Armenia won an Olympic quota in pairs figure skating

At the ISU Olympic Qualification Tournament To Milano, held in Beijing, the duo Karina Akopova / Nikita Rakhmanin won silver and secured Armenia a spot at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

Tournament results (pairs):

1. China — Jiasyuan Zhang / Yihan Huang — 191.52

2. Armenia — Karina Akopova / Nikita Rakhmanin — 186.84

3. Japan — Yuna Nagato / Sumitada Moriguchi — 178.66

This is a significant achievement for Armenia: the country has only received Olympic quotas in pairs skating twice – in 1998 and 2002.

It should be noted that Akopova and Rakhmanin previously competed for Russia, but in the summer of 2025 they changed their sporting citizenship and now represent Armenia.

Other Armenian skaters also continue competing in the qualification — singles skater Semyon Danilyants and the ice dance duo Kristina Dobrosedova / Alessandro Pellegrini.