Zhiganshina and Gazsi during the free dance at the 2007 German Championships |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Country represented | Germany |
| Born | October 6, 1984 |
| Residence | Oberstdorf |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Partner | Nelli Zhiganshina |
| Former partner | Sandra Gissmann Mandy Kästner Julia Novikov |
| Coach | Rostislav Sinicyn Martin Skotnicky |
| Former coach | Alexander Zhulin Oleg Volkov Elena Kustarova Svetlana Alexeeva |
| Choreographer | Maxim Staviski Rostislav Sinicyn |
| Former choreographer | Elena Kustarova Natalia Ulianova |
| Skating club | SC Berlin |
| Current training locations | Oberstdorf |
| Former training locations | Moscow |
| Began skating | 1988 |
| World standing | 21 (As of 17 June 2011[update])[1] |
| Season's bests | 16 (2010–2011)[2] |
| ISU personal best scores | |
| Combined total | 140.69 2011 Europeans |
| Short dance: | 57.82 2011 Europeans |
| Free dance | 82.87 2011 Europeans |
Alexander Gazsi (born October 6, 1984 in Chemnitz, Germany) is a German ice dancer. With partner Nelli Zhiganshina, he is two-time (2007, 2011) German national champion.
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Gazsi began skating in 1988 at the age of four. The kids in his kindergarten class in East Germany were tested in various sports and he was chosen for the first one tested, figure skating.[3] He took up ice dancing at age nine.[3] Early in his career, Gazsi competed with Mandy Kästner, Julia Novikov, and Sandra Gissmann. In 2005, he teamed up with Nelli Zhiganshina; they trained mainly in Moscow, Russia, with coaches Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alexeeva and, during summers, in Berlin and Chemnitz due to Gazsi's military service.[3] They later changed coaches to Alexander Zhulin and Oleg Volkov, also in Moscow.
Zhiganshina and Gazsi won bronze at their first German Championships in 2006, their only competition of the season. The next season they won their first national title, placed 16th at the 2007 Europeans and 18th at Worlds.
During the 2007-08 season, they made their debut on the Grand Prix circuit, placing 7th at Skate Canada and 8th at Cup of Russia. They won silver at German Nationals and again finished 18th at Worlds.
During the 2008-09 season, Zhiganshina and Gazsi did not compete on the Grand Prix circuit. Zhiganshina continued to visit Germany on a three-month tourist visa because the low income from the sport meant she did not qualify for residency and Germany did not have as high caliber ice dancers as Moscow to train alongside.[4] Although favored to win 2009 German Nationals,[4] they placed second and missed the European and World teams. They considered leaving competition to focus on show skating and worked with circus acrobats in Moscow but decided to continue their competitive career and moved to Oberstdorf, Germany in spring 2009 to work with coaches Rostislav Sinicyn and Martin Skotnicky.[5] During the 2009-10 season, they placed third at German Nationals and were not sent to the European or World Championships. They were not eligible for the 2010 Winter Olympics due to Zhiganshina not having German citizenship.
During the 2010-11 season, Zhiganshina and Gazsi again received no Grand Prix invitations but won three medals at senior B events. They won their second national title and were selected to compete at the European Championships for the first time in three years. At Europeans, they were 8th in the short dance,[6] then edged past Nora Hoffmann and Maxim Zavozin by 0.39 points into 7th place overall after the free dance. This was the first top-ten result for German ice dancers since 2003 (Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse).[7] The result gave Germany two berths to the 2012 European ice dancing event.[8] Zhiganshina and Gazsi finished 11th at the 2011 World Championships, earning invitations to two Grand Prix events the following season.
In preparation for the 2011–2012 season, Zhiganshina and Gazsi went to Sofia, Bulgaria, to work with choreographer Maxim Staviski, with whom they also worked in previous years.[9] They began the season at 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy where they won the silver medal.[10][11] They are assigned to 2011 Skate America and 2011 NHK Trophy as their Grand Prix events.
Gazsi's mother is German and his father Hungarian. He is in the sports division of the German army.[3][5]
(with Zhiganshina)
| Season | Short dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–2012 |
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Romeo + Juliet by Craig Armstrong |
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| 2010–2011 | Unknown from Cirque du Soleil by unknown |
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| Original dance | |||
| 2009–2010 | |||
| 2007–2008 | Ukrainian dance:
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La Boheme performed by Charles Aznavour |
| Event | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 18th | 18th | 11th | ||||
| European Championships | 16th | 7th | |||||
| German Championships | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | |
| Cup of Russia | 8th | ||||||
| NHK Trophy | 4th | ||||||
| Skate America | 4th | ||||||
| Skate Canada | 7th | ||||||
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | 5th | 1st | |||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 4th | 2nd | |||||
| NRW Trophy | 2nd | ||||||
| Ondrej Nepela Memorial | 1st | 6th | 3rd | 1st | |||
| Pavel Roman Memorial | 1st | 3rd | 1st |
| Event | 2003–04 | 2004–05 |
|---|---|---|
| World Junior Championships | 17th | |
| German Championships | 2nd J. | |
| Junior Grand Prix, China | 6th | |
| Junior Grand Prix, Romania | 7th | |
| Junior Grand Prix, Japan | 6th | |
| Junior Grand Prix, Slovakia | 5th | |
| J. = Junior level | ||
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