Elena Berezhnaya

Elena Berezhnaya

Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze compete in 2001
Personal information
Full name Elena Viktorovna Berezhnaya
Country represented  Russia
Former country(ies) represented  Latvia
Born 11 October 1977 (1977-10-11) (age 34)
Nevinnomyssk
Height 154 cm (5.05 ft)
Partner Anton Sikharulidze
Former partner Oleg Shliakhov (LAT)
Former coach Tamara Moskvina
Former choreographer Tamara Moskvina
Igor Bobrin
Aleksandr Matveev
Skating club Yubileiny Sport Club
Retired 2002
Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Silver 1998 Nagano Pairs
Gold 2002 Salt Lake City Pairs

Elena Viktorovna Berezhnaya (Russian: Елена Викторовна Бережная, born 11 October 1977 in Nevinnomyssk, Russian SFSR) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Anton Sikharulidze, she is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion.

Berezhnaya first competed with Oleg Shliakhov for Latvia and won gold at the 1995 Trophée de France. While training together in January 1996, she suffered a serious injury, leaving her partly paralyzed and unable to speak. She recovered rapidly and began competing again in November 1996 with new partner, Anton Sikharulidze.

Within two years of the accident, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had established themselves as one of the best pair teams in the world.[1] They were noted for their lyrical, flowing and elegant style, which they combined with strong athleticism, including outstanding speed, unison, and big elements.[2][3][4][5][6][7] During their career together, they were coached by Tamara Moskvina at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey. Their Olympic gold medals are shared with Canadian pair Jamie Salé and David Pelletier.

Contents

Early life

Berezhnaya was born in the town of Nevinnomyssk in southern Russia. She has two brothers, Alexei and Ivan.[8] Her parents divorced when she was five due to her father's alcoholism; her mother remarried but eventually divorced again.[9] The family also included three cousins after their parents' deaths.[8]

Berezhnaya began skating at the age of four in Nevinnomyssk.[9] At the age of 8, she began to be coached by Nina Ruchkina, who had arrived from Moscow. When Berezhnaya was 13, Ruchkina decided that her son, Alexander Ruchkin, should be a pair skater despite his poor upper body strength, and she asked Berezhnaya, as the smallest girl, to be his partner.[9] Berezhnaya was skeptical of the idea but Ruchkina convinced her mother that the pair would get a chance at CSKA Moscow's skating school.[9] Berezhnaya moved to Moscow, 791 miles to the north, and lived in a dormitory as her mother could not move with her.[8][9] Ruchkin continued to struggle to lift her and they made little progress.[9]

Early career

After unsuccessful partnerships with Ruchkin and another skater, the 14-year-old Berezhnaya teamed with Latvian-born Oleg Shliakhov, who had been dumped by his seventh partner.[9] The partnership went well at first, however, over time he started to become physically and verbally abusive, hitting Berezhnaya and dropping her from lifts.[9] He decided to move to Riga, Latvia, saying they would have better and cheaper training conditions.[9] Seeing no alternative partner, she went with him.[9] Although not violent outside the rink, he became abusive again in training.[9] Berezhnaya kept quiet and did not tell her mother, worrying it would worsen her poor health.[10] She continued for her mother's sake, "I knew that she would watch me skate on TV and that it gave her strength. She was the only reason for me to continue."[10] They trained on their own for a year as no coach wanted to take the pair but eventually found a coach unaware of Shliakhov's reputation. They had a strong showing at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, finishing eighth. The next season they won a pair of silver medals at Skate Canada and Trophée Lalique and finished 7th at the 1995 World Championships. Having little success in keeping Shliakhov in line, their coach resigned at the end of the season.[9]

The Latvian federation appealed to renowned coach Tamara Moskvina to take on the pair and she eventually invited them to train with her in May or June 1995. They spent a few months training in Colorado Springs, Colorado[11] and then trained mostly at Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, despite the deteriorating and crowded facilities at the time.[12] Berezhnaya and Shliakhov won bronze at Skate America, gold at Trophée de France and bronze at Nations Cup. Shliakhov was well behaved for half a year, but then dropped her from a lift.[9] Moskvina had professional psychologists work with him regularly,[9] however, after brief periods of calm with apologies and professions of affection, he would start to slip back to his old behavior.[13] Despite this, Berezhnaya thought he had improved slightly. However, Moskvina told her it was not enough and advised her to end the partnership.[9] Shliakhov was registered at a mental hospital in Riga.[14]

Berezhnaya had begun to develop friendships with the other skaters at Yubileyny, becoming particularly close to Anton Sikharulidze, the 1994 and 1995 World Junior champion with Maria Petrova.[9] Shliakhov began to perceive Sikharulidze as his rival.[13] At the end of 1995 Shliakhov demanded they train in Riga for three weeks in preparation for the European Championships.[9] Sikharulidze urged her to stay in Saint Petersburg but she believed she could manage a few weeks.[9]

In January 1996, Berezhnaya was seriously injured when Shliakhov's blade sliced into her skull while the pair were practicing a side-by-side camel spin in Riga. Two surgical operations operations were performed to remove bone fragments from her brain. The accident caused partial paralysis on her right side, and doctors were unsure if she would walk again.[1] She also briefly lost the ability to speak.[3]

During her hospitalization, Sikharulidze heard of the news, and traveled to Latvia to be with her, joining Moskvina.[2][8] Berezhnaya was surprised and overjoyed to see him, but unable to speak or move.[15] Shliakhov also arrived at the hospital with flowers but Berezhnaya did not wish to see him again.[13] Her mother, Sikharulidze, and Moskvina took her back to Saint Petersburg, Russia where she could begin her rehabilitation. She stayed at Sikharulidze's parents' small apartment, sharing a room with him and his sister, Marina.[15] She was grateful for his support, saying she was "skinny, shaved, half-alive, almost a skeleton, and Anton so tenderly cared about me. Perhaps it was his belief in me that helped me recover so quickly.[15]

Partnership with Anton Sikharulidze

Berezhnaya wished to return to the ice and doctors agreed that physical exercise would be therapeutic.[3] On 15 March 1996, only two months after the accident, she began skating carefully with Sikharulidze's help and Moskvina observing.[1][3] Berezhnaya said, "I didn't have any false dreams about the future. All I thought about was those first steps." However, Tamara Moskvina was immediately captivated by the pairing, "They're a natural pair. They've got it – something magical."[1]

Sikharulidze had split from Petrova due to his desire to work with Moskvina while Petrova preferred to remain with their old coaches. With Berezhnaya's condition improving, the two began to consider the possibility of a competitive career together. She had made a nearly full recovery, although her speech remained slurred requiring speech therapy.[3] A minor speech problem remained as of 2010.[16] In November 1996, she made her return to competition, competing with Sikharulidze at Trophée Lalique where the pair immediately won their first medal, a bronze.[17] In December, they placed fifth at Cup of Russia, and then captured the silver medal at the Russian Nationals, earning them a berth to the European Championships. In January 1997 in Paris,[18] the pair made the podium at Europeans, a rare feat for a pair in their first season together, and even more stunning given her injury less than a year ago.[3] At the 1997 World Figure Skating Championships in March, they had a strong short program which placed them provisionally in third, with two judges giving them first-place votes.[3] However, the pair had a disastrous long program, placing 12th in the segment and dropping to 9th overall.

1998 Olympic season

The next season, they won the European Championship, defeating 1992 Olympic champion Artur Dmitriev with his new partner Oksana Kazakova, and the reigning World Champions Mandy Wötzel and Ingo Steuer. At only 20 and 21 years of age respectively, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had established themselves as gold-medal favorites going into the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.[2] Observers were impressed at how rapidly they had become a force, with most teams requiring more years to become attuned as a pair.[1] Time called her comeback "the miracle on ice".[1] Their skating drew comparisons to the two-time Olympic Champions Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov.[1][3] Gordeeva selected Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze as her and Grinkov's skating doubles in a documentary on the legendary team after her husband's death.

In the short program, the pair had one fall but their other elements were of high quality. In the long, they put themselves back in contention for the gold medal with a strong performance, until five seconds from the end when they had a surprising fall as Sikharulidze set her down from a closing star lift.[19] Although disappointed by suddenly giving away their chance at the gold so close to the end of the program, Sikharulidze recovered from his shock and joked, "It's a new finish. If you don't like it, we'll change it, no problem."[19] The quality of the rest of their skating earned them the silver medal ahead of Wötzel and Steuer, while Kazakova and Dmitriev claimed the title. Former Japanese singles skater Yuko Kawaguchi became inspired to switch to pair skating after seeing Elena Berezhnaya at the Nagano Olympics.[20]

Post-1998 Olympics

Following the Olympics, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze competed at the 1998 World Championships where they won the gold medal. In autumn of that year, they won Skate America and Skate Canada. In January 1999, they had to withdraw from the European Championships after the short program due to Berezhnaya having the flu,[21] but returned a few months later to win their second world title in March 1999.

The Yubileyny Sports Palace ice rink then closed for renovations, forcing them to relocate to Hackensack, New Jersey's Ice House where Moskvina agreed to coach the American pair of Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman. The two teams were friendly rivals, and in 2009 Berezhnaya and Zimmerman would skate together at a Russian ice show. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze struggled at Skate America in October 1999, placing third, but regained their form to win Skate Canada in November. Moskvina would later admit Sikharulidze had become distracted by life in a new country and was not as focused on training. In February 2000, the pair won gold at the 2000 Europeans but were stripped of their medals after Berezhnaya tested positive for pseudoephedrine, a substance whose ban was lifted between 2004 and 2010. This resulted in a three-month disqualification from the date of the test, and the medal being stripped.[22] She had taken only a simple cold medication approved by a doctor but had failed to inform the ISU as required.[23] Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze missed the World Championships that year as a result of the disqualification.

During the 2001-2002 season, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze developed a rivalry with Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier. Throughout the season, both pairs had traded first and second place at most of the major competitions, and they were considered the main contenders for the Olympic gold medal. At the Grand Prix Final they debuted their new long program to Meditation de Thais and decided to persevere with it at the Olympics, while their rivals abandoned their new long program with which they had been struggling and decided to reuse their old Love Story program. The New York Times speculated that the judging might be influenced by the crowd response, with the familiar music of Love Story having more potential to draw louder applause in North America and the judges not being immune to human reactions.[24]

2002 Olympics

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, both pairs skated strong short programs, after which Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were in 1st and Sale and Pelletier, who had a fall at the end of their program, 2nd. In the long program, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze skated a good program although Sikharulidze had a stumble on a jump element before quickly regaining unison with his partner. Sale and Pelletier, meanwhile, had no obvious mistakes. Four judges placed the Canadians first, while five had Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze as the winners. Sale and Pelletier received higher technical scores, but Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had superior artistic marks. Some observers pointed out that Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had performed a more challenging program with greater speed, more interweaving moves and transitions, and less distance between the partners.[22][25][26] They were awarded the gold and the Canadians the silver. The result sparked a controversy although the commentators were criticized for failing to mention Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze's strengths.[26] The president of the International Skating Union, Ottavio Cinquanta, under extreme pressure from the International Olympic Committee, immediately launched an investigation into a possible judging scandal. The focus immediately turned to French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the only Western judge in favor of the Russian pair. Under intense pressure, she stated that she had been intimidated into voting for the Russian pair in exchange for an advantage for the French couple in the ice dancing competition, which was to follow a few days later. The scandal resulted in a second gold medal being awarded to the Canadian pair, and the IOC and ISU decided to declare both pairs as Olympic co-champions. When the media furore faded, Le Gougne rescinded her earlier statement and declared she had voted according to her honest assessment of the performances but had been pressured to say otherwise. Leading up to the pairs final, NBC had heavily promoted the chances of the Canadian pair possibly breaking the decades-long Russian/Soviet dominance of the pairs event. Although Sikharulidze's stepout on a jump was regularly highlighted by the media, judges evaluate the quality and degree of difficulty of the entire program; Canadian Patrick Chan won gold at the 2010 Skate Canada with four falls.

Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had an on-and-off romantic relationship between 1996 and 2002; they remain close friends.[15][27]

Post-competitive career

In May 2003, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze confirmed they had retired from competitive skating.[28] From 2002-2006, they toured with Stars on Ice, then returned to Russia. From 2007, Sikharulidze became increasingly involved in politics so Berezhnaya occasionally performed on her own.[29]

Although taking time off to have two children, Berezhnaya makes occasional appearances in Russian ice productions. In 2006, Berezhnaya teamed with the actor Aleksandr Nosik for the Channel One (Russia) ice show Stars on Ice (Russian: Звёзды на льду). In 2008, she was paired with the pop star Dima Bilan for the Russia 1 series Star Ice (Звёздный лёд). In 2009, she skated with the comedian Mikhail Galustian in the Channel One series Ice Age 3 (Russian: Ледниковый период-3). She also skated with former training mate John Zimmerman in the Kings on Ice (Короли льда) show in 2009, and with Jérôme Blanchard in Ice Heart (Ледяное сердце). In 2010, she joined another edition of Ice Age, teaming up with Igor Ugolnikov.

Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze skated together at a City Lights-themed ice show in Moscow from 14–17 October 2010.[30] In late 2010 and early 2011, Berezhnaya will play the White Queen in an Alice in Wonderland ice show in St. Petersburg and Moscow, alongside Alexei Yagudin, Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin.[16][31] In autumn 2011, Berezhnaya participated in the third season of the Canadian reality program Battle of the Blades, partnered with former NHL player Curtis Leschyshyn. In November 2011, she announced she was retiring from skating.[32]

Personal life

In 2005, during the Stars on Ice tour, Berezhnaya began a friendship with Steven Cousins and they later became a couple after they left the tour.[33] Berezhnaya gave birth to their son Tristan on 6 October 2007 in London, England.[34] Their daughter, Sofia Diana (diminutive: Sonia[16]), was born on 21 June 2009 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.[35][36] In 2010, she settled in her husband's hometown of Chester, England but also spends time in Russia.[16] In August 2010, Berezhnaya and Cousins had their two children baptized in an Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg.[37] Anton Sikharulidze is her son's godfather.[37]

Programs

Eligible career

Season Short program[38] Long program[39] Exhibition[40]
2001–2002 Lady Caliph: The Kid:
2000–2001
  • Meadowland
    arranged by Stanley Black
    performed by the London Festival Orchestra
 City Lights:
  • Charlie Chaplin medley
    performed by Catherine Wilson and Friends
    from the album Classical Potpourri
  • Terry's Theme
    performed by the London Pops Orchestra
    from the album Award Winning Movie Themes: The 50's
 Smooth:
1999–2000

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg:
1998–1999 Concerto for Coloratura:
  • Concert for the Voice –
    Andante from the Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra, opus 82
    written by Reinhold Glière
    performed by the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
    and Evgenia Miroshnichenko
1997–1998
  • Dark Eyes
    performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
1996–1997
  • Dark Eyes
    performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
  • Elegie in E-flat minor
    from Cinq Morceaux de fantasie, op. 3
    by Sergei Rachmaninoff
    performed by the Bekova Sisters

Professional career

Season Programs
2005–2006
  • Chaplin 3.0
    various
2004–2005
  • Dance Mix
    various
2003–2004
  • Meadowland
    arranged by Stanley Black
    performed by the London Festival Orchestra
2002–2003 After Hours at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
(Elvis & Marilyn):

Other

With Oleg Shliakhov

Season Short program Long program Exhibition
1995–1996
1994–1995
  • Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
  • Music by John Miles
  • Smooth Criminal
1993–1994
  • In The Mood

Competitive highlights

With Sikharulidze

Event 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02
Winter Olympic Games 2nd 1st
World Championships 9th 1st 1st 2nd
European Championships 3rd 1st WD DQ* 1st
Russian Championships 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st
Grand Prix Final 1st 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd
Skate America 1st 3rd
Skate Canada 1st 2nd
Nations Cup 2nd
Trophée Lalique 3rd 1st 1st 1st
Cup of Russia 5th 1st 1st 1st
NHK Trophy 1st

*Won the gold but disqualified due to Berezhnaya testing positive for pseudoephedrine

With Shliakhov

Event 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96
Winter Olympic Games 8th
World Championships 14th 7th 7th
European Championships 8th 8th 5th
Skate America 4th 3rd
Skate Canada International 4th 2nd
Nations Cup 3rd
Trophée Lalique 2nd 1st
NHK Trophy 4th
Nebelhorn Trophy 2nd
Piruetten 4th
Skate Israel 2nd
Goodwill Games 4th

References

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  12. ^ "They only have two hours of ice time a day and they skate with ten other pairs on the ice. That's extremely dangerous, there's a lot of collisions." - Barbara Underhill on Petrova and Sikharulidze who trained at the same Saint Petersburg rink as Berezhnaya and Shliakhov. (ESPN Classic Canada broadcast of 1995 Skate Canada free programs.)
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  18. ^ "1997 European Championships, Paris, France · January 20-26, 1997". Archived from the original on October 18, 2004. http://web.archive.org/web/20041018080450/http://www.pairsonice.net/bns/competitions/1997ec.php. 
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  20. ^ Fyodorov, Gennady (October 20, 2009). "Kawaguchi braves taunts to skate for Russia". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/6498r7Ir1. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 
  21. ^ "1999 World Championships - ABC profile". Archived from the original on November 16, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051116030331/http://www.pairsonice.net/bns/transcripts/1999wc.php. 
  22. ^ a b Wallechinsky, David (2009). Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. http://books.google.ca/books?id=6EThoEOnGuUC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=pseudoephedrine+%2Bberezhnaya#v=onepage&q=pseudoephedrine%20%2Bberezhnaya&f=false. Retrieved 9 July 2010. 
  23. ^ "2000 World Championships - Pairs". Ice Skating International. http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archive/results_worlds/world00p.htm. Retrieved 6 June 2010. 
  24. ^ Roberts, Selena (11 February 2002). "Canadians Take Aim At Russians' Long Streak". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/11/sports/olympics-figure-skating-canadians-take-aim-at-russians-long-streak.html?pagewanted=1. 
  25. ^ "2002 Olympic Winter Games: Pairs Figure Skating Highlights". Golden Skate. February 12, 2002. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080725015215/http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2001/021202.shtml. "[Sale/Pelletier's program] was not quite up to the standard set by the Russians in terms of complexity and originality" 
  26. ^ a b Mittan, Barry (March 2, 2002). "As the Skate Spins". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080705131814/http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2001/030202.shtml. 
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  30. ^ Golinsky, Reut (November 19, 2010). "Ice festival in Moscow". AbsoluteSkating.com. http://absoluteskating.com/reports/2010crystalice.html. Retrieved December 22, 2010. 
  31. ^ "Алиса в стране чудес на льду" (in Russian). 6 August 2010. http://www.peterout.ru/theatre/articles/alisa-v-strane-chudes-na-ldu. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
  32. ^ CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/battle/2011/11/berezhnaya-ends-her-career-with-battle.html#igImgId_22315. 
  33. ^ Никитин, Илья (28 January 2010). "Время для красивой сказки" (in Russian). peoples.ru. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/6499EoJ0E. 
  34. ^ "Бережная родила сына фигуристу, с которым познакомилась на Олимпиаде" (in Russian). newsru.com. 9 October 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/6499JqgW1. 
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  36. ^ "Mama Lena". http://www.mamalena.ru. 
  37. ^ a b "Звездные крестины - Антон Сихарулидзе стал крестным отцом сына Елены Бережной [Anton Sikharulidze became godfather of Elena Berezhnaya's son]" (in Russian). Tvoy den'. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/6497lnVlC. 
  38. ^ "Short programs". A Pair of Hearts. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080516033027/http://www.pairsonice.net/bns/routines-sp.php. 
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  40. ^ "Exhibition routines". A Pair of Hearts. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071230000827/http://www.pairsonice.net/bns/routines-ex.php. 

External links