Ivan Khobta

Khobta was born on 31 July 2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine.^[1]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Khobta began figure skating in 2007.^[1]

He and pair partner, Violetta Sierova, debuted during the 2018–19 figure skating season, winning gold at the 2019 Ukrainian Novice Championships, silver at the 2019 Ukrainian Junior Championships, and silver at the 2019 Ukrainian Championships.^[1]

The following year, they won their second consecutive gold medal at the 2020 Ukrainian Novice Championships, gold at the 2020 Ukrainian Junior Championships, and silver at the 2020 Ukrainian Championships. Additionally, they won gold at the novice level at the 2019 Ice Star and at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup.^[1]

During the 2020–21 figure skating season, Sierova/Khobta won gold at both the 2021 Ukrainian Junior Championships, and the at the 2021 Ukrainian Championships.^[1]

Sierova/Khobta debuted on the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix series, placing fifth at 2021 JGP Slovakia and seventh at 2021 JGP Austria.^[1] They then went on to win their third consecutive gold medal at the 2022 Ukrainian Junior Championships.^[1]

With Sierova and Khobta's hometown of Kyiv becoming a central point of conflict, they were forced to relocate elsewhere to train. They and coach Filip Zalevski ultimately settled in Bergamo, Italy and Chemnitz, Germany to train.^[2][3][4] Despite the invasion, they competed at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, and finished sixth.^[1]

Sierova/Khobta began their season at the 2022 JGP Poland I and 2022 JGP Poland II, winning silver at both events and ultimately qualifying for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final.^[5][6] They went on to compete at the 2022 CS Ice Challenge and the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup, placing third and sixth, respectively.^[1]

At the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy, Sierova/Khobta finished fifth.^[1] Competing on the senior level at the 2023 European Championships in Espoo, Finland, Sierova/Khobta placed tenth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, finishing in ninth-place overall.^[1]

Sierova/Khobta went on to compete at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta, coming fourth in the short program, but only narrowly behind the third-place team.^[7] In the free skate, they set a new personal best and moved up to third place overall, winning the bronze medal. This was the first World Junior pairs medal for Ukraine since 2000, and the first in any discipline since ice dance team Nazarova/Nikitin's bronze in 2015.^[8][9] Speaking afterward, they said that they felt "all the support of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and that gave us strength. We hope to do our best in our next competition. This Junior Worlds was very important for us and our country."^[8]

At the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, Sierova/Khobta placed twenty-second in the short program, failing to qualify for the free skate, after missing a planned triple twist.^[1]

Sierova/Khobta began the season on the Junior Grand Prix, winning the silver medal at the 2023 JGP Hungary in Budapest. With Sierova recovering from injury, they restricted themselves to double elements other than their triple twist.^[2] They won another silver medal at their second event, the 2023 JGP Poland, qualifying to their second consecutive Junior Grand Prix Final.^[10]

Following their Junior Grand Prixes, the team took three weeks off training in the hopes that Sierova could recover from her hip and back problems. However, upon restarting their preparations they discovered the issues remained. They were limited in what elements they could attempt at the Final, and finished in sixth place. Sierova hoped to be able to perform triple jumps in the future, once her health was restored.^[11]

Sierova's health continued to be an issue for the team in the remainder of the season, and they finished seventh at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei.^[12]

The pair announced their separation in September 2024.^[13]

In June 2025, the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation announced that Khobta had teamed up with American-born singles skater Hannah Herrera and that the team would train in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States under Drew Meekins and Natalia Mishkutenok, in addition to Khobta's longtime coach, Filip Zalevski.^[14][15]

The pair debuted at the 2025 John Nicks International Pairs Challenge, where they won the silver medal on the junior level.^[16][17]

Season	Short program	Free skating
2025–2026 [15]	Aware by Adrián Berenguer choreo. by Drew Meekins	Primavera by Ludovico Einaudi choreo. by Drew Meekins

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2023–2024 [18]	If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley & Walter Earl Brown performed by Måneskin choreo. by Filip Zalevski, Hendrik Hilpert, Raffaella Cazzaniga	Bird Set Free by Sia & Greg Kurstin choreo. by Filip Zalevski
2022–2023 [4]	Весна (Vesna) by Vopli Vidopliassova choreo. by Filip Zalevski, Oleksii Oliinyk	Halo by Beyoncé choreo. by Filip Zalevski, Oleksii Oliinyk	Zori by Kalush
2021–2022 [3]	Birds of Prey by Daniel Pemberton Joke's on You (from Birds of Prey) by Charlotte Lawrence choreo. by Filip Zalevski, Oleksii Oliinyk

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Competition placements at junior level 

Season	2025–26
World Junior Championships	3rd
Bavarian Open	3rd
John Nicks Pairs Challenge	2nd
Skate Berlin	1st

International [1]
Event	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23	23–24
Worlds					22nd
Europeans					9th
CS Warsaw Cup					6th
Ice Challenge					3rd
International: Junior [1]
Junior Worlds				6th	3rd	7th
JGP Final					5th	6th
JGP Austria				7th
JGP Hungary						2nd
JGP Poland					2nd1	2nd
					2nd2
JGP Slovakia				5th
National [1]
Ukrainian Champ.	2nd	2nd	1st	WD		WD
Ukrainian Junior	2nd	1st	1st	1st