Joti Polizoakis

Panagiotis "Joti" Polizoakis (born 9 June 1995) is a German ice dancer and choreographer. He is a three-time German national champion (2016–2018) and has finished 16th at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Joti Polizoakis
Lorenz and Polizoakis at the 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy
Personal information
Country representedGermany
Born (1995-06-09) 9 June 1995
Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
PartnerKavita Lorenz
CoachMarina Zueva, Massimo Scali, Oleg Epstein, Martin Skotnický
Former coachIgor Shpilband
ChoreographerMarina Zueva, Massimo Scali
Former choreographerIgor Shpilband
Skating clubEC Oberstdorf
Training locationsNovi, Michigan
Began skating2000
RetiredJune 7, 2019[1]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total157.02
2018 Worlds
Short dance62.34
2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial
Free dance95.22
2016 CS Golden Spin

Personal life

Joti Polizoakis was born on 9 June 1995 in Bietigheim-Bissingen.[2] He is the oldest child of a Czech woman and a Greek who was born in Germany. He is fluent in German, Czech and Greek, as well as English and French. He has two younger siblings. Polizoakis served in the German military from 2017 - 2019 as a sports soldier.

Joti Polizoakis resides and lives in Berlin, Germany.

Career

Joti Polizoakis belongs up to this day to one of the greatest talents in German Figure Skating. His strengths include his very own and unique skating style with very good skating skills technique. He is known for his good sense of musicality, which he underlines with charisma and strong interpretation and his ability to dance on the ice.

Polizoakis began learning to skate in 2000.[2] He competed at ISU Junior Grand Prix events and won the German junior national title. He is the German Junior National Champion from 2013 and 2014.

He was coached by Michael Huth.

In 2014–15, he moved up to the senior level but struggled with many injuries and health problems. He competed at two ISU Challenger Series events and placed 6th at the 2015 German Championships.

Partnership with Lorenz

In the spring of 2015, Polizoakis teamed up with Kavita Lorenz to compete in ice dancing. The two had known each other for many years.[3] They were coached by Igor Shpilband and Martin Skotnický in Novi, Michigan.[4]

Making their international debut, Lorenz/Polizoakis finished fourth at the 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy, a Challenger Series (CS) event. They placed fifth at the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy (CS), first at the 2015 Open d'Andorra, and fifth at the 2015 Warsaw Cup (CS). In December, they won the German national title ahead of Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck and were selected to represent Germany at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. At Europeans in January, Lorenz/Polizoakis placed 13th in the short dance to qualify for the free, where they ranked 15th, resulting in a final placement of 14th at their first ISU Championship. In March, they qualified for the final segment at the 2016 World Championships in Boston by placing 18th in the short dance and went on to finish 17th overall. They ended their partnership in April 2016,[5] but announced in June that they would continue skating together.[6]

Polizoakis and Lorenz defended their national title in 2017 and 2018 for 3 consecutive times and managed to secure a spot for the 2018 Winter Olympics. This should be so far his biggest achievement of his career. They switched coaches in the Olympic season to be trained by Marina Zoueva and Massimo Scali in Canton, Michigan.

After the World Championships in 2018, Lorenz ended her career, and Polizoakis has been looking for a partner ever since.

Olympic Winter Games

Polizoakis and his partner qualified for the Winter Olympic Games 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea by winning the German National Championships in 2018. At the Olympic Games they placed 7th in the figure skating team event. In the individual event, Polizoakis qualified for the final and ended up in 16th place in the ice dance event.

Holiday On Ice

Polizoakis toured through Germany and Austria as a star guest in the 2019/2020 season with Holiday On Ice.

In total he performed in 11 different cities.

Programs

With Lorenz
Season Short dance Free dance
2017–18
[7]
2016–17
[2][3]
2015–16
[4]

Single skating
Season Short program Free skating
2014–15
[8]
2013–14
[9]
2012–13
[10]

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Lorenz
International[11]
Event 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18
Olympics16th
World Champ.17th19th16th
European Champ.14th14thWD
GP Skate Canada8th
CS Golden Spin4th9th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy4th5th3rd
CS Nepela Memorial5th5th
CS Tallinn Trophy5th
CS Warsaw Cup5th
Bavarian Open3rd
NRW Trophy2nd
Open d'Andorra1st
Volvo Open Cup2nd
National[11]
German Champ.1st1st1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Single skating
International[12]
Event 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15
CS Golden Spin18th
CS Warsaw Cup8th
Challenge Cup10th
NRW Trophy14th
International: Junior[12]
JGP Croatia14th
JGP Czech Rep.6th
JGP France11th
JGP Poland12th
Bavarian Open3rd J8th J
Challenge Cup3rd J
Printemps2nd J
Merano Cup2nd J
NRW Trophy7th J8th J
Warsaw Cup1st J
National[12]
German Champ.13th J6th J4th J3rd J1st J1st J6th
J = Junior level

TV
Main article: Dancing on Ice (German TV series)

Dancing On Ice

Joti Polizoakis became known nationwide while appearing in the first season of Dancing On Ice in 2019 as a professional Dancer. Sarah Lombardi was his partner in the first season and together they were able to win the first season.

One year later, he was partnered with Lina Larissa Strahl for the second season of Dancing On Ice. Once again, Polizoakis made it to the final as a pro and finished up in third place with Lina Larissa Strahl.

Other projects

On May 16th, 2020, Polizoakis performed as a dancer at the Free European Song Contest. Since than he appeared in many different music videos as a dancer.

In the fall of 2020 Polizoakis shot his first short movie as a actor.

Series Celebrity partner Place
4 Sarah Lombardi 1st
5 Lina Larissa Strahl 3rd

References
  1. Polizoakis, Joti (June 7, 2019). "ICH SAGE VON GANZEM ❤️ DANKE!!! Mein offizieller Rücktritt vom Wettkampfsport" [I SAY FROM ALL ❤️ THANK YOU!!! My official resignation from competitive sports.] (Instagram) (in German).
  2. "Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. Bőd, Titanilla (11 January 2017). "Kavita Lorenz and Joti Polizoakis: "We are happy to show another side of us"". Absolute Skating.
  4. "Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. "Eistänzer Lorenz/Polizoakis trennen sich" [Ice danciers Lorenz/Polizoakis split up]. Deutsche Presse-Agentur (in German). rp-online.de. 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016.
  6. "Eistanz-Meister Lorenz/Polizoakis machen weiter" [Ice dance champions Lorenz/Polizoakis continue]. Sport-Informations-Dienst (in German). Die Zeit. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017.
  7. "Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. "Joti POLIZOAKIS: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015.
  9. "Joti POLIZOAKIS: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. "Joti POLIZOAKIS: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. "Competition Results: Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS". International Skating Union.
  12. "Competition Results: Joti POLIZOAKIS". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016.

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