Figure skating is the most romantic sport, but how else can you explain the fact that skaters most often find their love among colleagues on ice. 20-year-old Anna Pogorilaya and 25-year-old Andrei Nevsky were no exception.
Anna is the bronze medalist of the 2016 World Championship, Andrey represented Latvia in ice dancing in a duet with Olga Yakushina. Young people have known each other for about three years, but together for only a year. According to Anna, for a long time she did not want to build a "romantic relationship with a charming blond," because she was afraid to ruin her friendship with him. But Andrei was used to achieving his goals, and in the end, Anya gave up. In autumn, during a vacation in Paris, a young man proposed to his beloved at the Eiffel Tower. From that moment on, the couple began to think about what would be the happiest day of their lives.
Happiness loves silence. Andrey and I did not want to make a magnificent wedding, where you can not even know half of the guests by name. It was important for us that on this day only our closest friends and relatives were next to us. The only pity is that my girlfriend - Olympic champion Alena Savchenko - could not come because of the busy schedule, - says the 20-year-old figure skater.
Anna admits: the wedding was not perfect, but now he and Andrei will have something to remember and something to laugh at. An interesting fact is that the newlyweds went on their honeymoon even before they became husband and wife.
Now the season is starting for me, and therefore Andrei and I decided to go on a honeymoon trip before the celebration. We chose Greece. We had a great rest, recharged with energy, so I start training with good emotions and a beautiful tan.
Anna Pogorilaya and Alexei Nevsky on their wedding day
The celebration took place in the restaurant "Bely Bereg" in the Moscow region
Before the 2018 Olympic Games, Anna injured her back and was unable to take part in the selection in Pyeongchang. Some time ago, it was even reported that Pogorilaya could end her career, but the athlete decided to continue performing and had already started training with her former coach Anna Tsareva. But her chosen one ended his career, but did not quit figure skating and is now training future champions. Andrey also studied as a lawyer and now works in his specialty.
Anna Pogorilaya and Andrei Nevsky
Bronze medalist at the 2016 World Championship. Bronze medalist of the Grand Prix Final.
Silver and two-time bronze medalist of the European Championships in 2015 and 2016.
Anna Pogorilaya was born on April 10, 1998 in Moscow. She has been figure skating since the age of four. The figure skater's coach is Anna Vladimirovna Tsareva. In favor of the Center for Sports and Education "Sambo-70", branch "Crystal". In March 2009, the girl took second place at the Russian Championship. She missed the 2010 season due to injury. Since 2012, a member of the national team of the Russian Federation.
In December 2012, she took third place in the junior Grand Prix final in Sochi. Three months later, Anna Pogorilaya, in fierce competition with her teammates, as well as US figure skaters Samantha Sisario and Courtney Hicks, who took first and third places after the short program, won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Milan.
In the fall of 2013, Pogorilaya moved to the adult category. She performed very well in November in Beijing in the Cup of China, where she won, ahead of European champion and ex-world champion Carolina Kostner and vice-European champion Adelina Sotnikova. At the stage in France, she was third, which allowed her to get to the Grand Prix finals. However, at the final in Tokyo, she could not cope with the excitement, performed worse than at the stages, and took last place.
The decline continued further, in addition, there were problems with the back. At the end of the year, when qualifying for the national team at the Russian championship, she was in the middle standings, Anna took eighth place in the overall standings and the fourth of those who, due to their age, were eligible to participate in adult championships and Olympic Games. She did not get into the national team of the country for the European Championship, as a result she took up the treatment of injuries.
At the end of February 2014, Anna Pogorilaya won the Russian Cup Final in Veliky Novgorod. Soon the girl was included in the Russian national team for the World Championships in Japan, where in the short program she showed her best result of all time and closed the top six, thereby becoming one of the six best performing in the last, strongest warm-up free program. In the free program at her debut championship, she made a splash, receiving a small bronze medal and beating all rivals in the technical evaluation. As a result, she was one step away from the podium at the world championship.
The first start of the new season in 2014 was the Japan Open team tournament in early October, where the Russian team was represented by two figure skaters: Anna Pogorilaya and Elena Radionova, who took first place. At competitions from October 31 to November 2, 2014, she successfully performed at the second stage of the Grand Prix in Canada, winning first place. Two weeks later, Anna performed at the home stage of the Grand Prix. Home ice played a cruel joke on her, strong excitement affected, and the athlete finished second, but reached the Grand Prix final. In Barcelona, at the final, she performed better than last year, but was left without medals. At the 2015 Russian Championship, she also performed better than in the previous two years, but also remained without medals.
Given that some medalists could not compete at the European Championship due to age restrictions, Pogorilaya was included in the team for the European Championship in Stockholm. The debut was successful. The figure skater won the bronze medal. After that, she was invited to the national team and to the World Cup in Shanghai. During the preparation, she received a serious injury, but Anna continued to prepare for the start. I came to the competitions not ready, because I was preparing inferiorly. As a result, a fall in the short program.
At the end of November 2016, she performed at final stage Grand Prix in Sapporo, where she confidently took first place. This allowed her to reach the Grand Prix Final in Marseille, where Anna won the bronze medal and improved her previous achievements in the total and free program. At the end of December in Chelyabinsk, in a bitter struggle, she failed to defend the bronze medal of the Russian Championship.
At the European Championships in Ostrava in January 2017, she took second place, losing only to her compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva and ahead of the Italian figure skater Carolina Kostner, while improving her previous achievements in the short program.
Falls, 9th place at the Grand Prix and a quarrel with the coach.
At the stage of the Grand Prix in figure skating - a big drama.
One of the most stable Russian figure skaters, winner of the world and European championships Anna Pogorilaya failed the free program. After the short, she was 2nd and fully claimed the podium.
But instead of a triple lutz, Anya jumped double, after which she made a “butterfly” on a flip, fell on her chest after another jump, hit hard, and at the end of the program she failed the rotation. And she also fell.
The result is sad: 10th place in the free program and 9th in the total of both programs.
Before the Olympics, any start is important. And any misfire as a sentence.
After the rental, there was an emotional dialogue between Anya and her long-term coach Anna Tsareva.
It's just what you could hear on TV from the kiss&cry corner :
Tsareva: Why are you dying, are your legs failing? Don't you think that you need to skate the program more from start to finish in training? What would not once a week, but more often? You pick up speed, otherwise you’ll do a rittberger from a place. Ride like lifeless.
Pogorilaya A: Look how you pulled me.
Tsareva: I won’t approach you at all, you will go to competitions alone.
Anya, dejected by frankly low marks, almost burst into tears. But she held back.
2017 is a difficult year for a figure skater. After silver at the European Championships, she became only 13th at the World Championships (flunking her “favorite” free program) and did not get to the team World Championships (as the federation decided, which sent Elena Radionova instead of Pogorilaya to Japan).
They say that it was this decision that greatly upset the skater - a) a commercial “commander” allows top athletes to make good money; b) everything was arranged in such a way that Pogorila is not very trusted after the breakdown at the World Cup.
With such a mood and doubts, the skater entered the Olympic season.
And in the summer and autumn, Anya was tortured by injuries. She was worried about her back, because of constant pain, she began to prepare for the season late, did not perform jumps for a long time (the honored coach Viktor Kudryavtsev now advises her on technique), missed test skates in Sochi, and recently withdrew from the stage of the Russian Cup in Yoshkar-Ola. There she skated a short one, felt pain and did not come out on the second day of the competition.
The reason is the same - injuries. Physically, Pogorilaya is not ready to skate a grueling free skate, perform difficult jumps and rotations in the second half of the program (for which bonuses are given).
The athlete simply does not have the strength and speed.
Psychologically, it is still more difficult: and a public skirmish with a coach in live does not surprise.
Rather, something else surprises: why was it necessary to release an unhealthy athlete on the ice? What did it give? Have the Games become closer?
The logic of the talented coach Tsareva, who today has one top athlete and who leads her from the very bottom, can be understood: in such an important season, you can’t miss all the starts; I need to overpower myself, look for reserves and I can’t perform through.
But this option didn't work.
I don't want to scold Pogorilaya now. Or even more so - to evaluate her chances for Olympic selection. Competition in women's skating such that a healthy Pogorilaya may not get to Korea. And Pogorilaya, exhausted by injuries, even more so.
Anya, hello! It's the most important.
Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Wilf; /Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports; broadcast frame "Eurosport 2"
Nikolai Morozov, the coach of prize-winners and winners of world championships and Olympics, considers Anna Pogorilaya a model athlete. And from all sides - in relation to figure skating and training, to the coach and to herself.
But the athlete recalled that she could have missed a couple of days of classes if she was in conflict with the mentor. I didn’t understand that you shouldn’t rest on your own opinion, but it’s better to find a common language and work on. And once she turned to the coach at all for “you”, after which she went to run cross-country. Since then, Pogorilaya has not forgotten about his status.
Childhood and youth
Anna Pogorilaya was born on April 10, 1998 in the capital of Russia - Moscow. Anya's parents were not athletes, although her mother spent all her free time at the rink in the days of her youth. It is also known that the elder brother of the figure skater is professionally engaged in martial arts.
At 4 years old, mom offered her daughter a choice of a couple sports sections, and Anya chose figure skating. She began to study at the Children's Sports School-6 "Constellation", and in 2004 she moved to the SDYUSSHOR-37, (now the Moscow school "Sambo-70"). In 2015, the athlete entered the Russian University of Physical Education and Sports. In a conversation with media representatives, the girl honestly admitted that she rarely sees teachers and devotes most of her time to training.
Figure skating
For two years, Anya trained in pairs, but in the end she chose single skating in which everything depends not on the partner, but on her. The first success came to the skater in March 2009. At the Russian championship, held in Vladimir, Pogorilaya became the second in the younger age group and entered the Russian national team.
Anna Pogorilaya on ice However, tragedy followed after success - during training, mastering a new jump, the athlete was seriously injured. Recovery took a year, and doctors warned the girl: repeated falls would lead to muscle rupture. During an unplanned vacation, Anya, following the example of her brother, began to engage in martial arts and learned to group herself when she fell.
The following season, Pogorilaya returned to the ice and, thanks to good results, became part of the Russian team. It is noteworthy that at that moment there were very few people who believed in her stellar future. In 2012, at the Russian Championships, the figure skater became fifth, despite the fact that in the same season she confidently performed at the stages of the Junior Grand Prix, where she took 3rd place.
Recognition came to Ana after she won an honorary bronze at the Junior World Championships in Milan, sharing the podium with her teammates and. In the new season 2013/2014, the athlete already competed in the adult category. She became the first in the Russian Cup final, successfully performed in several Grand Prix finals, taking 1st place in China (where she was ahead of her longtime rivals and) and 3rd in performances in France.
The consequences of old injuries prevented the girl from taking part in the European Championship and affected her future performances. However, at the World Championships held in Japan, Pogorilaya, according to the results of the free program, entered the top six, and then abruptly pulled ahead and came close to the podium, taking 4th place.
Anna Pogorilaya at the Japan OpenIn the next ice season, the skater won in open championship Japan Open and at the Grand Prix stage in Canada. This was followed by silver at the Grand Prix stage held in Russia, and a not very successful 4th place in the final of this competition. Anna failed to win medals in the Russian championship that followed these performances. True, due to the age requirements for the members of the national team, Pogorilaya took part in the 2014-2015 European Championship and returned from Stockholm with a bronze medal.
Preparing for the World Championships, Anna was again injured, which made itself felt during her performance with a short program. New season Anna started again, not quite overcoming the effects of her injuries. At the Ondrey Nepela Memorial, the Russian woman became the second, confidently won the international championship "Mordovian Patterns", but at the stages of the Grand Prix her results were very modest.
At the Russian Championship, she became the third, skipping ahead and Elena Radionova. In the same order, Russian athletes stood on the podium of the European Championship in Bratislava, where Anna again amazed the audience with her free program to the music that the figure skater's mother picked up for the performance.
Pogorila managed to win a bronze medal at the World Championships in Boston, where she let Evgenia Medvedev and an American go ahead. Her free program to the music for the film "Modigliani" and the demonstration number "Into You" to music were distinguished by originality.
On November 5, 2016, Pogorilaya successfully showed these programs at the Moscow stage of the Grand Prix, where she took 1st place, confidently beating her longtime rival Evgenia Medvedev.
In March 2017, due to a fall during a demonstration of a free program at the world championship in Helsinki, Anya did not even get into the top ten and lost her place in the Russian national team at team championship peace.
Personal life
According to the skater herself, she consciously preferred sports to her personal life. In an interview with media representatives, Anna admitted that in in social networks guys often write to her, but she does not respond to messages.
The charming blonde did not see the point in a relationship, because because of the competition she could not spend much time with her lover. Pogorilaya spent her free days exclusively in the company of relatives and friends, as evidenced by photos and videos on Instagram.
In 2015, Anya met Andrey Nevsky, who represented Latvia in ice dancing. The guys became friends, and, as the skater later said in an interview, she didn’t want to transfer friendship to a different plane, she valued the young man. However, Nevsky turned out to be a persistent man and in the fall of 2017 made an offer to a colleague. Andrei chose the right setting - Paris, the arches of the Eiffel Tower. And the girl gave up.
Anna got married at the age of 20 and does not think she was in a hurry:
“My husband belongs to the same profession, he understands everything perfectly and can support. I think that only the presence of children can affect my career.”
The couple went on their honeymoon in advance, rested in Greece before the start of the season. The wedding was played in July 2018. The athletes did not want a celebration where “you don’t know the names of half of the guests.” Only relatives and close friends were gathered in the Belyi Bereg resto-club near Moscow. The celebration, according to the bride, did not go quite smoothly, but there will be something to tell the children and grandchildren later.
Andrey ended his career before the Olympics in Korea, works as a lawyer and coach, put on a demonstration number for his wife for a show in Italy. In the papers, Anya has the surname of her husband, but the figure skater still acts as Pogorilaya. Nevsky is 5 years older and two heads taller than the second half (Anna's height is 167 cm).
Anna Pogorilaya now
In the list of applicants for a trip to the Olympics in Korea, Anna Pogorilaya was among the first, although she missed the test skates in Sochi, endured a short program at the Russian Cup stage and still withdrew from the tournament. However, the athlete understood that the ticket to Pyeongchang was slipping away from her hands, and decided - now or never.
At the Canadian stage of the Grand Prix, Anya decided not to feel sorry for herself, but her back and nerves let her down. 3 falls, 6 underrotations, a missed jump - and 9th place. In the fight against Elena Radionova, and this was not an argument. Federation figure skating Russia promised, if necessary, to pay for Anna's treatment abroad.
Nerves, according to experts, - weakness Pogorilaya, even in comparison with previous injuries. Anna is overly worried during the rentals and, oddly enough, overly emotional, passionate in images. There was an opinion that it was time for the skater to change her coach, to find someone who would not aggravate the psychological state of the ward immediately after the failure, as Anna Tsareva does.
The words of the mentor that the girl skates like a lifeless one and will soon go to competitions alone were heard by all viewers who watched Skate Canada 2017.
As time passed, Pogorilaya explained that such clashes with the coach happen, but then the women reconcile. And Anna does not plan to leave Tsareva, because she does not think that she will meet such an understanding elsewhere.
Six months before the test skates in the fall of 2018, Anna Pogorilaya did not go on the ice, she healed old injuries. There has already been talk that the figure skater, having flashed for a moment, is close to the end of her career, like Yulia Lipnitskaya. However, she returned with assurances that she had recovered, only further sports biography will take shape under the supervision of doctors to prevent complications.
Before that Russian figure skater she performed at the Opera on Ice show in Venice and Fantasy on Ice in Japan, where she demonstrated her willingness to compete with current stars.
Anna was not taken to the Russian figure skating team for the 2018/2019 season, only a reserve was offered. Pogorilaya plans to perform at the Russian Championships with a short program based on Spanish motives from the previous season. The girl chose the music for the free program herself. Fans will see the athlete in the image.
Awards
- 2009 - silver medal at the Russian Championship
- 2012 - bronze medal in the junior Grand Prix final
- 2013 - bronze medal at the junior world championship
- 2013 – gold medal at the China Cup
- 2014 - gold medal in the final of the Russian Cup
- 2014 - gold medal at the Grand Prix stage in Canada
- 2015 - bronze medal at the European Championship
- 2015 - gold medal for international tournament"Mordovian patterns"
- 2016 - gold medal at the Rostelecom Cup
- 2016 - bronze medal at the European Championship
- 2017 - silver medal at the European Championship
- 2017 - bronze medal of the Grand Prix Final
The future winner was born in Moscow on April 10, 1998. Anna Pogorilaya's parents are Ukrainians from Kharkov. Everyone in the family loves sports, my mother was engaged figure skating. However, no one forced the daughter to follow in the footsteps of her mother. When little Anya was offered a choice (“what sport do you want to do”), the girl chose skates. She was only 4 years old.
The beginning of the career of Anna Pogorilaya
For the fourteenth year, Anna has been continuously improving her skills. Only one season was missed: due to injury. Pogorelaya has always been a diligent student, but she also found time for entertainment. “I can’t say that I didn’t have a childhood,” says the now star skater.
No one could foresee the stellar future for a long time. Anna Pogorilaya was not paid much attention until, in March 2013, the girl won bronze at the World Junior Championships. But in subsequent years, she remained, as it were, in the shadow of other young skaters, although the achievements of Anna Pogorilaya were already great and undeniable. Maybe this insured the girl from star disease. Anna came into the spotlight as early as April 2016 when she won bronze - now in the senior world championship.
Mastery
How did the girl manage to achieve such success? Who is Anna Pogorilaya's coach? She is being prepared for performances by Anna Tsareva, a former sports referee. This trainer has been working with Pogorila for 12 years. Tsareva admits that she grew up with her ward: one grew up as a coach, the other as an athlete. The coach managed to reveal the talent in the girl.
Tsareva is a strict mentor. When asked if the young figure skater became a friend to her, the answer was: “Of course not. There must be a distance between the athlete and the coach.” Two Annas work in a strict discipline mode, the skater does not receive concessions.
In order to compete with other figure skating stars, Pogorilaya is experimenting all the time, mastering new jumps. She dreams of demonstrating a quadruple sheepskin coat - a jump that no woman has yet performed without mistakes in competitions. When practicing this figure, you have to fall a lot on the ice with your stomach, such falls are very dangerous.
“The doctors forbade me to fall,” the skater said, recalling a serious injury that forced her to miss the 2009-2010 season. But how does the girl get out now?
Anna Pogorilaya learned to group. In this, she was helped by such a sport far from figure skating as boxing. Anna took up martial arts, following the example of her older brother.
victories
What did Anna Pogorilaya win?
By the age of eighteen, Anna already has many achievements to her credit. Five times she won major competitions: Junior Grand Prix stage in Germany, Cup of China adult Grand Prix stage, Russian Cup final, Skate Canada Grand Prix stage, Mordovian patterns. In total, she won prizes 16 times.
In the very first "adult" international competition - "Grand Prix" Cup Of China (November 2013) - a fifteen-year-old figure skater created a sensation by winning first place. This was a turning point in the biography of Anna Pogorilaya. She was ahead of such famous masters as Carolina Kostner.
In March 2014, at the World Championships, Pogorilaya immediately took fourth place. The figure skater herself called her result a “wooden medal”, but the experts were amazed: after all, the girl was fifteen, and the competition at the World Championships is very high.
The following season, Anna took gold at the Canadian Grand Prix stage, while the performance of the schoolgirl was very extravagant: she went on the ice in a men's suit and, during the dance, changed into women's clothes to the scandalous song of Conchita Wurst.
But at the moment, the most significant achievement of Anna Pogorilaya is the bronze medal at the World Championships in Boston, which ended on April 3, 2016.
Two medalists from Russia
But it is better to see her dance with your own eyes.
Video performances
Video of Anna Pogorilaya at the World Championships, short program:
Video of Anna Pogorilaya at the World Championships, free program:
A few days later, the bronze medalist turned eighteen.
In private life
In her free time, Anna draws, watches TV shows, sometimes goes shopping with a friend,. Anna admitted that in the store she was recognized in person only once (fame is just beginning).
The figure skater follows a strict diet and cannot even eat an apple in the evening, so she sometimes wakes up from hunger at night. Then Anna gets up and feeds the cat: at that moment, for some reason, the hunger passes.
Pogorilaya lives with her parents and older brother. She considers her father and mother her main fans. And the boxer brother refers to sports glory Anna is more calm.
Now Pogorilaya is studying at the Institute of Physical Education, but, by her own admission, she has been to the university only four times since the beginning of the year.
The height and weight of Anna Pogorilaya is not exactly known, as she is still growing. Two years ago, her height was 160 centimeters, at the beginning of this year - already 167. Once she was a very light girl and was engaged not only in singles, but also in pairs. But now she already seems too "big" to dance in pairs.
According to the coach, Pogorilaya, “like any significant figure skater,” she has a complex character, and it can be difficult to work with her.
Anna Pogorilaya and Evgenia Medvedeva