Alexei Bychenko

Bychenko was born on February 5, 1988, in Kyiv, Ukraine, and competed internationally for Ukraine through 2009.[3][1] After failing to qualify for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, he took a one-year break from figure skating.[4] During that period, his coach asked whether he wanted to skate in an Olympics. Bychenko then explored his options, contacted the Israeli federation, and began the transition to representing Israel, becoming an Israeli citizen in 2010.[4][3]

Around 2011, Bychenko immigrated from Ukraine to Israel with his mother and brother, and the family lived in Netanya.[6] He based his training in New Jersey; a separate report says he moved to the United States in 2010 and decided there to represent Israel.[1][6] The Ukrainian skating federation opposed the switch, and he had to wait two years for permission to represent another country.[1]

Bychenko represented Israel at three consecutive Winter Olympics — 2014 in Sochi, 2018 in Pyeongchang, and 2022 in Beijing — competing in men's individual figure skating.[2] He placed 21st at Sochi, a result he substantially improved upon four years later.[6]

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, Bychenko skated cleanly to "Hava Nagila" and placed second in the men's short program of the team event. Several hours later, he carried Israel's flag at the opening ceremony.[7]

In the individual men's event, he scored 84.13 in the short program and 172.88 in the free skate for a total of 257.01 points, placing 11th overall.[5] The result surpassed Michael Shmerkin's 16th-place finish at the 1994 Games and was then the best Olympic finish by an Israeli man in figure skating.[5] After seeing his free-skate score, Bychenko shouted with joy, lay down on the ice, and embraced his coaches.[5]

At the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Bychenko placed tenth with 245.96 points overall, including 160.68 in the free skate despite a small stumble near the beginning. The result surpassed Michael Shmerkin's 11th-place finishes in 1995 and 1996 and secured Israel two men's singles places for Pyeongchang because countries whose skaters placed fourth through tenth received two berths.[8] When his result appeared, Bychenko raised a fist and was reportedly close to tears.[8]

At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Bychenko scored 90.99 in the short program and 258.28 points overall, finishing fourth — the highest result then achieved by an Israeli man in singles at a World Championships.[1] He finished 14.04 points behind bronze medalist Mikhail Kolyada.[1]

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Bychenko was one of six athletes in Israel's delegation.[9] He placed 26th in the men's singles short program.[10] Before the Games, he had planned to skate the short program to "Milim" by Harel Skaat and the free skate to music from Pirates of the Caribbean.[3]

Bychenko's major achievement outside the Olympics came at the 2016 European Figure Skating Championships, where he won silver and became the first Israeli skater to win a European Championships medal.[3][2] That year, he also took bronze at the Rostelecom Cup.[2] He won the Golden Spin of Zagreb and finished fifth at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava after standing second following the short program.[1] Ahead of Pyeongchang, he was identified as the leading star of Israel's Olympic delegation.[11]

Bychenko established several benchmarks for Israeli men's figure skating. His tenth place at the 2017 World Championships was an Israeli record at the time, and his fourth-place result at the 2018 World Championships raised that benchmark further.[8][1] His 11th-place finish at Pyeongchang was then Israel's best Olympic result in men's singles figure skating.[5] His 2016 European silver also made him the first Israeli skater to stand on a European Championships podium.[3] By placing tenth at the 2017 Worlds, he secured two men's singles quota places for Israel at the following Olympics.[8] Bychenko linked his path to representing Israel to both his Jewish family background and his goal of reaching the Olympic Games.[4]