Danilova was born on 8 September 2002 in Moscow. She is learning Dutch.[1] Danilova received her Dutch residence permit c. 2020[2] and became a naturalized Dutch citizen on February 16, 2024.[3][4] She has a pet dog.[5]
Career
Early career
Danilova started skating at age three in 2006. She competed in ladies' singles in her native Russia, but never qualified to the Russian Championships.[6] In 2017, Danilova briefly competed pairs with Dmitry Shulgin under coaches Pavel Kitashev, Arina Ushakova, and Nina Mozer.[6] They split after six months and she skated alone for a year.[1]
Danilova teamed up with Dutch skater Michel Tsiba for the Netherlands in May 2018. Earlier in the season, he had met one of her coaches at a seminar in Berlin and they arranged a tryout.[7] At the start of their partnership, Danilova/Tsiba alternated training in Berlin and Moscow every three months due to the differences in their respective citizenships' visa requirements.[8] The pair fund over half of their training costs out of pocket via Tsiba's student finances.[9]
At the 2020 European Championships in January, Danilova/Tsiba became the first Dutch pair in 24 years to compete in a European Championships since Jeltje Schulten / Alcuin Schulten last represented the country at the event in 1996.[8] They qualified to the final segment and finished 16th overall. In February, they finished eighth at the Bavarian Open and tenth at the Challenge Cup; the latter event doubled as the Dutch Championships where, as the only Dutch pair, Danilova/Tsiba won their first senior national title.
During the offseason, Tsiba underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus. However, the pair did not start training together again until the end of August due to issues with Danilova's Dutch visa.[13] Danilova/Tsiba made their season debut at the 2020 NRW Autumn Trophy in November and won their first senior international medal, bronze behind Germans Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel and Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert. Making their debut at the World Championships in Stockholm, they placed twenty-second.[14]
Danilova/Tsiba decided that the Russian invasion of Ukraine would not affect their training in Russia, opting to spend about half their time in Sochi, Russia, and half in Heerenveen, Netherlands.[18] On training in Russia, they commented: "We don't notice the war here. It's shockingly quiet."[2] They were unable to compete at the 2022 Skate America because Danilova's visa application was declined.[2]
Danilova/Tsiba began their season with a sixth-place finish at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy. They finished sixth as well at the 2022 NHK Trophy, their Grand Prix debut, and then fifth at the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo.[16] Domestic rivals Osipova/Epstein won the Netherlands' only pair skating berth at the 2023 European Championships.[18] However, due to Danilova/Tsiba's ninth-place finish at the prior year's World Championships, both teams were able to attend the 2023 edition in Saitama. Both Dutch teams qualified for the free skate segment, a first in the history of the event, with Danilova/Tsiba finishing thirteenth, the higher-ranked of the two.[19]
^"Daria DANILOVA / Michel TSIBA: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Daria DANILOVA / Michel TSIBA: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Daria DANILOVA / Michel TSIBA: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
