Karina Safina

Karina Ilgizarovna Safina (Russian: Карина Илгизаровна Сафина, Georgian: კარინა ილგიზაროვნა საფინა, born 28 May 2004) is a Russian-Georgian pair skater who competes for Georgia.

She trained as a single skater in her native Chelyabinsk through the end of the 2016–17 season before moving to Moscow to team up with her first pair skating partner, Mikhail Domnin.

Safina teamed up with a fellow student of Sliusarenko, Luka Berulava, to compete for Georgia in advance of the 2021–22 season.

[1] Safina/Berulava next made their senior international debut at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to attempt to qualify a berth for Georgia in the pairs event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

They fell to third in the free program after losing their forward inside death spiral and one of their lifts, and ultimately finished third overall to successfully qualify for an Olympic spot in their discipline for Georgia.

Due to the unique qualification process for the 2021–22 season, the team did not advance to the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final, despite two podium finishes.

[4] Metelkina/Parkman initially received the nod for the Georgian pairs berth at the 2022 European Championships; however, Safina/Berulava replaced them after they withdrew from the event on 9 January.

They cleanly skated their short program to place sixth in the segment out of nine and earn five points towards Team Georgia's combined score.

[9][10] Days after the Olympics concluded, Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the 2022 World Championships.

[21] CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.