Elena Kostyleva

Elena Valerievna Kostyleva (Russian: Елена Валерьевна Костылева; born 11 October 2011) is a Russian figure skater who currently competes as an Individual Neutral Athlete. She is a two-time Russian junior national champion (2025, 2026).

Kostyleva has also landed the triple Axel and quadruple jumps in domestic competition. She has an older sister. Due to of being born premature and developing bronchitis at the age of four months, Elena spent the first year of her life in the hospital.

Career Early years In order to improve her health, Kostyleva began learning how to skate at the age of three while living in Rossosh, Voronezh Oblast. In 2018, she moved to Moscow. Kostyleva trained under a number of coaches during her early years in the sport – including Sergei Davydov, Eteri Tutberidze (on two separate occasions), Vadim Raevsky, and Viktoria Butsaeva (née Volchkova). In December 2022, she joined Igor Lyutikov's group at SSOR “Moskvich”.

2023–2024 season In January 2024, she took the individual bronze at the Russian Figure Skating Jumping Championships, behind Margarita Bazyliuk and Adeliia Petrosian.

In March 2024, she left coach, Igor Lyutikov to train under Evgeni Plushenko at the Angels of Plushenko Academy.

In February 2025, she won the Russian Junior Championships with 233.10 points, in front of Alisa Dvoeglazova with 231.56 and Sofia Dzepka with 218.38, and the 2025 Russian Junior Grand Prix Final.

2025–2026 season In September 2025, she won the Moscow Oblast Championships, despite having skipped her summer training due to an injury. On 21 November, she, unexpectedly, didn't win the Russian Grand Prix stage in Omsk, finishing with less than 200 points.

In late December 2025, she left Plushenko's figure skating academy after a conflict Kostyleva's mother had with Plushenko. She switched to train with Sofia Fedchenko and lived with her temporarily. Nevertheless, she continued to perform in Plushenko's commercial ice show Sleeping Beauty, playing the role of Aurora.

In January, she returned to Plushenko after Kostyleva's mother had a conflict with Sofia Fedchenko. "We all live and do everything for our children. For the sake of Lena, and only for her, we erased all the negativity from our lives and overstepped all our principles," shares Evgeni Plushenko.

In February 2026, she won the Russian Junior Championships for the second time in a row. Each of these skaters are be required to undergo an individual assessment conducted by the ISU Council to determine whether they meet the criteria for neutral status. Kostyleva's application was approved, making her eligible to compete internationally as a neutral athlete. She was subsequently assigned to the Junior Grand Prix stage in China and Thailand. Shortly after being assigned, the Figure Skating Federation of Russia announced that Elena would withdraw from the stage in China due to injuring her right gluteal muscle after multiple falls while working to restore her quad jumps. ; her spot was given to the first substitute Sofia Dzepka.

Skating style and influences In September 2024, Kostyleva stated that she wanted to land 5 or 6 quadruple jumps in a program, beating Alexandra Trusova's record. In late March 2025, it was reported that she had successfully landed 51 quadruples in official competitions, beating Trusova's record of 50 quadruples. From 2018 to 2022, Trusova successfully landed 50 quadruples out of 95 attempts.

Controversies Yoghurt incident One day in June 2021, Kostyleva was seen by Eteri Tutberitze holding two yoghurts, while eating more than one constituted a dietary violation. Kostyleva defended herself by saying that the second one was intended for another skater, Margarita Bazyliuk, but she later denied having asked Kostyleva to take one for her from the cafeteria. As the result, Kostyleva allegedly fell of out of favor with Tutberitze and was eventually forced to change the coach. The incident was widely discussed in the Russian press . In the autumn of 2023, Bazyliuk was asked about that incident and replied: "I didn't ask her to bring the yogurt. That's it." According to yet another skater from Tutberidze's group, there weren't only yoghurts involved, there were also cereals, succades and other sweets. In November 2025, Plushenko's wife, producer Yana Rudkovskaya, published a CCTV video in which Irina allegedly hit her daughter on the premises of the Plushenko's academy rink. Moreover, Plushenko filed an official complaint with Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, reporting Irina's abuse of her daughter. About a month later, Elena Kostyleva left Plushenko to train with Sofia Fedchenko, but returned to him in January.

Programs Season Short program Free skating 2026–2027 Boléro Perfection 2025–2026 Voilà (Live)

Poker Face Bad Romance Peer Gynt Suite No.1, Op. 46 Morning Mood In the Hall of the Mountain King 2024–2025 Voilà (Live) Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 2023–2024 Sway Perfidia Malagueña 2022–2023 2021–2022 Winter, I. Allegro non molto Spartacus Act I: "The Triumph of Rome": No. 1 Triumphal March Act III: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia Act I: Etruscan Dance 2020–2021 2019–2020 L-O-V-E La La Land Mia and Sebastian's Theme Another Day of Sun Epilogue

Competitive highlights

Skating for Russia

Detailed results Junior level