Stefania Gladki
Stefania Pavlovna Gladki or Stefania Gladkaya is a Russian-French figure skater who currently competes for France. She is a two-time French national champion and the 2024 French national silver medalist. She is the youngest-ever French national champion, winning her first title at age 14.
At the junior level, Gladki is the 2024 JGP Czech Republic silver medalist, the 2024 JGP Turkey bronze medalist, and the 2024 French junior national champion.
Personal life
Gladki was born on 28 May 2010 in Moscow, Russia. Growing up with a French father with Ukrainian roots and Russian mother, Gladki is able to communicate in both languages fluently. In addition, she has family members that reside in Canada.She is currently enrolled in Russian and French online schooling.
Additionally, she looks up to training mate, Adam Siao Him Fa.
Career
Early career
In 2014, Gladki's parents signed her up for figure skating at the age three-and-a-half as a means to help improve her allergies. At the age of six, her parents decided that their daughter would represent France should she eventually compete internationally and thus registered her to the Nice Baie des Anges Association in Nice, France. She then began splitting her time between training in Nice and Moscow, and would compete at French and Russian domestic competitions. Gladki's early coaches included, Natalia Mankevich, Irina Lobacheva, and Alexander Mandrikov. She officially began competing for France internationally in 2023.2023–24 season: International junior debut
Prior to the season, it was announced that Gladki would split her time between training in Moscow under Svetlana Panova and Tatiana Moiseeva, and in Nice under Cédric Tour.She made her international junior debut for France at the 2023 JGP Austria where she finished just off the podium in 4th. At her second JGP assignment of the season, the 2023 JGP Hungary, she placed 6th. In November 2023, she won the silver medal in the junior women's event at the 2023 Bosphorus Cup between Georgian skater Inga Gurgenidze and Czech entrant Barbora Tykalová.
Gladki competed at both the junior and senior French Championships, despite not being eligible to compete at the senior level internationally, and earned medals at both events, becoming the 2024 French national silver medalist and junior national champion at just 13. Due to her win at junior nationals, Gladki was assigned to compete at 2024 World Junior Championships in February, where she placed ninth. This was the best placement for a French women at the event since Fanny Cagnard achieved the same result in 1998.
2024–25 season
During the summer off-season, Gladki would work with Rafael and Vera Arutyunyan in Irvine, California.Gladki opened her second junior international season back on the Junior Grand Prix circuit at the 2024 JGP Czech Republic. There, she won the silver medal behind Japanese debutante Kaoruko Wada and Korean skater Kim Yu-jae. At her next assignment, the 2024 JGP Turkey, she won bronze behind Korean champion Kim Yu-seong and Japanese silver medalist Ami Nakai. With these results, Gladki qualified for the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France. She was the first Frenchwoman to qualify for the Final since Gwenaëlle Jullien during the 1998–99 edition.
Following her JGP events, Gladki competed at the 2024 Master's de Patinage where she won gold on the junior level for a second consecutive time. She competed the short program segment at the 2024 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur; however, the junior women's free skate event was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Gladki was awarded the gold medal based on her short program result. In late December, Gladki competed at the Junior Grand Prix Final, where she finished in sixth place. Two weeks later, she competed on the senior level and won the 2025 French Championships at only fourteen years old.
Gladki finished her season at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, where she placed ninth in the short program with a new personal best score of 62.62 points. In the free skate she landed all of her seven planned triple jumps and rose to fifth overall, with a score just shy of her personal best for the segment. Gladki said she was "very pleased" with the result.
In an interview in June, Gladki shared her goals for the 2025–26 figure skating season: “My goals are podium finishes at the Junior Grand Prix and, of course, to give my absolute best effort to qualify for the Final next season. Especially since it will be held in Japan. I’ve always dreamed of visiting Japan, and this would be such a great opportunity.”
2025–26 season
Gladki began the season by competing on the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix, finishing seventh at 2025 JGP Turkey and ninth at 2025 JGP Thailand. She followed these results up by winning bronze on the junior level at the 2025 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and gold on the junior level at the 2025 Bosphorus Cup.In December, Gladki competed on the senior level at the 2026 French Championships, winning the gold medal for a second consecutive time.