Andrew Torgashev – Wikipedia

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American figure skater (born 2001)

Andrew Torgashev
2017-2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Andrew Torgashev jsfb dave5779.jpg
Country represented  United States
Born (2001-05-29) May 29, 2001 (age 21)
Coral Springs, Florida, United States
Home town Colorado Springs, Colorado
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Coach Rafael Arutunian, Nadia Kanaeva, Hov Mkrtchian, Vera Arutunian
Former coach Christy Krall, Erik Schultz, Joshua Farris, Artem Torgashev, Curtis Chornopyski
Choreographer Ilona Melnichenko, Scott Brown
Skating club Broadmoor SC
Former skating club Panthers FSC Coral Springs
Training locations Lakewood, CA
Began skating 2006
World standing 34 (2018–19)
48 (2017–18)
62 (2016–17)
97 (2015–16)
90 (2014–15)
Combined total 217.54
2019 CS Asian Open Trophy
Short program 81.50
2020 Junior Worlds
Free skate 144.63
2019 CS Asian Open Trophy

Andrew Torgashev (born May 29, 2001) is an American figure skater. He is the 2019 CS Asian Open Trophy silver medalist, the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy bronze medalist, the 2018 JGP Lithuania champion, the 2015 U.S. national junior champion, and the 2023 U.S. national bronze medalist.

Personal life[edit]

Andrew Torgashev was born May 29, 2001, in Coral Springs, Florida.[1] He is the son of Ilona Melnichenko and Artem Torgashev, who competed for the Soviet Union in ice dancing and pair skating respectively. He attended North Broward Middle School in Coconut Creek, Florida.[2]

Early career[edit]

Torgashev began learning to skate in 2006.[1] He was awarded the juvenile bronze medal at the U.S. Junior Championships in December 2010.[3] He won the U.S. national juvenile title in the 2011–2012 season and the U.S. intermediate title the following season.[4]

He placed fourth in the novice men’s category at the 2014 U.S. Championships.

2014–2015 season[edit]

Torgashev became age-eligible for international junior events in the 2014–2015 season. Competing on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, he placed fourth in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and fifth in Tallinn, Estonia.

After taking the junior gold medal at the Eastern Sectionals, he won the junior title at the U.S. Championships, setting U.S. junior men’s records in the free skate and total score.[5] He was assigned to the 2015 World Junior Championships and finished tenth at the event, which was held in March in Tallinn.

2015–2016 season[edit]

Torgashev fractured his right ankle in June 2015 while practicing a quad toe loop.[6] He underwent surgery in June to insert three screws, which were removed from his ankle in January 2016.[7] As a result, he missed the entire skating season. He worked on his edges, stroking, and speed after returning to the ice.[8]

2016–2017 season[edit]

Torgashev returned to competition in July 2016.[6] Competing in the 2016 Junior Grand Prix series, he won silver in Russia and placed fourth in Germany.

Making his senior international debut, he took the bronze medal at the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy in November. He finished eleventh in the senior ranks in January at the 2017 U.S. Championships.

At the 2017 World Junior Championships, he placed twenty-fifth in the short program and did not qualify to the free skate.

2017–2018 season[edit]

Torgashev placed sixth at the Philadelphia Summer International in early August 2017. During the 2017 Junior Grand Prix series, he won silver in Belarus with a personal best total score 212.71 points and then placed fourth in Italy. He qualified to the JGP Final in Nagoya, Japan, where he placed sixth. Torgashev also finished sixth at the 2017 CS Warsaw Cup. In January, at the 2018 U.S. Championships, he ranked ninth in the short program, fourteenth in the free skate, and thirteenth overall.

In June, he announced that he had relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado to work full-time with Christy Krall.[9] Erik Schultz and Joshua Farris also became members of his coaching team.[1]

2018–2019 season[edit]

In August 2018, Torgashev won the senior men’s title at the 2018 Philadelphia Summer International. At the 2018 Junior Grand Prix in Bratislava, Slovakia, he placed fifth in the short program, third in the free skate, and fourth overall. In September, he won gold at JGP Lithuania in Kaunas after placing second in the short program and first in the free skate.
These results qualified him for the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final in Vancouver, Canada.[10] Due to a fractured right toe, he withdrew from the competition and was off the ice for eight weeks, until around mid-November.[11] In January, he finished seventh in the senior ranks at the 2019 U.S. Championships.

In March 2019, he won silver at the Egna Spring Trophy.

2019–2020 season[edit]

Torgashev started the season at the 2019 Philadelphia Summer International, where he won the event.
He competed in the JGP series, placing fourth in Riga, Latvia, at the JGP Croatia. He placed second in the short program with a new personal best, and sixth in the free program, and fourth overall. He then competed at the senior level at the 2019 CS Asian Open Trophy, winning the silver medal.

Competing at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Torgashev placed third in the short program, skating a clean program that included a quad toe loop.[12] He struggled in the free skate, falling twice and stepping out of an under-rotated quad toe attempt in the program’s second half. Fifth in that segment, he dropped to fifth place overall.[13]

Assigned to the 2020 World Junior Championships, Torgashev placed third in the short program, winning a small bronze medal.[14] Torgashev fell four times in the long program, placing eleventh in that segment and dropping to eighth place overall.[15]

2020–2021 season[edit]

In November 2019, Torgashev announced a coaching change as he moved from Colorado to California to train with Rafael Arutyunyan at Great Park Ice in Irvine.[16]

2022–2023 season[edit]

After missing two seasons with injury, Torgashev qualified for the 2023 US Championships in San Jose. By his own account, he entered the event hoping to finish in the top ten.[17] Torgashev placed fifth in the short program, and then won the free skate over expected favorite Ilia Malinin and returning former national champion Jason Brown, and won the bronze medal overall with a total score of 255.56 points.[18] He called the result “surreal.”[19][17]

Because Torgashev had not competed internationally since 2020, he lacked the technical minimum scores required to attend ISU championships and could not obtain them in time to be assigned to the 2023 Four Continents Championships. He was provisionally selected for the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, pending his acquisition of the requisite scores at the International Challenge Cup.[20]

Torgashev finished fifth at the Challenge Cup, securing the minimum technical scores, and finished twenty-first in his World Championship debut. He said afterward: “I would have liked better, but I’m so grateful to be here and for the opportunity.”[21]

Programs[edit]

Competitive highlights[edit]

  • JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
  • CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
  • S – Event at senior level
  • J – Junior level, N – Novice level
  • WD – Withdrew from event
  • At national events in the United States, pewter medals are awarded for the fourth place.

Detailed results[edit]

Senior level[edit]

Junior level[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d “Andrew TORGASHEV: 2018/2019”. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018.
  2. ^ “Andrew Torgashev”. U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019.
  3. ^ Davis, Craig (December 18, 2010). “Coral Springs’ Torgashev gets bronze medal in first trip to Figure Skating Junior Nationals; Chiera, Feigenbaum also post top-five finishes”. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  4. ^ Menning, Rick (February 3, 2013). “Local skater earns second national title”. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Rutherford, Lynn (January 23, 2015). “Torgashev sets new U.S. standard for junior men”. IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Rutherford, Lynn (July 19, 2016). “Smarter, stronger Torgashev aims to regain top form”. IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017.
  7. ^ Sausa, Christie (August 17, 2018). “Torgashev gears up for competition season with stop in Lake Placid”. Lake Placid News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018.
  8. ^ Rutherford, Lynn (February 1, 2017). “In face of injury, Brown puts positivity to the test”. IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018.
  9. ^ Torgashev, Andrew (June 27, 2018). “Some big changes!”. figureskatersonline.com/andrewtorgashev. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018.
  10. ^ “ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2018/19 Entries: Junior Men”. International Skating Union.
  11. ^ Rutherford, Lynn (January 27, 2019). “Beyond the big three, are there any other U.S. figure skating stars?”. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019.
  12. ^ Slater, Paula (January 25, 2020). “Chen in comfortable lead at U.S. Nationals”. Golden Skate.
  13. ^ Slater, Paula (January 26, 2020). “Chen wins fourth consecutive U.S. National title”. Golden Skate.
  14. ^ Slater, Paula (March 4, 2020). “Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama takes lead at Junior Worlds”. Golden Skate.
  15. ^ Slater, Paula (March 6, 2020). “Andrei Mozalev nabs Junior World title”. Golden Skate.
  16. ^ Sauer, Meg (November 19, 2020). “Andrew Torgashev Reinvests in Himself, Training During 2020-21 Season”. U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
  17. ^ a b Reid, Scott M. (January 30, 2023). “Ilia Malinin wins first U.S. title despite early fall”. Orange County Register.
  18. ^ Walker, Elvin (January 29, 2023). “Ilia Malinin Wins U.S. Title to Close Out U.S. Championships”. U.S. Figure Skating.
  19. ^ Chen, Sonja (January 29, 2023). “Ilia Malinin wins 1st U.S. men’s skating title, Brown 2nd”. The Washington Post.
  20. ^ “Figure Skating: Teenagers Malinin, Levito, veterans Knierim/Frazier, Chock/Bates lead U.S. squad for Worlds”. Olympic Channel. January 30, 2023.
  21. ^ “Team USA Wins Two Medals on Final Day of World Championships”. U.S. Figure Skating. March 25, 2023.
  22. ^ “Andrew TORGASHEV: 2014/2015”. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015.
  23. ^ “Andrew TORGASHEV: 2017/2018”. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018.
  24. ^ “Andrew TORGASHEV: 2019/2020”. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020.
  25. ^ Ge, Misha (April 26, 2022). “SP – Andrew Torgashev”.
  26. ^ a b “Competition Results: Andrew TORGASHEV (USA)”. ISU Results. Retrieved 2023-03-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ a b c d e f “USA – Andrew Torgashev”. Skating Scores. United States. Retrieved March 27, 2023.

External links[edit]