Anthony Ponomarenko

Quick Facts

• Specialty: Ice dance
• Son of Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, 1992 Olympic ice dance champions and the only ice dance team to win Olympic medals of every color (bronze 1984, silver 1988, gold 1992)
• Has an elder brother named Timothy and a ragdoll cat named Lucy
• Began skating at age 4 because he "loved going fast"
• Initially trained as a singles skater for about four years before switching to ice dance
• Enjoys hockey, cooking and music production

Biographical Information

Anthony Ponomarenko is the son of Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, both legendary ice dance champions. Despite his parents' affiliation to the sport, they initially hoped their sons would lead normal lives away from the ice rink. However, when his mother took him skating at age 4, Anthony's passion was immediate and undeniable. He began his skating career as a singles skater, training for about four years before transitioning to ice dance, where he discovered his true calling.

Anthony's first competitive ice dance partnership was with Sarah Feng, beginning in 2010. Together they won bronze in novice ice dancing at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. After ending that partnership in January 2014, he moved to Novi, Michigan to train under renowned coach Igor Shpilband. It was his mother, Marina Klimova, who recognized the potential for a successful partnership after seeing Christina Carreira at a competition in Lake Placid, New York. The two officially teamed up in April 2014.

Carreira and Ponomarenko's partnership quickly flourished in junior competition. They made their Junior Grand Prix debut in September 2014 and steadily climbed the ranks, with success continuing into senior competition.

After years of training under Shpilband in Novi, Michigan, Carreira and Ponomarenko made a significant coaching change in January 2021, moving to train with two-time Olympic champion Scott Moir at the Ice Academy of Montreal's Ontario campus in London, Ontario. 

Following the 2021-22 season, Anthony required ankle surgery to address ongoing pain from a severe sprain suffered in 2015 that had developed into joint damage. Coming back strong, the pair medaled at several U.S. championship competitions in the following years.

At the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Carreira and Ponomarenko earned bronze medals with a total score of 206.95, securing their spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.