Nikolai Morozov (figure skater)

Nikolai Morozov
Morozov at the 2004 European Championships.
Personal information
Full name	Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov
Country represented	Belarus (1996–98) Azerbaijan (1994)
Born	(1975-12-17) 17 December 1975 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Former partner	Tatiana Navka (BLR) Olga Pershankova (AZE)
Former coach	Alexander Zhulin, Zhanna Gromova[1]
Retired	1998

Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov (Russian: Николай Александрович Морозов; born 17 December 1975)^[2] is a Russian coach and choreographer. He coached Shizuka Arakawa to the 2006 Olympic gold medal and Miki Ando to two World titles. He is a former competitive ice dancer who competed with partner Tatiana Navka for Belarus at the 1998 Winter Olympics, placing 16th, and at the 1998 World Championships, placing 10th. Earlier in his career, he competed with Olga Pershankova for Azerbaijan.

Personal life

Morozov was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.^[3] He was briefly married to his ice dancing partner Tatiana Navka. Morozov later married French ice dancer Caroline Douarin with whom he has a daughter,^[4] Annabelle Nicole, born in 2001. He was married to Canadian ice dancer Shae-Lynn Bourne from August 2005^[5][6] to July 2007. He briefly dated his former pupil Miki Ando while he was coaching her.^[7][8]

Career

As a competitor

Morozov's parents put him in skating when he was five after doctors advised them he needed more exercise.^[4] He was a singles skater until the age of 16 when he took up ice dancing.^[4] He spent one year working with coach Natalia Linichuk in Switzerland and was paired with Olga Pershankova.^[4] Representing Azerbaijan, they placed 21st at the 1994 World Championships.^[9]

Morozov teamed up with Tatiana Navka in 1996.^[4] They represented Belarus.^[10] At their first practice at the 1997 World Championships, he sustained a torn meniscus in his knee but they finished 14th at the event and he then underwent surgery.^[4] They earned an Olympic berth by winning gold at the 1997 Karl Schäfer Memorial.^[4] 90 seconds into their free dance at the 1998 Winter Olympics, nearly three-quarters of the floodlights turned off but Navka/Morozov did not interrupt their performance.^[11] They finished 16th at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and 10th at the 1998 World Championships in Minneapolis. They were coached by Alexander Zhulin and Bob Young at the International Skating Center in Simsbury, Connecticut.^[12][13] When Navka decided to skate with another partner, Morozov tried skating with another woman for three months but then decided to retire.^[4]

As a coach

After his competitive retirement, Morozov became a coaching assistant for Tatiana Tarasova, with whom he choreographed for Alexei Yagudin, Barbara Fusar-Poli / Maurizio Margaglio, and Isabelle Delobel / Olivier Schoenfelder.^[4] In 2002 or 2003, he left Tarasova and began coaching and choreographing on his own. Morozov initially coached in Newington, Connecticut^[4] and later at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey (United States). He returned to Moscow after the Russian government asked him to help in the preparation for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.^[14] He is based mainly at the Novogorsk national training center near Moscow, and during summers, also spends time in New Jersey.^[15][16]

His current and former students include:

Ladies' single skaters

• Miki Ando^[17] Coached her to win the 2007 and 2011 World Championships. He is also her choreographer.
• Shizuka Arakawa^[18] Coached her to win the Olympic gold medal in 2006.
• Elene Gedevanishvili^[16]
• Jelena Glebova^[16]
• Alena Leonova
• Valentina Marchei^[19]
• Fumie Suguri^[20]

Men's single skaters

• Daisuke Takahashi^[21] Coached him to win the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships. They split in May 2008 and then resumed working together in June 2012.^[22]
• Florent Amodio^[23] Coached him to win the 2011 European Championships.
• Sergei Voronov^[16]
• Artur Dmitriev, Jr.
• Javier Fernández^[24] Coached until mid-2011. He was also the choreographer.
• Maxim Kovtun^[25] Coached until mid-2012. He was also his choreographer
• Austin Kanallakan^[26]
• Nobunari Oda^[27]
• Daisuke Murakami^[28]
• Kevin van der Perren^[29]
• Adam Rippon^[30]
• Michael Christian Martinez

Ice dancers

• Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov^[31] Coach from mid-2011.
• Ekaterina Pushkash / Jonathan Guerreiro Coach since 2012
• Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz.^[32] Coached them to win the 2003 World Championships.
• Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte^[31] Coach from 2011 until mid-2012.
• Kristin Fraser / Igor Lukanin^[33]
• Melissa Gregory / Denis Petukhov^[34]
• Elena Grushina / Ruslan Goncharov^[35] Coached them to an Olympic bronze medal in 2006.
• Nóra Hoffmann / Attila Elek.^[36]
• Svetlana Kulikova / Arseni Markov^[37]
• Emilie Nussear / Mathew Gates^[38]
• Cathy Reed / Chris Reed^[39]
• Isabella Tobias / Otar Japaridze^[40]
• Jennifer Wester / Daniil Barantsev^[41]
• Anna Zadorozhniuk / Sergei Verbillo^[42]
• Alexandra Zaretski / Roman Zaretski^[43]

Pair skaters

• Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morozov^[44]

As a choreographer

His current and former choreography clients include

• Sasha Cohen^[45]
• Ivan Dinev^[46]
• Alisa Drei^[47]
• Elene Gedevanishvili^[48]
• Julia Golovina / Oleg Voiko^[49]
• Takeshi Honda^[50]
• Brian Joubert
• Tamar Katz^[51]
• Alexandra Kauc / Michał Zych^[52]
• Crystal Kiang
• Michelle Kwan^[53]
• Yulia Lipnitskaya
• Michael Christian Martinez^[54]
• Ann Patrice McDonough^[55]
• Elena Muhhina^[56]
• Anna Pogorilaya
• Alban Préaubert^[57]
• Pang Qing / Tong Jian^[58]
• Elena Radionova
• Scott Smith^[59]
• Yosuke Takeuchi^[60]
• Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov^[16]
• Xu Ming^[61]
• Alexei Yagudin^[62]

Competitive highlights

GP = Part of Champions Series (renamed Grand Prix in 1998)

With Pershankova for Azerbaijan

With Navka for Belarus

Programs

(with Navka)

References

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