Maurice Kvitelashvili is a single skater and one of the wards of the legendary coach Eteri Tutberidze. Until 2016, he represented Russia, but then he began to speak for his historical homeland - Georgia. At the same time, Maurice continued to train under the guidance of Tutberidze.
Biography: early years
Maurice Mikhailovich Kvitelashvili was born on March 17, 1995 in Moscow. At the age of four, his parents enrolled him in the figure skating section. Elena Kotova became the first mentor of Maurice. Soon he was taken to the S. Zhuk School of the Olympic Reserve of CSKA. There he first trained under the guidance of Svetlana Bukareva, and then moved on to Marina Selitskaya.
Maurice with Caucasian stubbornness practiced elements that were difficult for his age. Thanks to this approach, stability appeared in Kvitelashvili's rentals. As a child, the skater won prizes in many Russian competitions.
Career in Russia
In 2008, Maurice decided to go to the famous coach Eteri Tutberidze. At first, classes in her group were not easy for him. However, 13-year-old Maurice was already setting ambitious goals for himself. And to achieve them, he gave all the best in training in full. Under the leadership of Tutberidze, Kvitelashvili's skating became artistic and charismatic. Eteri made a great contribution to his technique.
In 2013, Maurice made his debut at the junior stages of the Grand Prix. The skater participated in two competitions. At the stage in Slovakia, he became the fourth, and in the Czech Republic he took bronze. Despite this, Maurice could not qualify for the Grand Prix finals. He was not even included in the reserve.
At the end of the same year, the Winter Universiade took place in Italy. Maurice was among the participants. He performed very well, becoming the fifth in the end. But at his debut Russian championship he failed.
This failure did not break the guy. Two months later, Kvitelashvili finished the season on a positive note, becoming the owner of the Russian Junior Cup.
From the next season, Maurice began performing in "adult" competitions. The skater took part in the Lombardy Cup, finishing in fifth place. Maurice did not qualify for the Russian stage of the Grand Prix of the same year. However, he took part in it instead of Mikhail Kolyada, who was injured at the last moment. But Maurice did not take advantage of the chance of fate. His debut at the Senior Grand Prix stage failed miserably. Kvitelashvili was the last.
Eteri Tutberidze explained the failures of her ward with a sharp jump in growth. Maurice is one of the tallest singles. His height is 180 cm. Injuries also played a role. All this ultimately put pressure on the psyche of the young skater.
In December 2014, Maurice took part in the Croatian Zagreb Golden Horse tournament. The skater flawlessly skated the free program, significantly exceeding his own achievements in it and in the total amount of points. As a result, he became the fifth.
Kvitelashvili was in complete euphoria from such a success. This is probably why he allowed himself to be slack in training. As a result, at the Russian championship he was disappointed: he finished the competition in eighth place. A month later, Maurice performed at the Winter Universiade, where he also showed not the best result for him, becoming the seventh.
Kvitelashvili began the 2015/16 season with participation in the international tournament "Mordovian Patterns", which was held in Saransk. On it, the skater climbed to the podium, winning bronze. Thanks to this, he received a ticket to the China Cup, which is part of the Grand Prix series. However, there he was again in for a failure: Maurice took last place. At the Russian championship, Kvitelashvili also skated not very well, becoming the twelfth.
Failures in recent tournaments unsettled the guy. In sports, when assessing potential, the result is a key criterion. And Maurice's success was unstable. Therefore, the label "not very stable" stuck to it. According to the athlete himself, in this regard, he at one time heard a lot of offensive words addressed to him. In addition, the path to the Russian national team with such modest successes was closed to him due to high competition. On this basis, he decided to represent the homeland of his ancestors - Georgia.
Career in Georgia
Speaking for his historical homeland, Maurice began to get into international competitions of the highest level without any problems. The first season in the Georgian national team was very successful for him. Kvitelashvili perked up noticeably and began to skate programs much cleaner.
Under the flag of Georgia, Maurice performed for the first time at the New Year's tournament in Budapest, where he became the first. A month later, the skater performed at the European Championships in Ostrava and took sixth place. Maurice has significantly improved his personal performance. At the world championship of the same year, he became thirteenth.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korean Pyeongchang, Kvitelashvili faced another failure. The skater barely entered the top thirty, becoming 24th. At the World Championships of the same year, he dropped even lower, finishing in 26th place.
In the 2018/19 season, Maurice improved his performance. So, at the international tournament in Finland, he became the third, and at the Russian stage of the Grand Prix he was able to win a silver award.
Personal life
Kvitelashvili was credited with novels with many of Tutberidze's wards, including Yulia Lipnitskaya and Adelina Sotnikova. The skater himself does not confirm these rumors. In an interview, he noted that he was just friends with girls, nothing more.
Maurice tries not to answer questions about his personal life. He only notes that now he does not have time for a serious relationship with the opposite sex. It's all to blame for the skater's tight training schedule. Maurice devotes to sports six days a week, and tries to spend his free time with his family.
