Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Gordeeva is a Soviet and Russian pair figure skating star. Together with became a two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion and three-time European champion. In 1988 she was recognized as the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, and in 1994 - the Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
Childhood and youth
Ekaterina was born in Moscow on May 28, 1971. Father Alexander Alekseevich Gordeev was a member of the troupe at that time. Mother Elena Lvovna worked in the famous Telegraph Agency (the future ITAR-TASS).
4 years after her birth, Katya became an older sister - another girl appeared in the family. It is worth noting that the children in this family never needed anything. Parents were considered wealthy at that time and invested a lot in their daughters.
The future figure skater spent her early years on the ice, at the age of three her parents assigned her to the CSKA children's sports school, to the group. From that moment on, Catherine's life was subject to a strict schedule: skating, stretching and choreographic sketches were replaced by school lessons and homework.
It is not surprising that Gordeeva also met her partner at the rink. Young Sergey Grinkov trained in the same place - in the Youth Sports School of CSKA. The first meeting took place in 1981, and in 1982 Gordeeva and Grinkov became an official sports couple, performing under the leadership of Vladimir Zakharov. It is believed that it was he who determined the success of the skaters by combining them into one in time.
Despite their young age and little experience in pair skating, Ekaterina and Sergey quickly learned to interact with each other. Katya was tiny - her height was 152 cm, and her weight was 40 kg, against the background of her, Sergey looked like a real Russian hero.
At the 1983 junior world championship, they took sixth place, and in 1984 they returned from there with gold. Their training at that time was supervised by the coach Nadezhda Shevalovskaya, the silver medalist of the USSR championship in 1974 and 1976. The choreographer Marina Zueva was responsible for the content of the programs and the dance form of the skaters.
Figure skating
In the fall of 1985, the couple moved into a group with Stanislav Zhuk. The sports biography of Ekaterina Gordeeva was replenished with several more successful performances. The couple took second place at the USSR Championship, received a silver medal at the European Championship and became champions at the World Championship in Geneva.
Fifteen-year-old Katya turned out to be the youngest world champion. And the Gordeev-Grinkov couple had an unprecedented number of fans. Photos with their image flaunted on the covers of all printed publications of the Union.
Just at this time, a scandal erupted over a complaint against the Beetle. Figure skater Anna Kondrashova accused the famous coach of "immoral behavior", harassment against herself and against her trainee. Her accusatory letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU was signed by the choreographer Marina Zueva and several of Stanislav Alekseevich's wards, among whom were Sergey and Ekaterina.
It is said that pressure was put on the couple from the "authorities", but, nevertheless, "the deed was done." And the couple again had to change the leader. This time it was Stanislav Leonovich.
The skaters had to miss the 1987 season - during training, Katya fell from a height of three meters, hitting her head hard on the ice. Doctors diagnosed a serious concussion and banned sports until full recovery. However, this did not stop the professional growth of athletes. Already in 1988, they demonstrated the highest aerobatics at the Olympics in Calgary.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov at the Calgary OlympicsA perfectly executed free program and a short program full of complex technical elements became an exemplary performance of the partners. Until now, these numbers are shown to novice skaters as the highest achievements of Soviet sports.
The next season was marked by victories at the world championships in 1989 and 1990. However, the programs in both cases were performed with shortcomings - the advantage over the rivals turned out to be small. Ekaterina and Sergey decided to leave the big sport and began to participate in the tour of the ice theater.
In fact, it was a forced measure. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many skaters were left without work, and therefore without a livelihood. To avoid this, the couple moved to the United States, where they began skating in an ice show.
Personal life
The fact that Katya and Sergey are connected not only by skates has been known for a long time. But the couple came to the decision to enter into an official marriage only in 1991. On April 20, the young people got married, and on 28 they got married. On September 11 of the following year, their daughter Dasha was born. Close and dear families claim that it was an ideal relationship, pure and strong love.
Unfortunately, family happiness did not last long. Being in November 1995 in Lake Placid, Sergei felt unwell. Doctors were called to the stadium and diagnosed with acute heart failure. The young skater was quickly transported to the hospital, but they did not have time to help. Grinkov died suddenly. Later, Catherine learned that the cause of her husband's death was a massive heart attack.
Later in an interview, Ekaterina said that when your loved one dies in your arms, you realize how little all these victories, cups and medals mean.
After the funeral of her husband, the figure skater did not have a question about figure skating. How to live on became the main question of her life. She was deeply distressed by the loss of her husband. Only she knows how she had to convince herself that she needed to pull herself together and move on.
Ekaterina managed to get herself together, and after a few months the figure skater again took to the ice - however, already alone. When she appeared on the ice arena, the hall stood up. And after the rental of the program, she burst into tears. And her three-year-old daughter Dasha came out on the ice to calm her down.
After the death of Gordeeva's wife, she wrote a memoir book "My Sergey". The book immediately became a bestseller. Katya later admitted that she regretted revealing so many personal secrets. Although she does not hide the fact that at that time writing a book became an outlet for her. In 1998, Gordeeva starred in a documentary about Grinkov. They say that she still wears on a gold chain the wedding ring he gave her - her main talisman.
In 1998-1999, Ekaterina Gordeeva participated in popular ice shows. Her partners were John Zimmerman, Artur Dmitriev. In 2000, in the StarsonIce show, the skater went on the ice with, and in 2001 it became known that the couple got married.
They did not arrange a magnificent celebration, they simply signed between tours at the Russian embassy in San Francisco. They tried not to advertise their relationship, as many fans of the Gordeeva-Grinkov couple were jealous of her new life. The new alliance seemed to some to be a betrayal.
In the summer of 2002, their daughter Lisa was born in a private clinic in Los Angeles. Ilya is 6 years younger than Katya.
Rumors about the romance of the famous figure skater Gordeeva with the actor appeared on the eve of the final release of the television show "Ice Age". Journalists vied with each other citing eyewitnesses claiming that the couple meets regularly in one of the largest hotels in the capital. And the paparazzi even provided a few pictures of Katya and Egor in the cozy atmosphere of a romantic dinner.
By the end of the passion around the scandalous couple, serious ones flared up - some publications managed to notify readers that Ksenia divorced her husband because of his infidelity. But the divorce never took place.
The legendary figure skater today is a loving wife and caring mother. And Ksenia and Yegor are raising their daughter Evdokia together.
Ekaterina Gordeeva now
Ekaterina Gordeeva is still very good and graceful and few people are allowed into her private life, although she is an active user "Instagram". It is known that she lives with her family in America, and occasionally visits Russia. As the skater herself says, they come to celebrate the New Year in Russia and spend it in the country.
In America, Gordeeva and Kulik opened their own figure skating school. In 2016, they began work on the creation of the Romeo and Juliet ice show. In 2017, it was presented to the public.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Ilya Averbukh in the Good Morning program The eldest daughter Dasha abandoned figure skating, she preferred to study. In June 2018, a photo appeared on Gordeeva's Instagram, in the caption to which she congratulates her daughter on graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). But the younger Lisa trains hard. At one time she skated in Moscow with Inna Goncharenko, today her father, Ilya Kulik, is coaching her.
In April 2018, Ekaterina took part in the Ice Age. Children”, where she was invited as a judge.
Awards
- 1986 - gold medal at the World Championships in Geneva
- 1987 - gold medal at the World Championships in Cincinnati
- 1988 - gold medal at the European Championship in Prague
- 1988 - gold medal at the Calgary Olympics
- 1989 - gold medal at the World Championships in Paris
- 1990 - gold medal at the World Championships in Halifax
- 1990 - gold medal at the European Championship in Leningrad
- 1994 - gold medal at the European Championships in Copenhagen
- 1994 - gold medal at the Russian Championship
- 1994 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer
Ekaterina Gordeeva: figure skater, personal life - this topic will be fully covered in our article. There is probably no such person who would not have heard of her. This small, frail-looking woman is an acclaimed figure skater who won two gold medals at the Olympic Games and became a world champion four times.
Ekaterina Gordeeva: photo
Katya Gordeeva was born in 1971 and became a figure skater quite early. At the age of three, she was sent to a sports school. It was not her personal choice, her parents decided everything for her. And, as subsequent events in life showed, quite successfully.
Ekaterina Gordeeva grew up in a financially prosperous family. The figure skater's father was a dancer in the troupe of the famous artist Igor Moiseev. And my mother worked in a telegraph agency (TASS). The personal life of the parents was successful, they were happy with each other. Four years after the birth of their eldest daughter, they had another girl. Parents did not spare money for the development of children.
Family of Ekaterina Gordeeva
When Katya went to school, she had a difficult time. I had to combine school studies with training on the ice. It was not easy, she did not have free time. But the girl did it all. She studied well at school and made progress in sports.
Ekaterina Gordeeva was a ten-year-old girl when fatal changes took place in her sports biography. She was given a personal partner on the ice, Sergei Grinkov. From that moment, the athletes began a new life. They decided to pair them up, because their single jumps were rather weak.
Ekaterina Gordeeva was much smaller than Sergei. This is very good for a pair skater. It was easy for the partner to perform complex elements with her. The couple's personal trainer was V. Zakharov. Since 1982, their joint sports life began.
Magnificent successes of the couple
The creation of a pair of Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov turned out to be very successful for Soviet sports. Their joint biography began with success. In 1984, the couple received their first gold medal at the Junior World Championships.
Their personal trainer then was N. Shevalovskaya. But this was not the last victory in their lives. Despite the fact that at that time they were still just children, the coach began to prepare them for a serious adult world championship and for the Olympic Games.
But the couple had failures. In 1985, at a tournament in Canada, the coach decided to insert a very difficult jump into the program. Katya failed, unfortunately, and fell. In 1986, the couple moved to a new coach - S. Zhuk. This year, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov received a silver medal at the European Championship. And a little later at the World Championships - gold. The figure skater went down in history as the youngest world champion. She was only fifteen!
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov won the European Championship
Then the personal failure of the couple followed again. During the European Championships in Sarajevo, the partner's foot came off. Seeing this, the judge stopped the music. But the couple continued to ride. Their performance was not judged as they were disqualified. But this was not the last trouble in their lives.
Despite the failures, the whole world recognized the athletes as their favorites! Everywhere in the Soviet Union one could see photos with the faces of Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. The people were proud of their athletic talents.
At that time, a scandal erupted. One figure skater wrote a complaint to higher authorities against coach Stanislav Zhuk. The famous coach was accused of sexual harassment. It is not known if this was true, but the couple was forced to sign this letter. For this reason, they again had to switch to another personal trainer. Now it has become S. Leonovich.
In 1987, another tragedy occurred in the couple's life. In training, Sergei raised his partner high and inadvertently stumbled. Katya flew from a height of almost three meters and hit her head on the ice. Having received a concussion, she could not play sports for a year. But this accident also played a positive role. Former children began to treat each other differently. Suddenly, having matured, they felt mutual sympathy. Sergei began to take care of his partner, treat her more carefully.
Despite all the troubles, the couple won a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics. Until now, figure skating coaches demonstrate their performance at the Olympics as the highest professional level. It used the most complex elements, complex jumps and turns. Everything was done flawlessly.
In subsequent years, there were again victories at the world championships. But the gap from rivals was already small. Then the skaters decided to leave big sport. Since 1990, the couple has performed in Tatyana Tarasova's ice show.
Changes in personal life
Many guessed that Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov were connected not only by ice. The figure skater noticeably “bloomed” in the arms of her partner. It was clear from their looks that a serious feeling flared up between them. All fans were waiting for the upcoming changes in their personal lives. And finally, in 1991, the couple officially registered their marriage. Then they got married in an Orthodox church.
Today, Sergey's mother, looking at the photo with her son and Katya, says that this was real, strong love. You rarely see something like this these days. There was no falsehood, no quarrels, no benefits ... They just loved each other, trying to give their whole lives to their loved one. A year later, the couple had a daughter, who was named Dasha.
In 1992, the family decided to move to live in the United States.
The following year, the couple was allowed to return to professional sports. And they again received a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1994. In addition, they had victories in the championships of Russia and Europe.
It would seem that life has turned out great! Good luck in your sports career and a happy life with your loved one, a beautiful daughter, very similar to her dad. Katya enjoyed family happiness, reveled in success, fame and love, dissolving in the eyes of her beloved husband. Everything was going as well as possible. But she did not yet know that a terrible test was still waiting for her very soon.
A short family happiness ended quite suddenly. Nobody could have predicted this. Sergei has always been a healthy person. Moreover, athletes often undergo medical examinations. But apparently it was so pleasing to God's Providence ...
Loss of a loved one
No one knows what turn death awaits him. It seems to everyone that they will live on Earth forever, but one day the end comes, which no one expected and did not prepare for it.
1995 turned out to be fatal. Nothing foreshadowed trouble. The sports couple was preparing for the next performance. During a regular training session in Lake Plessid, Sergei suddenly fell onto the ice. When Katya ran up to him, he whispered that he felt very ill. A team of doctors was urgently called, which recorded acute heart failure. But no one wanted to believe that this was the end. After all, Serezha is so young!
When he was taken almost unconscious to the hospital, Sergei Grinkov died. The doctors were unable to help him. As it turned out, he had a massive heart attack. Maybe numerous trainings, flights and experiences played a role. Or maybe heredity (his father died of a heart attack). In a few days he would have turned 29 years old. But over the years he has made a lot of progress. Sergey was the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR and Russia. He had numerous awards, including "For personal courage". He will forever remain in the hearts of his fans.
The loss for Katya was irreparable. No one in the world could replace this man for her. The little daughter, who is only 3 years old, was left without a father. But Ekaterina Gordeeva is a person of a very strong spirit and will. She survived this terrible ordeal. And after three months, the skater was able to return to the ice. Her passion for what she loves helped her escape from depression.
She described her personal life with Sergey in the book “My Sergey”, dedicated to her beloved husband. A documentary film about the touching love of figure skaters was shot on it. Today there is probably no person who has not heard about this story.
The next book, which was called "Letter to Daria", came out two years later.
Life after tragedy
In 1998, Katya won the World Championship. Then she began to take part in ice shows. Her teammates on the ice were: A. Sikharulidze, D. Pelletier, A. Dmitriev, D. Zimmerman. Her participation in the show "Stars on Ice" was fateful. There she met and began performing with partner Ilya Kulik.
Fate gave Katya a second chance at happiness. In 2001, she married Ilya Kulik. They had a daughter, Elizabeth. The family lives happily in Los Angeles. Quiet family life allowed Catherine to forget at least a little about the terrible tragedy. A caring husband, two beautiful daughters, doing what she loves, all this helped to avoid depression and difficult memories.
Only sometimes sadness peeps through Katya's eyes. Her single performance to the music of "Love Story" makes you understand Katya's pain and inconsolable grief for her beloved who died early.
Ekaterina won the show "Ice Age" in tandem with E. Beroev. But this participation caused rumors about the romance of Yegor and Katya. The paparazzi immediately picked them up, and many articles appeared on this topic. Even photos were published depicting Yegor and Ekaterina together in a cozy intimate atmosphere in a restaurant.
Ekaterina won the show "Ice Age" in tandem with E. Beroev
Is it true? Nobody really knows. According to some sources, this is a lie. Egor is an excellent family man, together with his wife Ksenia Alferova, he is raising his daughter Evdokia. By the way, the artist Ksenia Alferova performed in the same Ice Age paired with Povilas Vaneges. Ksenia's last performance on this show was with her husband, Yegor.
According to other sources, this is true. Irina Alferova (Xenia's mother) says that Yegor's passion for the beautiful Katya made his wife cry a lot. She prayed in churches for the preservation of the family. But does it really matter now? Both families now live in peace and harmony and raise their children. Divorce on both sides never happened. So the excitement in the press was in vain.
The daughter of Sergey and Ekaterina Dasha followed in the footsteps of her parents. She is fond of figure skating. Will she be a champion like mom and dad? Catherine makes every effort and means to this end.
Ekaterina Gordeeva with her daughter Lisa
Ekaterina Gordeeva was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in her youth. Then she received the Honored Master of Sports of Russia. She has many awards, including: the Order "For Personal Courage" (1994), the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1998). Now she enjoys quiet family happiness and raising her daughters.
It remains to wish the famous figure skater health, family well-being, joy in raising her daughters.
Private bussiness
Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gordeeva (45 years old) was born in Moscow. Father Alexander Alekseevich danced in the Moiseev ensemble, mother Elena Lvovna worked at TASS. At the age of three, Katerina entered the Youth Sports School of CSKA.
At first it was about single skating. However, the coaches saw that the girl's potential was clearly insufficient for breakthroughs in this sport, and in 1981 she was introduced to Sergei Grinkov, who was four years older than her. They even went to the same Moscow school No. 704, but because of the age difference they did not know each other. Grinkov and Gordeeva were advised to switch to a new form for them - pair skating: the height of the partner's jumps also did not suit the coaches. The calculation was justified: at the World Junior Championships in December 1983, the couple became the sixth, and in 1984 - the first.
Since 1986, life in adult sports begins. Under the guidance of coach Stanislav Zhuk, the couple took silver at the USSR and European championships in January, and on March 19 - gold at the World Championships in Geneva. Ekaterina became the youngest world champion. Success was repeated at the World Championships in Cincinnati.
In November 1987, Catherine received a concussion in training; the USSR championship had to be missed, but the athlete recovered by the European championship. True, this did not save the situation: Sergei's hairpin came off, and the American judge stopped the music with a whistle. The couple completed the program in silence, but no marks were given. The athletes refused the offer to re-roll the program at the end of the competition and were withdrawn from the competition (the first place was still taken by a couple from the USSR Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov).
The "revenge" was the 1988 Olympics, where the couple took first place. The next achievements were victories at the world championships in 1989 and 1990, and for the short and free programs in 1989, Gordeeva and Grinkov received 9 first places. The performance of 1990 was not so triumphant: in the short program, the score was reduced by 0.2 points for “non-standard” spirals, and in the free program, Ekaterina stumbled on a triple sheepskin coat and did not complete the combination of jumps. As a result, it was possible to beat the rivals with an advantage of only one referee vote.
Despite outstanding success, the couple decided to leave amateur sports for Tatyana Tarasova in the All Stars Theater on Ice. In 1991-92, Gordeeva and Grinkov successfully competed at professional world championships. Two more important events took place in the same years: the wedding of Ekaterina and Sergey in 1991 and the birth of their daughter Daria in 1992.
In 1993, the International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee allowed professional figure skaters to take part in the Olympic Games. The new rules allowed the couple to win the Russian and European championships and the Olympic Games in Lillehammer.
Then they returned to professional sports, but the career in it turned out to be short. On November 20, 1995, while training in Lake Placid, Sergei Grinkov suffered a massive heart attack and died in the hospital.
In February 1996, Ekaterina returned to the ice as a single figure skater. She published the book "My Sergey" in memory of her husband, then the second book "Letter to Daria" was published. In 1998, Gordeeva placed second in the professional world championship; in 2000, she moved away from both amateur and professional sports.
What is famous
The famous Soviet and Russian figure skater, two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion, three-time European champion and three-time world champion among professionals. Gordeeva is the youngest world champion whose record will no longer be broken: the rules have changed, and now such young athletes are not allowed to compete.
What you need to know
After leaving the big sport, Gordeeva continued to perform in ice shows. Gradually, paired elements began to “return” in them, which she danced with Arthur Dmitriev, Anton Sikharulidze, David Pelletier and John Zimmerman. In the 1998-99 season, she performed in the Stars on Ice in a quartet with Ilya Kulik, Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov. The following season, Kulik became her permanent partner, and in 2001, her husband; in 2002, the couple had a daughter, Elizabeth. The couple lives in the USA, but often visits Russia; Gordeeva and Kulik opened their own figure skating school.
In 2008, she participated in the First Channel show "Ice Age-2" in a pair with actor Yegor Beroev, with whom she won. Participated in tours of the cities of Russia and neighboring countries, organized by Ilya Averbukh.
Direct speech
On the beginning of a relationship with Grinkov (after a concussion):“When I was allowed to start training, I immediately noticed that he was holding me tighter, more secure, as if he didn’t want me to touch the ice at all. As if matured during the time that we did not skate. And I felt more confident. During these two weeks, something happened, and even I, who was only interested in skating and training, suddenly realized that Sergey began to treat me differently. We used to be two skaters. Now they have turned into a couple.
On family relationships:“I lived in a world where I could always do what I really liked: skating. Nearby was always a loved one and my wonderful parents. I never heard unkind words and did not know what evil is, because the most important person in my life loved me. It never occurred to me to take a critical look at the world around me and look for flaws in it. My attention was occupied only by Sergei. He protected me, loved, cared for and consoled me when I was ill. It was only after his death that I began to understand life.”
About the grading system on Ice Age:“6.0 should be set in exceptional cases. And it turns out somehow strange: the judges almost apologize to the participants for not giving them a six. And if one of the judges gave 5.7, then this is generally a guard. It should not be".
About the affair with Kulik, which remained a secret for a long time:“Ilya didn’t want the press to gossip about us. Yes, I am too. All relatives and friends accepted our relationship with understanding, and reporters could ruin everything. In America, they like to spin different stories.
Egor Beroev about the invitation to the "Ice Age":“For me, participation in the project is a pure adventure. But when they called me the name of Katya Gordeeva, I could not refuse Averbukh, dutifully put on my skates and went out on the ice. .
5 facts about Ekaterina Gordeeva
- The duet of Gordeeva and Grinkov performed the quadruple twist for the first time - an element that is still considered one of the most difficult
- Based on the book "My Sergey", a documentary film was made by CBS
- The most famous program of Catherine and Sergei was performed to the music of Mendelssohn
- Gordeeva was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1988) and "For Personal Courage" (1994)
- For foreign fans, the couple Gordeeva - Grinkov received the nickname GG.
Materials about Ekaterina Gordeeva
Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gordeeva. She was born on May 28, 1971 in Moscow. Soviet and Russian figure skater who competed in pair skating with Sergei Grinkov. Two-time Olympic champion (1988 and 1994), four-time world champion, three-time European champion and three-time world champion among professionals. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1988). Honored Master of Sports of Russia (1994).
Father - Alexander Alekseevich Gordeev, a dancer in the Moiseev ensemble.
Mother - Elena Lvovna, journalist, TASS employee.
Has a younger sister Maria (age difference 4 years).
The family lived in Moscow on Kalininsky Prospekt.
From the age of 3 she began to engage in figure skating at the Youth Sports School of CSKA. She started as a single skater, but her jumps were not strong enough and in 1982 she was paired with Sergei Grinkov. She was then eleven, and he was fifteen. Vladimir Zakharov became their coach.
Since the fall of 1983, the coach Nadezhda Shevalovskaya (Gorshkova) and the choreographer Marina Zueva began to work with the couple. At the World Junior Championships in December 1983, the couple became the sixth, and in 1984 - the first.
At the 1985 Skate Canada tournament, Shevalovskaya included a triple salchow record for couples of that time, but Gordeeva fell.
Since the fall of 1985, Stanislav Zhuk began to train the couple. Under the guidance of this coach, Gordeeva and Grinkov won silver at the USSR and European Championships in January 1986, and on March 19, gold at the World Championships in Geneva. Ekaterina became the youngest world champion in history.
In 1986, a campaign was launched to discredit Stanislav Zhuk. The Central Committee of the CPSU received a letter signed by Anna Kondrashova and Marina Zueva, as well as a number of figure skaters (including Gordeeva and Grinkov), in which the famous coach was accused of "immoral behavior." The signatories could not provide any evidence, but Zhuk, in the end, was nevertheless removed from coaching.
And in July 1986, the couple went to train with Stanislav Leonovich, and Marina Zueva again became the choreographer. At the European Championships in Sarajevo, Sergey's hairpin came off, and judge B. Wright (USA) blew the whistle and stopped the music. The couple completed the program without music, but no scores were given. The athletes refused the offer to re-roll the program at the end of the competition, having received a disqualification. At the World Championships in Cincinnati, they were again first. At both championships, they performed a four-turn twist.
In November 1987, Catherine was injured in training - a concussion. The couple missed the USSR championship.
Then they won the European Championship, and on February 16, 1988 they became Olympic champions: both programs were brought to perfection. The free skate (to the music of Mendelssohn, Chopin and Mozart) is considered a masterpiece in the history of figure skating. All elements were perfectly executed, including the combination of double axel - double toe loop, both throws and three lifts, all on one hand. In one of them, for the first time in history, a rotation was performed in the usual direction, followed by the descent of the partner, again lifting and rotation in the other direction. The amazed judges gave 14 marks 5.9 and 4 - 5.8.
At the 1989 World Championships, for absolutely clean short and free programs, the couple received all 9 first places from the judges.
However, at the 1990 World Cup, they won with difficulty. In the short program, a number of judges considered the spirals to be inappropriate and reduced the score by 0.2 points. In the free program, Ekaterina stumbled on a triple sheepskin coat, and in the combination of jumps double axel - loop - oiler - double salchow she performed only a single axel - loop (Sergey did all the jumps). As a result, it was possible to beat the rivals with an advantage of only one referee vote.
In 1990, the skaters left amateur sports for Tatyana Tarasova in the All Stars Theater on Ice.
In 1991-92, the couple successfully performed at the professional world championships.
In 1993, the International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee allowed professional skaters to return to amateur status and take part in the Olympic Games.
Taking advantage of the new rules, Gordeeva and Grinkov switched to amateur sports and won the championship of Russia, Europe and the Olympic Games in Lillehammer.
Gordeeva and Grinkov - "Moonlight Sonata" (Olympics-1994)
Then they returned to professional sports. On November 20, 1995, while training in Lake Placid, Sergei Grinkov suffered a massive heart attack and died in the hospital.
In February 1996, Catherine returned to the ice. In the same year, she published the book "My Sergei", prepared with the help of a professional author, in memory of Sergei Grinkov. In 1998, the CBS channel made a documentary film on it, then the second book, Letter to Daria, was published.
In 1998, Gordeeva took second place in the professional world championship.
In 2000, she finished participating in competitions, but continued to perform in ice shows. In many shows, she performed paired elements with partners such as Arthur Dmitriev, Anton Sikharulidze, David Pelletier and John Zimmerman.
In the 1998-99 season she performed in Stars on Ice in a quartet with Ilya Kulik, Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov, and in 1999-2000 she was paired with Ilya Kulik.
In 2008, she participated in the First Channel show "Ice Age-2" in a pair with actor Yegor Beroev, with whom she won.
She also took part in a tour of the cities of Russia and neighboring countries, organized by Ilya Averbukh.
Growth of Ekaterina Gordeeva: 157 centimeters.
Personal life of Ekaterina Gordeeva:
The first husband is a performance partner. They got married on April 20, 1991, and on April 28 they got married. September 11, 1992 in Morristown (New Jersey, USA) their daughter Daria was born.
It happened at one of the usual training sessions in preparation for a tour of 50 US cities in Lake Placid, Sergey suddenly became ill. Katya thought it was because of the back pain that had been bothering him lately. He was taken to the hospital, and while Katya was being questioned about whether Sergei had previously had heart problems, a female doctor approached Katya and said that they had done everything possible, but could not save Sergei. The artery that carried blood to the heart was blocked. It turns out that Sergey's genes were predisposed to heart disease.
Ekaterina Gordeeva. Love for life
The second husband is Ilya Kulik, Russian figure skater, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, Olympic champion. They got married on June 10, 2001. On June 15, 2002, their daughter Elizabeth was born in Los Angeles.
In 2008, there were rumors about Catherine's romance with the actor during their participation in the Ice Age-2 show. The couple not only behaved too frivolously on the ice, but they were regularly seen together in hotels and restaurants. These relations developed against the backdrop of rumors about discord in the families of Ekaterina and Yegor.
At the same time, versions were put forward that it was a PR novel in order to draw public attention to the Ice Age project.
Achievements of Ekaterina Gordeeva (paired with Sergei Grinkov):
Olympic Games: gold (1988, 1994);
World Championships: gold (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990), silver (1988);
European Championships: gold (1988, 1990, 1994), silver (1986);
Championships of Russia:
USSR championships: gold (1987), silver (1986);
Skate Canada International: gold (1986, 1994), silver (1987);
NHK Trophy: gold (1990);
Professional World Championships: gold (1991, 1992, 1994), silver (1990).
Has state awards: Order of Friendship of Peoples (1988); Order "For Personal Courage" (1994) - for high sports achievements at the XVII Winter Olympic Games in 1994.
The life of Sergei Grinkov is a love story. Unfortunately, this is a sad love story, which the heroes of this story themselves told us in the first person. Straight from TV screens. The story is beautiful, bright, passionate, but painfully short.
Born on February 4, 1967, exactly 47 years ago, Sergei Grinkov, without knowing it himself, until 1981 went through life next to a girl four years younger, who lived in one of the neighboring houses. They went to the same comprehensive school - number 704, but they didn’t know each other - the age difference was too great for this. They went to the same figure skating section, but also did not intersect. From the age of five, Sergey, like Katya from the age of three, tried to build a solo career.
By 1981, it became clear that the guys for single skating did not jump high enough. They were introduced to each other - and this is how their first acquaintance happened, which became fateful for both, as well as for the whole world. She was only 10 years old, he was 14, and then they did not yet know that fate would bind them forever, not only in sports terms.
At that time, they only had sports in their heads. For six months, the guys ran in a new program, with which they began performing in 1982.
Their first coaches were Vladimir Zakharov and Nadezhda Shevalovskaya. Rapidly progressing, in just three years, in 1985, they became world junior champions, and at the championship of the Soviet Union, in which the best skaters of the world then competed, young debutants took a high sixth place for themselves.
Noticing the potential of young athletes, they were invited by the most eminent coach at that time, Stanislav Zhuk. It was under his leadership in 1986 that the couple won the title of world champion for the first time. At that time, young Katya was only 14 years old - then a record age in the history of the world championships in figure skating. In the same year, they became second at the European Championship and won silver at the USSR Championship.
Just a year later, in 1987, having switched to a new coach, Stanislav Leonovich, the couple won all the major competitions in which they took part: the World Championship, the European Championship and the USSR Championship, which means that Grinkov and Gordeeva approached the 1988 Olympic Games in the status of the main favorites.
In 1988, Sergei was 21 years old, Katya had just turned 17, but it was already noticeable that the guys were held together by far not only partner, sports interests. Perhaps it was precisely this spiritual closeness that helped them move forward, win all competitions, including the Olympic Games, which they conquered with surprising ease. Interestingly, the free dance, which went down in the history of figure skating as a real masterpiece, was performed to the Mendelssohn's March.
Again, but in a different setting, the legal husband and wife, Sergei and Ekaterina, heard this passage three years later, on April 20, 1991, at their own wedding. By that time, they not only managed to become four-time world champions, but also ended their amateur career by moving to the theater of Tatyana Tarasova, where they could not only do what they loved, but also get good money for it, which in the early 90s in our country was very important. For the sake of earning, it was even decided to skip the Olympics-92.
A year later, the couple had a daughter, Daria. At this time, they performed a lot at foreign tournaments, took part in a large number of commercial projects. For sincerity and perfect technique, as well as for that great love for each other, in the USA and Canada they fell in love and were nicknamed G & G - by the first letters of their surnames. Americans give similar nicknames exclusively to movie and pop stars.
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| Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina Gordeeva. No later than 1995. |
After this triumph, the couple returned to professional sports, giving way to the Olympic achievements of the young. But not for long… November 20, 1995, Sergei Grinkov, during a training session in Lake Placid, received a massive heart attack and died right on the ice during training.
In 1996, Ekaterina Gordeeva returned to the ice. Her first performance was dedicated to her late husband and performed in a crowded arena on his memorial day, Catherine danced a poignant program called "Celebration of Life" to the composition Celebration of Life - an excerpt from Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony. At the end, she couldn't hold back her tears. In order to somehow reassure her mother, 4-year-old daughter Dasha ran out onto the ice.
After that, in the life of Catherine there were other partners, and the husband with whom she got married in 2001, and another daughter, but the only one that sports fans remembered next to her was and remains Sergey Grinkov, who would have turned 4 February 47 years...
Source
- Chaushyan S. Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina Gordeeva: a love story. Arguments and Facts. 2014 , February 4, "Olympic History".