Ksenia Smetanenko

Ksenia Smetanenko
Personal information
Alternative names Ksenia Gonchar
Xenia Smetanenko
Country represented Armenia
Russia
Born (1979-03-26) 26 March 1979
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Former partner Samuel Gezalian
Igor Lukanin
Retired 1998

Ksenia Smetanenko, married name: Gonchar (Russian: Ксения Гончар (Сметаненко), born 26 March 1979)[1] is a former ice dancer who competed internationally for Russia and Armenia. With Samuel Gezalian, she is the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion and competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics for Armenia. Earlier in her career, she competed for Russia with Igor Lukanin.

Career

Smetanenko originally competed for Russia. With Igor Lukanin, she placed third at the 1992 Russian National Junior Championships and tenth at the 1993 World Junior Championships for Russia. They also appeared twice at the German Championships.

In 1997, Smetanenko teamed up with Samuel Gezalian and began representing Armenia. Placing sixth at the 1997 Karl Schäfer Memorial, they qualified a spot for Armenia at the Olympics. Smetanenko/Gezalian then won gold at the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb and placed 20th at the 1998 European Championships before competing at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where they placed 24th. They retired from competition at the end of the season.

Personal life

Smetanenko was born in Moscow.[2] She married professional hockey player Sergei Gonchar of the Montreal Canadiens, whom she met at the 1998 Winter Olympics.[3]

Competitive highlights

With Gezalian for Armenia

International
Event 1997–98
Winter Olympics 24th
World Championships 27th
European Championships 20th
Golden Spin of Zagreb 1st
Karl Schäfer Memorial 6th

With Lukanin for Russia and Germany

International
Event 1991–92 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97
World Junior Champ. 10th
National
Russian Junior Champ. 3rd
German Champ. 5th 4th

References

  1. ↑ "Ksenya Smetanenko". sports-reference.com.
  2. ↑ "Our Founders". Big Dreams Children's Foundation.
  3. ↑ Khmylev, Olga (11 March 2013). "Checking in with one of Russia’s greatest defensemen". Hooked on Hockey Magazine.
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