Where is ekaterina gordeeva

It is through skating that she met her first husband and love. The mother of two studied in a local school but chose not to pursue college-level education. Instead, she focused on her skating career and received tremendous success. The four-time world champion skater will enter her 50s on 28 May She is quite slim and weighs Furthermore, she is 5 feet, 1 inch tall. The two-time Olympic Champion started her figure skating career early. As she was so small, she wore multiple socks to fit her skates.

Initially, she was paired with her first husband, Sergei Grinkov. But as he was recently missing practice, her coach, Vladimir Zaharov, insisted on changing her partners. However, she disagreed, and instead of changing her partner, she changed her coach. The duo has been partners since Katina was 11 years old, and Sergei was 15 years old. Later on, in and , the pair won annual figure skating competitions like the World Junior Figure Skating Championships and the World Figure Skating Championships.

Moreover, they held the title in , , and Nonetheless, the injury did not keep them from competing and winning a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. To this date, the duo is the youngest pair to win Olympic gold.

After turning pro in , Gordeeva and Grinkov won their first World Professional Championship in and again in and The skaters together were a strong team and won almost every competition they competed in. After their marriage and welcoming their daughter into the world, the couple won their second Olympic gold medal in The figure skater started her solo career in after Sergei passed away suddenly. With the help of author E. Swift, she introduced her husband as she knew him to the world.

Moreover, she published a second book dedicated to her daughter titled A Letter For Daria. In , she competed in the World Professional Championships as a solo skater and second place.

Then, from to , she worked at Stars on Ice before giving birth to her second daughter. Not to mention, in , she performed a duet with her eldest daughter Daria. Later on, she performed a trio with both of her daughters.

Furthermore, Katia is also a coach and choreographer. Ekaterina married her skating partner and first love, Sergei Grinkov. The pair met when Gordeeva was 11 and Grinkov was 15 through their passion for figure skating. Their relationship started as friends, partners, and then slowly progressed into love.

Later on, in April of , the pair tied knots in a church wedding and state wedding. They then toured with Stars on Ice before announcing their pregnancy with their first and only daughter named Daria.

However, the fairytale wedding did not last for long. On 20 November , Sergei passed away due to a massive heart attack during rehearsal. It was later found that he suffered from a congenital heart condition that resulted in his death. Gordeeva met her second husband, Ilia Kulik, through figure skating too. They started their romance during the season of Stars on Ice and even performed a romantic duet.

Katia welcomed her second daughter and first child with Ilia, Elizaveta Ilinichna Kulik, on 15 June Then, almost a year later, on 10 June , they got married in a private ceremony in California. It was really fascinating [because] at that time the Soviet Union was a mystery to a lot of people.

With Katia, she was always sort of floating above the ice, and they sort of meshed [with] each other. There was no heaviness to their skating, it was beautiful and light. A post shared by Ekaterina Gordeeva katiaagordeeva. Elena Bechke , the Olympic silver medalist with Denis Petrov , grew up in the Soviet Union and competed against Gordeeva and Grinkov while skating with an earlier partner. Now a coach in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, Bechke minces no words about how the couple compares to current pairs.

They were flying; they were like feathers. Chan skates like a feather, flowing on the ice. They had natural harmony… I saw this, and I emphasized this in the choreography I did for them: the lightness, the connection, how they looked at each other, the bodylines. The saddest thing to think about was Katia, and what life would be like for her and Daria without Sergei. We decided that night to have a show. CBS broadcast it.

Other skaters, who were not in SOI, appeared and it was an incredible show. Her mother, Elena Levovna, was a teletype operator for the Soviet newsagent Tass.

Gordeeva's parents both worked hard and traveled so much that Gordeeva and her sister, Maria, often stayed with their grandparents. Gordeeva's grandmother read Grimm's fairytales to her, not knowing that's how Gordeeva would later describe her life — like a fairytale.

Gordeeva, in My Sergei , also commented that "I was the luckiest girl on earth, wanting for nothing. By the time she turned five years old, Gordeeva was practicing four times a week. In My Sergei , Gordeeva remembered, "I can't miss it. It's my job.

She continued skating and one year later was paired with Grinkov. In December , after a coaching change and just one year of training, Gordeeva and Grinkov finished sixth in the Junior World Championships. The next year, they won. Gordeeva was 13 and began to see Grinkov as more than just her skating partner.

In My Sergei , Gordeeva recalled, "I remember becoming aware that I found him attractive, and that it was nice to be with him. In , Gordeeva and Grinkov had to endure another coaching change. However, this new coach was a tyrant.

In spite of this, in their first senior-level skating competition, Gordeeva and Grinkov finished second. A few months later, at the European Championships, they won. They then also won the World Championships. Yet, Gordeeva was not happy. In My Sergei she reviewed their performance, "We just proceeded from element to element without feeling, intent only on not making mistakes. In , Gordeeva and Grinkov continued their winning streak by placing first at the Russian Nationals.

However, they were disqualified at the European Championships because they refused to reskate their long program after a problem with their music. They quickly rebounded however, successfully defended their world title, and then began their first American tour with skating promoter Tom Collins.

Finally, much to the happiness of Gordeeva, Gordeeva and Grinkov spent off-ice time together. A couple of times he hugged me after a ride, or put his arm around me when we were standing in line. He had never done this before, and it made me excited.

This was a wonderful day for me. Gordeeva and Grinkov's first Olympics in was filled with nerves, homesickness and actual sickness — Grinkov had the flu.

However, the nerves wore off, Grinkov recovered, and they skated both their short and long programs successfully and won the gold medal. However, Gordeeva being just 16, was left behind when Grinkov, 21, celebrated with his older friends. In the fall of , Gordeeva discovered she had a stress fracture in her right foot. Gordeeva was sad that she could not skate.

Yet Grinkov came up with an idea. Come on. I'll give you a little ride. By now they were both falling in love and on New Year's Eve, they finally kissed. Because of Gordeeva's stress fracture, they did not skate in the European Championships that year.