Anthony Ponomarenko
Anthony Ponomarenko is an American ice dancer. With his skating partner, Christina Carreira, he is a two-time World Junior medalist, the 2017 JGP Final silver medalist, and the 2018 U.S. national junior champion.
Personal life
Anthony Ponomarenko was born on January 5, 2001, in San Jose, California. He is the son of 1992 Olympic ice dancing champions Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko. He has an elder brother, Timothy.Career
Early years
Ponomarenko started skating in 2005. He was a single skater for about four years before switching to ice dancing. His partnership with Sarah Feng began by 2010. The two won the bronze medal in novice ice dancing at the 2014 U.S. Championships. After Ponomarenko ended his partnership with Sara Feng in January 2014, he later moved to Novi, Mich., to train with Igor Shpilband permanently.2014–2015 season
In april 2014, Ponomarenko teamed up with Canadian ice dancer Christina Carreira. The two decided to represent the United States. It was Ponomarenko’s mother, Marina Klimova, who thought the team would eventually be a good match after seeing Carreira in Lake Placid, NY. Their Junior Grand Prix debut came in September 2014; they placed fifth in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and then fourth in Tallinn, Estonia. They finished fifth in the junior event at the 2015 U.S. Championships.2015–2016 season
Competing in the 2015 JGP series, Carreira/Ponomarenko placed fourth in Riga, Latvia, and then won the silver medal in Toruń, Poland. They received the pewter medal for fourth place at the 2016 U.S. Championships.2016–2017 season: First Junior World medal
Carreira/Ponomarenko won silver medals at both of their JGP events and finished fourth at the JGP Final, held in December in Marseille, France. In January, they took the silver medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships, having placed third in the short and second in the free. Ranked 6th in the short and third in the free, they won the bronze medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships, which took place in March in Taipei, Taiwan.2017–2018 season: Junior World silver
Winning gold at both of their JGP assignments, in addition to the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, Carreira/Ponomarenko capped off 2017 with a second-place finish at the JGP Final, held in December in Nagoya, Japan. The following month they became the new US junior champions at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They went on to win silver at the 2018 World Junior Championships in March.2018–2019 season: First Grand Prix medal
joined their coaching team ahead of the 2018–2019 season. Making their senior international debut, Carreira/Ponomarenko achieved silver at the 2018 CS U.S. Classic in Salt Lake City, having finished second to Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue. They next won the bronze medal at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. For their Grand Prix debut, Carreira/Ponomarenko finished fifth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. At their second assignment, they won the bronze medal at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, they won the gold medal at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy.Carreira/Ponomarenko concluded their season at the 2019 U.S. Championships, where they placed fifth.
2019–2020 season
Beginning on the Challenger series, Carreira/Ponomarenko won silver for the second consecutive U.S. Classic and a second bronze medal at Nebelhorn Trophy. They won gold at their final Challenger event in November, the Asian Open Trophy, having finished first in both segments.At their first Grand Prix, the 2019 Skate America, they placed sixth in the rhythm dance after errors on their twizzles. Carreira remarked it was "probably the worst time we have ever performed" the program. They remained in sixth place after the free dance, which Ponomarenko called "redeeming." At their second GP event, the 2019 NHK Trophy, they finished fifth in the rhythm dance but a lift error in the free dance placed them in seventh in the free and sixth overall.
Carreira/Ponomarenko placed fourth in the rhythm dance at the 2020 U.S. Championships. Fourth in the free dance as well, they would have placed third in that segment but for the invalidation of their choreographic character step sequence due to a violation of the distance requirement. Taking the pewter medal, they stood on the senior national podium for the first time in their careers.
Programs
| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
| 2019–2020 |
by Cole Porter |
by Ernesto Lecuona performed by Roni Benise | |
| 2018–2019 |
performed by Katica Illenyi
by Astor Piazzolla |
| performed by Sam Smith |
| Short dance | |||
| 2017–2018 |
|
| by Muse |
| 2016–2017 |
| by Muse |
by Muse |
| 2015–2016 |
|
by Goran Bregović | |
| 2014–2015 |
| by Raphaël Beau, Max Steiner
|