Grigory Sergeyevich Smirnov (, born 1 April 1997) is a Russian retired ice dancer who competed for the United States. With his former skating partner, Anastasia Shpilevaya, competing for Russia, he is the 2019 Bavarian Open champion, 2016 Youth Olympic champion, and 2017 Russian junior national champion.

During the 2021–22, he competed with Avonley Nguyen for the United States. He did not represent the US in international competition.

Personal life Grigory Sergeyevich Smirnov was born on 1 April 1997 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. He resides in Moscow.

Career

Early years Smirnov began learning to skate in 2002. He competed with Yulia Borisova in the 2010–11 season and with Valeria Neyman in 2011–12.

Smirnov teamed up with Anastasia Shpilevaya ahead of the 2012–13 season. Competing on the junior level, they placed fifth at the Ice Challenge and won silver at the Pavel Roman Memorial. The following season, they qualified for the 2014 Russian Junior Championships, where they finished seventh.

2014–2015 season Shpilevaya/Smirnov received their first ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignments in the 2014–15 season. They won bronze in late August at the JGP in Courchevel, France, but finished ninth the following month in Tallinn, Estonia. The two placed fifth at the 2015 Russian Junior Championships.

2015–2016 season Shpilevaya/Smirnov's first event of the 2015 JGP series took place in October in Logroño, Spain. They finished fourth, outscored for the bronze medal by Elliana Pogrebinsky / Alex Benoit, resulting in the loss of their provisional assignment to Zagreb, Croatia. In January 2016, they won the bronze medal at the Russian Junior Championships, behind Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd and Betina Popova / Yuri Vlasenko. They were named in Russia's teams to the Youth Olympics and World Junior Championships.

In February, Shpilevaya/Smirnov won gold at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway, having placed first in both segments. Assigned to Team Courage for the mixed NOC team event, they placed first in their segment and their team finished sixth. On March 15–20, they competed at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary where they finished fifth.

2016–2017 season In the 2016–17 Season, Shpilevaya/Smirnov's first JGP assignment was at the 2016 JGP Japan where they won the silver medal with a total score of 151.50 points. A month later they achieved their second silver of the season at the 2016 JGP Germany. With two silver medals they qualified for the 2016−17 JGP Final where they placed sixth.

In February 2017 Shpilevaya/Smirnov won the gold medal at the 2017 Russian Junior Championships after placing second in the short dance and 1st in the free dance. They beat the silver medalist and the favourites, Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd, by almost 6 points, mainly due to the costly fall that Lododa had in the free dance.

In March 2017 they competed at the 2017 World Junior Championships where they finished fourth after placing fourth in both the short dance and free dance. At these championships they scored their personal best score of 152.66 points.

2017–2018 season In the 2017–18 Season, Shpilevaya/Smirnov's first JGP assignment was at the 2016 JGP Latvia where they won the silver medal behind their teammates and training partners, Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko. Due to Smirnov's injury, which required a surgery, they had to skip the rest of the season.

2018–2019 season Shpilevaya/Smirnov started their season by competing in two ISU Challenger Series events. In early October they made their international senior debut at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy where they finished fifth and in mid-November, they competed at the 2018 CS Alpen Trophy where they placed fourth. They placed sixth at the 2019 Russian Championships.

2019–2020 & 2020–2021 seasons Beginning the season with two Challenger assignments, Shpilevaya/Smirnov placed fourth at 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy and then sixth at 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. Making their Grand Prix debut, they placed sixth at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup. At the 2020 Russian Championships, they placed ninth.

In September 2020, it was announced that the pair had split due to Shpilevaya's inability to practice due to the lasting effects of a severe case of COVID-19.

2021–2022 season In September 2021, it was confirmed that Smirnov had switched federations to compete with American ice dancer Avonley Nguyen for the United States after Shpilevaya was forced to end her career. They were scheduled to make their U.S. Championship debut in January 2022, but withdrew after Smirnov suffered a hip injury.

On August 20, 2022, Smirnov announced he had retired and was now coaching.

Programs With Nguyen Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition 2021–2022 I Want It That Way Everybody (Backstreet's Back) Dusk Till Dawn

With Shpilevaya

Season Rhythm dance Free dance 2019–2020 Hopelessly Devoted to You You're the One That I Want How to Steal a Diamond 2018–2019 Tango Amore Skeletons Thunder Neverland Short dance 2017–2018 Kiss Baila Baila Conmigo Love Story 2016–2017 Ain't No Sunshine Air Mail Special Che Ne Parliamo A Fa 'O sole mio C'è la luna mezzo mare 2015–2016 Somewhere, My Love Die Fledermaus The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Lawrence of Arabia 2014–2015 Tongue Twister Out of My Mind Bye, Bye Johnny 2012–2013 Mess Around Follia d'amore

Competitive highlights GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Shpilevaya for Russia

International Event 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 Rostelecom Cup 6th Alpen Trophy 4th Finlandia 5th 6th Lombardia 4th Bavarian Open 1st Universiade 5th International: Junior Junior Worlds 5th 4th Youth Olympics 1st Final 6th Estonia 9th France 3rd Germany 2nd Japan 2nd Latvia 2nd Spain 4th Denkova-Staviski 1st Ice Challenge 5th Ice Star 1st Pavel Roman 2nd Volvo Open Cup 1st National Russia 6th 9th Russia, Junior 7th 5th 3rd 1st WD Team events Youth Olympics 6th T 1st P TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Detailed results

With Shpilevaya 2019–20 season Date Event RD FD Total 24–29 December 2019 2020 Russian Championships 8 70.34 9 105.33 9 175.67 15–17 November 2019 2019 Rostelecom Cup 6 67.04 5 105.89 6 172.93 11–13 October 2019 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy 6 68.04 5 97.77 6 165.81 13–15 September 2019 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy 6 67.04 5 103.58 4 170.62 2018–19 season Date Event RD FD Total 7–9 March 2019 2019 Winter Universiade 6 62.19 5 104.63 5 166.82 5–10 February 2019 2019 Bavarian Open 3 65.00 1 108.55 1 173.55 19–23 December 2018 2019 Russian Championships 7 68.00 6 105.23 6 173.23 11–18 November 2018 2018 CS Alpen Trophy 4 63.43 5 95.22 4 158.65 4–7 October 2018 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy 5 64.33 4 103.61 5 167.94

2017–18 season Date Event Level SD FD Total 6–9 September 2017 2017 JGP Latvia Junior 1 60.11 2 79.72 2 139.83 2016–17 season Date Event Level SD FD Total 15–19 March 2017 2017 World Junior Championships Junior 4 63.26 4 89.40 4 152.66 1–5 February 2017 2017 Russian Junior Championships Junior 2 67.71 1 96.17 1 163.88 8–11 December 2016 2016−17 JGP Final Junior 6 59.29 6 81.35 6 140.64 18–20 November 2016 2016 Ice Star Junior 1 66.49 1 93.43 1 159.92 5–9 October 2016 2016 JGP Germany Junior 2 61.00 2 87.02 2 148.02 7–11 September 2016 2016 JGP Japan Junior 2 60.88 2 90.62 2 151.50 2015–16 season Date Event Level SD FD Total 14–20 March 2016 2016 World Junior Championships Junior 4 59.15 6 87.40 5 146.55 12–21 February 2016 2016 Winter Youth Olympics - Team Event Junior - 1 86.48 6 12–21 February 2016 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Junior 1 57.93 1 83.95 1 141.88 19–23 January 2016 2016 Russian Junior Championships Junior 2 63.73 3 92.23 3 155.96 20–25 October 2015 2015 Denkova-Staviski Cup Junior 1 57.78 1 90.33 1 148.11 30 September – 4 October 2015 2015 JGP Spain Junior 4 57.15 4 83.24 4 140.39 2014–15 season Date Event Level SD FD Total 4–7 February 2015 2015 Russian Junior Championships Junior 4 55.47 4 84.39 5 139.86 5–9 November 2014 2014 Volvo Open Cup Junior 1 57.05 1 82.96 1 140.01 24–28 September 2014 2014 JGP Estonia Junior 8 42.96 9 68.70 9 111.66 20–24 August 2014 2014 JGP France Junior 3 47.94 4 73.48 3 121.42 2013–14 season Date Event Level SD FD Total 22–25 January 2014 2014 Russian Junior Championships Junior 6 56.96 7 75.52 7 132.48

References

External links