Gleb Smolkin

Personal life

Smolkin was born on 27 August 1999 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He is the son of Russian actor Boris Smolkin and his wife, Svetlana. He has one half-brother, Vladimir.

During a hiatus from figure skating in 2014, Smolkin briefly played professional beach soccer as a member of the BSC Lokomotiv Moscow team.

In March 2022, Smolkin married his skating partner, Diana Davis, at age 22 and 19.

Career

Early years

Smolkin began learning how to skate in 2004. He competed as a single skater until the 2014–15 season when he took a year-long hiatus from the sport. He returned to figure skating in November 2015 to compete as an ice dancer with his first partner, Ekaterina Mironova. The team competed together until spring of 2016 before parting ways. During the 2016–17 season Smolkin teamed up with Svetlana Lizunova, but the partnership was short-lived and lasted only a season before Smolkin began competing with his current partner, Diana Davis, coached by Svetlana Alexeeva and her team in Moscow.

2018–19 season: Junior international debut

Davis/Smolkin made their junior international debut in September 2018 at the 2018 JGP Croatia. The team finished third overall at the event behind Russian teammates Khudaiberdieva/Nazarov in first and Georgian competitors Kazakova/Reviya in second, but despite their podium placement did not receive a second JGP assignment.

The team competed three more times internationally during the season, finishing third in the junior event at the 2018 Volvo Open Cup and second at both the 2018 Tallinn Trophy (junior) and the 2018 Russian-Chinese Youth Winter Games. At the 2019 Russian Junior Figure Skating Championships in February, they finished ninth.

2019–20 season

In the summer before the start of the season, Davis and Smolkin relocated their training base from Moscow to Novi, Michigan to work with Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Camerlengo. The team opened their season in August at the 2019 JGP United States where they won the silver medal behind American training-mates Nguyen/Kolesnik. At their second assignment, 2019 JGP Russia, the team again finished second overall, this time behind fellow Russian competitors Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy, and with 26 qualifying points they advanced to the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final. The team competed just once more before the Junior Grand Prix Final, taking the junior title at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup.

At the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final, Davis/Smolkin entered the competition as the bottom seeded team and had a disappointing outing, finishing sixth in both segments of competition and sixth overall. However, they regrouped in the interim between the Final and the 2020 Russian Junior Championships and managed to earn the bronze medal at junior nationals, earning a spot on Russian team for the 2020 World Junior Championships. Competing at Junior Worlds, Davis/Smolkin scored personal bests in both segments of competition as well as overall, and finished in fifth.

2020–21 season

After Davis sustained an ankle fracture in July 2020, her long-term recovery and a subsequent illness delayed Davis/Smolkin's return to full-time training. They did not compete at the 2021 Russian Junior Championships in January, but planned to return to Russia for the Russian Cup Final in March. At the Russian Cup Final, Davis/Smolkin placed first in both the rhythm dance and the free dance to take the junior title by a margin of about 5 points over silver medalists Kaganovskaia/Angelopol. They retained their Aristocats rhythm dance from the season prior, but debuted a new free dance to selections from the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge!.

2021–22 season: Senior international debut and Beijing Olympics

Davis/Smolkin received their first senior-level Grand Prix assignment to the 2021 Skate Canada International, which was not without controversy in Russia as both they and the Morozov/Bagin, another team with political pull with the Russian Figure Skating Federation, received invitations, while other teams with higher rankings did not. In order to guarantee admission to Canada during the pandemic, both were vaccinated with the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine in addition to having previously received Russia's own Sputnik V vaccine. The team debuted their programs for the Olympic season at the 2021 senior Russian test skates in September.

Davis/Smolkin made their senior international debut the week after test skates at the 2021 U.S. International Classic in Norwood, Massachusetts. At the event, the team won the silver medal behind American team Hubbell/Donohue. Going on to the Grand Prix, they placed fifth at Skate Canada International with new personal bests in both segments and overall.

Following their stint on the Grand Prix circuit, Davis/Smolkin competed at back-to-back ISU Challenger Series events in November. At the 2021 CS Cup of Austria, they finished just off the podium in fourth and set new personal bests in both segments of competition, as well as overall. Davis/Smolkin then competed at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup, where they won their first international title. They upgraded their three new personal bests previously set at Cup of Austria the week before to take the gold medal ahead of Japanese team Muramoto/Takahashi in second, and American team Green/Parsons in third.

At their first senior Russian Championships in December, Davis/Smolkin controversially placed third in the rhythm dance ahead of longtime Russian number three team Zahorski/Guerreiro, outscoring them in the segment by over five points. In the free dance, Davis/Smolkin were able to capitalize on the withdrawal of top Russian team Sinitsina/Katsalapov due to injury and advance to second in the segment. They took the silver medal behind new national champions Stepanova/Bukin. Their placement was, again, not without controversy, with even bronze medalist Egor Bazin questioning the fairness of the scoring. As a result of their placement, Davis/Smolkin were assigned to the 2022 European Championships as one of three dance teams representing Russia.

2022–23: Hiatus, release from Russia, and transition to representing Georgia

Davis/Smolkin, along with their Russian compatriots, were barred from international competition indefinitely by the International Skating Union on 1 March 2022 due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team chose to remain in the United States rather than return to Russia to compete domestically during the 2022–23 season, sparking rumors that they planned to transition to representing the U.S. as Davis is a dual citizen. Speculation was further fueled by the revelation that Davis and Smolkin wed on 18 March 2022, and were working towards attaining a green card for Smolkin. The team, along with Russian Figure Skating Federation spokesperson Olga Ermolina, denied that they would discontinue representing Russia. However, this changed on 5 June 2023 when it was announced that Davis/Smolkin had been released by the Russian Figure Skating Federation and would continue their ice dance career representing Georgia. Davis is of Georgian heritage through her maternal grandparents.

2023–24 season: Debut for Georgia

Davis/Smolkin began their career under the Georgian flag with a victory at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International. On the Challenger circuit, they won the silver medal at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial, before taking gold at both the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial and the 2023 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge.

Making their European Championship debut for Georgia at the 2024 edition in Kaunas, coming eighth. They went on to finish twelfth at the 2024 World Championships.

2024–25 season

Following the end of the 2023–24 season, Davis/Smolkin switched training locations to the Ice Academy of Montreal. They had intended to begin the season at the 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, but had to withdraw the day before it commenced when he suffered a muscle injury. As a result, they made their debut on the Grand Prix circuit at the 2024 Skate America. They ranked third in the rhythm dance with a score of 73.16. Fourth in the free dance, they dropped to fourth overall, finishing 4.56 points behind Spanish bronze medalists Smart/Dieck. Smolkin opined that it "was a good start into the season, and we felt good on the ice today. After yesterday, I know Diana wanted a medal, so that is of course a bit disappointing, but we are still a young team." One week later, they won silver at the 2024 CS Nepela Memorial. They placed eighth at their second Grand Prix, the 2024 Cup of China.

In December, Davis and Smolkin competed at a second Challenger, collecting their second silver medal of the season at the 2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. The following month they placed eighth at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

At the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Davis/Smolkin were fourteenth in the rhythm dance. Tenth in the free dance, they moved up to tenth overall. In the process, they qualified a berth for Georgia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which Smolkin said was "definitely something we're proud of."

Selected to compete for Team Georgia at the 2025 World Team Trophy, Davis/Smolkin placed fifth in the ice dance event and Team Georgia finished sixth overall.

2025–26 season: Milano Cortina Olympics

Davis/Smolkin kicked off the season in October with two wins at back-to-back Challenger Series events at 2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge and 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy. They followed up with a fifth-place finish at 2025 Grand Prix de France. “It was physically and mentally challenging because I got a bit sick the last days and wasn’t physically feeling my best," said Smolkin after the free dance. "Also, we had three competitions in a row. We want to work on our levels. We do have a little time off now and then will prepare for Finland.” They subsequently placed sixth at 2025 Finlandia Trophy.

In January, Davis/Smolkin competed at the 2026 European Championships, finishing in sixth place overall. "I think we’ve achieved our goals for this competition," said Smolkin. “We can do better, but our coaches are very pleased with both programs. It’s by far the best of the season so far."

On 6 February, Davis/Smolkin competed in the rhythm dance for Team Georgia at the 2026 Winter Olympics Figure Skating Team Event, placing sixth. "It’s been great," said Smolkin following their performance. "I mean, in general, it’s been a bit exhausting, so we are trying to manage our excitement. I think the performance was quite good. We know we can do a bit better." The following day, the team finished fourth in the free dance, adding points to Team Georgia's standing. “We had a couple of moments that we will have to check on, but I think this is good before the individual event,” said Smolkin. “We were doing what we were training for, and now what happens now is out of our control. We know what we are capable of." They went on to compete in the free dance segment, placing fourth and Team Georgia ultimately finished in fourth place overall.

On 9 February, Davis/Smolkin compete in the rhythm dance in the individual ice dance event, finishing thirteenth in that segment. "We could have done better, but we still have the free dance so we can gain some points there," remarked Smolkin after their performance. "The free dance feels a bit more natural to us. I think this is the style that suits us well, and we feel very confident."

Two days later, Davis/Smolkin performed their free dance, placing eleventh in that segment and finishing in thirteenth place overall. "We have music that's called 'A Taste of Elegance', so we tried to be elegant, nice, and smooth, going through all the transitions and elements," said Smolkin following their performance. "In the beginning it was a bit more emotional. I think we succeeded, and we should be proud of ourselves."

2026–27 season

Davis/Smolkin opened their season by competing at the 2026 Kinoshita Group Cup in Japan, taking home the gold medal.

Programs

Competitive highlights

Detailed results

Ice dance with Diana Davis

Senior level

Junior level