Filippo Clerici
Filippo Clerici is an Italian pair skater who currently competes for Finland. With his former skating partner, Milania Väänänen, he is the 2023 Golden Spin of Zagreb gold medalist, 2023 Tayside Trophy bronze medalist, and three-time Finnish national champion.
Personal life
Clerici was born on 7 March 2001 in Como, Italy. After pairing up with Milania Väänänen in 2022, Clerici began learning how to speak Finnish.Career
Early career
Clerici began figure skating in 2008. He initially competed as a singles skater before switching to pairs in 2020. His first pair partner was Anna Valesi whom he won the 2021 Italian Championships with on the junior level.The following season, he competed with Alyssa Montan on the junior level, placing eighth at 2021 JGP Slovakia and eleventh at 2021 JGP Austria. They went on to win gold at the 2022 Italian Junior Championships and competed at the 2022 World Junior Championships, finishing eighth. Montan/Clerici's partnership dissolved after the season ended.
2022–23 season
Clerici considered retiring from competitive figure skating following the end of his previous partnership due to no longer being eligible to compete on the junior level and the increasing level of depth in Italian pair skating. However, Clerici's coaches, Luca Demattè, Ondrej Hotarek, and Rosanna Murante were contacted by Finnish-based Italian skating coach, Maurizio Margaglio, and informed that Finnish pair skater, Milania Väänänen, was searching for a new partner. Following a successful tryout, Väänänen moved to Bergamo so they could train together. They decided to represent Finland.The newly formed team of Väänänen and Clerici competed only once during the 2022–23 season, winning the 2023 Finnish Champions in December 2022. They were ineligible to compete at spring championship events as they had not attained their technical minimums through international competition in the fall.
2023–24 season
Väänänen and Clerici began their season with the goal of attaining their ISU technical minimum scores to be eligible to compete at the 2024 European Championships and the World Championships. The team mearned their minimums during their international debut at the 2023 Lombardia Trophy, where they finished in seventh place. Following the event, Clerici commented, "We are really happy to have reached the technical point limits for the European Championship and the World Championship... Next we will focus on the levels and the quality of the elements in order to increase our points."At their next event, the 2023 Finlandia Trophy, Väänänen and Clerici were warmly received by a home audience. They placed sixth in the short program and rose to fourth in the free skate with a new personal best score to finish in fourth place overall. The following week, the team competed at the 2023 Tayside Trophy, where they won their first international medal: a bronze medal.
Selected to compete at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, Väänänen/Clerici finished eighth. The pair then went on to win gold at both 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb and the 2023–24 Finnish Championships.
At the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, the pair finished in fourteenth place. They went on to compete at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the pair placed nineteenth in the short program and seventeenth in the free skate, finishing eighteenth overall. Väänänen/Clerici became the first Finnish pair team to qualify for the free skate at a World Championships.
2024–25 season: End of Väänänen/Clerici
Väänänen/Clerici started the season by finishing seventh at the 2024 CS John Nicks International Pairs Competition. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series, the pair placed eighth at 2024 Skate America and seventh at the 2024 Finlandia Trophy.Following a tenth-place finish at the 2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, the pair would go on to win their third consecutive national title at the 2025 Finnish Championships.
Selected to compete at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, the pair finished in fourteenth place. They followed this up with a fifth-place finish at the 2025 Merano Ice Trophy. Väänänen/Clerici then finished the season by placing nineteenth at the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
In April, it was announced that the pair had parted ways.