Nikita Rakhmanin

Nikita Vladimirovich Rakhmanin (, ; born 4 May 1999) is a Russian and Armenian pair skater who currently competes for Armenia. With his current skating partner, Karina Akopova, he is the 2026 Armenian national champion and represented Armenia at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Competing with Akopova for Russia, he is the 2021 Budapest Trophy champion, 2021 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge champion, and 2022 Challenge Cup champion.

Personal life Rakhmanin was born on 4 May 1999 in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

Since 2019, Rakhmanin has been in a relationship with his pair skating partner, Karina Akopova.

He cites 2014 Olympic silver medalist pair team, Stolbova/Klimov as his role models.

Labazina/Rakhmanin ultimately parted ways following the 2019–20 figure skating season. They made their national championship debut at the 2021 Russian Championships, where they finished in seventh place. Due to the last-minute invitation, Akopova/Rakhmanin attended the event without their coaches. They ultimately came in sixth place.

In late January, it was announced that Akopova and Rakhmanin had been selected as the flag bearers for Armenia during the opening ceremony at the upcoming Olympics. On 6 February, about a week before the start of the Olympic pairs competition, the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan raised concerns with the International Olympic Committee about Akopova and Rakhmanin's song choice for their short program, reasoning that due to the song being about "Artsakh," the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh, implies Armenia having territorial claims over land internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan despite having been contested over decades of conflict between the two countries. The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan further stated their belief that using that song would introduce political messaging into Olympic competition and risk violating Olympic Charter principles requiring political neutrality at the Games. Two days later, the International Skating Union released their own statement indicating the situation between all parties involved had been resolved.

Programs Pair skating with Nikita Rakhmanin Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2020–21 Limelight Theme from Modern Times Modern Times Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Fall on Me 2021–22 The Music of the Night Saturday Night Fever Stayin' Alive How Deep Is Your Love 2022–23 After Dark Diga Diga Doo Jumpin' Jack Come Together Oh! Darling 2023–24 Donna Carmen Slumdog Millionaire Latkia's Theme Ringa Ringa Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) 2025–26 You Don't Own Me Dexter Dexter's New Kill Room Blood Theme

Pair skating with Nadezhda Labazina Season Short program Free skating 2017–18 Waltz The Sound of Music The Sound of Music (Reprise) My Favorite Things 2018–19 Nostradamus Mutation

Competitive highlights

Pair skating with Nikita Rakhmanin (for Armenia)

Pair skating with Nikita Rakhmanin (for Russia)

Pair skating with Nadezhda Labazina (for Russia)

Detailed results Pair skating with Nikita Rakhmanin (for Armenia)

Pair skating with Nikita Rakhmanin (for Russia)