Figure skater Volodin, who competed for Russia, leads after a short program at the Grand Prix stage in China, in a duet with Haze.

Sporting couple representing Germany Minerva mist / Nikita Volodin leads after the short program of the ISU Grand Prix series in Beijing.

Khaze and Volodin received 72.56 points for the rental. Second place went to Canadians Dianna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (71.22). The leading trio was completed by Italian representatives Sara Conti and Niccolo Macchii (70.30). Russian figure skaters Maria Pavlova and Alexey Svyatchenko (65.51), representing Hungary, were one length away from the top 3.

The sporting couples will present their free program on Friday during the Chinese Grand Prix.

Volodin is from St. Petersburg, he previously played for Russia and in the 2019/20 season, together with Taisiya Sobinina, he took 11th place in the national championship. In May this year it became known that the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) approved Volodin’s passage under the German flag.