is the first Latvian skater to make the podium at a JGP event and at an ISU Championships event.

In 2016, he began living in Champery, Switzerland, but remained a student at Daugavpils Russian Secondary School – Lyceum.

He enjoys drawing and speaks four languages – Latvian, Russian, French and English.

Vasiljevs also helps coach young skaters at the Skating School of Switzerland.

In January 2016, Vasiļjevs was sent to his first senior ISU Championship – the 2016 Europeans in Bratislava, Slovakia.

In February, he competed in Hamar, Norway at the 2016 Youth Olympics.

Ranked third in the short program and first in the free skate, he finished second overall with a total score 1.09 less than gold medalist Sōta Yamamoto of Japan.

His silver is Latvia's first Youth Olympic medal in figure skating.

Vasiļjevs was assigned to compete in the mixed NOC team event as a member of Team Discovery.

Placing first in his segment, he lifted his team to the bronze medal.

By 2016, Vasiļjevs was training almost full-time with Urmanov in Sochi, Russia.

In March, at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, he won a small bronze medal for the short program and finished 8th overall.

Later that month, he competed at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.

In spring 2016, Vasiļjevs had new programs choreographed by Stéphane Lambiel in Champéry, Switzerland.

He was diagnosed with a tear in his left adductor muscle during the off-season and visited Toronto in late July 2016 for physiotherapy.

On 25 August 2016, he announced that Lambiel had agreed to coach him in Champéry.

He started practicing double jumps in early September.

He also worked on developing his program details, steps, and spins.