Otar Japaridze (born December 23, 1987) is a Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 ice dancer. With former partner Allison Reed

Allison Reed

Allison Lynn Reed is an American ice dancer. She competed with Otar Japaridze for Georgia from 2009 to 2011.- Career :Reed started skating at the age of three...

, he represented Georgia at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Georgia at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Georgia participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with a team of 8 athletes. On the day of the opening ceremony, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in an accident while practicing during for games.- Alpine skiing:...

.

Career

Japaridze competed in single skating

Single skating

Single skating is a discipline of figure skating, wherein a single person skates alone. Men's singles and ladies' singles are both Olympic disciplines and are both governed by the International Skating Union. The other Olympic figure skating events are pair skating and ice dancing...

 until the age of 15 and then switched to ice dancing

Ice dancing

Ice dancing is a form of figure skating which draws from the world of ballroom dancing. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976....

. From 2002 through 2004, he competed with Marina Sheltsina. They were the 2004 Georgian national champions. From 2005 through 2007, he competed with Ekaterina Zaikina

Ekaterina Zaikina

Ekaterina Zaikina is a Russian ice dancer who has also competed for Georgia.From 2005 through 2007, she competed with Otar Japaridze for Georgia. They were two time competitors at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships.She has competed for Russia with Matvei Matveev.-External links:...

. They competed twice at the World Junior Championships

World Junior Figure Skating Championships

The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...

. In the 2007–2008 season, he competed with Isabella Tobias

Isabella Tobias

Isabella Tobias is an American ice dancer who together with Deividas Stagniūnas is currently representing Lithuania.- Biography :...

.

In May 2009, Japaridze teamed up with American Allison Reed

Allison Reed

Allison Lynn Reed is an American ice dancer. She competed with Otar Japaridze for Georgia from 2009 to 2011.- Career :Reed started skating at the age of three...

; they trained in Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey

Mount Laurel Township is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, and is an edge city "suburb" of Philadelphia. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 40,221...

 with coach and choreographer Evgeni Platov. At the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy

2009 Nebelhorn Trophy

The 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy was the Nebelhorn Trophy figure skating competition of the 2009-2010 figure skating season. It served as the final Olympic qualifier to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.The event...

, they qualified a spot for Georgia for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Reed received a Georgian passport in January 2010, allowing them to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Reed and Japaridze split following the 2010-11 season.

Personal life

Otar Japaridze was born in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. His father, Irakli Japaridze, is the president of the Georgian Figure Skating Federation.

Programs

(with Reed)

Season	Original dance	Free dance
2010–2011	Waltz: Desde el Alma by Juan D'Arienzo Tango: Building the Bullet by Luis Bacalov	The Messiah Will Come Again Oh Pretty Woman by Gary Moore
2009–2010	Georgian Folk Dance: Bukinagari & Iloumi	Crusaders of the Light & Preliator by Yoav Goren

(with Tobias)

Season	Original dance	Free dance
2007–2008	Two Guitars performed by Zoltan and his Gypsy Ensemble Dark Eyes Dark Eyes (song) Dark Eyes is a Russian song.The lyrics of the song were written by a Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843....   performed by Bigrock Balalaikas	Sarabande Sarabande In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...   by Georg Friedrich Händel  Furioso by Aria Aria An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...   Sarabande Suite by Globus Globus Globus is Latin for sphere or globe. It may also refer to:-Business:* Glo-Bus, a global business strategy simulation game* Globus , an Indian clothing retail store* Globus , a Swiss department store chain...

(with Zaikina)

Season	Original dance	Free dance
2006–2007	Tango by Ástor Piazzolla Ástor Piazzolla Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...	Georgian Folk Music
2005–2006	Brasiliera by Sérgio Mendes Sergio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....	Georgian Folk Music

(with Sheltsina)

Season	Original dance	Free dance
2004–2005	Charleston Slow Foxtrot Quickstep	Georgian Folk Music
2003–2004	Summertime by Sam Taylor Hound Dog	Waltz by Evgeni Doga

Competitive highlights

(with Reed)

Event	2009–2010	2010–2011
Winter Olympic Games	22nd
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...	21st	18th
European Championships European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...	19th	17th
Ice Challenge Ice Challenge The Ice Challenge is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Austrian Figure Skating Association and sanctioned by the International Skating Union. It began in 1971 as the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen and was retitled the Ice Challenge in 2008. It is held every autumn in...		2nd
Golden Spin of Zagreb Golden Spin of Zagreb The Golden Spin of Zagreb is an annual senior-level figure skating competition, held yearly in Zagreb, Croatia. Skaters compete in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing, although, in some years, not every discipline was included in the program.The 2001...		4th
Nebelhorn Trophy Nebelhorn Trophy The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain....	12th
Pavel Roman Memorial Pavel Roman Memorial The Pavel Roman Memorial is an international ice dancing competition organized by the Czech Skating Association. Named after Pavel Roman, the competition is held annually in Olomouc, Czech Republic.-Senior dance:- Junior dance :...	9th

(with Tobias)

Event	2007–2008
World Junior Championships World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...	14th
Junior Grand Prix, Great Britain	6th
Junior Grand Prix, Germany	7th

(with Zaikina)

Event	2005–2006	2006–2007
World Junior Championships World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...	21st	16th
Junior Grand Prix, Netherlands		7th
Junior Grand Prix, Romania		4th

(with Sheltsina)

Event	2002–2003	2003–2004
World Junior Championships World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...		21st
Georgian Championships	2nd	1st
Junior Grand Prix, Croatia		12th
Junior Grand Prix, Slovenia		14th