Galina Zmievskaya
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Galina Yakovlevna Zmievskaya (b. 1952) is a figure skating coach, formerly based in Odessa, Ukraine. Her students have included Olympic champions Viktor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul, World Junior champion Vladimir Petrenko, U.S. national champion Scott Davis, and Italian champion Silvia Fontana. She also worked with Viacheslav Zagorodniuk and Takeshi Honda early in their careers. She briefly coached Georgian skater Elene Gedevanishvili in early 2007.[1] She began coaching American skater Johnny Weir in the summer of 2007[2] and in June 2008 Swiss skater Stephane Lambiel became her pupil, as well.[3]
In addition to coaching Oksana Baiul, Zmievskaya acted as her guardian following the death of her mother. Zmievskaya's older daughter, Nina, is married to Viktor Petrenko[4] and has choreographed for many of Zmievskaya's students. She has a second daughter, also named Galina and known as Galya. Zmievskaya's husband, Nikolai, was a building contractor in Odessa.[5]
Following Baiul's win at the 1994 Winter Olympics, Zmievskaya moved to Simsbury, Connecticut, where she coached for a decade at the International Skating Center of Connecticut[6] before relocating to Wayne, New Jersey in 2005 along with her daughter Nina and son-in-law Viktor Petrenko to coach at Ice Vault Arena.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ icenetwork.com Skaters: Elene Gedevanishvili Retrieved May 15, 2008
- ^ International Figure Skating, June 15, 2007: "New Coach For Johnny Weir: Three-Time U.S. Men’s Champion to Train With Galina Zmievskaya"
- ^ Lambiel Makes Coach Swap to Raise Stakes, June 6, 2008
- ^ Sports Illustrated, February 7, 1994: Volume 80, Issue 5, p. 78 "Window on the World: Having Triumphed Over Tragedy, Oksana Baiul Eyes the Games"
- ^ Life Magazine, June 1994: Vol. 17, Issue 6, p. 72 "Oksana: Happy at Last"
- ^ New York Times, February 2, 1997: "When Olympic Champions Moved In, They Put Simsbury on the World Map"
- ^ Petrenko Brings Added Prestige to Ice Vault
