Daria Popova

Not to be confused with Darya Popova.

Daria Popova (born 28 July 1993) is a Russian former competitive pair skater. From 2011 to 2014, she competed with Bruno Massot, winning the 2014 Challenge Cup and the 2012 French national title. The pair finished in the top ten at the 2012 and 2013 European Championships. Popova also briefly skated for France with Andrei Novoselov.

Daria Popova
Popova and Massot at the 2012 World Team Trophy
Born	(1993-07-28) 28 July 1993 (age 30) Moscow, Russia
Height	1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	France
Began skating	1999
Retired	July 31, 2015

Personal life

Popova and her family moved to Germany when she was seven.^[1] She speaks German, Russian, English, and French.^[2]

Career

Early years

Popova began skating in Moscow.^[1] She was initially a singles skater and competed on the Nachwuchs and Jugend levels in Germany in 2006 and 2007.^[3][4] She took up pair skating in 2009 and trained with coach Ingo Steuer in Germany.^[5][6] She skated with Ilja Glebov and Sergei Karev but did not compete with either in any major event.^[7]

Partnership with Massot

Popova and French skater Bruno Massot decided to team up in March 2011 and began serious training in June.^[8] They trained mainly in Caen, France, with Jean-Francois Ballester.^[1][5] In their first season together, they also trained about three weeks every three months with Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz, Germany.^[6][9]

Popova/Massot's first competition together was the 2011 Master's de Patinage, where they won the silver medal. They were tenth in their international debut at the 2011 Coupe de Nice and placed fourth at the 2011 NRW Trophy. In December 2011, they won the 2012 French national title ahead of Vanessa James / Morgan Cipres.^[10] Visa and administrative delays led to uncertainty about their participation at the 2012 European Championships but the situation was resolved just before the event.^[11][12][13] Popova/Massot placed sixth in the short program and eighth overall. They were not assigned to the 2012 World Championships, but were part of the French team for the World Team Trophy.

In the 2012–13 season, Popova/Massot received two Grand Prix assignments — they placed fifth at the 2012 Skate Canada International and seventh at the 2012 Trophée Eric Bompard. They were second to James/Cipres at the French Championships and then placed seventh at the 2013 European Championships. At the 2013 World Championships, James/Cipres earned two spots for France in the pairs' event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. As France's second-ranked pair, Popova/Massot were in line to receive the second Olympic spot if she received French nationality in time.^[2]

In 2013–14, Popova had a problem with the sole of one of her boots at the start of the season.^[2] She and Massot placed eighth at their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2013 Cup of China. Popova then ceased training for six weeks due to a stress fracture in the third metatarsal bone of her left foot, causing the pair to withdraw from the 2013 Trophée Eric Bompard and French Championships.^[2] Having resumed training in mid-December 2013, the pair elected to reduce the difficulty of some elements for the 2014 European Championships in January.^[2] They finished 11th at Europeans in Budapest. On 21 January 2014, it was reported that Popova had not received French nationality in time and France's second spot would be transferred to Austria.^[14] Popova/Massot finished 15th at the 2014 World Championships after placing 15th in both segments of the competition. After the competition, Massot left their partnership to skate with Aliona Savchenko.^[15]

Partnership with Novoselov

After spending a week in mid-May 2014 helping Brian Joubert learn pair skating in Caen, Popova flew to Moscow in search of a new partner.^[16] On July 16, 2014, she announced she would skate for France with Andrei Novoselov and said they planned to divide their training between Moscow, coached by Inna Utkina, and Paris, coached by Claude Péri.^[15] However, Popova decided to retire from competitive figure skating on July 31, 2015.^[17]

Programs

(with Massot)

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2013–2014 ^[18]	Les Aristochats by C2C	Barry Lyndon
2012–2013 ^[19]	La Belle Histoire arranged by Gablé	Chocca by Apocalyptica Far Away by Apocalyptica
2011–2012 ^[6]^[7]	La Belle Histoire arranged by Gablé choreo. by Karine Arribert	Broken Sorrow by Nuttin' but Stringz choreo. by Pierre-Loup Bouquet

Competitive highlights

With Novoselov for France

International^[20]
Event	2014–15
International Challenge Cup	6th
National^[20]
French Championships	2nd
Master's de Patinage	2nd

With Massot for France

International^[21]
Event	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
World Champ.			15th
European Champ.	8th	7th	11th
GP Cup of China			8th
GP Skate Canada		5th
GP Trophée Bompard		7th	WD
Challenge Cup		4th	1st
Cup of Nice	10th
Nebelhorn Trophy		5th
NRW Trophy	4th
National^[21]
French Champ.	1st	2nd
Masters	2nd	2nd	1st
Team events
World Team Trophy	4th T 6th P
GP = Grand Prix; WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result

References

1. Shkrebtienko, Oxana (29 March 2013). "Daria Popova and Bruno Massot: "We don't aspire to copy anyone"". Absolute Skating.
2. Chatel, Aline (24 January 2014). "La terrible désillusion de Daria Popova et Bruno Massot" [Disappointment for Daria Popova and Bruno Massot]. Sport à Caen (in French).
3. "Deutsche Nachwuchs- und Jugendmeisterschaften 2006: Nachwuchs Mädchen A". Deutsche Eislauf Union.
4. "Deutsche Nachwuchsmeisterschaften 2007: Jugend Mädchen A". Deutsche Eislauf Union.
5. Chatel, Aline (6 October 2011). "Bruno Massot et Daria Popova rêvent de Jeux Olympiques" [Bruno Massot and Daria Popova dream of the Olympic Games]. Sport à Caen (in French). Archived from the original on 18 December 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
6. "Masters J3: libre couple" (in French). Passion Patinage. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
7. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012.
8. "Patinage : Bruno Massot et Daria Popova". Normandie-TV (in French). November 2011.
9. Berlot, Jean-Christophe (20 January 2012). "French skaters channeling high hopes for Euros". Ice Network.
10. Charolles, Olivier (17 December 2011). "Patinage artistique: Yrétha Silété conserve son titre de championne de France". 77sports-infos.com (in French). Archived from the original on 18 December 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
11. Flade, Tatjana (26 January 2012). "Volosozhar and Trankov lead pairs at Europeans". Golden Skate.
12. Chatel, Aline (25 January 2012). "Bruno Massot et Daria Popova entrent en piste" [Bruno Massot and Daria Popova ready to compete]. Sport à Caen (in French).
13. Coté, Vincent (24 January 2012). [Figure skating: Massot and Popova in a new dimension]. Ouest France (in French). Archived from the original on 26 January 2012.
14. Nony, Céline (21 January 2014). "Popova-Massot n'iront pas" [Popova-Massot won't go to Sochi] (in French). L'Équipe.
15. Shkrebtienko, Oxana (16 July 2014). "Daria Popova: "The ice will judge everybody"". Absolute Skating.
16. Berlot, Jean-Christophe (15 July 2014). . IceNetwork. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
17. "Daria Popova decided to end her competitive career". Facebook. Facebook. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
18. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014.
19. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 19 November 2012.
20. "Competition Results: Daria POPOVA / Andrei NOVOSELOV". International Skating Union. from the original on 21 October 2015.
21. "Competition Results: Daria POPOVA / Bruno MASSOT". International Skating Union. from the original on 21 April 2014.

External links

  Media related to Daria Popova at Wikimedia Commons

• Daria Popova / Bruno Massot at the International Skating Union