Sergei Grinkov

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Olympic medalist
Grinkov and partner Ekaterina Gordeeva compete in 1994.
Medal record
Figure skating
Gold	1988 Calgary	Pairs
Gold	1994 Lillehammer	Pairs

Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov (February 4, 1967 - November 20, 1995, Lake Placid, New York, United States) was an Olympic and World figure skating champion.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Quotes 3 Competitive highlights 4 References 5 See also 6 Navigation 7 Links

[edit] Biography

Sergei Grinkov was born in Moscow, Russia to parents Mikhail Kondrateyevich Grinkov and Anna Filipovna Grinkova. The younger of two children, he had an older sister named Natalia Mikhailovna Grinkova.

He first took the ice at the age of 5. At a time in Soviet Union history when athletic children were identified, sent to special schools, and given rigorous training in their sport, at age fourteen he was paired with ten-year-old Ekaterina Gordeeva at the Central Red Army Club (CSKA) in Moscow. The pair won the 1985 World Junior Championship in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The following year they won the first of their four World Figure Skating Championships. They became repeat world champions the following year and won gold at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After a fall in their long program, they took silver at the World Championships in 1988, but they reclaimed that title in 1989 and successfully defended it again in 1990. They turned professional in the fall of 1990. They won their first World Professional Championship in 1991, and went on to win that title two more times (1992 & 1994).

Gordeeva & Grinkov won virtually every competition they entered. In the 31 competitions they completed at the Senior and professional levels, they finished first an impressive 24 times. After winning their first World Championship in 1986, they never finished lower than second place. They are one of the few pair teams in history to successfully complete a quadruple twist lift in international competition, at the 1987 World Championships. They also completed the difficult maneuver at the 1987 European Championships, but due to a problem with Sergei's boot strap and a misunderstanding about the rules, they were disqualified from that event.

By 1989, their skating partnership had blossomed into romance. They married in April 1991 (the state wedding was on April 20, the church wedding was on April 28).

The following season was the first year they toured with Stars on Ice. They skated throughout the United States and Canada with the show, which ran from November 1991 through April 1992. Then, on September 11, 1992, Ekaterina gave birth to their daughter, Daria Sergeevna Grinkova (nicknamed 'Dasha'), born in Morristown, New Jersey. Shortly after Daria's birth, the pair was back on the ice training for the new season of Stars on Ice, which debuted that November.

In 1994 Sergei Grinkov and his wife returned to Olympic competition and captured their second gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Oppland, Norway. After these Olympics, they returned once again to professional skating and took up residence in Simsbury, Connecticut. During the 1994-95 season, they toured, yet again, with Stars on Ice, this time as headliners. However, tragedy struck in November of 1995, when Sergei Grinkov collapsed and died from a massive heart attack in Lake Placid, New York, while he and his wife were practicing for their upcoming performance in the 1995-1996 Stars on Ice tour.

Sergei Grinkov is interred in the Vagan'kovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. Ekaterina Gordeeva, his widow, along with an all-star cast, skated a tribute in Sergei's honor titled "Celebration of a Life" in February 1996 which was later televised. Ekaterina also authored a book about their life and partnership titled My Sergei: A Love Story, which was later turned into a television movie/docudrama and released on DVD. He was also the subject of a book, geared towards the 9-12 age group, titled They died too young: Sergei Grinkov written by Anne E. Hill.

[edit] Quotes

“Our honor depends on our honesty.” — Sovetskiy Sport (April 15, 1987).

In Russian: “Наша честь зависит от нашей честности.” — Советский спорт от 15 апреля 1987 года.

[edit] Competitive highlights

Pairing with Ekaterina Gordeeva

Event/Season	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Winter Olympics	-	-	1st	-	-	-	DNC	-	1st
Soviet/Russian Championship	2nd	1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	1st
European Figure Skating Championships	2nd	wd	1st	-	1st	-	-	-	1st
World Championships	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	-	-	-	-
World Professional Championships	-	-	-	-	2nd	1st	1st	-	1st

[edit] References

• Gordeeva, Ekaterina. (1996). My Sergei: A Love Story. Warner Books Inc. ISBN 0-446-52087-X.

[edit] See also

• Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov
• World Figure Skating Championships
• European Figure Skating Championships

[edit] Navigation

[edit] Links

• The Gordeeva & Grinkov corner