Mihhail Selevko: “In the free skate, I’ll showcase cosmic strength. I think it’s a very interesting program, and I hope people will enjoy it.”
Mihhail Selevko about preparation for the Olympic season.
original source: sport.err.ee dd. August 20th 2025 by Anu Saarits
Estonia’s sole spot in the men’s singles event at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be decided between Aleksandr Selevko, now training in Boston, and his younger brother Mihhail, who spent the summer honing his skills in California.
Reigning Estonian champion Mihhail Selevko laid the groundwork for his new season by training in the United States for two and a half months. He spent more time working overseas this summer than in previous years. Here’s a translation of his comments posted on ERR.
“After the World Championships, I trained in Tallinn, then I flew to California to train with Rafael Arutyunyan’s team,” Mihhail told ERR. “Things went well, and I hope I can show the results of this summer’s work during the season.”
Mihhail’s coach, Irina Kononova, shared that the results of their work will become clearer starting in late September, when Selevko begins his competitive season at the ISU Challenger event in Slovakia.
Selevko’s short program will remain the same as last season, but his free skate is new, choreographed to music by Hans Zimmer. Both programs were choreographed by Adam Solya.
“I love the new free skate set to Hans Zimmer’s music, and I think it’s a great choice for the Olympic season. I selected the music together with my father, coaches, and choreographer. We worked through several options I liked before making the final decision,” Selevko explained. “In the free skate, I’ll showcase cosmic strength. I think it’s a very interesting program, and I hope people will enjoy it.”
For this season, Selevko has plans to include up to three quadruple jumps in his programs. He currently masters three different types of quads, and decisions will be made progressively about how many to include in competitions.
“We’ll see how we approach the competitions. Maybe at first, we’ll put in two, and later three or four. It’s also possible to perform the same quad twice in one program,” coach Kononova explained.
During a visible training session at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Estonia, where the temperature was only eight degrees Celsius, the younger Selevko recalled the advantages of training in Irvine, California, located just 65 kilometers south of Los Angeles.
“There, I had a great ice rink, a fantastic team, and many talented skaters to train with. It was extremely motivating and beneficial for me,” he said. Notably, world champion and record-holder Ilia Malinin had also trained on the same ice.
Mihhail has previously trained with Rafael Arutyunyan in the U.S. and continues to benefit from his expertise:
“I focused heavily on stabilizing my technical elements, improving their quality, and paying attention to details. I want to refine these this season,” Selevko added.
This season, Mihhail Selevko is slated to compete in two ISU Grand Prix events – France in October and Finland in November. International competitions and the European Championships will ultimately determine which Estonian skater – Mihhail or Aleksandr—will represent the country in the men’s singles event at the Milan Olympics.
Related topics: Mihhail Selevko
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