Worlds are just gone. Boston hosted great championships like USA always does. North America has done great things to figure skating and skaters however I still prefer the Russian deep soul. One of the most touching figure skating story is about my all-time favorite pair skaters Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. We all know them as G&G.
They were
the last generation of pure Soviet products. They had grown within the system
where talented skaters just had to skate. They potentially could have had that grey
Soviet glance in their eyes but on the contrary they both had a character and
they both seemingly loved skating regardless the pretty ruthless system. They
were one huge man and one tiny girl as they started. They went from win to win from
1986 to 1987.
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| photo: www.gordeeva.com |
1988 was
Olympic year and Galgary hosted the games. Canada is all about Ice hockey and figure
skating. Soviet people could explore the western world very limited at that
time but athletes had the luxury of being on the competitions. Gordeeva and
Grinkov just melted the Calgary audience with their genuine, fresh and clean
programs. Especially Ekaterina was the one to draw the attention. They won Olympics with the ages of 16 and 21. This victory gained them North American relations and ever since they were invited to North
American tours. America just loved them.
One would
think that this is the story, but the story only starts here. They had age
difference of 4-5 years and Ekaterina had been like a tiny girl.
However after Olympics her body became to change and her skating suffered. Sergei
realized that Ekaterina was not only getting the attention because of her open and
honest personality but she truly was becoming a very beautiful woman. They
became a couple, married and got a child while being professional skaters in US in the
early 90’s.
For 1994 it
was made possible for professionals to reinstate and make a comeback to
competitive skating. So the duo did. They come back as husband and wife, parents of a baby, with a magic that was never seen on ice before. G&G had the programs of all
times choreographed by Marina Zueva. She started together with
G&G in the Soviet Union but turned out to be the most famous and successful
choreographer and coach of ice dance during past fifteen years in North America.
Their Olympic free skate on Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, telling a story of
their lives and hunger for more, was just pure perfection – it had it
all. (The video is from European championships since they skate this cleaner than in Olympics)
Pair made a
golden comeback and was crowned as Olympic Champions again in Lillehammer despite some errors
in the Olympic skate. They return to pros and continue in North American show
of Stars on Ice. Just one and a half years later Sergei collapses on ice and
dies of a massive heart attack with the age of 28. Ekaterina loses her husband, father of their
child and her partner on ice. This brought a tragic end to their love story that Americans had just loved. Their skating truly had the best
qualities of pair skating all times.
For me it is still not the love story that shines through. It is actually the deep russian soul that they could bring on ice from the very pressure of the soviet system. Sergei and Marina were the artistic engine of the couple where Ekaterina had the shine of a star. She has the capability to draw attention and embrace the ideas of those two. Sergei was the perfect partner for her. Marina Zueva describes him as the pure ideal of a male pair skater. Almost like a statue of Ancient Greece. This exhibition program of Lillehammer is one of my favourites and brings out their quality of skating.
Well, and the heartbreaking tribute to Sergei
was skated just couple of months after his death and Ekaterina was seen alone on
ice - skating for the memory of her husband.
I really enjoyed watching
this couple when they were skating and I still do – thanks for youtube. Ekaterina
has stayed on ice and has made performances as a single skater, continued life
and found a new partner. However the magic was gone together with
Sergei. I’m still waiting a couple to beat that or come even close.
Great site about this couple: www.gordeeva.com
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