Andrei Griazev

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Andrei Griazev

Andrei Griazev (Russian: Андрей Грязев) is a Russian figure skater. Griazev was born on July 26, 1985, in Perm, Russia. He began skating at the age of four. At the age of 11, he moved from Perm to St. Petersburg, to train with famous coach Alexei Mishin at the Yublieney training center.

During his time taking from Mishin, Griazev got his triple Axel. After several years with Mishin, Griazev placed a disappointing 14th at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 2002. After this, Mishin sent Griazev to work with Mishin's wife, Tatiana Mishina. Frustrated and disappointed, Griazev left Yublieney, went home to Perm, and did not skating at all for several months. Reportedly, his mother had contact with former training mate Alexei Yagudin, who suggested Griazev come to the United States to train with Tatiana Tarasova. Griazev did and became the 2004 World Junior Champion. That same year, he placed third at Russian senior nationals and earned a chance to compete at the European Figure Skating Championships and World Figure Skating Championships, where he placed 8th and 12th, respectively.

In 2005, Griazev suffered a back injury and had to withdraw from Skate America. He struggled at Cup of Russia, placing 7th, but then earned silver at Russian Nationals. He went again to European championships, placing an impressive 5th, and moved up a place at Worlds to 11th.

2006 proved to be a year of highs and lows. As Tarasova had returned to Russia, Griazev did also, training with both Tarasova and Elena Vodorezova. Griazev had a very disappointing performance at Skate Canada International, placing 9th out of 11 men. The very next week, however, he won the bronze medal at Cup of China, his first senior Grand Prix medal. At that competition, he was in the lead after the short program, and earned new personal best scores for his short program, long program, and overall total.

What looked like a near certainty to medal at Russian nationals faltered, when Griazev struggled badly in both programs and placed a disappointing 9th. He missed going to Europeans and the Olympics. Due to the withdrawels of other skaters Griazev was sent to 2006 Worlds, where he had uninspiring qualifying and short programs, but performed a nearly flawless long program.

Griazev returned to Russia in March 2006 to take part in the "Italian Carnival" skating tour produced by Ilia Averbukh. He had also taken part in this tour the previous year. His touring schedule was cut short when he suffered a meniscus tear and had to leave the tour to undergo surgery. For the 2006 season, Griazev is currently scheduled to compete at Trophée Eric Bompard and Cup of Russia, as well as Russian National Championships in January 2007.

Sources

• http://andrei-griazev.com/ (see media links)
• http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00005107.htm
• http://skate-gryazev.narod.ru