Hungarian Pair Skaters Pavlova and Sviatchenko in Fourth Place Heading into Free Skate at the Olympics
Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko have achieved a remarkable fourth-place standing after the short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics.This is the pair’s first Olympic appearance, and they delivered a personal best performance to put themselves in contention for a medal.
Pavlova and Sviatchenko began thier Olympic journey by participating in the opening ceremony before relocating to Bellinzona, Italy – approximately 1.5 hours by car from Milan – to optimize their training. They persistent that Milan offered insufficient ice time for their preparation needs.
“This is our first Olympics, so everything is new and special, but also amazing,” saeid 21-year-old Pavlova, who has been collecting pins from various countries on her accreditation lanyard.
Nineteen pairs qualified to compete at the Olympics, with the top sixteen from the short program advancing to the free skate on Monday. Pavlova and Sviatchenko skated in the penultimate group on Sunday evening, earning a score of 73.87 points – surpassing their previous best at the European Championships. This placed them in second position initially, ahead of defending Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics).
The American duo of ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea, who previously won gold in the team event at the Olympics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating_at_the_2026_Winter_Olympics), also did not surpass their score. Following the completion of all short programs, Pavlova and Sviatchenko maintained their strong position, finishing the segment in fourth place.
the free skate is scheduled for Monday evening, where they will compete for a spot on the podium. Pavlova and Sviatchenko previously earned a silver medal at the 2024 ISU Grand Prix series, a silver and bronze at the 2025 Grand Prix series, and finished fifth in the Grand prix Final last year.They won a bronze medal at the European Championships prior to the Olympics.