Ivan Balchenko

Balchenko began learning how to skate in 2006. Until the 2015–16 season, he trained as a single skater at Sports School #6 in his native Rostov-on-Don before switching to pairs. During the first four seasons of his career as a pair skater, Balchenko changed partners four times, skating with Diana Mitina, Alina Solovyova, Sofya Dmitrenko, and Natalya Khabibullina each a season. Khabibullina/Balchenko competed at one international event, the 2018 Ice Star, where they placed second in the junior division, before splitting at the end of the 2018–19 season.[1]

Balchenko teamed up with his current partner, Yasmina Kadyrova, in September 2019. Kadyrova relocated to Perm to train with Balchenko and his coaches, Pavel Sliusarenko and Valentina Tiukova. Due to the six year age gap between Kadyrova and Balchenko, the team were forced to begin their career as seniors, despite Kadyrova's lack of pairs experience. Kadyrova/Balchenko competed domestically in the Russian Cup series during the 2019–20 season.

Kadyrova/Balchenko opened their season at the 2020 Russian test skates, an unscored event which allows the Russian Figure Skating Federation to evaluate the programs and condition of their national team members.[2] They next competed at the second stage of the domestic Russian Cup series, the qualifying competition series to the national championships, in Moscow, where they finished second in a field of two behind Pavliuchenko/Khodykin. At their second Russian Cup assignment, the fourth stage in Kazan, they finished just off the podium in fourth place, and with a combined total of 28 points qualified to nationals.[3]

Although the team was not initially slated to compete at the event, Kadyrova/Balchenko were assigned to the 2020 Rostelecom Cup after Pavliuchenko/Khodykin withdrew due to illness in November. At the competition, Kadyrova/Balchenko placed fourth in both the short program and the free skate to place fourth overall, just behind training-mates Panfilova/Rylov.[4][5]

At the 2021 Russian Championships, their first nationals as a team, Kadyrova/Balchenko cleanly skated their short program to place sixth in the segment amidst a strong field of competitors.[6] The team fell to seventh in the free skate after struggling with their throw jumps, but maintained their standing of sixth overall.[7]