Petr Gumennik: Heavy Metal Fan and Scholar Skates to 2026 Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d«Ampezzo will see a new face among Russian figure skaters: Petr Gumennik, the 2025 national champion. He has already passed the selection process and earned a license to compete under a neutral status.
For many viewers, he will be a discovery in the world of figure skating. Who is he and what is known about him — in this MSK1.RU article.
Childhood and Family
The 23-year-old Petr was born on April 11, 2002, in Saint Petersburg to father Oleg Leonidovich, a priest, and mother Elena Valeryevna, a pediatric neurologist. Petr has two younger brothers.
In childhood, like many, he tried different things: he attended music school, learned to swim, and practiced taekwondo. But his true love was found on the ice.
He was helped to get on skates by coach Tatiana Yurysheva, who first saw potential in the boy. As Petr himself later recalled, he never had to be forced to go to training — he always ran to the ice with joy.
At the age of six, his parents took him to a tryout at the CSKA (Central Sports Club of the Army) section in Moscow with the famous Elena Bujanova. She was ready to take the talented child, but the family did not plan to move. So Petr ended up at the Saint Petersburg school of Alexei Mishin, a famous athlete and coach.
«It was a difficult step, we cried»: Injury, coach change, and victories
While training under Alexei Mishin, at age 14, Petr Gumennik faced a crisis: he could not master the extremely difficult triple axel. The situation worsened with a serious hand injury.
The athlete«s father later admitted that the family faced a difficult choice.
«It was a difficult step, we cried. But there were only two options: to try or to quit sports,» Petr«s father said in an interview.
In 2017, the family made a decision, and Petr moved to the group of Victoria Deyneko at the Tamara Moskvina club. This step became a turning point. The new coaching team was able to find an approach to him, and progress was not long in coming. Already in the 2018–2019 season, the skater won silver at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
In 2020, Petr won bronze at the World Junior Championships, and then at a senior Grand Prix event, and in 2023, he won the Russian Grand Prix Final. The peak of his achievements was the 2024–2025 season: first third place, and then the long-awaited first place at the Russian Championships. And in September 2025, he secured a key victory at the qualifying tournament in Beijing, earning his ticket to the 2026 Olympics.
Perfect score on the USE and a junior nurse certificate
What truly sets Petr Gumennik apart from many colleagues is his passion for knowledge. He is living proof that sports and science can go hand in hand. At school, like many athletes, he was almost never present. However, he studied with tutors — which proved more effective.
In 2022, Petr scored 100 points on the Unified State Exam (USE) in Informatics. His results in other subjects were equally impressive: 98 points in Russian language, 97 in Chemistry. For university admission, he chose IT.
Petr entered the prestigious Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Technology at ITMO University. He is fascinated by bioinformatics and genetics, and he sees his future in these high-tech fields, considering a career in IT or medicine. He was interested in medicine even in school: at 16, Petr completed a «Junior Nurse» course and received the corresponding certificate.
«The best figure skater among pianists»: A «ban» for Rammstein
Petr«s character was revealed in a story far from sports. Before one season, he prepared a short program to the powerful music of the German band Rammstein. But before the showing, a complaint was filed with sports authorities about this music, deeming it »unpatriotic.« Instead of abandoning his idea, Petr found a compromise and creative solution: he performed to a Russian-language cover of the same song.
Judging by photos on social media, Petr likes heavier music: sometimes he wears a Mayhem t-shirt, sometimes a Burzum cap. Both bands perform Norwegian black metal.
Music, and not just «heavy» music, is Petr«s passion. From the age of three, he studied in a choir studio, then learned to play the piano in a duet with Dasha Shelaeva. Their duet won competitions and even toured in Germany. When it became impossible to combine music and sports, he chose the latter, but his love for music remained.
In 2023, he performed in a duet with Shelaeva on the stage of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, and in one of his exhibition programs on ice, he performed part of Ravel«s »Boléro« on a piano that was rolled directly onto the ice.
«When I started doing music, at our school concerts one of the jury members was Grandmaster Mark Yevgenyevich Taimanov, who was called the best chess player among pianists and the best pianist among chess players,» Petr Gumennik told RT.
Personal life
In the spring of 2025, rumors appeared in the press about a romance between Petr Gumennik and world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. The publication Sport-Express reported that the athletes were spotted together at a training camp in the USA. But Tuktamysheva herself, in her Telegram channel, urged fans not to believe unconfirmed rumors and promised that she would share important personal news herself.
Later, in June, the athletes were again in the same training camp in California, which again attracted press attention. But neither Gumennik nor Tuktamysheva publicly confirmed information about a relationship.
Olympic schedule: When to watch Gumennik«s performances
The men«s single skating competitions will be held on February 10 and 13. The short program is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10, starting at 8:30 p.m. Moscow time (MSK). The decisive free program will take place on Friday, February 13, at 9:00 p.m. MSK.
