They’re one of U.S. figure skating’s top pairs — and not currently eligible for the Olympics
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov scored a 75.31 in the pairs short program Wednesday at the U.S. figure skating championships, taking the lead heading into Friday’s decisive free skate as the team looks to build on its already strong case to make the U.S. Olympic team.
Except for one problem: As of now, they’re not eligible to compete in Milan next month.
Mitrofanov is a 28-year-old Wisconsin native who started skating with Efimova in 2023. Efimova, 26, was born in Finland and has previously represented her native country as well as Russia and Germany. The couple married in 2024, and they’ve been successful on the ice, winning the U.S. championships last year. They’re the ninth-ranked pair in the world, second in the U.S. to Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea (sixth).
But Efimova, who was issued a green card in 2024, is not yet a U.S. citizen. The Olympic charter dictates that all competitors at the Games must have citizenship in the country they represent to compete.
The U.S. typically requires a person married to a citizen to hold a green card for three years before applying for naturalization. Efimova is seeking an expedited timeline, but she’s racing against the clock. Her status would have to change by Sunday, when the U.S. will make its Olympic team selections, to make the duo eligible. Mitrofanov told reporters this week the team was hoping for “a last-minute miracle” to come through.
“The last few weeks, it has been more difficult than normal,” Mitrofanov said before the competition. “We had to do a little bit more paperwork and everything like that. There has been a great push for it. Hopefully, things happen.”
On Wednesday, Efimova and Mitrofanov started their routine with three clean jumping elements, capped by a throw triple loop. They soared to the top of the leaderboard, nearly eight points clear of second-place Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy (67.67). Kam and O’Shea were just behind in third (67.13).
The score was a personal best for Efimova and Mitrofanov by more than five points.
“We’re very happy with today’s skate,” Efimova said. “I was nervous a couple of days before coming into this competition, but when I came to the rink today … I kind of felt that relief, maybe just the energy from the audience that I heard.”
When the routine finished, they smiled at each other and raised their arms to exult the crowd. They hugged and gave each other a high-five that popped even through a TV screen.
Their performance looks good enough. The wait for a passport, though, continues.
“To be honest, it’s out of our control,” Mitrofanov said of the eligibility situation. “So for us, we don’t focus on that. We focus on what we can control, which is our skating, so that’s what we’re really proud of, being able to have a good short program today.”
If the “miracle” comes through and they’re selected to the team, Efimova and Mitrofanov would be one of the top hopes to end the Americans’ lengthy medal drought in pairs skating. Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard were the last to do it, with a bronze in 1988 in Calgary.
