Maria Kazakova

Maria Evgenyevna Kazakova (Мария Евгеньевна Казакова, მარია ევგენიევნა კაზაკოვა, born 15 July 2001) is a Russian-Georgian ice dancer who competes for Georgia.

With her skating partner, Georgy Reviya, she is a three-time ISU Challenger Series bronze medalist.

Kazakova was born on 15 July 2001 in Moscow, Russia.

She holds dual Russian and Georgian citizenship.

Kazakova currently studies ballet at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, in addition to coaching pedagogy at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism.

Kazakova began learning to skate in 2005 at the age of four.

Competing with Aleksandr Vaskovich for Russia, she placed tenth in junior ice dancing at the 2016 Ice Star in Belarus.

In 2017, Kazakova teamed up with Georgy Reviya to compete for Georgia.

During the 2017–2018 season, the team appeared at four international events – the Toruń Cup, the Golden Spin of Zagreb, the Santa Claus Cup, and the Tallinn Trophy.

In March, they placed ninth at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Kazakova/Reviya made their ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in September at the 2018 JGP Czech Republic.

They finished second in both the rhythm dance and the free dance to earn the silver medal overall behind Russian gold medalists Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva / Nikita Nazarov and ahead of Russian bronze medalists Davis/Smolkin.

At their next Junior Grand Prix event, in Armenia, Kazakova/Reviya placed second in both segments, behind Russia's Ushakova/Nekrasov, and received another silver medal.

They set a new personal best score of 65.42 in the rhythm dance.

They became the first ice dancers representing Georgia to qualify to a Junior Grand Prix Final, where they finished sixth.

Kazakova/Reviya concluded the season at the 2019 World Junior Championships, where they placed sixth.

Reviya called their performance there "not our season’s best, but the best skate of the season. There were some technical mistakes, and we’ll work on them, but I’m happy my partner and I are moving in the right direction."

Kazakova/Reviya began their season in early September at the 2019 JGP Latvia.

Though they won the free dance at this event by a little under two points, they placed second overall behind the Russian team and training mates Khudaiberdieva/ Filatov by about 0.3 points after being at a deficit after the rhythm dance.

Despite missing gold, the team set new personal bests in the free dance and overall at the event.

At their second assignment, 2019 JGP Croatia, Kazakova/Reviya earned their first Junior Grand Prix title, taking first place by a 15-point margin over Russian silver medalists Tyutyunina/Shustitskiy.

The team set new personal bests in both the rhythm dance and the free dance as well as overall, and with their win qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final for the second season in a row.

Kazakova/Reviya made their senior international debut in early November 2019 at the 2019 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy.

The team placed third in the rhythm dance and second in the free dance to finish third overall behind the American team Carreira/Ponomarenko and Russian team (including Reviya's former partner) Konkina/Drozd.

The pair also set new personal bests in all three segments at the event.

Days later, Kazakova/Reviya competed in the senior category again at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia.

They placed second in both the rhythm dance and the free dance behind the Russian team Shevchenko/Eremenko to win the silver medal overall.

In December 2019, Kazakova/Reviya returned to the junior level to compete at the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy.

The team took the lead in the rhythm dance by just a 0.04 point margin over the American team Nguyen/Kolesnik and again set a new personal best (68.76).

After their performance, Reviya remarked, "It wasn't easy today. We are very happy with our marks, but not so happy with the skate," citing a few minor technical errors that the team will look to work on moving forward.

On splitting their season between the junior and senior circuit, Reviya further added, "It's hard, so hard! But the free dance in juniors is easier after skating in seniors."

During the following day of competition, Kazakova/Reviya continued their momentum from the rhythm dance by placing first in the free dance by a 0.12 point margin over the Americans to capture their first Junior Grand Prix Final title.

Their win marks the first Junior Grand Prix Final victory by an entrant from Georgia in any discipline.

After their win, Kazakova stated, "It's a great pleasure for us just to skate and especially to skate for Georgia."

On the junior level, she is the 2020 World Junior silver medalist, the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, the 2019 JGP Croatia champion, the 2018 Toruń Cup champion, the 2019 NRW Trophy champion and the 2018 Volvo Open Cup champion.

In January 2020, Kazakova/Reviya competed at the 2020 European Championships, their first senior ISU championship.

The team placed twelfth in the rhythm dance, scoring just shy of their personal best score and qualifying to the free dance.

The couple fell to fourteenth place in the free dance and ultimately ranked fourteenth overall.

Kazakova/Reviya next competed in early March 2020 at the 2020 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

The team set a new personal best in the rhythm dance and finished second in the segment behind Russian team Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy and ahead of American rivals Nguyen/Kolesnik.