Tsiba started competing at the age of seven. He originally wanted to compete in ice hockey, but was advised to learn to skate in the figure skating club first.[1] As a child, Tsiba experienced bullying from his peers about being a figure skater, who referred to him as "a ballerina in a tutu" and often called him "gay" or other homophobic remarks.[1] Due to the relative obscurity of figure skating in the Netherlands, he admitted to being jealous of popular speed skaters like Sven Kramer when he was young.[3]
As a singles skater, Tsiba was coached by Viola Striegler and Susan Mason and is the 2014 Dutch junior national and 2018 Dutch national champion. He switched disciplines from men's singles to pair skating because he felt that he was too tall to succeed in learning quadruple jumps.[3] Tsiba had a tryout in summer 2017 that ultimately did not work out. He officially retired from singles skating after winning his first senior national title in 2018.[4]
Tsiba teamed up with Russian skater Daria Danilova 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.[3] 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.[2] The pair fund over half of their training costs out of pocket via Tsiba's student finances.[1]
At the 2020 European Championships in January, Danilova/Tsiba became the first Dutch pair in 24 years to compete at a European Championships since Jeltje Schulten / Alcuin Schulten last represented the country at the event in 1996.[2] 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.[8] 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.[9]
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.[13] On training in Russia, they commented: "We don't notice the war here. It's shockingly quiet."[14] They were unable to compete at the 2022 Skate America because Danilova's visa application was declined.[14]
^"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)
