Russian figure skater Pyotr Gumennik will compete at the 2026 Olympic Games: program, biography and achievements

On September 19, the three-day ISU Skate to Milano qualifying tournament started in Beijing, which will determine the participants of the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. In men's single skating, the Russian Federation will be represented by two-time winner of the Russian Grand Prix finals, bronze and silver medalist of the national championships Peter Gumennik. The skater will take to the ice with a short program in which he will demonstrate his honed technique and famous quadruple jumps. Izvestia reports in more detail about when the 23-year-old athlete's performance will take place and what is known about him.

Childhood and family of Peter Gumennik

Pyotr Gumennik was born on April 11, 2002 in St. Petersburg into an intelligent family. His father, Oleg Leonidovich, is a priest of the Orthodox Church at the Polytechnic University, and his mother, Elena Valeryevna, is a pediatric neurologist. Peter is the eldest son, he has two younger brothers.

Peter took his first steps on the ice at the age of four. Tatiana Yurysheva became his coach. Later, he moved to the Yubileyny sports complex, where famous coaches Alexey and Tatiana Mishin worked with the athlete. At the age of seven, Peter joined a group led by Oleg Tataurov and Olga Efimova.

Pyotr Gumennik, who won the silver medal in men's single skating at the Grand Prix Junior Figure Skating Finals in Vancouver, at the award ceremony, December 7, 2018.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Wilf

In 2015, the young figure skater made his debut in the junior Grand Prix series, showing positive results - sixth place in Riga and fourth in Torun. However, further progress was limited due to problems with mastering the triple axel. In 2017, Peter changed coaches and joined Veronika Daineko at Tamara Moskvina's sports club, where he was able to significantly improve his technique and his performances.

From an early age, Peter combined sports with diligent study. In 2022, he entered the ITMO National Research University at the Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Technology.

Russian figure skater Adelia Petrosyan will compete at the 2026 Olympics: who is she and what is she known for

One of the strongest Russian figure skaters will try to win an Olympic license in Beijing.

Peter Gumennik's sports career

Since 2018, Peter has been a member of the Russian adult national team. In the same year, Humennik received the title of Master of Sports of Russia. At the adult level, the figure skater began performing in the 2020/21 season. He completed his first adult stage of the Cup of Russia in Moscow with a bronze medal, and in November of the same year he won bronze at the international stage of the Grand Prix series - Rostelecom Cup in Moscow.

Chelyabinsk. The Traktor Ice Palace. Figure skating. Control rentals of the Russian national team. September 11th, 2021

Photo: SPORT-EXPRESS/Daria Isaeva

In December 2020, Humennik won the stage of the Cup of Russia in Moscow. After that, the athlete was supposed to compete at the Russian Championships in Chelyabinsk, but three days before the competition he felt a sharp pain in his back. Despite the discomfort, he did not give up the performance, taking the final seventh place.

After the competition, Peter underwent a medical examination, following which he was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter syndrome. This is an inflammatory disease that affects the attachment area of the patellar tendon to the tuberosity of the tibia. It most often develops in adolescents during the period of active bone growth, especially in those who engage in professional sports with intense knee loads. Qualified treatment helped Peter to return to sports and continue his career without pain.

Humennik began the 2021/22 season with a victory at the prestigious Denis Ten Memorial in Nursultan, where he won both the short and free programs, ahead of Mark Kondratyuk and Andrey Mozalev. In the 2022/23 season, the figure skater won bronze and gold at the Russian Cup and showed impressive results at the Russian Jumping Championships, competing as part of the Evgeni Plushenko team. His programs included record-breaking difficult cascades with several quadruple jumps, and in the individual tournament he took second place, losing only to Grigory Fedorov.

Figure skating. The Russian Championship. Demonstration performances. December 22, 2024

Photo: SPORT-EXPRESS/Daria Isaeva

One of Peter's outstanding achievements was the record score of 314.54 points scored at the final of the Russian Grand Prix in the 2024/25 season. He also confirmed his status as one of the country's strongest figure skaters by winning the stages of the Russian Grand Prix in 2023 and 2025. Humennik is currently preparing for the decisive Olympic selection — the ISU Skate to Milano tournament in Beijing, where he will compete for a license for the 2026 Olympics.

The personal life of figure skater Pyotr Gumennik

Peter Humennik leads a rather closed lifestyle. His social circle mainly includes colleagues on the ice rink, coaches and close friends from the world of figure skating. The athlete actively conducts social networks, where he regularly shares with subscribers moments from his life, training and competitions, as well as talks about his hobbies and mood.

In addition to figure skating, he is interested in the exact sciences, especially mathematics and bioinformatics. In an interview, he said that he originally wanted to go to a medical university to become a geneticist or biotechnologist, but chose the IT field because he considers it more promising.

Ice and fall: what to expect from Petrosyan and Humennik in the selection for the Olympic Games

The Russians need two solid wins for a successful performance in Milan.

The selection program for the Olympic Games-2026

Petr Gumennik will compete at the ISU Skate to Milano qualifying tournament in Beijing under a neutral status (AIN). According to the results of the draw, the skater received the second starting number in the short program, which will be held on September 20 at 05:00 Moscow time. The free program is scheduled for September 21. To qualify for the 2026 Olympics in Milan, a figure skater must enter the top five according to the results of the competition.

Photo: SPORT-EXPRESS/Daria Isaeva

Peter's short program was announced with music from the film "The Perfumer". In training before the tournament, he performed a cascade of quadruple flip — triple toe loop, triple salchow with a mistake on the road and a clean triple axel. Last year's production "Eugene Onegin" with choreography by Ilya Averbukh was chosen for the free program — one of the best in terms of technical and artistic components.

Where to watch Pyotr Gumennik's speech

Pyotr Gumennik's performance at the ISU Skate to Milano 2025 can be seen live on the channel of the International Skating Union (ISU) Skating ISU. Broadcasts with expert commentary are also available on sports TV channels and online platforms.