Ilia Tkachenko

Ilia Tkachenko
Riazanova/Tkachenko in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Ilia Alexeyevich Tkachenko
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1986-12-26) 26 December 1986 Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Odintsovo
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Partner	Ekaterina Riazanova
Former partner	Isabella Tobias Maria Monko Anastasia Gorshkova
Coach	Alexei Gorshkov Igor Shpilband
Former coach	Oleg Volkov
Choreographer	Sergei Petukhov
Skating club	Odintsovo FSC
Training locations	Odintsovo
Began skating	1991
World standing	10 (As of 17 January 2014 (2014-01-17))[1]
Season's bests	10 (2011–2012)[2] 13 (2010–2011)[3] 45 (2009–2010)[4]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	157.77 2013 Europeans
Short dance:	64.52 2013 Europeans
Free dance	93.77 2013 Rostelecom Cup
Medal record Competitor for  Russia Figure skating Ice dancing Russian Championships Silver 2011 Saransk ice dancing Bronze 2012 Saransk ice dancing Bronze 2013 Sochi Ice Dancing World Junior Championships Bronze 2005 Kitchener ice dancing Junior Grand Prix Final Gold 2007–2008 Gdansk ice dancing

Ilia Alexeyevich Tkachenko (Russian: Илья Алексеевич Ткаченко, born 26 December 1986) is a Russian ice dancer. With partner Ekaterina Riazanova, he is the 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard silver medalist, the 2012 Skate Canada bronze medalist, and a three-time Russian national medalist.

Career

Early career

Tkachenko began skating at the age of four in Perm. Initially, he was a single skater, training in Andrei Kislukhin's group, but when it dissolved he took up ice dancing.^[5] He moved with his grandmother to Moscow at age 13.^[5]

From 2002 through 2006, Tkachenko competed with Anastasia Gorshkova, coached by her father, Alexei Gorshkov.^[6] Together, they were the 2005 World Junior bronze medalists but dropped to 7th the following year. Gorshkova retired at the end of the season.^[7]

In the late summer of 2006, Tkachenko teamed up with Maria Monko, coached by Gorshkov.^[8] They won the silver medal at the 2007 Russian Junior Championships and placed 5th at the 2007 Junior Worlds. The following season, they won the Junior Grand Prix Final but finished fourth at the 2008 Junior Worlds after Monko fell on twizzles in both the original and free dance. For the 2008–2009 season, they were assigned to Skate America and Trophée Eric Bompard and prepared new programs,^[8] however, they did not compete in either event. Their partnership dissolved and Tkachenko briefly teamed up with Isabella Tobias in 2008.^[9] Tobias and Tkachenko did not compete together.

Senior career

In spring 2009, Tkachenko expressed interest in skating with Ekaterina Riazanova; after a tryout, they both felt it would be a good partnership, despite her needing time to adapt to his different technique.^[10] However, their decision to team up met with some disapproval from the Russian skating federation.^[10] They are coached by Gorshkov at Odintsovo FSC, near Moscow.^[10]

Riazanova and Tkachenko began competing together during the 2009–2010 season, finishing 4th at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy and sixth at their sole Grand Prix event, the 2009 Cup of Russia. At Russian Nationals, they placed fourth.

Riazanova and Tkachenko decided to scrap the free dance they had planned for the 2010–2011 season and prepare a new one.^[11] They were assigned to two Grand Prix events, Skate America and Trophée Eric Bompard. They placed 5th at Skate America. They won their first Grand Prix medal, silver, at Trophée Eric Bompard. At the 2011 Russian Nationals, they won the silver medal and their first berth to the European Championships.^[11]

At the 2011 Europeans, they placed fifth in the short dance with a new personal best of 60.91. They came in sixth in the free dance and overall.^[12] Russia had only two spots to the World Championships and since both Bobrova / Soloviev and Ilinykh / Katsalapov had placed ahead of them at Europeans, they did not make the team, however, they continued training as first alternates and also worked on new programs until the end of May; after vacation, they resumed training for the new season on June 20, including a three-week camp in Bulgaria.^[10]

Riazanova and Tkachenko with coach Alexei Gorshkov (right) and choreographer Sergei Petukhov (left)

For the 2011–2012 season, Riazanova and Tkachenko were assigned to 2011 Skate Canada and 2011 Cup of Russia as their Grand Prix events. On their free dance, which was choreographed by Sergei Petukhov, Riazanova said, "A young woman remembers her beloved, who is no longer alive. She is so deeply immersed in the memories of happy times that her dreams seem to become reality for a short while."^[5] They had to withdraw from 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy because Tkachenko's new passport was not ready.^[13][14] On December 13, 2011, Riazanova sustained a concussion and a broken nose when Tkachenko accidentally elbowed her in practice; she was released from hospital at her own risk on December 20.^[15][16] At the Russian Championships which began on December 25, Riazanova and Tkachenko won the bronze medal after placing third in the short dance and fourth in the free dance.^[17][16] They finished 5th overall at the 2012 European Championships but received a small bronze medal for their 3rd place in the short dance. They finished 9th at the 2012 World Championships.

In April 2012, Tkachenko said they would spend some time preparing for the following season in Marina Zueva and Igor Shpilband's group in the U.S.,^[18] however, the coaches parted ways so the skaters decided to train with Shpilband in Novi, Michigan.^[19][20] At a camp in Bulgaria, Tkachenko lost his balance while practicing a lift on the floor in skates and stepped on Riazanova's hand; she had surgery on her hand and recovered well.^[20] At the suggestion of Tatiana Tarasova, they decided to scrap a new free dance to Pink Floyd's Hey You and made a new one to a waltz from the Godfather films.^[20] Riazanova and Tkachenko won bronze medals at the 2012 Skate Canada and 2012 Trophée Eric Bompard. They repeated as bronze medalists at the 2013 Russian Championships.

For the 2013–2014 season, Riazanova and Tkachenko were assigned to two grand prix events, they finished 4th in their events at the 2013 Skate Canada and the 2013 Rostelecom Cup. They then finished 4th at the 2014 Russian Championships behind Victoria Sinitsina / Ruslan Zhiganshin.

Personal life

Tkachenko is studying municipal administration and considering a career in sports administration.^[10] He has a younger brother.^[5]

Programs

With Riazanova

Riazanova and Tkachenko at the 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard

With Monko

With Gorshkova

Competitive highlights

With Riazanova

Riazanova and Tkachenko at 2009 Cup of Russia

With Monko

Monko and Tkachenko at the 2007–2008 JGP Final

With Gorshkova

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ilia Tkachenko.

• Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko at the International Skating Union
• Maria Monko / Ilia Tkachenko at the International Skating Union
• "Maria Monko / Ilia Tkachenko". IceNetwork.com. 
• Anastasia Gorshkova / Ilia Tkachenko at the International Skating Union