| Olympic medalist | ||
| Medal record | ||
| Figure skating | ||
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| Competitor for the Unified Team | ||
| Bronze | 1992 Albertville | Ice dancing |
| Competitor for Russia | ||
| Silver | 1994 Lillehammer | Ice dancing |
Usova and Zhulin at a 1989 exhibition in West Berlin. |
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| Full name | Maya Valentinovna Usova | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alternative names | Maia Usova | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former country(ies) represented | CIS Soviet Union |
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| Born | 22 May 1964 Nizhny Novgorod |
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| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former partner | Evgeny Platov Alexander Zhulin Alexei Batalov |
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| Coach | Natalia Dubova | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Profsoyuz Moskva / Sportsclub Moskva | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Maya Valentinovna Usova (Russian: Майя Валентиновна Усова), born 22 May 1964 in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) is a Russian ice dancer. With Alexander Zhulin, she is the 1993 World champion, 1994 Olympic silver medalist, 1992 Olympic bronze medalist.
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Maya Usova initially competed with Alexei Batalov. At the age of nine, she moved from Gorky to Moscow to train with coach Natalia Dubova.[1] Dubova paired her with Alexander Zhulin in 1980. In 1988, they made their first appearance at the European Championships, placing 4th. The next season, they won silver at Europeans and silver in their World Championships debut. The next two seasons, they took bronze at Worlds.
In the 1991–92 season, Usova and Zhulin won silver at the European Championships and then captured their first Olympic medal, bronze, at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. They ended the season by winning their second World silver medal. They moved with Dubova from Moscow to Lake Placid, New York in 1992.[2]
In the 1992–93 season, Usova and Zhulin won the European title and followed that up by winning the World title as well. The next season, they dropped to third at the European Championships behind Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean and Oksana Grishuk / Evgeny Platov. At the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, they won the silver medal behind Grishuk and Platov.
Usova and Zhulin skated together professionally for four years before parting company. Usova then skated with former rival, Evgeny Platov.
From 2002 to 2004, Usova helped Tatiana Tarasova and skating partner Evgeny Platov coach numerous skaters, including Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky and Shizuka Arakawa. She coached at the Igloo in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. She currently coaches young ice dancers in Odintsovo, near Moscow. Usova is an International Technical Specialist for Russia.[3]
Usova and Zhulin were married in 1986[2] but later divorced.[4] She is remarried to a Russian professor in medicine, Anatoly Orletsky.[5] In 2010, she gave birth to their daughter, Anastasia.
Off the ice, she has appeared in several Marlboro advertisements in Russia.
| Season | Original dance | Free dance[6] | Exhibition[7] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1998 |
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| 1995–1996 | Astor Piazzolla
Prelude In C Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff |
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| 1994–1995 | Fantasy in D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Blues For Klook |
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| 1993–1994 | A Day In The Life Of A Fool | Selected Melodies by Nino Rota |
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| 1992–1993 | Tales From The Vienna Woods | Blues For Klook by Eddy Louis |
Tango
Prelude in E Minor by Frederic Chopin Autumn Leaves |
| 1991–1992 | Pizzicato Polka by Johann Strauss II |
Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi |
Autumn Leaves |
| 1990–1991 | Blues For Klook by Eddy Louis |
Summertime (from Porgy and Bess) by George Gershwin |
Autumn Leaves |
| 1989–1990 | Tango | ||
| 1988–1989 |
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| Season | Programs[6][7][8] |
|---|---|
| 2000–2001 | Tango from The Addams Family
Desert Rose by Sting Carmen by Georges Bizet |
| 1999–2000 | The Umbrellas of Cherbourg by Michel Legrand Copa de la Vida/Historia de un Amor Spente Le Stelle by Emma Shapplin |
| 1998–1999 | Padam Padam by Édith Piaf When You Came Into My Life Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven |
(with Zhulin)
| Event | 1983–84 | 1984–85 | 1985–86 | 1986–87 | 1987–88 | 1988–89 | 1989–90 | 1990–91 | 1991–92 | 1992–93 | 1993–94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 3rd | 2nd | |||||||||
| World Championships | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | ||||||
| European Championships | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | ||||
| Soviet Championships | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | ||||
| Skate America | 1st | 1st | |||||||||
| Nations Cup | 1st | ||||||||||
| NHK Trophy | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 1st | ||||||||||
| Prize of Moscow News | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | ||||||||
| Winter Universiade | 1st | 2nd |
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