Fedir Kulish
| Fedir Kulish | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fedir Kulish at the 2025 World Championships | |||||||||||
| Native name | Федір Куліш | ||||||||||
| Other names | Fedor | ||||||||||
| Born | March 26, 2005 Kyiv, Ukraine | ||||||||||
| Hometown | Riga, Latvia | ||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||
| Country | Latvia (since 2023) Ukraine (2016–22) | ||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's singles | ||||||||||
| Coach | Olga Kovalkova | ||||||||||
| Skating club | Kristal Ice | ||||||||||
| Began skating | 2010 | ||||||||||
| Medal record | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Fedir Kulish (Ukrainian: Федір Куліш; born 26 March 2005) is a Ukrainian figure skater who currently competes for Latvia. He is the 2025 Latvian national silver medalist, the 2025 Volvo Open Cup champion, and the 2025 Daugava Open Cup champion. On the junior level, he is the 2023 JGP Armenia bronze medalist.
Additionally, while competing for Ukraine, he won the 2021 Ukrainian national bronze medal.
Personal life
Kulish was born on March 26, 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine.[1] Both his parents passed away from COVID during the height of the pandemic.[2]
In March 2022, he fled Ukraine following the country's Russian invasion and settled in Riga, Latvia. Kulish, who was sixteen at the time, was subsequently legally adopted by his figure skating coach, Olga Kovalkova.[2][3]
Career
Early years
Kulish's parents signed him up for figure skating when he was five years old as a way to improve his weak immune system.[3] His first figure skating coach was Dmitri Shkidchenko.[4]
Kulish made his junior national debut at the 2019 Ukrainian Junior Championships, finishing in eleventh place.[5][6]
2019–20 season
Making his junior international debut at the 2019 Ice Star, Kulish finished the event in eighth place.[7]
He subsequently finished eighth on the senior level at the 2020 Ukrainian Championships and eighth on the junior level.[7][5][6]
2020–21 season
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 ISU Junior Grand Prix series was cancelled.[8] As a result, Kulish only competed in domestic events.[5]
In February, he won the silver medal on the junior level at the 2021 Ukrainian Championships and bronze on the senior level.[5][7][6]
2021–22 season
Coached by Alexander Artyshchenko, Kulish made his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut at 2021 JGP Slovenia, finishing in eighth place. He then went on to debut on the senior international level at the 2021 Autumn Talents Cup, placing fifth.[4][7]
In December, he finished sixth at the 2022 Ukrainian Championships and a couple weeks later, placed seventh at the 2022 Ukrainian Junior Championships.[7][5]
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a massive invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Kulish fled to Latvia the following month.[3] Learning of Kulish's situation, Riga-based figure skating coach, Olga Kovalkova, invited him to train under her at the Kristal Ice Skating Club and ultimately finance his skating career.[2]
Deciding to switch countries and compete for Latvia, Kulish was required to sit out of competitions for a year and a half pending his release from the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation.[2]
2023–24 season: Debut for Latvia
Making his return to competition, Kulish competed on the 2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix, finishing fifth at the 2023 JGP Turkey and winning the bronze medal at 2023 JGP Armenia. Between the two events, he competed on the senior level, winning the silver medal at the 2023 Jelgava Cup and finishing fifteenth at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial.[9]
Following a fourteenth-place finish at the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy, Kulish went on to win the gold medal on the junior level at the 2023 Volvo Open Cup and bronze on the senior level 2023 Latvia Trophy.[9]
Selected to compete at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, Kulish placed twenty-ninth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition. He followed this up by finishing fourth on the junior level at the 2024 Volvo Open Cup.[9]
Kulish finished the season by competing at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. He placed twenty-fifth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition.[9]
2024–25 season
Kulish started the season by finishing fourth at the 2024 Volvo Open Cup and fifth at the 2024 Denkova-Staviski Cup. In December, at the 2025 Latvian Championships, Kulish won the silver medal behind Deniss Vasiļjevs.[9]
Following a gold medal win at the 2025 Volvo Open Cup, Kulish went on to compete at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. He placed fifteenth in the short program and fourteenth in the free skate, finishing fourteenth overall.[9]
Kulish subsequently placed seventh at the 2025 Sonja Henie Trophy and won the gold medal at the 2025 Daugava Open.[9]
Due to Deniss Vasiļjevs's top ten finish at the 2024 World Championships, Latvia was granted two berths for men's singles skating at the 2025 edition in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Kulish was thus named to the World team. This marked the first time in history two Latvian men's singles skaters competing at a World Championships.[10][11] At the event, Kulish placed twenty-third in the short program and twenty-fourth in the free skate, finishing twenty-fourth overall. His placement, in addition to Vasiļjevs's eleventh-place finish won Latvia two quotas for men's singles skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics.[12][13]
Programs
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2024–2025 [1] |
|
|
| 2023–2024 [14] |
| |
| 2021–2022 [4] |
|
|
Competitive highlights
For Latvia
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| International[15][9] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Event | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Worlds | 24th | |
| Europeans | 29th | 14th |
| CS Budapest Trophy | 14th | |
| CS Nepela Memorial | 15th | |
| Daugava Open Cup | 1st | |
| Denkova-Staviski Cup | 4th | |
| Jelgava Cup | 2nd | |
| Latvia Trophy | 3rd | |
| Sonja Henie Trophy | 7th | |
| Volvo Open Cup | 5th[a] | |
| 1st[b] | ||
| International: Junior[15][9] | ||
| Junior Worlds | 25th | |
| JGP Armenia | 3rd | |
| JGP Turkey | 5th | |
| Volvo Open Cup | 1st[c] | |
| 4th[d] | ||
| National[15][9] | ||
| Latvian Champ. | 2nd | |
For Ukraine
JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| International[15][7] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 |
| Autumn Talents Cup | 5th | |||
| International: Junior[15][7] | ||||
| JGP Slovenia | 9th | |||
| Ice Star | 8th | |||
| National[7][5] | ||||
| Ukrainian Champ. | 8th | 3rd | 6th | |
| Ukrainian Junior Champ. | 11th | 8th | 2nd | 7th |
Detailed results
For Latvia
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 214.33 | 2025 European Championships |
| Short program | TSS | 74.48 | 2025 European Championships |
| TES | 42.05 | 2025 European Championships | |
| PCS | 33.23 | 2025 European Championships | |
| Free skating | TSS | 140.00 | 2023 JGP Armenia |
| TES | 73.87 | 2023 JGP Armenia | |
| PCS | 66.96 | 2025 European Championships |
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.
Senior results
| 2024–25 season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |
| March 24–30, 2025 | 2025 World Championships | 23 73.25 |
24 125.08 |
24 198.33 | |
| March 14–16, 2025 | 2025 Daugava Open Cup | 2 70.63 |
1 143.20 |
1 213.83 | |
| March 6–9, 2025 | 2025 Sonja Henie Trophy | 8 64.23 |
7 115.78 |
7 180.01 | |
| January 28–February 2, 2025 | 2025 European Championships | 15 74.48 |
14 139.85 |
15 214.33 | |
| January 16–19, 2025 | 2025 Volvo Open Cup | 2 75.15 |
1 138.81 |
1 213.96 | |
| December 6–7, 2024 | 2025 Latvian Championships | 2 71.06 |
2 148.96 |
2 220.02 | |
| November 5–10, 2024 | 2024 Denkova-Staviski Cup | 4 66.03 |
3 142.88 |
4 208.91 | |
| October 31–November 3, 2024 | 2024 Volvo Open Cup | 5 65.77 |
6 120.16 |
5 185.93 | |
| 2023–24 season | |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |
| January 10–14, 2024 | 2024 European Championships | 29 60.97 |
– | 29 60.97 | |
| December 8–10, 2023 | 2023 Latvia Trophy | 3 63.41 |
3 125.58 |
3 188.99 | |
| October 13–15, 2023 | 2023 CS Budapest Trophy | 14 58.23 |
16 118.34 |
14 176.57 | |
| September 28–30, 2023 | 2023 CS Nepela Memorial | 17 54.98 |
15 110.06 |
15 165.04 | |
| September 16–17, 2023 | 2023 Jelgava Cup | 2 57.64 |
2 122.82 |
2 180.46 | |
Junior results
| 2023–24 season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |
| February 26–March 3, 2024 | 2024 World Junior Championships | 25 61.84 |
– | 25 61.84 | |
| January 18–21, 2024 | 2024 Volvo Open Cup | 6 61.67 |
4 118.30 |
4 179.97 | |
| November 2–5, 2023 | 2023 Volvo Open Cup | 2 63.62 |
1 129.36 |
1 192.98 | |
| October 4–7, 2023 | 2023 JGP Armenia | 3 65.23 |
2 140.00 |
3 205.23 | |
| September 6–8, 2023 | 2023 JGP Turkey | 10 60.02 |
5 120.83 |
5 180.85 | |
References
- ^ a b "Fedir KULISH: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 March 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Ukraiņu slidotājs ieguvis iespēju attīstīt savu talantu Latvijā". tv3.lv. tv3.lv. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c ""Тут строже". Украинский фигурист Фёдор Кулиш о выступлениях за Латвию". YouTube. RUSTVNET. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c "Fedir KULISH: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Fedir Kulish". Skate Ukraine. Skate Ukraine. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c "Fedor Kulish - Федор Кулиш". All Skaters Info. All Skaters Info. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "UKR - Fedir KULISH". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ "#JGPFigure #FigureSkating". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "LAT - Fedir KULISH". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ "2024 World Championships - Mens Final Results". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "First time in Latvia's history". Facebook. Latvian Skating Association. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "2025 World Championships - Mens Final Results". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "ENTRIES/PARTICIPATION 2026 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES (OWG) SINGLE & PAIR SKATING AND ICE DANCE" (PDF). International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "Fedir KULISH: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Fedir KULISH: Competition Results". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
External links
- Fedir Kulish at the International Skating Union
- Fedir Kulish at SkatingScores
- Fedir Kulish on Instagram