Early years Akateva began learning to skate in 2011 as a four-year-old at Sambo 70. She transitioned into the Khrustalnyi rink under her current coach
Eteri Tutberidze's group within the Sambo 70 training complex in 2017. In 2020, she won the silver medal at the
2020 Russian Junior Championships, again behind Valieva, and won her first junior national title the following year at the
2021 edition. During the domestic Cup of Russia series held during the
2020–21 season, Akateva was lauded as the first female skater to land a triple Axel and two quadruple jumps in a program during her free skate.
2021–22 season: International junior debut Akateva made her junior international debut at the
2021 JGP Russia held in
Krasnoyarsk in mid-September. At the event, she surpassed teammate Kamila Valieva's junior world record scores for the free program and total combined score and came close to matching teammate
Alena Kostornaia's junior world record for the short program to take the title by a comfortable 27 point margin ahead of silver medalist
Anastasia Zinina. Across her two programs, Akateva landed two triple Axels, one in combination, and three quad jumps, the toe loop, and the Salchow, two in combination. She is the first woman to land three quads and a triple Axel in one program. At her second JGP assignment, the
2021 JGP Poland, Akateva skated two clean programs, again executing two triple Axels and three quad jumps over the course of the competition to claim the title ahead of compatriot
Elizaveta Kulikova and South Korean competitor
Shin Ji-a. Due to her results over her two events, Akateva qualified to the
2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final as the top-seeded competitor in the junior women's event. Akateva's results also automatically qualified her a spot in the senior-level
2022 Russian Championships, but she was barred from competing there by the
Russian Figure Skating Federation as her birthday fell after the age-eligibility cutoff date. Sofia was scheduled to compete at the
2026 Russian National Championships in December 2025. However, she withdrew due to injury. == Programs ==