Rafael Arutyunyan

Arutyunyan was born on July 5, 1957, in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, and studied in Yerevan, Armenian SSR at the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture.[3] He is married to a skating coach, Vera, and moved to the United States in 2000.[5][6] They have a son – a pianist born in the mid-1980s, and a daughter, who is an artist.[7] On July 23, 2019, Arutyunyan and his wife became U.S. citizens.[8][9][10]

Arutyunyan's mother brought him to an ice rink after watching figure skating on television; he was skating regularly in Tbilisi by the age of seven.[11] He coached young skaters in Yerevan from 1976.[12] In the 1980–1981 season, one of his students, Saak Mkhitarian, became the Soviet junior champion and placed 6th at the World Junior Championships. Soviet officials then invited Arutyunyan to Moscow, where he worked on his teaching certification and became an assistant to Tatiana Tarasova.[11]

Around 2000 or 2001, Arutyunyan joined the Ice Castle International Training Center, in Lake Arrowhead, California.[11][2][4] In August 2013, he relocated to the East West Ice Palace in Artesia, California.[5][13] He collaborates with his wife, Vera Arutyunyan, and Nadezda Kanaeva.[5] He moved to Lakewood ICE in Lakewood, California on June 25, 2016.[14] His current students include:

• Mariah Bell (August 2016 - present),[15] 2017, 2018 U.S. national bronze medalist.
• Michal Březina (June 2016 - present)[16]
• Nathan Chen (2011 – present), 2018 and 2019 World champion, 2018 Winter Olympics U.S. Team bronze medalist, 2017-2020 U.S. national champion, 2017-2019 Grand Prix Final champion and 2017 4CC champion.
• Mandy Chiang
• Hiu Ching Kwong
• Stephen Gogolev (June 2019 - present)
• Marin Honda (March 2018 - present)
• Taichi Honda (March 2018 - present)
• Romain Ponsart (August 2016 - present)[15]
• Andrea Montesinos Cantú (2017 – present)[17]

His former students include:

• Adam Rippon (September 2012 – March 2018),[18] 2016 U.S. national champion. 2018 Winter Olympics U.S. Team bronze medalist.
• Ashley Wagner (June 2013 – March 2018),[19] 2016 World silver medalist, 2014 Winter Olympics U.S. Team bronze medalist, and three-time U.S. national champion.
• Lim Eun-soo (April 2018 - September 2019)
• Alexander Abt (13 years).[20]
• Mai Asada (summer 2006 to January 2008)[21]
• Mao Asada (summer 2006 to January 2008)[21]
• Audrey Shin
• Jeffrey Buttle
• Sasha Cohen
• Ivan Dinev
• Kiira Korpi (August 2013 – end of season)[22]
• Michelle Kwan[4]
• Vivian Le (June 2016 - December 2017)
• Hannah Miller (June 2015 – August 2016).[23][24]
• Hovhannes Mkrtchyan
• Alexander Shubin
• Amy Lin
• Sergei Voronov (unknown – 2000)[6]

As of January 2021, Rafael teaches many smaller children at Great Park Ice. He is the soul manager of Raf Team.