Alexei Bychenko (; ; born 5 February 1988) is a retired Ukrainian-born Israeli figure skater. He represented Ukraine through 2009 and Israel after that. He is the 2016 European Figure Skating Championships silver medalist and 2016 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist. He is the first Israeli skater to medal at the European Championships. He placed fourth at 2018 Worlds. Bychenko competed for Israel at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Early and personal life Bychenko was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and is Jewish.Figure Skating | Athlete Profile: Alexei BYCHENKO - Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games"2018 Winter Olympics," Jewish Sports Review, March/April 2018, Vol. 11, No. 6, Issue 126, page 2. He studied at National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, in Kyiv. His mother is of Jewish descent, and he became an Israeli citizen and in 2010 began representing Israel in competitions.
Career Bychenko began skating in 1993.
For Ukraine Representing Ukraine, Bychenko debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in the 2003–04 season. His senior international debut took place in late September 2005 at Skate Israel, but he continued occasionally appearing on the junior level. He achieved his best JGP result, 8th, in October 2006 in Taipei, at his final junior event.
Bychenko became a two-time (2007, 2008) Ukrainian national silver medalist on the senior level. His final international appearance for Ukraine came in late November 2009 at the Crystal Skate of Romania.
For Israel His coaches are Roman Serov, Nikolai Morozov, and Galit Chait Moracci, and his choreographer is Galit Chait Moracci. He trains in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Bychenko first appeared internationally for Israel at the Golden Spin of Zagreb in December 2011. He qualified for the final segment at the 2012 European Championships in Sheffield and went on to finish 22nd overall. At the 2012 World Championships in Nice, he did not advance past the short program.
At the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, Bychenko qualified a spot for Israel in the men's event at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
He finished 21st competing for Israel at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Bychenko received his first Grand Prix invitations in the 2014–15 season. He finished fourth at the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm after placing seventh in the short program and fourth in the free skate.
At the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Bychenko placed fourth in both segments and edged out Russia's Maxim Kovtun for a silver medal by a margin of 0.35. It was Israel's first European figure skating medal.
In the 2016–17 season, Bychenko won bronze at a Grand Prix assignment, the 2016 Rostelecom Cup, and gold at a Challenger Series event, the Golden Spin of Zagreb. He ranked third in the short program, 9th in the free skate, and 5th overall at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In March, he placed 11th in the short, 12th in the free, and 10th overall at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Due to his result, Israel qualified two spots in the men's event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Bychenko competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Men's Single Figure Skating in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and served as Israel's flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. Bychenko finished the men’s figure skating competition in 11th place overall, Israel's best result at the Games, bettering Israeli figure skater Michael Shmerkin’s 16th-place finish 24 years prior.Two Israelis impress in Olympic men's figure skating | The Times of IsraelBlue-and-white athletes all done at Winter Olympics - Israel News - Jerusalem Post He also came in second in the Men's Single Short Program, as part of the team event, as the Israeli team came in 8th.
Bychenko was named to Israeli team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and finished twenty-sixth in the men's event.
It was announced that Bychenko had decided to retire from competition on May 24, 2022.
Programs Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2020–2021 Words Pirates of the Caribbean 2019–2020 2018–2019 Requiem for a Dream Bram Stoker's Dracula 2017–2018 Hava Nagila Pagliacci
Bolero All Alone 2016–2017 Chambermaid Swing Pagliacci Soul Power Happyby Derek Martin 2015–2016 All Alone Les Misérables Soul Power Happy
All Alone 2014–2015 La traviata Nostradamus Soul Power Happy 2013–2014 Swing Kids Bei mir bist du schoen Sing Sing Sing Nostradamus
Flamenco Farruca 2012–2013 Party Sailor John Rango Flamenco
Inception 2011–2012 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Cyrano de Bergerac 2008–2009 Assassin's Tango Alegria 2004–2006 Devil's Trill Sonata Pirates of the Caribbean
Results
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
For Israel International Event 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22 Olympics 21st 11th 26th Worlds 29th 31st 15th 17th 13th 10th 4th 22nd C 24th Europeans 22nd 14th 10th 4th 2nd 5th 5th 9th 12th Cup of China 7th Finland 9th France 5th NHK Trophy 4th 3rd 11th Rostelecom 10th 3rd Skate America 11th 12th 9th 7th 6th Asian Open 4th Denis Ten MC WD Finlandia 5th 7th WD Golden Spin 1st 2nd 10th 8th 13th Ice Star 6th WD Nebelhorn 7th 3rd Ondrej Nepela WD Warsaw Cup 6th Bavarian Open 5th Challenge Cup 6th WD Cranberry Cup 6th Cup of Tyrol 2nd Golden Spin 8th 5th 4th Ice Challenge 13th Nebelhorn Trophy 15th 5th Open Ice Mall 2nd Tallinn Trophy 1st Toruń Cup 1st U.S. Classic 14th 9th WD National Israeli Champ. 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 3rd 2nd Team Events Olympics 8th T Japan Open 1st T 6th P
For Ukraine International Event 03–04 04–05 05–06 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 Crystal Skate 3rd 2nd 4th Cup of Nice 11th Finlandia Trophy 11th Nepela Memorial 8th Skate Israel 6th Universiade 29th International: Junior Andorra 15th Croatia 10th Czech Rep. 22nd Taiwan 8th Ukraine 19th National Ukrainian Champ. 4th 4th 2nd J 2nd 2nd 3rd
Detailed results 2021–22 season Date Event SP FS Total February 8–10, 2022 2022 Winter Olympics 26 68.01 – 26 68.01 December 9–11, 2021 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 4 82.88 16 128.67 13 211.55 November 17–20, 2021 2021 CS Warsaw Cup 5 79.35 5 145.05 6 224.40 2020–21 season Date Event SP FS Total March 22–28, 2021 2021 World Championships 18 78.05 24 112.40 24 190.45 October 23–24, 2020 2020 Skate America 6 77.48 8 137.14 6 214.62 2019–20 season Date Event SP FS TotalFebruary 20–23, 20202020 Challenge Cup 4 75.15 9 118.85 6 194.00 January 20–26, 2020 2020 European Championships 8 78.27 13 140.76 12 219.03 December 4–7, 2019 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 1 81.31 10 131.82 13 213.13 November 22–24, 2019 2019 NHK Trophy 12 61.97 11 135.66 11 197.63 30 October – 3 November 2019 2019 CS Asian Open Trophy 6 67.81 4 127.82 4 195.03 October 18–20, 2019 2019 Skate America 6 79.76 10 139.94 7 219.70 September 25–28, 2019 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 2 70.46 3 144.24 3 214.70 2018–19 season Date Event SP FS TotalMarch 18–24, 20192019 World Championships 22 77.67 22 138.93 22 216.60 20–23 February 2019 2019 Open Ice Mall Cup 2 78.06 1 156.51 2 234.57 21–27 January 2019 2019 European Championships 7 84.19 13 136.31 9 220.50 December 5–8, 2018 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 10 72.94 12 119.27 10 192.21 2–4 November 2018 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki 9 74.05 8 128.89 9 202.33 19–21 October 2018 2018 Skate America 10 69.69 8 127.78 9 197.47 4–7 October 2018 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy 22 46.90 WD WD 2017–18 season Date Event SP FS Total 19–25 March 2018 2018 World Championships 7 90.99 7 167.29 4 258.28 16–17 February 2018 2018 Winter Olympics 13 84.13 9 172.88 11 257.01 9–11 February 2018 2018 Winter Olympics (team event) 2 88.49 – 15–21 January 2018 2018 European Championships 8 74.97 4 163.47 5 238.44 6–9 December 2017 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 4 77.88 3 153.93 2 231.81 17–19 November 2017 2017 Internationaux de France 5 86.79 5 160.65 5 247.44 10–12 November 2017 2017 NHK Trophy 2 85.52 3 166.55 3 252.07 26–29 October 2017 2017 CS Minsk-Arena Ice Star 4 76.01 7 135.20 6 211.21 2016–17 season Date Event SP FS Total 29 March – 2 April 2017 2017 World Championships 11 85.28 12 160.68 10 245.96 25–29 January 2017 2017 European Championships 3 86.68 9 152.56 4 239.24 7–10 December 2016 2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 4 76.18 2 151.90 1 228.08 25–27 November 2016 2016 NHK Trophy 7 75.13 4 154.74 4 229.87 4–6 November 2016 2016 Rostelecom Cup 4 86.81 3 168.71 3 255.52 6–10 October 2016 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy 6 74.17 10 129.58 7 203.75 2015–16 season Date Event SP FS Total 28 March – 3 April 2016 2016 World Championships 19 69.86 11 156.21 13 226.07 26–31 January 2016 2016 European Championships 4 84.09 4 158.47 2 242.56 6–10 January 2016 2016 Toruń Cup 1 78.57 1 149.95 1 228.52 20–22 November 2015 2015 Rostelecom Cup 10 67.46 10 118.54 10 186.00 23–25 October 2015 2015 Skate America 12 50.68 12 121.15 12 171.83 2014–15 season Date Event SP FS Total 23–29 March 2015 2015 World Championships 12 74.98 16 134.26 17 209.26 26 Jan. – 1 Feb. 2015 2015 European Championships 7 73.63 4 146.59 4 220.22 3–7 December 2014 2014 Tallinn Trophy 1 65.72 1 143.30 1 209.02 7–9 November 2014 2014 Cup of China 5 76.96 8 127.19 7 204.15 24–26 October 2014 2014 Skate America 11 64.54 12 121.44 11 185.98 9–12 October 2014 2014 CS Finlandia Trophy 5 59.03 5 117.63 5 176.66 24–27 September 2014 2014 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 7 66.55 9 112.16 7 178.71 2013–14 season Date Event SP FS Total 26–29 March 2014 2014 World Championships 12 69.73 13 141.51 15 211.24 13–14 February 2014 2014 Winter Olympics 22 62.44 21 114.62 21 177.06 13–19 January 2014 2014 European Championships 13 63.68 9 135.08 10 203.76 5–8 December 2013 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb 4 62.34 3 125.64 4 187.98 26–28 September 2013 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy 8 64.50 3 132.96 5 197.46 12–14 September 2013 2013 U.S. Classic 5 62.19 9 100.52 9 162.71
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