Samohin was born on March 12, 1998, in Tel Aviv, Israel, is Jewish, and speaks two languages. [1][2] His parents – Irina, a former rhythmic gymnast, and Igor Samohin, a former figure skater who had competed internationally in pairs for the Soviet Union and who as a figure skating coach coached Israel's national team for five years in the 1990s – had arrived in Israel from Russia in 1996.[3][4][5][6][7] He has a grandfather who lives in Russia, and a grandmother who lives in Israel.[6] His brother, Stanislav, is 7+1⁄2 years older and competed in figure skating for both Russia and Israel.[8] When he was 3+1⁄2 years old, Samohin moved with his mother to California in the United States, joining the rest of the family, who had moved earlier.[3][5] His hometown is San Diego, California.[9]
Skating career
Samohin began skating in 2003.[1] His club is Ice Holon Israel.[5] His father is his coach, and his mother has worked as his choreographer, as have Olga Volozhinskaia and Nikolai Morozov.[5]
2013–14 season
Samohin made his international debut in September 2013 at an ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in Mexico. He ranked sixth in the short program, and placed third in the free skate and was awarded the bronze medal, outscoring Canada's Nam Nguyen by 1.85 points. He finished fourth at his second JGP assignment, in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In March 2014, he finished 12th at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, having placed 17th in the short program and 10th in the free.
After winning a silver medal at his second JGP event in Logroño, Spain, Samohin qualified for the JGP Final. His second CS medal, silver, came in October at the 2015 Mordovian Ornament, where he scored 1.24 points less than Maxim Kovtun. Samohin finished fifth at the JGP Final. His next event was the 2016 European Figure Skating Championships, where he set a new personal best in the short program and finished 7th overall.
In March, Samohin won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, winning the Single Skating Championship.[10] He ranked 9th in the short program, but moved up to win the title after a personal-best free skate in which he landed three quadruple jumps. Samohin was the first Israeli skater to medal at Junior Worlds, and the first to win an ISU championship.[11][12]
2016–17 season
Samohin started his season off at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International. he placed sixth overall. He then competed at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy where he finished thirteenth.
Making his Grand Prix debut, Samohin placed 5th at the 2016 Skate Canada International and 8th at the 2016 Cup of China. In December, he won the silver medal behind Oleksii Bychenko at the 2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, having ranked first in the short program and 7th in the free skate.
Samohin's luggage containing his skates was mislaid by the airline and did not arrive with him at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, so he tried a borrowed new pair of skates four hours before the short program.[13][14][15] He placed 33rd in the short, and did not advance to the free skate. His skates were found two and a half weeks later.[13] He ranked 16th in the short program, second in the free skate, and sixth overall at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. He said that he was working on additional quads – loop, flip, and Lutz – but that they were not yet consistent for him.[13]
Samohin began the season with a fifth-place finish at the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, before placing tenth at the 2019 Internationaux de France. Samohin withdrew from the 2019 Rostelecom Cup after placing eleventh in the short program, citing injury.[19] He won the silver medal at the Israeli championships, concluding his season.