Denys Strekalin (Ukrainian: Денис Стрекалін; born 31 March 1999) is a Ukrainian-born pair skater who competes for France with Megan Wessenberg.
With previous partner, Océane Piegad, he is the 2024 French national silver medalist.
With former skating partner, Cléo Hamon, he is a two-time French national champion (2020, 2021), 2018 Volvo Open Cup champion, and has competed in the final segment at three World Junior Championships (2017–2019).
Career
In Ukraine Strekalin began learning to skate in 2006. Competing in men's singles, he placed seventh at the Ukrainian Junior Championships in 2013 and 2015. He also trained in pair skating with Sofiia Nesterova.
Partnership with Hamon Early seasons In August 2016, Strekhalin teamed up with Cleo Hamon to compete for France in pairs. Coached by Mehdi Bouzzine in Courbevoie, they made their international debut in February 2017, placing seventh in junior pairs at the Bavarian Open. In March, they placed fourteenth at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.
In September 2017, Hamon/Strekalin debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series, placing eighth in Riga, Latvia. In December, appearing on the senior level, they won silver at the French Championships, behind Lola Esbrat / Andrei Novoselov. In March, they finished eleventh at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Competing in the 2018 JGP series, Hamon/Strekalin placed sixth in Linz, Austria, and fifth in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Making their senior international debut, the pair took gold at the Volvo Open Cup in November 2018. In March 2019, they finished ninth at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.
2019–20 season: French national champion, European Championships debut After placing eighth at the 2019 JGP United States, Hamon/Streklain debuted on the senior Challenger series with a seventh-place finish at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. They would go on to place tenth at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup and ninth at their first European Championships. Hamon/Strekalin also won the French senior national title for the first time, due to the absence of James/Cipres from the competition season. They finished the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they placed fifth. Hamon/Strekalin were scheduled to participate in the 2020 World Championships in Montreal, which would have been their senior World debut, but these were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–21 season: World Championships debut With the pandemic ongoing, Hamon/Strekalin began the new season at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where only pairs training in Europe competed. They were fourth after the short program, and after the top-ranked Hase/Seegert withdrew, they placed third in the free and won the bronze medal.
Hamon/Strekalin were scheduled to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Internationaux de France, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
In February, they won their second straight National title. Later that month, they competed at the International Challenge Cup, placing fifth. On 1 March they were named to the team for the 2021 World Championships. They placed twentieth in their World Championship debut. Hamon/Strekalin finished the season at the 2021 World Team Trophy, where they finished fifth in both segments, and Team France finished in fifth place overall.
2021–22 season: End of Hamon/Strekalin Hamon/Strekalin began the season at the 2021 Lombardia Trophy, where they finished in fourth place.
They were originally scheduled to compete at the Nebelhorn Trophy, where the final Olympics spots would be decided, but were later replaced by Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre. It was later announced that Hamon would be taking a break from figure skating due to health issues from burnout, and that had been the reason for them being replaced at the Nebelhorn Trophy.
Partnership with Piegad 2022–23 season: Grand Prix debut On 31 January 2022 Strekalin announced that he had formed a new partnership with former singles skater Océane Piegad. Coached by Laurent Depouilly, Nathalie Depouilly, and Dominique Deniaud, the pair made their competitive debut at the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they finished in eleventh place, and then competed at the 2022 Master's de Patinage, winning the silver medal.
Invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Grand Prix de France, they finished seventh of seven teams at the event. They went on to place fourth at the 2022 Bavarian Open and seventh at the 2023 International Challenge Cup.
2023–24 season
Piegad/Strekalin began the season with a tenth-place finish at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy, before coming seventh at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy. Appearing on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, they finished fifth.
2024–25 season: End of Piegad/Strekalin Piegad/Strekalin were assigned to the 2024 Grand Prix de France. They withdrew from the competition on September 17. On September 23, they announced their spilt due to injury.
Partnership with Wessenberg 2025–26 season In June 2025, it was Strekalin announced that he had teamed up with American-born figure skater, Megan Wessenberg, and they would split their time between training in France with Bruno Massot and the United States with Stefania Berton and Rockne Brubaker.
The team debuted at the 2025 Master's de Patinage, where they won the bronze medal. They then went on to compete at the 2025 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, finishing in seventeeth place. Subsequently debuting as a team on the Grand Prix circuit, they placed eighth overall at the 2025 Grand Prix de France.
In December, the team placed tenth at the Golden Spin of Zagreb. They would go onto place fourth at the 2026 French Championships.
2026–27 season The pair opened the new season by placing fifth at the 2026 John Nicks Challenge.
Programs With Wessenberg Season Short program Free skating Exhibition2026–2027 Cry Me a Riverby Tommee Profitt, Nicole Serrano, Justin Timberlake"The Mask of Zorro" soundtrack Collecting the Ballots The Plaza of Execution Zorro’s Theme I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving Youby James Horner 2025–2026 Le dernier jour du disco Lost Without You Die with a Smile (Acoustic)
With Piegad Season Short program Free skating 2023–2024 Le bal des fiancailles (Piano Trio No. 2) Le cotege (Danse macabre) Silhouette Nuvole Blanche 2022–2023 I Feel Like I'm Drowning To Build a Home Experience
With Hamon
Season Short program Free skating 2021–2022 Kill of the Night Mais je t'aime 2020–2021 The Fifth Element Diva Dance 2019–2020 Bang Bang Notre-Dame de Paris 2018–2019 Deep Shadow The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 The Hanging Tree The Mockingjay Theme 2017–2018 I Want You Back 2016–2017 Interstellar
Competitive highlights
Pairs with Wessenberg for France
Pairs with Piegad for France International Event 22–23 23–24 24-25 Europeans 12th France 7th 5th WD Finlandia 7th Golden Spin WD Lombardia Trophy 10th Nebelhorn Trophy 11th Warsaw Cup WD Bavarian Open 4th Challenge Cup 7th Trophée Nice 2nd National French Nationals 2nd Master's de Patinage 2nd WD TBD = Assigned
Pairs with Hamon for France International Event 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22 Worlds C 20th Europeans 9th France C WD Finlandia Trophy 7th Lombardia Trophy 4th Nebelhorn Trophy 3rd WD Warsaw Cup 10th Challenge Cup WD Volvo Open Cup 1st International: Junior Junior Worlds 14th 11th 9th 5th Austria 6th Czech Rep. 5th Latvia 8th Poland 15th United States 8th Bavarian Open 7th Tallinn Trophy 2nd National French Champ. 2nd 2nd 1st 1st French Junior 1st 1st 1st 1st Masters 1st J 1st Team events World Team Trophy 5th T 5th P TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelledT = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.
Men's singles for Ukraine National Event 2012–13 2014–15 Ukrainian Junior Champ. 7th 7th
References
External links