Nikitin first appeared internationally at the Junior World Championships 2012 in Chiesa in Valmalenco . There he achieved seventh place. He first started in the European Cup in December 2012 in Ruka . In March 2013 he was third in the European Cup in Chiesa in Valmalenco and won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships. In the 2013/14 season he came under the top ten three times in the European Cup, including 2nd place in Chiesa in Valmalenco, and thus reached eighth place in the Aerials discipline. He finished fifth at the 2014 Junior World Championships. After finishing sixth at the European Cup in Ruka at the beginning of the 2014/15 season , he made his World Cup debut in Moscow in February 2015 , finishing 11th. In March 2015 he won the European Cup in Chiesa in Valmalenco and came third in Airolo . At the Junior World Championships 2015 in Chiesa in Valmalenco, he came fourth. He finished the season in third place in the Aerials discipline.
In the 2015/16 season , Nikitin achieved three top 10 placements in four World Cup appearances and thus took 18th place in the Aerials World Cup. After finishing second at the European Cup in Ruka at the beginning of the 2016/17 season and fourth at the World Cup in Lake Placid , he achieved his first World Cup podium finish in Deer Valley with third place. This was followed by two top 10 placements and ninth place in the Aerials World Cup at the end of the season. At the 2017 World Championships in the Sierra Nevada , he finished ninth. In March 2017 he became the Russian aerials champion. The following year he finished 18th at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang . In the 2018/19 season he achieved two third places and in Moscow with his first World Cup victory , 16th place in the overall World Cup and fifth place in the Aerials World Cup. At the season highlight, the 2019 World Championships in Park City , Nikitin won the bronze medal in the team competition, which was held for the first time. At the Winter Universiade 2019 in Krasnoyarsk , he jumped to 11th place.
Russia
