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Darya Popova
Darya Popova
	Popova/Byelikov at the 2018 European Championships
Native name	Дар'я Попова
Born	29 September 2001 (age 23); Kharkiv, Ukraine
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Ukraine
Coach	Halyna Churylova, Mariana Kozlova
Skating club	Kolos Kharkiv
Began skating	2005

Darya Popova (Ukrainian: Дар'я Сергіївна Попова; born 29 September 2001) is a Ukrainian ice dancer. With her former skating partner, Volodymyr Byelikov, she is the 2017 Volvo Open Cup silver medalist and 2019 Ukrainian national champion on the senior level. The team has finished within the top twelve at two World Junior Championships (2017, 2018).

Career

Early years

Popova began learning to skate in 2005.^[1] Early in her career, she skated with Vadym Kravtsov and Volodymyr Nakisko. During the 2015–2016 season, Popova/Nakisko competed at two ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) events and won the bronze medal at the Ukrainian Junior Championships. They were coached by Halyna Churylova and Mariana Kozlova in Kharkiv.^[2]

2016–2017 season

Popova and Volodymyr Byelikov teamed up in 2016, coached by Halyna Churylova and Mariana Kozlova in Kharkiv.^[3] They made their international debut at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the Czech Republic in early September 2016. They placed 8th in Ostrava and 7th at their next JGP assignment, in Tallinn, Estonia. The duo took silver at the senior-level Ukrainian Championship before winning gold at the junior event.

Popova/Byelikov were selected to represent Ukraine at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan; they placed 11th in the short dance, 12th in the free dance, and 12th overall.

2017–2018 season

During the 2017 JGP series, Popova/Byelikov placed 6th competing in September in Minsk, Belarus, and 5th in early October in Gdańsk, Poland. Their senior international debut came in November at the Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia. They won silver at the event, finishing second to Germany's Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck and ahead of Hungary's Anna Yanovskaya / Ádám Lukács.

Continuing on the senior level, Popova/Byelikov placed 9th at the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy, 8th at the Santa Claus Cup, and second at the Ukrainian Championships. They were included in Ukraine's team to the 2018 European Championships, held in January in Moscow, but did not reach the free dance, placing 22nd in the short. In March, they competed at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia (Bulgaria), ranking 9th in the short, 11th in the free, and 11th overall.

2018–2019 season

Popova/Byelikov won bronze at their first 2018 Junior Grand Prix event in Lithuania, and then placed fourth in Slovenia. Following that, they competed at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy, placing fifth, and won their first Ukrainian national title. After a sixteenth-place finish at the 2019 European Championships, they competed at the 2019 World Junior Championships, placing eleventh.

2019–2020 season

Competing in two Challenger events, Popova/Byelikov placed twelfth at the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and tenth at the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. They won the silver medal at the Ukrainian championships, and competed at a number of minor internationals.

2020–2021 season

Beginning the season at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic was attended only by European skaters. They won the bronze medal.^[4]

Programs

With Byelikov

Season	Rhythm dance	Free dance
2019–2021 ^[5]^[6]	Blues: Hopelessly Devoted to You Quickstep: You're the One That I Want (from Grease) by John Farrar	Believer performed by Simply Three I Can't Go On Without You by Kaleo
2018–2019 ^[7]	Waltz: Larrons en foire (from Micmacs) by Raphaël Beau Tango	Chopin Nocturne performed by David Garrett Run by Ludovico Einaudi
	Short dance
2017–2018 ^[1]	Junior level Salsa: Salsa en la Calle Rhumba: Casi un Bolero by Ricky Martin Merengue: Can, Can, Can by Los Reyes del Ritmo Senior level Cha Cha: Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha by Petty Booka Merengue: Can Can Can by Los Reyes del Ritmo	Once Upon a Time in Mexico by Robert Rodriguez
2016–2017 ^[3]	Blues: Save My Soul by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Swing: Cinnamon Girls by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy	Code Name Vivaldi Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni Storm by Antonio Vivaldi performed by Vanessa-Mae

With Nakisko

Season	Short dance	Free dance
2015–2016 ^[2]	March: Radetzky March by Johann Strauss I Waltz: Masquerade Waltz by Aram Khatchaturian	Song of Spirits by Karl Jenkins

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Byelikov

International^[8]
Event	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21
European Champ.		22nd	16th
CS Golden Spin				10th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy				12th	3rd
CS Tallinn Trophy		9th	5th
CS Warsaw Cup				7th
Mentor Toruń Cup				5th
NRW Trophy				2nd
Santa Claus Cup		8th
Volvo Open Cup		2nd		4th
Winter Star					1st
International: Junior^[8]
World Junior Champ.	12th	11th	11th
JGP Belarus		6th
JGP Czech Republic	8th
JGP Estonia	7th
JGP Lithuania			3rd
JGP Poland		5th
JGP Slovenia			4th
Jégvirág Cup	1st
NRW Trophy	4th
National^[8]
Ukrainian Champ.	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd
Ukrainian Junior Champ.	1st	1st
J = Junior level

With Nakisko

International: Junior^[9]
Event	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16
JGP Austria				13th
JGP Croatia				10th
NRW Trophy				8th
Santa Claus Cup				6th
International: Advanced novice
NRW Trophy	9th	2nd	4th
National
Ukrainian Jr. Champ.				3rd
J = Junior level