Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov
American Champions and Olympic Hopefuls

Introduction

Alisa Efimova, a Finnish citizen, is seeking an exception to the U.S. Government’s stipulated waiting period of three years to obtain a U.S. passport. Alisa is a member of U.S. Figure Skating, and along with her skating partner, Misha Mitrofanov (a U.S. citizen), they are the reigning U.S. Pair Champions. They are looking to win the U.S. title for a second time at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, MO in early January 2026, and with that, join the U.S. Figure Skating Olympic Team for Milano Cortina in February 2026. Alisa and Misha are also a couple off the ice, and they were married February 1, 2024. Alisa obtained her United States Green Card approval on July 27, 2024. She is now seeking a waiver of the full-three year waiting period for a U.S. passport so as to be eligible for the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Olympic Team. According to the U.S. Figure Skating leadership, Alisa and Misha would be the final winning element of the U.S. Olympic Team to afford it the best possible opportunity of winning the gold medal in the Figure Skating Team event at the 2026 Winter Games. This was proven with their performance at April’s World Team Trophy event in Tokyo, Japan. As a team, the United States not only won the competition, they did it with the highest team score in the history of the competition.

Approval for this request would need to be formalized by early December in order to meet the participation requirements of the USOPC.

Alisa Background

Alisa was born in Kouvola, Finland, on June 8, 1999. Her parents immigrated from Russia to Finland in 1996 when her mother was invited to work as a coach in a figure-skating club in Kouvola. Alisa’s mother has a degree from Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health in Saint Petersburg, and she is currently working as a figure skating coach in Lappeenranta. Her father is a medical doctor, and is currently working as a general practitioner in Lappeenranta. The family has both Russian and Finnish passports (naturalized in Finland in 2009). Alisa started skating at the age of 2 in Lappeenranta. She  was  a  member  of  the

Alisa and Misha Background

Shortly after returning from the 2023 ISU World Championships, American, Misha Mitrofanov reached out to Alisa to request a partner try-out in Boston. She came to The Skating Club of Boston for a week of training with Misha in April 2023. They had already known each other since they first met in St. Petersburg, Russia, when Misha and his former partner, Audrey Lu were sent to a training camp there. They trained at the same skating school where Alisa was then training with Aleksander Korovin.

Already on the third day of the try-out, they were doing elements that pairs compete with at the world championship level, including side-by-side triple jumps, throw triple jumps and split triple twists. In addition to their impressive technical ability, their body parameters and personalities also clicked very well together. Alisa already well-known for being determined, serious and focused; and Misha known during his own career to be consistent and joyful on the ice, and kind, supportive and always positive off the ice.

They both felt a sense of destiny at work, and quickly made the decision to skate together. Their new coaches at The Skating Club of Boston, Olga Ganicheva and Aleksei Letov, knew they had everything it would take to succeed internationally. Alisa and Misha trained together in Boston through the summer of 2023, and then they travelled to Finland so that Misha could meet Alisa’s family. They continued training in Finland, strictly following Olga and Aleksei’s training plan. Based on the success of their early training, they decided to try to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Championships through the U.S. Figure Skating National Qualifying Series (NQS). The won the NQS Boston Open and placed second at the NQS U.S. Pairs Final in Tacoma WA, securing a spot at January’s 2024 U.S. Championships in Columbus, OH. They took that competition by storm; winning the free skate portion and placing second overall by just .85 of a point. An almost unheard-of accomplishment for a fresh, new team. Misha and Alisa weren’t allowed to represent the United States internationally because of the one-year-rule of the International Skating,Union (ISU) holding back athletes from international competitions when they change the country they represent. (Alisa had represented Germany the previous season.) That meant that the competition season was over for them after 2024 U.S. Championships.

Alisa and Misha returned for the 2024-2025 season with a determination to defy the skeptics that they were one-hit wonders, and to win the 2025 U.S. Championships in Wichita, KS. They also very much wanted to represent the United States at the 2025 ISU World Championships in their adopted home of Boston. They began work with renowned U.S. choreographer, Renee Roca and further refined their partnership and particular style on the ice. They also continued to build their technical skills under the close coaching of Olga and Aleksey. Their focus, strict training regime and determination once again paid off, this time winning the U.S. Championships and representing the United States at the 2025 ISU World Championships from their perch at the top of the U.S. podium.

Alisa and Misha skated close to perfectly at the Boston World Championships in March 2025, placing 4th in the important free skate portion of the competition and 6th overall. They were the top U.S. team at the event, and together with their U.S. team mates, earned the United States the opportunity for 3 spots at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina next February. In looking to that event, it is widely accepted that they are the strongest candidates among all U.S. pair teams to help the U.S. secure the gold medal in the Olympic Figure Skating Team Event. View U.S. Figure Skating Team Bio

Alisa in Her Own Words

From the beginning of our partnership, Misha and I began living together, and naturally we also started to share the household by doing chores, cooking and spending most of our free time together. In sharing the same athletic lifestyle and facing the same challenges in everyday life, we quickly built a deep understanding and affection for each other. With Misha having grown up in a Russian family in Dallas, TX, both he and I also shared the language and an understanding of the Russian culture. From the very beginning of my first arrival to the Boston, Misha’s parents treated me as their own daughter and helped me to quickly adapt to American culture.

Around the 2023 Thanksgiving holiday Misha and I moved to a house. Misha’s parents and my parents were both in Boston to help with the moving process. I think that is when we both came to understand that our connection extended well beyond the ice. Misha and I decided to become partners in life too. We married in Boston on February 1, 2024. True to how we live our lives, we did it with little pomp or fanfare. This was one moment that was all about us after all.

As I reflect on my journey that brought me to Misha and the United States, one of the biggest things that stands out for me besides Misha is what it means to be part of a community. Misha’s family and The Skating Club of Boston took me in as their own family right from my arrival. Nowhere had I seen how strangers can quickly become friends, and give you so much support and care. And how a community can actually become a family too. Since I became family with Misha and first stepped inside The Skating Club of Boston, I have always been home while being away from my birth home in Finland.

The sincere striving in the attitude and approach of the Americans to be the best in the world is the other thing that has really impressed me from living here. I see it in the skating club, within U.S. Figure Skating, my fellow Team USA athletes, and among the many fans of figure skating. The supportive network and expertise that U.S. Figure Skating and the Team USA provides is very powerful, which shows through every person connected with the organization. For example, U.S. Figure Skating officials are volunteers, yet they regularly travel to watch and monitor our training sessions in Boston. They share their knowledge, feedback and critiques, as well as their passion for the sport. They sacrifice their free time for the possibility for us to improve; and to push us to become best in the world. Also, the loyalty of figure skating fans in the United States is the strongest I have seen anywhere in the world. I never knew that people just watching the sport can wish you that much success. Americans really care! I first experienced that with the standing ovation after our free skate at this year’s U.S. Championships. I realized that when we are on the ice, we are not only representing ourselves, we are also representing all the people who stand behind us. We are representing this whole country. That is both meaningful and powerful to me.

Last season, Misha and I received the necessary permission to represent the United States internationally. I also received my Green Card approval on July 27, 2024. At the beginning of this past season – in August – we were dreaming about joining Team USA for the 2025 World Championships in Boston. We knew that the only way to secure that spot would be winning the U.S. Championships in January. We were training as hard as we could giving every bit of energy every day leading up to the Championships, and there we made our dream come true: we won the U.S. title and secured our spot on the World team. That was immediately one of the highest points in our lives. But all too soon, just a couple of days later, we got to the lowest point in our lives, when the tragic, Washington D.C. plane crash of January 29th happened.

I was immediately struck by the strength of the community that Americans created during this moment of crisis. The Skating Club of Boston lost six members in the plane crash over the Potomac River that night. A husband-and-wife coaching team, two moms, and two of Misha’s and my young training mates. That night will forever be a shock for everybody. But instead of freezing in fear, the whole community came together and met the moment with courage. Misha heard the news first and woke me up during the night. While I was still trying to comprehend what had happened, Misha and other Club members were already responding, and reaching out to the families who were directly impacted by the tragedy. Misha said we needed to rush to the Club facility to meet one of the Club members whose wife and daughter had most likely been on the plane that crashed. These were our good friends. On the next day, the whole Club – members from all over the area and across the many years even – gathered together at the Club facility to support each other. Club leadership gave a spontaneous briefing with local, national and international news media that had quickly gathered at the Club. Everyone from all corners of the country it seemed offered all possible ways of getting or giving support. I was astonished by the way the American community could care so deeply, and instantly organize in a moment of an emergency.

The following months were some of the most emotionally intense times in my life. Losing so many friends and colleagues has left an empty space in my heart. Being on the ice now feels like a privilege, and skating has become a healing power for me. Part of that was the show “Legacy on Ice”, which U.S. Figure Skating organized in Washington DC this past February, and in which Misha and I had the honor to perform. Being on the ice and seeing 20,000 people surround you, all honoring the lives of the skaters, coaches and parents that we lost, is a moment I will forever treasure and carry in my heart.

All the emotions and events that took place in the two months leading up to World Championships gave an even deeper meaning for Misha and me to perform at the World Championships. I felt that it was a moment in which I could give back to all the people who had been supporting me in the past two years. I am very happy and proud that we had accomplished an important goal for Team USA at the World Championships. By us placing 6th, and the second American team, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, placing 7th, we gave Team USA the chance to compete for the third and maximum quota for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in figure skating in Milan. This qualification competition will take place in Beijing in September 2025. If the American pair team competing there will earn the third quota, Team USA in figure skating will be the only country that will have the maximum three quotas in all four figure skating disciplines.

Based on our result at the World Championships, Misha and I were also selected to the USA team for the World Team Trophy 2025 competition Tokyo, Japan. As a team, the United States won the competition with the highest team score in the history of the competition. This felt like a significant confidence boost for us all before the upcoming Olympics, because the Olympics now includes the Figure Skating Team Event. We helped Team USA to show the world that our country is ready to defend the team gold at the Olympics.

The U.S. Olympic team for figure skating will be decided in early January 2026 after the U.S. Championships in St. Louis, MO. At the moment, Misha and I will not be eligible to make the team because I don’t yet have a U.S. passport and must currently wait 20 more months as of this December’s USOPC deadline. Making the Olympic team would not only be a dream come true for me, it would also be my greatest chance to give back to the country which has become my new home. And to help bring Olympic gold to the United States with deep gratitude and pride.