Ivan Khobta Explained

Ivan Khobta
Also Known As:Hobta
Birth Date:31 July 2003
Birth Place:Kyiv, Ukraine
Hometown:Kyiv
Partner:Violetta Sierova
Coach:Filip Zalevski
Choreographer:Filip Zalevski, Hendrik Hilpert, Raffaella Cazzaniga
Formerchoreographer:Oleksii Oliinyk
Skating Club:Leader Kyiv
Formertraininglocations:Oberstdorf, Germany
Kyiv
Beganskating:2007
Combined Total:159.39
Combined Date:2023 Junior Worlds
Sp Score:58.47
Sp Date:2023 Junior Worlds
Fs Score:100.92
Fs Date:2023 Junior Worlds
Show-Medals:yes

Ivan Khobta (Ukrainian: Іван Хобта, born 31 July 2003) is a Ukrainian pair skater. With his skating partner, Violetta Sierova, he is the 2023 World Junior bronze medalist and a four-time silver medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series. Competing as seniors, they are the 2022 Ice Challenge bronze medalists and 2021 Ukrainian national champions.

Personal life

Khobta was born on 31 July 2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Career

Early career

Khobta began figure skating in 2007.

He and pair partner, Violetta Sierova, debuted during the 2018–19 figure skating season, winning gold at the 2019 Ukrainian Novice Championships, silver at the 2019 Ukrainian Junior Championships, and silver at the 2019 Ukrainian Championships.

The following year, they won their second consecutive gold medal at the 2020 Ukrainian Novice Championships, gold at the 2020 Ukrainian Junior Championships, and silver at the 2020 Ukrainian Championships. Additionally, they won gold at the novice level at the 2019 Ice Star and at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup.

During the 2020–21 figure skating season, Sierova/Khobta won gold at both the 2021 Ukrainian Junior Championships, and the at the 2021 Ukrainian Championships.

2021–22 season

Sierova/Khobta debuted on the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix series, placing fifth at 2021 JGP Slovakia and seventh at 2021 JGP Austria. They then went on to win their third consecutive gold medal at the 2022 Ukrainian Junior Championships.

In late February, Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing. With Sierova and Khobta's hometown of Kyiv becoming a central point of conflict, they were forced to relocate elsewhere to train. They and coach Filip Zalevski ultimately settled in Bergamo, Italy and Chemnitz, Germany to train. Despite the invasion, they competed at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, and finished sixth.

2022–23 season

Sierova/Khobta began their season at the 2022 JGP Poland I and 2022 JGP Poland II, winning silver at both events and ultimately qualifying for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final. They went on to compete at the 2022 CS Ice Challenge and the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup, placing third and sixth, respectively.

At the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy, Sierova/Khobta finished fifth. Competing on the senior level at the 2023 European Championships in Espoo, Finland, Sierova/Khobta placed tenth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, finishing in ninth-place overall.

Sierova/Khobta went on to compete at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta, coming fourth in the short program, but only narrowly behind the third-place team. In the free skate, they set a new personal best and moved up to third place overall, winning the bronze medal. This was the first World Junior pairs medal for Ukraine since 2000, and the first in any discipline since ice dance team Nazarova/Nikitin's bronze in 2015. Speaking afterward, they said that they felt "all the support of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and that gave us strength. We hope to do our best in our next competition. This Junior Worlds was very important for us and our country."

At the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, Sierova/Khobta placed twenty-second in the short program, failing to qualify for the free skate, after missing a planned triple twist.

2023–24 season

Sierova/Khobta began the season on the Junior Grand Prix, winning the silver medal at the 2023 JGP Hungary in Budapest. With Sierova recovering from injury, they restricted themselves to double elements other than their triple twist. They won another silver medal at their second event, the 2023 JGP Poland, qualifying to their second consecutive Junior Grand Prix Final.

Following their Junior Grand Prixes, the team took three weeks off training in the hopes that Sierova could recover from her hip and back problems. However, upon restarting their preparations they discovered the issues remained. They were limited in what elements they could attempt at the Final, and finished in sixth place. Sierova hoped to be able to perform triple jumps in the future, once her health was restored.

Sierova's health continued to be an issue for the team in the remainder of the season, and they finished seventh at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei.

Programs

With Sierova

SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
2023–2024
2022–2023
  • Весна (Vesna)
  • Zori
2021–2022

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Sierova

International
Event18–1919–2020–2121–2222–2323-24
align=left 22nd
align=left 9th
align=left 6th
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
International: Junior
align=left 6th bgcolor=cc9966 3rd 7th
align=left 5th 6th
align=left 7th
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
bgcolor=silver 2nd1 bgcolor=silver 2nd
bgcolor=silver 2nd2
align=left 5th
National
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold 1st WD WD
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st
1JGP Poland I; 2JGP Poland II
TBD = Assigned
Levels: N = Novice

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs are awarded only at ISU Championships. Personal bests are highlighted in bold.

With Sierova

Junior results

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ivan Khobta".

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2023–24 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
Feb. 26 – Mar. 3, 20242024 World Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 8
48.93
align=center 7
85.08
align=center 7
134.01
December 7–10, 20232023–24 JGP FinalJunioralign=center 6
47.52
align=center 5
92.65
align=center 6
140.17
September 27–30, 20232023 JGP PolandJunioralign=center 2
54.51
align=center 2
97.02
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
151.53
September 20-23, 20232023 JGP HungaryJunioralign=center 1
55.52
align=center 2
98.25
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
153.77
2022–23 season
March 22–25, 20232023 World ChampionshipsSenioralign=center 22
44.74
align=center align=center 22
44.74
February 27–March 5, 20232023 World Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 4
58.47
align=center bgcolor=cc99666 3
100.92
align=center bgcolor=cc9966 3
159.39
January 23–29, 20232023 European ChampionshipsSenioralign=center 10
47.53
align=center 8
96.19
align=center 9
143.72
November 17–20, 20222022 CS Warsaw CupSenioralign=center 5
53.65
align=center 6
99.74
align=center 6
153.39
November 9–13, 20222022 CS Ice ChallengeSenioralign=center 3
47.25
align=center 3
93.11
align=center bgcolor=cc9966 3
140.36
November 3–4, 20222022–23 JGP FinalJunioralign=center 4
50.74
align=center 5
92.32
align=center 5
143.06
October 5–8, 20222022 JGP Poland IIJunioralign=center 3
55.50
align=center 2
99.26
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
154.76
September 28–October 1 20222022 JGP Poland IJunioralign=center 3
55.23
align=center 3
88.25
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
143.48
2021–22 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
April 13–17, 20222022 World Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 6
49.57
align=center 6
84.89
align=center 6
134.46
January 25–27, 20222022 Ukrainian Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 1
52.29
align=center 1
94.27
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
146.56
October 6–9, 20212021 JGP AustriaJunioralign=center 6
52.77
align=center 7
97.77
align=center 7
150.54
September 1–4, 20212021 JGP SlovakiaJunioralign=center 6
45.14
align=center 4
98.08
align=center 5
143.22