Luka Berulava (Russian: Лука Берулава; Georgian: ლუკა ბერულავა, born 27 November 2002) is a Russian-born pair skater who currently competes for Georgia.
Berulava first emerged on the international scene with partner Alina Butaeva, with whom he won two medals at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics − bronze in pairs and gold in the team event.
[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.
[17] In December, Safina/Berulava faced domestic rivals Metelkina/Parkman for the first time in international competition at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.
[17] 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.
[22][23] 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.
[27] As Russian pair teams were also banned from attending this event, Safina/Berulava entered as heavy favourites for the gold medal.
[36] Metelkina/Berulava opted to make their competitive debut on the Junior Grand Prix, winning the gold medal at the 2023 JGP Turkey in Istanbul.
Metelkina/Berulava's results qualified them to the Junior Grand Prix Final in December; they said they planned on getting senior-level experience in the meantime.
[39] They then entered the Junior Grand Prix Final as heavy favourites to take the title, and won by a 34-point margin over Canadian silver medalists Kemp/Elizarov.
[40] Entering the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas as among the favourites, Metelkina/Berulava took first place in the short program, winning a gold small medal.
They struggled in the free skate, with errors on all four jumping elements, but still finished first in that segment as well, and claimed the gold medal.
In that segment, they struggled with several errors, including an aborted lift, which saw them come tenth in the free skate and drop to seventh overall.