Deniss Vasiļjevs (born 9 August 1999) is a Latvian figure skater. He is the 2022 European bronze medalist, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy silver medalist, a five-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (including gold at the 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy), and a seven-time Latvian national champion (2016–18, 2020, 2022–24).
At the junior level, Vasiļjevs is the 2016 Youth Olympics silver medalist, 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival silver medalist, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) silver medalist, and a two-time Latvian junior national champion (2014-15). He is the first Latvian skater to podium at a JGP event and at an ISU Championships event.
Vasiļjevs represented Latvia at the 2018, 2022, and 2026 Winter Olympics.
Vasiļjevs was born on 9 August 1999 in Daugavpils, Latvia to parents, Regina and Sergej. Regina is a former dancer and Sergejs is an electrical engineer. In 2016, Vasiļjevs began living in Champery, Switzerland, but remained a student at Daugavpils Russian Secondary School – Lyceum. He enjoys drawing and speaks four languages – Latvian, Russian, French and English.
Vasiļjevs also helped coach young skaters at the Skating School of Switzerland. After earning a bachelor's degree in Sports and Social Sciences Teacher program at the University of Daugavpils, he went on to earn a master's degree in Leadership and Management. Vasiļjevs wrote his thesis on the topic of "Effective Leadership in Latvian Skating."
His figure skating role models include Stéphane Lambiel, Daisuke Takahashi, Patrick Chan, and Javier Fernández.
Vasiļjevs began skating in 2002. As he was often sick, his parents decided to involve him in a sport, first considering swimming and then skating. In addition, he also began taking ballet classes around that time. Due to there being no permanent figure skating coaches in his hometown of Daugavpils, Vasiļjevs would primarily work with specialists that would make the trip to his skating rink from Riga as well as attend training camps outside of Latvia when possible. Around 2010, Vasiļjevs' parents arranged for him to live with and train under the guidance of Lithuanian coach Ingrida Snieškienė in Paris, France. Due to his schooling, he spent part of the year training in Daugavpils.
2013–14 season: Junior international debut
Vasiļjevs debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit in 2013, placing seventh in Riga, Latvia and tenth in Gdańsk, Poland. He was named in Latvia's team to the World Junior Championships, held in March 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Ranked eleventh in the short program, he qualified for the free skate, where he placed seventh, pulling him up to eighth overall.
During the 2014–15 figure skating season, Vasiļjevs placed fourth at both of his Junior Grand Prix assignments, in Courchevel, France and Tallinn, Estonia. He won the silver medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, held in January 2015 in Dornbirn, Austria. He began working with Alexei Urmanov before the 2015 World Junior Championships, which took place in March in Tallinn, Estonia. He placed eighth in both segments and seventh overall.
2015–16 season: Senior international debut; Winter Youth Olympics silver
Vasiļjevs began the 2015–16 season by winning silver at both of his JGP events in Riga, Latvia and Toruń, Poland. He is the first Latvian skater to step on a JGP podium. Making his senior international debut, he placed fifth at the 2015 Mordovian Ornament before taking the bronze medal at the 2015 Tallinn Trophy.
In January 2016, Vasiļjevs was sent to his first senior ISU Championship – the 2016 Europeans in Bratislava, Slovakia. He finished twelfth after placing fourteenth in the short program and tenth in the free skate. In February, he competed in Hamar, Norway at the 2016 Youth Olympics. Ranked third in the short program and first in the free skate, he finished second overall with a total score 1.09 less than gold medalist Sōta Yamamoto of Japan. His silver is Latvia's first Youth Olympic medal in figure skating. Vasiļjevs was assigned to compete in the mixed NOC team event as a member of Team Discovery. Placing first in his segment, he lifted his team to the bronze medal.
By 2016, Vasiļjevs was training almost full-time with Urmanov in Sochi, Russia. In March, at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, he won a small bronze medal for the short program and finished eighth overall. Later that month, he competed at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. He qualified for the free skate by placing tenth in the short program and finishing fourteenth overall.
2016–17 season: Grand Prix debut
In spring 2016, Vasiļjevs had new programs choreographed by Stéphane Lambiel in Champéry, Switzerland. He was diagnosed with a tear in his left adductor muscle during the off-season and visited Toronto in late July 2016 for physiotherapy. On 25 August 2016, he announced that Lambiel had agreed to coach him in Champéry. He started practicing double jumps in early September. He also worked on developing his program details, steps, and spins.
In November, Vasiljevs made his Grand Prix debut. He placed 11th at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup and then 6th at the 2016 NHK Trophy. He ranked 6th in both segments and 7th overall at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In March, he won his first international senior gold medal at the 2017 Cup of Tyrol. He finished 14th at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Due to his result, Latvia qualified a spot in the men's event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
2017–18 season: Pyeongchang Olympics