Evgenia Tarasova


Evgenia Maximovna Tarasova is a Russian pair skater. With partner Vladimir Morozov, she is a three-time World medalist, a two-time European champion, the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final champion, and a two-time Russian national champion. Earlier in their career, they became the 2014 World Junior silver medalists and the 2014 Russian junior national champions.

Personal life

Evgenia Maximovna Tarasova was born on 17 December 1994 in Kazan, Russia. She moved to Moscow as a teenager.

Skating career

Early career

Early in her career, Tarasova trained in Kazan and competed in single skating. She appeared at one ISU Junior Grand Prix event, placing fourth in Belarus in 2008. She competed in singles through the 2009–10 season.
After deciding to switch to pair skating, which she enjoyed watching, Tarasova began training in Nina Mozer's school in Moscow. She competed two seasons on the senior level partnered with Egor Chudin. Tarasova/Chudin won bronze at the 2011 Mont Blanc Trophy, placed 5th at the 2011 Ice Challenge and 8th at the 2012 Coupe de Nice. They parted ways following the 2011–2012 season.

Teaming up with Morozov

At the suggestion of Nina Mozer, Tarasova teamed up with Vladimir Morozov in spring 2012. The pair's main coach was initially Stanislav Morozov. Vladimir Morozov broke his foot one week into the new partnership and was out for three months.

2012–2013 season

The pair's international debut came at a Junior Grand Prix event in Croatia, where they finished 5th. They withdrew from their next assignment in Germany.
Tarasova/Morozov won their first senior international title at the 2012 Warsaw Cup. At the Russian Championships, they placed fifth on the senior level and then won the silver medal on the junior level. The pair finished fifth at the 2013 Junior World Championships.

2013–2014 season

Tarasova/Morozov won silver in Latvia and bronze in Estonia on the JGP series. They qualified for the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where they finished fourth in both segments and overall. The pair won the silver medal at the 2013 Winter Universiade behind teammates Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov. At the 2014 Russian Championships, Tarasova/Morozov finished eighth after placing third in the short program and tenth in the free skate. He fell on both of their jumping passes and she was hurt when a lift collapsed near the end of their free program but was able to resume and complete the final element, a pair spin. Tarasova was taken to the hospital and found to have no serious injury. After winning the national junior title a month later, the pair was assigned to the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. They won the silver medal after placing second in both segments and finishing 5.57 points behind China's Yu Xiaoyu / Jin Yang.

2014–2015 season

After parting ways with Stanislav Morozov in the off-season, Tarasova/Morozov turned to Andrei Hekalo, who had worked with them in the past, and Robin Szolkowy, who joined them in September 2014. The pair began the 2014–15 season by taking silver at a Challenger Series event, the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy. They were assigned to two Grand Prix events, the 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 Rostelecom Cup. Earning bronze and silver, respectively, the pair finished seventh in the Grand Prix standings, leaving them as first alternates to the Grand Prix Final.
Tarasova/Morozov won silver at the 2015 Russian Championships, ahead of Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov. They were awarded the bronze medal at the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, before placing 6th at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China.

2015–2016 season

Tarasova/Morozov began their season with bronze at a Challenger Series event, the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy. Competing in the Grand Prix series, the pair won silver at the 2015 Skate Canada International and placed 7th in the short program at the 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard, before the event's cancellation due to the November 2015 Paris attacks. The short program standings were accepted as the final result.
In December, Tarasova/Morozov finished second in the CS standings after winning gold at the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb and then took the bronze medal at the Russian Championships after placing third in both segments. In January 2016, they won their second continental bronze medals, at the European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. At the 2016 World Championships in Boston, they placed 6th in the short, 5th in the free, and 5th overall.

2016–2017 season

Opening their season on the Challenger Series, Tarasova/Morozov took gold at the 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial after placing first in both segments. During the free skate, they performed their first quadruple twist in competition. On the Grand Prix series, they won the bronze medal at the 2016 Skate America, having placed first in the short and fifth in the free, and then silver at the 2016 Trophée de France, having placed second in the short and third in the free. They qualified as the fifth pair to the Grand Prix Final, held in December in Marseille, France. Ranked first in both segments, they were awarded gold ahead of China's Yu Xiaoyu / Zhang Hao.
At the 2017 European Championships, they claim the gold medal.

2017–2018 season

Tarasova/Morozov took gold in both of their Grand Prix outings, entering the Grand Prix Final in joint first place with the reigning World champions Sui Wenjing / Han Cong. A personal best in the short program placed them a very close second to Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot, but a sixth-place result in the free skate dropped them to fifth overall, 2.10 points behind bronze medalists Megan Duhamel / Eric Radford. At the 2018 European Championships, they placed fifth in the short program, keeping them out of the final flight in the final segment. A personal best in the free skate allowed them to climb to first and win their second consecutive European title, leading a Russian sweep of the podium.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tarasova/Morozov skated the short program portion of the team event, placing first over both Duhamel/Radford and Savchenko/Massot. This helped the Olympic Athletes of Russia to a silver medal. Their short program in the individual event put them in position for a possible gold medal, as they were second, less than a point out of the lead. However, skating last, they committed two major errors during the free skate and dropped out of the medals into fourth place. After the event, Morozov indicated that he felt that they had failed to control their nerves.
Tarasova/Morozov concluded their season at the 2018 World Championships in Milan. They obtained the silver medal after placing second in both segments, behind Savchenko/Massot. Following the result, Morozov commented: "We are happy tonight. We feel that it was hard and we're really tired. We are happy the season is over. It was a really long and hard season. I am just happy with what we could do today."
In May 2018, Mozer announced that she would take a break from coaching until September and that Maxim Trankov and Robin Szolkowy would serve as Tarasova/Morozov's coaches.

2018–2019 season

Tarasova/Morozov started their season by competing at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy, where they won the gold medal. At their first Grand Prix assignment, 2018 Skate America, they placed first in both segments to win the gold medal. They outscored the silver medalists, their teammates Alisa Efimova / Alexander Korovin, by about 25 points. Tarasova said they were "happy that we’re halfway in the Final." In mid-November they competed at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup where they won their second Grand Prix gold medal of the season. Again they were ranked first in both programs and beat the silver medalist, Nicole Della Monica / Matteo Guarise, by about 17 points. With two gold medals they qualified for the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final, where they won the bronze medal following errors in both the short program and free skate that saw them place third in both segments. Following the free skate, Tarasova said "overall, the skate was done well, the program was done well. Some points of the program I was a little clumsy, but today I am happier with my skating than I was yesterday."
At the 2019 Russian Championships, Tarasova/Morozov lead the short program, with Tarasova stepping out of the exit on the pairs spin, which she described as a "control issue." They won the free skate as well, skating cleanly for the first time that season and securing their second national title. Morozov said "we're happy with the result and with our performance. It was hard after the Final but we managed."
Competing next at the 2019 European Championships, Tarasova/Morozov placed second in the short program, behind Vanessa James / Morgan Ciprès, after Tarasova underrotated her triple toe loop jump. They had returned to their acclaimed Rachmaninoff short program from the 2017–18 season for the remainder, at the insistence of their coaches, with Tarasova noting that it was "more powerful to skate." They placed second in the free skate, with Tarasova underrotating and stepping out of their three-jump combination, but otherwise without issues, and took the silver medal overall. Morozov said they were "obviously very disappointed by this defeat, by losing the gold medal. Like yesterday, the whole skate was good except one jump element. Without that, all the rest was good. We gave it away ourselves today."
At their final event of the season, the 2019 World Championships, Tarasova/Morozov lead after the short program, setting a new world record. They came second in the free skate, being a returning Sui/Han, and won their second consecutive silver medal. Tarasova reflected on the event: "We skated both programs clean. There were some minor mistakes in our free program. It was difficult to skate today, I had to fight with myself. I managed to perform all the elements and I was happy for that. To tell the truth, I felt the same as during the Olympics Games. I had some mistakes at the training session, and I felt rather the same. I managed to overcome my emotions and skate well."

2019–2020 season

Following the end of the 2018–19 season, Tarasova and Morozov announced that they were moving to train in the United States under coach Marina Zoueva. Morozov would later offer as explanation that they "went to Marina to work with her on what we were lacking."
In their first competition of the season, Tarasova/Morozov competed at the 2019 U.S. Classic. Errors in both programs, including an aborted lift in the free skate, caused them to finish second, behind American champions Cain-Gribble/LeDuc. Continuing onto the Grand Prix, their first assignment was 2019 Skate Canada International. In the short program, Morozov popped their planned side-by-side triple toe loop, causing them to place third in that segment. In the free skate, Tarasova's popping a planned triple Salchow and then a failed lift kept them in third. Morozov deemed it "not the best performance of our team." At the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, competing for the second time against countrymen Boikova/Kozlovskii, the gold medalists at Skate Canada, Tarasova/Morozov were second in the short program after errors by Morozov on the side-by-side spins and the step sequence. Second in the free skate as well, they won the silver medal.
Tarasova/Morozov placed first in the short program at the 2020 Russian Championships, skating cleanly for the first time that season. Second in the free skate with Tarasova doubling a planned triple jump, they lost the gold medal by 0.47 points. She called the result "a bit upsetting, but the result was to be expected after my mistake. The most important competitions are still to come."

Programs

With Morozov
SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
2019–2020

by Maurice Ravel
choreo. by Massimo Scali

by Umberto Tozzi
choreo. by Charlie White
2018–2019

  • Piano Concerto No. 2
by Sergei Rachmaninoff
----
by James Brown

  • The Winter
by Balmorhea

  • Why Don't You Do Right?
by China Moses
----
performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra
2017–2018

  • Piano Concerto No. 2
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

by Christina Aguilera

by Lionel Richie
----
by John Legend
2016–2017

  • Glam
by Dimie Cat

  • Music
by John Miles

  • Ordinary People
by John Legend
2015–2016

by Ronan Hardiman
choreo. by Alla Kapranova

  • Nocturne No.2 Op. 9–2
in E flat major
  • Prélude, Op. 28. No. 4
  • Prélude & Revolutionary Étude
by Frédéric Chopin
choreo. by Alla Kapranova

by Lara Fabian
2014–2015

  • Sarabande Suite
by Globus
choreo. by Maxim Trankov

  • Hello
by Lionel Richie
performed by London Symphony Orchestra
choreo. by Maxim Trankov

  • I Guess I Loved You
by Lara Fabian
2013–2014


  • Aria
by Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Four Seasons
by Antonio Vivaldi
  • Aria
by Johann Sebastian Bach

  • How Invigorating are the
Evenings in Russia
by Belyi Orel
2012–2013

  • Liquidation
soundtrack by ?

by Roberto Danova

by Roberto Danova

Records and achievements

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Morozov

With Chudin

Single skating

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.
With Morozov