He is a 2015 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where he received the Charlene Conrad Liebau Library Prize for Undergraduate Research for The Post-Soviet Development of Elite-Level Athletics in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.[1][2]
Figure Skating Career
Matej competed in singles and pairs and was the 2012 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships Junior Men's Champion.[3]
He left competitive skating due to a shoulder injury sustained during the 2015 – 2016 season.[4] At that time, he was partnered with Elizaveta Usmantseva, competing in Senior Pairs at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
After a six-year hiatus from competitive skating, Matej and his partner, Kate Finster, competed at the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Championship Pairs, where they placed 7th.[5]
Whilst recovering from an injury, Matej established a production company, Kitsune Tale Productions, and made the documentary, Baba Babee Skazala [Grandmother Told Grandmother] about Ukrainian children torn from their homes in the crush between the Nazi and Soviet fronts in World War II.[10][11]
In 2022, Matej played the role of Ice Skater in the independent feature film Goodbye, Petrushka.[12]