Alexei Sviatchenko


Alexei Vadimovich Sviatchenko is a Russian and Hungarian pair skater who currently competes for Hungary. With his current skating partner, Maria Pavlova, he is the 2026 European bronze medalist, a five-time ISU Grand Prix medalist, two-time ISU Challenger Series medalist, and three-time Hungarian national champion.

Personal life

Sviatchenko was born on 24 March 1999 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Fluent Russian, he has also been learning how to speak the Hungarian language.
In March 2024, his girlfriend, former Russian ice dancer and choreographer, Sofia Evdokimova, announced that they were engaged. They married in April 2025.

Career

Early years and career for Russia

Sviatchenko began learning how to skate in 2006. He became interested in the sport upon first seeing skaters at an ice rink and asked his mother to put him in lessons. He trained first as a single skater in Kolpino, a suburb of St. Petersburg, and at the age of 12 took up pair skating at the Figure Skating Club of St. Petersburg coached by Alexei Sokolov.
Sviatchenko competed with his first partner, Daria Kvartalova, until 2019. The team competed at four junior international events together, most notably finishing third at the ISU [Junior Grand Prix in Canada|2018 JGP Canada]. Following his split with Kvartalova, Sviatchenko had two more short-lived partnerships for Russia, one with Anastasia Balabanova during the 2020–21 season, and another with Nadezhda Labazina the following year. Labazina/Sviatchenko had one international start together before parting ways, finishing ninth at the 2021 CS [Denis Ten Memorial Challenge].

Partnership with Maria Pavlova for Hungary

2022–23 season: Debut of Pavlova/Sviatchenko, first national title

Sviatchenko had his first tryout with his current skating partner, Maria Pavlova, in March 2022 at what is now their current training base in Sochi. The duo chose to move forward as a new team for Hungary not long after, coached by Pavlova's staff consisting of Dmitri Savin, Fedor Klimov, Sofia Evdokimova, and Gurgen Vardanjan.
Pavlova/Sviatchenko made their competitive debut late in the 2022–23 season at the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished ninth. Weeks later, the team claimed their first Hungarian national title at the 2023 Four Nationals Championship, the combined national championship event for Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. Due to their placement at the event, Pavlova/Sviatchenko were named to the Hungarian teams for the 2023 European Championships in January, and the 2023 World Championships in March.
At the European Championships, Pavlova/Sviatchenko placed sixth in the short program and fourth in the free skate to finish fifth overall, the best placement for a Hungarian team at the event in many years. In preparation for the World Championships, the team competed at two senior B events, the 2023 Bavarian Open and the 2023 Challenge Cup, where they placed first and second respectively.
Pavlova/Sviatchenko capped their season at Worlds, hosted in Saitama, Japan. There, the duo set new personal bests in both segments of competition, placing eighth in the short program and seventh in the free skate for seventh-place finish overall, another landmark placement for a Hungarian pair team at the competition in recent memory.

2023–24 season: Grand Prix medalists

Pavlova/Sviatchenko opened their second season together in September at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy where they finished fifth. They followed up this placement with a third-place finish at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy, and a silver medal in the Challenger ineligible pairs event at the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy.
The team made their ISU Grand Prix series debut in late October at the 2023 Skate Canada International, held in Vancouver. Pavlova/Sviatchenko placed fourth in the short program, and rose to second in the free skate to finish second overall between Canadian gold medalists Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps and Italian third-place finishers Beccari/Guarise. Their placement marked the first medal for Hungary in pairs at a Grand Prix event. Following the free skate, Pavlova remarked, "We're really happy with our performance and we're going to improve every time and we have a lot of things to work on. Our federation is happy for us. We're giving good results for our country and we will continue to do that." They were again fourth in the short program at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, but another second-place free skate won them the bronze medal.
The team's results on the Grand Prix initially had them finishing as first alternates to the 2023-24 [Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final|Grand Prix Final]. They were called up to compete at the Beijing event following the withdrawal of German team Hocke/Kunkel, and came in fourth at the event.
Pavlova/Sviatchenko competed next at the 2024 European Championships, finishing fourth in the short program, less than two points back of third place. They came third in the free skate, winning a bronze small medal, but remained fourth overall, 1.66 points behind bronze medalists Ghilardi/Ambrosini of Italy. They expressed dissatisfaction with the judging of their performances, with Pavlova saying "our motivation goes down every time we keep getting these scores."
Finishing the season at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Pavlova/Sviatchenko came sixth in the short program. They moved up to fourth after the free skate, which she called "very motivating for next season."

2024–25 season: Grand Prix silver

Pavlova/Sviatchenko started the season by competing at the 2024 CS Lombardia Trophy and the 2024 Shanghai Trophy, where they won bronze and gold, respectively.
Going on to compete on the 2024–25 [ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating|2024–25 Grand Prix] series, they placed fifth at 2024 Skate America. “This wasn’t our best skate for sure," said Pavlova. "We were both a bit sick ahead of this competition. We have some time now to regroup and will be better at the next competition.” They went on to take silver at the 2024 Finlandia Trophy. Pavlova said after the event that Sviatchenko was dealing with a back injury and were not able to practice lifts before coming into the event. "I am surprised that our scores are still higher than at Skate America," she said. "We know though that the judges don’t forgive any mistakes, and we need to practice more.”
Going on to compete at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Pavlova/Sviatchenko placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate, finishing fourth overall, only 0.44 points behind bronze medalists, Metelkina/Berulava. The following month, they competed at the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, where the placed eighth overall after finishing sixth in the short program and eighth in the free skate.

2025–26 season: European bronze medal

Pavlova and Sviatchenko opened the 2025-26 season with a bronze medal at 2025 Grand Prix de France. "We were just really happy to be here, to start the season, and to compete again so we weren't really thinking about medaling," said Pavlova.
Three weeks later, the team took silver at 2025 NHK Trophy, posting a new personal best in both the short program and total score. "I think we are working in the right direction and we just want to continue to improve on everything," said Pavlov. "But we are very happy with the results and our second place.”
The following month, Pavlova and Sviatchenko placed fifth overall at the 2025–26 Grand Prix Final. "We're feeling good," said Pavlova after the free skate. "It was our first clean skate this season, and we're proud of that. We're going in the right direction forward."
In January, the team won the bronze medal at the 2026 European Championships, becoming the first Hungarian pair team to medal since Marianna Nagy and László Nagy in 1957 and the first skaters from Hungary to medal since Júlia Sebestyén in 2004. "It's been a long time since pairs' for Hungary earned a medal," noted Pavlova. "So, I think it's a big achievement for us and for the country. It's an amazing feeling!"