US Figure Skating Champions Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov Can't Go to Olympics, Reason Why Revealed

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov just won the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships, and were poised to head to the 2026 Winter Olympics next!

However, the 26-year-old Finnish-Russian skater and her 28-year-old American husband and skating partner are unable to go due to a citizenship issue.

Keep reading to find out more…

Per the Associated Press, the couple are ineligible for the Olympics as she is not an American citizen.

Alisa was born in Finland and has been waiting the three-year period to gain her citizenship and they were trying to speed up the process so she could compete, but did not succeed.

“Yes, we didn’t make it, but we don’t see that as a failure,” Misha shared at a send-off in Boston. “Hey, this was an opportunity. It may not have worked out. But so many great things have come from it that we are very happy moving forward.”

The two pairs going to the Olympics to represent the US are Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, who finished second at nationals, and Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, who placed fourth.

Instead of the Olympics, Alisa and Misha will head to Beijing for the Four Continents competition, taking place next week, which will consist mostly of non-Olympians. They will then prepare for the world championships in Prague.

“Whenever we first started as a team, we didn’t know whether or not the Olympics is even a possibility. We knew it was a long shot because of the paperwork,” Misha shared. “The more we progressed with our skating career, the closer we got to that opportunity.”

“There were so many people who messaged us and reached out to us wanting to support us,” he added. “So, for us, we’re very grateful.”

If you missed it, another US figure skater is heading to the Olympics after losing his parents to the tragic plane crash the year before.