Deniss Vasiļjevs

Deniss Vasiļjevs After earning a bachelor's degree in Sports and Social Sciences Teacher program at the University of Daugavpils, he went on to earn a master's degree in Leadership and Management. Vasiļjevs wrote his thesis on the topic of "Effective Leadership in Latvian Skating." He performed better in the free skate, which began with a successful quad Salchow. He skated cleanly for the rest of the program as well and was given a standing ovation by the crowd. His score of 252.26 points was his best result of the season, and he climbed to finish in eleventh place. Vasiljev's placement, along with that of fellow Latvian, Fedir Kulish, earned two quotas for Latvia in the men's event at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics. In an interview following the free skate, he shared, "I feel fantastic. This is a moment I will keep in my heart forever and for my entire life. I felt raw and elegant during that performance, just how my character should be. Everything connected. These are the moments I strive for. I’m really feeling satisfied right now, and that is really rare. I’m so proud of myself. I overcame myself and delivered a good performance."

2025–26 season: Milano Cortina Olympics In early September, Vasiļjevs shared via his Ko-fi account that undisclosed issues with the Latvian Skating Association had resulted in financial troubles, forcing him to withdraw from the 2025 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where he had originally intended to start his season. Later in the month, it was reported that Vasiļjevs had been owed competition-related expenses dating back to January 2024, and that the Latvian Skating Association had only paid the all expenses he was owed in September 2025. The Latvian Skating Association said that the delay was because he and his manager had sent the request for funding late, while Vasiljevs's manager said they had been in repeated contact with the Association about the funding.

In late October, it was announced that Vasiļjevs was no longer training in Champéry and had parted ways with his longtime coach, Stéphane Lambiel. He subsequently went on to compete at the 2025 Cup of China, where he finished in tenth place. At his next Grand Prix assignment, 2025 Finlandia Trophy, he again finished in tenth place after placing ninth in both competition segments.

In December, he competed at the Golden Spin of Zagreb, where he finished in fourth place just 0.03 points behind the bronze medalist. The following month, it was announced that Vasiļjevs had returned to Champéry to train under longtime coaches, Stéphane Lambiel and Angelo Dolfini.

On 10 February, Vasiļjevs competed in the short program segment at the 2026 Winter Olympics, placing seventeenth. "In the last days I got a bit sick," he admitted following his performance. "I experienced quite a lot of pressure today and I cannot guarantee the outcome. The only thing I can do is keep working and keep delivering my best day in and day out. I think that even with the inability to properly train for a good half of this bloody season, I can still show up and push myself." Two days later, Vasiļjevs placed eighteenth in the free skate segment and finished in eighteenth place overall. "Technically, at this moment, I have fulfilled my personal commitment of reaching the Olympics," he said after his free skate. "This was a commitment I made to myself four years ago, so it’s a special feeling. I had anticipated and imagined this moment for a long time. There has been so much mental gymnastics happening in my head, especially during this event. Because I was sick and spent most of my time in bed, there was definitely no rest for the hamster in my head and this wheel has a lot of electrical production going on... This program still feels quite new to me — this was basically my fourth run-through of it. It’s a good challenge and very difficult to skate because of its structure. But hey, I finished it. The feeling is positive. The feeling is good."

In March, Vasiļjevs completed his season at the 2026 World Championships. He placed thirteenth in the short program and twenty-third in the free skate, finishing twenty-first overall.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2025–2026 272.08| 90.95|2022 World Championships 46.86|2021 Internationaux de France 44.63|2022 World Championships 181.84|2022 European Championships 93.12|2022 European Championships 88.72|2022 European Championships

Senior level

Junior level