Anastasiia Gubanova (singles skater)

Anastasiia Gubanova
Gubanova performing her free program at the 2022 World Championships
Full name	Anastasiia Vitalyevna Gubanova
Native name	ანასტასია გუბანოვა (Georgian) Анастасия Витальевна Губанова (Russian)
Other names	Anastasia Gubanova
Born	(2002-12-02) 2 December 2002 (age 21) Tolyatti, Russia
Height	1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Georgia (since 2021)  Russia (2013–20)
Coach	Evgeni Rukavicin
Skating club	St. Petersburg Figure Skating Academy
Began skating	2006
Representing  Georgia European Championships 2023 Espoo Singles 2024 Kaunas Singles Representing  Russia Junior Grand Prix Final 2016–17 Marseille Singles

Anastasiia Vitalyevna Gubanova (Georgian: ანასტასია გუბანოვა, Russian: Анастасия Витальевна Губанова; born 2 December 2002), is a Russian-Georgian figure skater who represents Georgia in women's singles.^[1] She is the 2023 European champion, the 2024 European silver medalist, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy bronze medalist, and a two-time ISU Challenger Series gold medalist.

Competing for Russia, she is the 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb silver medalist. On the junior level, she is the 2016 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the 2016 JGP Czech Republic champion, and the 2016 JGP Germany champion.

At the 2016 Junior Grand Prix Final, Gubanova became the first junior lady to break the 130-points barrier for the free program, a record beaten few minutes later by teammate Alina Zagitova.

Gubanova was born on December 2, 2002 in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast, Russia. In addition to figure skating, Gubanova took part in both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics as a child. Until the age of fifteen, she also took ballet lessons at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. Gubanova obtained Georgian citizenship in 2021.^[2]

In fall 2023, her boyfriend, Roman Galay, began regularly attending international competitions with her, where he would stand in as her coach. During the 2023 NHK Trophy, Galay proposed to Gubanova. The couple married on July 26, 2024.^[3][4]

In 2024, Gubanova opened up about her past struggles with disordered eating from the ages of fourteen to eighteen.^[5]

She cites Carolina Kostner and Kaori Sakamoto as her biggest skating inspirations.^[6]

Gubanova began skating in 2006 at the age of four after doctors advised her parents to enroll her in an outdoor sport to combat her allergies. A few months later, the family moved from Tolyatti to St. Petersburg in the hopes that Gubanova could join a stronger skating school. Angelina Turenko would become her coach at the age of six.^[7][8]

Gubanova began competing internationally in the advanced novice category in November 2013, taking gold at the Warsaw Cup. In the following years, she won the Rooster Cup, Gardena Spring Trophy, and NRW Trophy.

Gubanova's junior international debut came at the 2016–17 ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) competition in Ostrava, Czech Republic; she won the gold medal by a margin of 0.08 over Japan's Rika Kihira, after placing second in the short program and first in the free skate. At the JGP in Dresden, Germany, she ranked first in both segments, setting a new world record for the free skate and outscoring the silver medalist, Yuna Shiraiwa, by 17.91 points. Gubanova qualified for the JGP Final in Marseille, France, where she won the silver medal scoring a new personal best in free skate of 133.77 and with a total of 194.07 points, just behind teammate Alina Zagitova who won the gold medal respectively.^[9]

At the 2017 Russian Championships, she placed seventh both on the senior level and at the junior event.^[9]

At the 2018 Russian Championships, Gubanova placed sixth on the senior level and fourth at the junior event. During the season she won two international junior events, 2017 Cup of Nice and 2017 Tallinn Trophy.^[9] In March, it was announced that Gubanova had moved to Moscow, where Elena Buianova became her new coach.^[10]

In late November, Gubanova made her senior international debut at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy where she finished fourth. One week later she competed at 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb where she won her first international senior and Challenger Series medal (silver) with a personal best score of 198.65 points. She would finish ninth at the 2019 Russian Championships.^[9]

Prior to the 2019–20 season, Gubanova moved back to St. Petersburg and began training under Evgeni Rukavicin.

She competed at the 2020 Russian Championships, where she finished tenth.^[9]

During the 2020–21 season she competed only at the Saint Petersburg Championships,^[11] and in August 2021, it was announced that she would continue her career competing for Georgia.^[12]

Gubanova opened the 2021–22 season at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy, her first international assignment since 2018. She placed fourth in the short program, scoring just shy of her personal best, but fell to seventh in the free skate and fifth overall, despite setting new personal bests for both the free program and total score.^[9] She was initially scheduled to compete next at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria in November, but withdrew from the event after contracting COVID-19.^[13]

After recovering from illness, Gubanova returned to competition in December at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb where she earned her first international senior title. She won the short program despite a mistake on her final spin but fell to third in the free program. However, her lead from the short was enough to keep her narrowly in the lead, and she took the gold medal ahead of American skater Amber Glenn and Estonian Niina Petrõkina. She stated in an interview after the event with Russian media outlet Sports.ru, "I'm not in full shape after the illness, the COVID damaged my lungs and respiratory system...but of course, I'm very happy that I got the gold medal here, even if it's not quite ideal yet."^[13]

Making her debut at the European Championships in Tallinn, Gubanova placed sixth in the short program with a clean skate. She struggled in the free skate, making several errors and dropping to seventh overall. Despite this, she said that the "impressions, however, are amazing after such a competition. It’s a huge experience for me and for my future career."^[14]

Gubanova was officially named to the Georgian team for the 2022 Winter Olympics by the Georgian Figure Skating Federation on 19 January.^[15] She began the Olympics on 5 February as the women's entry for Georgia in the team event, where she skated a clean program to place fourth in the segment, and earn 7 points towards Team Georgia's combined score. However, despite scoring 22 team points overall to tie for fifth place with Team China going into the free skate, Team Georgia lost the tie-breaker and did not advance.^[16] In the women's event, Gubanova was tenth in the short program.^[17] She was tenth in the free skate as well and finished tenth overall.^[18]

At 2022 World Championships, the field was noticeably affected by the banning of all Russian skaters as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.^[19] In this more open contest, Gubanova placed sixth.^[20]

Gubanova began the new season at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy, where she won the bronze medal, finishing 7.95 points behind South Korean silver medalist Kim Chae-yeon.^[9] She was then invited to make her senior Grand Prix debut at the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy. She finished third in the short program and, while fifth in the free skate, remained third overall and won the bronze medal. She said she was "very pleased with my performance today and very happy to be here and glad I could do my job. I'm happy that my work has paid off!"^[21] Gubanova then finished seventh at the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo.^[22]

Entering the 2023 European Championships as a podium contender, Gubanova unexpectedly placed first in the short program after pre-event favourite Loena Hendrickx of Belgium made a jump error.^[23][24] Hendrickx fell twice in the free skate, while Gubanova made only a minor jump error, finishing first in that segment as well and taking the gold medal. This was the first ISU championship title for a Georgian skater.^[25] She said that "at the end of my performance, there were a lot of emotions. Mostly I was happy that I was able to overcome myself. This medal means a lot to me."^[26]

Gubanova entered the 2023 World Championships in Saitama as a potential medal contender, but struggled at the event and finished fourteenth.^[27]

Gubanova won the gold medal at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy to start the season, before taking bronze at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.^[9] On the Grand Prix, she placed second in the short program at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, but errors in the free skate dropped her to sixth place.^[28] She was sixth as well at the 2023 NHK Trophy, after coming tenth in the short program and rising to fourth in the free skate, which she considered an improvement after "disappointment" in France.^[29]

Seeking to defend her title at the 2024 European Championships, Gubanova finished third in the short program, behind Belgians Loena Hendrickx and Nina Pinzarrone. A strong free skate with five clean triple jumps lifted her above Pinzarrone to second place overall, reaching her second European podium. She claimed afterward that due to her difficulties in the first half of the season she "didn't expect a medal here at all," and was "really happy" with the result.^[30]

Gubanova ended the season at the 2024 World Championships, coming in thirteenth place.^[9]

Gubanova started the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fourth at the 2024 CS Lombardia Trophy and winning gold at the 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Gubanova finished eighth at the 2024 Grand Prix de France.^[9]

Note: Because of the introduction of the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system which replaced the previous +3 / -3 GOE system, ISU has decided that all statistics start from zero for the season 2018–19. All previous records are now historical.^[31]

• The first Georgian skater to win the European Championships and also the first figure skater to win a senior-level ISU Championship for Georgia (2023).^[32]
• The first female Georgian skater to win an ISU Grand Prix medal (bronze at 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy).^[33]
• The best female athlete of the year in Georgia (2023)^[34]

Results in the 2024–25 season ^[44]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 13–15, 2024	2024 CS Lombardia Trophy	4	66.78	3	128.96	4	195.74
Oct 3–5, 2024	2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge	1	69.07	2	126.84	1	195.91
Nov 1-3, 2024	2024 Grand Prix de France	9	56.77	7	116.44	8	173.21

• Anastasia Gubanova at the International Skating Union
• Anastasiia Gubanova at Olympics.com
• Anastasiia Gubanova at Olympedia
• Nastya Gubanova on Instagram