Ivan Bukin

Bukin began learning to skate in 1998.[1] He started out in single skating but was asked to switch to ice dancing.[3] He initially disliked skating but over time grew to love dance.[5] He skated briefly with Elena Ilinykh.[6] Bukin was partnered with Stepanova in 2006 by coaches Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin and trains in Moscow.[3]

Stepanova/Bukin debuted on the Junior Grand Prix series in the 2010–2011 season. They won both of their events and qualified for the 2010 JGP Final, where they won the bronze medal.

Stepanova/Bukin won both of their 2011–2012 JGP events, Romania and Italy. Their placements qualified them for the JGP Final where they placed fourth in the short and second in the free dance to receive the bronze medal. They won silver at the 2012 Russian Junior Championships. Stepanova/Bukin then competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the silver medal.

Stepanova/Bukin won gold medals at their JGP events in Turkey and Germany, qualifying them for the JGP Final in Sochi, Russia.[7] They won the gold medal in their third appearance at the final. Stepanova/Bukin withdrew from the 2013 Russian Junior Championships due to Bukin's cold and sinusitis.[8] They were assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships where they won the gold medal, more than seven points ahead of French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron. After the event, the duo and their coaches discussed whether to move up to the senior level.[9]

Stepanova/Bukin decided to make their senior debut in the 2013–2014 season. They were assigned to one Grand Prix event, the 2013 Skate Canada, and finished eighth. They came in fifth at the 2013 Winter Universiade. At the Russian Championships, Stepanova/Bukin finished sixth on the senior level and won gold on the junior level ahead of Yanovskaya/Mozgov. They were assigned to the 2014 World Junior Championships but withdrew due to illness.[10]

Stepanova/Bukin began their season with a gold medal at the 2014 Finlandia Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) event. Their first Grand Prix medal, bronze, came at the 2014 Skate America. At the 2014 Rostelecom Cup, they finished fifth.[11] Stepanova/Bukin took bronze at the 2015 Russian Championships and were assigned to the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm. They were awarded the bronze medal in Sweden, ahead of Elena Ilinykh / Ruslan Zhiganshin. They ended their season at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, finishing ninth.

Stepanova/Bukin had planned to begin the 2015–2016 season at the 2015 CS Finlandia Trophy, however, they withdrew because Bukin's off-season illness had slowed their preparations for the season. At the 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard, they placed third in the short dance, which was accepted as the final result following the competition's cancellation due to the November 2015 Paris attacks. They finished fourth overall at their next Grand Prix event, the 2015 NHK Trophy. Stepanova/Bukin edged out Ilinykh/Zhiganshin for the bronze medal at the Russian Championships in late December in Ekaterinburg and finished as the third Russian team, in fifth place, in January 2016 at the European Championships in Bratislava.

Stepanova/Bukin were assigned to the 2016 World Championships in Boston after Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev withdrew due to a positive doping sample.[12] They finished eleventh in the competition after placing eleventh in both the short and free dance.

Stepanova/Bukin started their season on the Challenger Series, at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy. Ranked first in both segments, they earned personal best score and won the gold medal by a margin of 7.07 points over silver medalists Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2016 Skate Canada International, where they placed fifth, and 2016 Cup of China, where they won the bronze medal.

In December 2016 they won the silver medal at the 2017 Russian Championships. They later competed at the 2017 European Championships, where they placed fifth, and at the 2017 World Championships where they placed tenth.

Stepanova/Bukin started their season by winning the silver medal at the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy. They then won two bronze medals in the Grand Prix series, the first bronze came at the 2017 Rostelecom Cup and the second bronze came at the 2017 Internationaux de France. They then won the silver medal at the 2018 Russian Championships. A month later they won the bronze medal at the 2018 European Championships after placing second in the short dance and third in the free dance.

They were not sent to the 2018 Winter Olympics because it was announced by the Russian Figure Skating Federation on 23 January 2018 that the International Olympic Committee did not invite Bukin to compete.[13][14]

They later competed at the 2018 World Championships where they finished seventh after placing seventh in both the short dance and the free dance.[14]

Stepanova/Bukin started their season at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy where they won the gold medal with a personal best score of 200.78 points. This was already their third victory at the Finlandia Trophy since they had won this event also in 2014 and 2016.

In early November Stepanova/Bukin won their first Grand Prix gold medal at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. They were ranked first in both the Rhythm dance and the free dance and won the gold medal by a margin of about 4 points over the silver medalists, Charlène Guignard / Marco Fabbri. Two weeks later they won their second Grand Prix gold medal at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. They were ranked first in both programs and beat the silver medalists, Sara Hurtado / Kirill Khaliavin by about 25 points. With two Grand Prix gold medals they qualified for the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final, where they finished fourth.

At the 2019 Russian Championships, Stepanova/Bukin placed second in both programs, taking their third consecutive silver medal, behind Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov, who had also finished ahead of them at the Grand Prix Final. Reflecting afterward, Stepanova said "we didn’t skate without mistakes at nationals and we know what we have to work on. There is nothing we can leave out. We have to work on everything—on technique, emotions and our mistakes, every day. You need to skate perfectly."[15]

Competing next at the 2019 European Championships, Stepanova/Bukin placed second in the rhythm dance, behind Papadakis/Cizeron, earning their best score to date on the Tango Romantica pattern dance and capitalizing on serious errors by rivals Sinitsina/Katsalapov.[16] They placed second in the free dance as well, winning the silver medal overall. Bukin called it "a big step forward for us."[17] Stepanova/Bukin concluded the season at the 2019 World Championships, where they placed third in the rhythm dance, winning a small bronze medal, but dropped to fourth place after the free dance. Stepanova pronounced them "ready to fight for the top three in the world."[18]

Having skipped the Challenger series due to Stepanova recovering from a back injury, they began the season at 2019 Skate America. They placed second in the short program.[19] They narrowly won the free dance over gold medalists Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue, taking silver overall. Stepanova said she was "more pleased with our performance than yesterday."[20] They won a second silver medal at the 2019 NHK Trophy, qualifying to their second Grand Prix Final.[21] They placed fourth at the Final for the second year, notably placing ahead of domestic rivals Sinitsina/Katsalapov.[22]

Competing at the 2020 Russian Championships, Stepanova/Bukin were second in the rhythm dance.[23] They placed first in the free dance, but remained in second place overall behind Sinitsina/Katsalapov. Stepanova remarked "we’re happy with what we did."[24]

In January, Stepanova/Bukin competed at the 2020 European Championships in Graz, Austria. They placed fourth in the rhythm dance and third in the free dance, taking their fourth European medal, a bronze, behind Russian teammates Sinitsina/Katsalapov and Papadakis/Cizeron of France.[25][26] They had been assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[27]

Stepanova suffered from a reoccurrence of a back injury and sought treatment in Germany, as a result of which the team missed the 2020 Russian senior test skates.[28] They were scheduled to compete on the Grand Prix at the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, but withdrew due to a COVID-19 outbreak at their training centre.[29] It was subsequently reported that both had caught the virus in succession, leaving them only three weeks to prepare for the national championships.[30]

With rivals Sinitsina/Katsalapov withdrawing from the 2021 Russian Championships due to contracting COVID-19 as well, Stepanova/Bukin entered the event as the heavy favourites to finally take the title. They won the rhythm dance by 3.26 points over Zahorski/Guerreiro.[30] They won the free dance as well by a 5.96 point margin, taking the gold medal for the first time at the Russian Championships. Stepanova said afterward "there was not much time for the preparation and we were nervous. We didn't want to skate worse than we did last year." While the European Championships were already cancelled due to the pandemic, they were assigned to the Russian team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[31]