photo: Nina Salmenkaita

When Falls Church native Matthew Sperry—he highly recommends Lazy Mike’s for the ice cream—found himself without an ice dance partner following the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, he turned to a familiar face. Finnish ice dancer Daniela Ivanitskiy, who was also training at the same rink in Novi, Michigan.

“After Kristina [Bland] stopped, I tried out with Daniela,” said Sperry. “We had actually tried out originally about four years ago, when I first came to Michigan, before I skated with Kristina, but we found different partners. When we both happened to be solo at the same time, we thought, let’s try out again, and it clicked. Having trained together with the same coaches, we had the same technique, which really helped to facilitate the transition and make it a lot easier process.” 

Sperry had previously competed in the junior division, but made the transition to senior level, finishing third at the Finnish Championships last year and this year. Sperry’s only trips to Europe prior to teaming with Ivanitskiy were two times to Poland to compete in ISU Junior Grand Prix events with Bland. Now, he has not only made several trips to Finland, but also established an impressive international resume with competitions in Kazakhstan, Hungary, Japan, Bulgaria and more.

“We’ve done a lot of travel and competed in a lot of different environments,” Sperry said. “I feel that’s boosted my confidence, knowing that I can compete at that international level. I’ve definitely seen a lot of growth in my skating ability and I’ve rise to the occasion.”

Next week, Ivanitskiy and Sperry will compete at the 2026 European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity to compete in that elite environment,” Sperry said. “It is a championship event, which is amazing to be going to. Definitely, if you’d asked me two years ago if I’d be going to an ISU championship event this soon, I would not have thought so. It is going to be very cool to be on the same ice as the teams that are going to be on the podium at Europeans.

“We’re hoping to skate the programs the way that we do in practice and soak it all in,” he added. 

One of Sperry’s requirements when he left Falls Church for Michigan is that in addition to training and competing he wanted to pursue a college education. He is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and expects to graduate in 2027. 

He gets home to Falls Church about three times a year. Each time, he enjoys exploring. “It’s always fun to see what new things have popped up,” said Sperry. “I like to try new restaurants.”

The long-term plan is to continue competing for the next Olympic cycle and earn a spot on the Finnish team for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games in France. His big goal for the next season is to compete in the Winter World University Games, which will be held in China. 

“That is a very fun and prestigious competition,” Sperry said. “University is such an important part of my life, it would be a cool opportunity to combine both sides of my life—the skating and the school and compete representing both the university and Finland.”