Natalia Zabiiako

Natalia Aleksandrovna Zabiiako (Наталья Александровна Забияко, born 15 August 1994) is a Russian-Estonian competitive pair skater.

They made their international debut at the 2009 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Belarus and placed sixteenth at the 2010 World Junior Championships.

From 2010 to 2014, Zabiiako lived in the United States with a Russian emigrant family.

Later in 2010, Zabiiako teamed up with Ukrainian skater Sergei Kulbach to represent Estonia.

After debuting at the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy, the pair placed thirteenth at the 2011 European Championships and sixteenth at the 2011 World Championships.

Zabiiako injured her back as a result of a fall at the NRW Trophy in December 2011, preventing them from competing at the 2012 European Championships.

On 15 February 2012, it was reported that Zabiiako and Kulbach had parted ways.

In October 2012, Zabiiako teamed up with Russian-born skater Alexandr Zaboev to compete for Estonia.

By finishing ninth at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, they earned a spot for Estonia in pair skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Zaboev applied for Estonian citizenship, required to represent the country at the Olympics, but in November 2013, Estonia denied his fast-track application.

Zabiiako competed for Estonia until 2014, partnered with Sergei Muhhin, Sergei Kulbach, and Alexandr Zaboev.

With Zaboev, she placed tenth at the 2014 European Championships.

Although they qualified a spot for Estonia in the pairs' event at the 2014 Winter Olympics, they did not compete in Sochi because Zaboev's fast-track citizenship application was declined.

Zabiiako was born in Tallinn, Estonia.

Her mother is an Estonian citizen, and her father holds an Estonian alien's passport.

In April 2014, she said she planned to move to Moscow and apply for Russian citizenship.

She became a Russian citizen on 19 December 2014.

Zabiiako is in a relationship with Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina.

It became public after Kasatkina and Zabiiako posted photos of each other together on Instagram in July 2022.

Zabiiako and Kasatkina also started a YouTube vlog about life on the tennis tour.

Zabiiako began skating when she was four years old.

At age 15, she switched from singles to pairs, partnering with Sergei Muhhin.

Zabiiako/Zaboev placed tenth at the 2014 European Championships and nineteenth at the 2014 World Championships.

In late March 2014, Zabiiako ended their partnership, saying he was too difficult to work with and the Estonian Skating Federation did not provide them with equal financial support.

In early April 2014, the Secretary General of the Estonian Skating Union submitted an official rebuttal to Zabiiako's statements.

The Secretary General called Zabiiako's statements concerning the Skating Union and her partner slanderous and untrue; "Sport - is voluntary, and each person has a right to make decisions, but to justify their actions do not have to lie and defame their partners."

In April 2014, Zabiiako said she would move to Moscow to work with Nina Mozer and try out with different skaters, intending to compete for Russia.

ISU rules require skaters to sit out a certain period of time after a country change.

In Summer 2014, Zabiiako and Yuri Larionov decided to skate together.

In June 2015, she said that their partnership had ended.

In July 2015, the Russian media reported that Zabiiako had teamed up with Alexander Enbert and that she had been released to represent Russia internationally.

Zabiiako/Enbert's international debut came in October 2015 at the 2015 Mordovian Ornament, a Challenger Series (CS) event at which they won a silver medal.

In November, the pair appeared for the first time on the Grand Prix series, placing fifth at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup.

In early December, they finished fourth at the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb and third in the CS standings.

At the 2016 Russian Championships, the pair placed fifth in both segments and overall.

Zabiiako/Enbert started the 2016–17 season on the Challenger Series, obtaining the bronze medal at the 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial.

Turning to the Grand Prix series, the pair won the silver medal at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup, having placed first in the short and second in the free behind Germany's Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot.

They then placed fourth at the 2016 Trophée de France.

These results didn't qualify them to the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final but they were the 1st alternates and were called up after Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot withdrew.

Competing for Russia with Alexander Enbert, she was the 2019 World bronze medalist, 2018 European bronze medalist, 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki champion, 2018 NHK Trophy champion, 2016 Rostelecom Cup silver medalist, and three-time Russian national medalist.