Natalia Mishkutenok
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure skating | |||
| Gold | 1992 Albertville | Pairs | |
| Silver | 1994 Lillehammer | Pairs | |
Natalia Mishkutenok (or Natalja Mishkutienok, Russian: Наталья Евгеньевна Мишкутёнок, born July 14, 1970 in Minsk, Belarus) was a Russian pairs figure skating champion. She competed for the Soviet Union, Russia, and the Unified Team. She trained in St. Petersburg with renowned Russian pairs coach Tamara Moskvina. She skated with partner Artur Dmitriev from 1987 to 1994; together, they won the 1991 and 1992 World and European Championships, and Olympic gold in 1992. They performed to Franz Liszt's Liebestraum (Dream of Love), which became one of the most noted programs of their career. They turned professional shortly after the Olympics.
Mishkutenok and Dmitriev chose to reinstate as amateurs after the ban against such actions was lifted. They attempted to defend their Olympic title in the 1994 Winter Olympics, but were narrowly defeated by good friends and fellow countrymen Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov ("G & G").
One hallmark of Mishkutenok and Dmitriev's style was their creative spins, especially one in which Mishkutenok would do a split and point down, with an arm around Dmitriev's calf so that they were both vertical and aligned; this signature move was incorporated into virtually every one of their programs. Mishkutenok in particular was distinguished for her flexibility.
Mishkutenok and Dmitriev amicably parted soon after their second-place finish in Lillehammer, where many believed they should have won the gold medal. Dmitriev went on to skate with Oksana Kazakova and won the gold at the 1998 Olympics. Mishkutenok moved to the U.S. to learn English and married American hockey player Craig Shephard, with whom she has skated professionally on occasion. She divorced Shepherd and remarried. She had a daughter on January 16, 2006 and is currently coaching in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.[citation needed]
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1908: Anna Hübler & Heinrich Burger | 1920: Ludowika Jakobsson & Walter Jakobsson | 1924: Helene Engelmann & Alfred Berger | 1928: Andrée Joly & Pierre Brunet | 1932: Andrée Brunet & Pierre Brunet | 1936: Maxi Herber & Ernst Baier | 1948: Micheline Lannoy & Pierre Baugniet | 1952: Ria Baran & Paul Falk | 1956: Elisabeth Schwartz & Kurt Oppelt | 1960: Barbara Wagner & Robert Paul | 1964: Ludmila Belousova & Oleg Protopopov | 1968: Ludmila Belousova & Oleg Protopopov | 1972: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulanov | 1976: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev | 1980: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev | 1984: Elena Valova & Oleg Vasiliev | 1988: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov | 1992: Natalia Mishkutenok & Artur Dmitriev | 1994: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov | 1998: Oksana Kazakova & Artur Dmitriev | 2002: Yelena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze and Jamie Salé & David Pelletier | 2006: Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Belarusian Americans | Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics | Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics | Naturalized citizens of the United States | Russian figure skaters | Soviet figure skaters | Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team | Olympic silver medalists for Russia | Living people
