Andrei Griazev

Andrei Griazev
Andrei Griazev
	Andrei Griazev in October 2005
Full name	Andrei Vladimirovich Griazev
Height	176 cm (5.77 ft)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Coach	Elena Buianova ; Tatiana Tarasova
Skating club	CSKA Moscow
Retired	2009

Andrei Vladimirovich Griazev (Russian: Андрей Владимирович Грязев, born July 26, 1985, in Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian figure skater. He is the 2007 Russian national champion and 2004 World Junior Champion.

Career

Griazev 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 training with Mishin, Griazev got the 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 no 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 withdrawal 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 2006-2007 season, Griazev continued to struggle with consistency, as well has suffering illness at several competitions. At both the 2006 Trophee Eric Bompard and 2006 Cup of Russia, he finished 7th. He twice finished third behind Ilia Klimkin and Sergei Dobrin at two Russia Cup events going into 2007 Russian Championships.

At the 2007 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Griazev was finally able to put together two good programs. Although trailing Andrei Lutai after the short program, Griazev managed to perform a near error-free long program to win his first national title.

After that, he went to the 2007 European Figure Skating Championships, where he was unable to maintain the level of competition he showed at Nationals. Griazev finished 16th. He was not placed on the Russian team for the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships. However, he did spend spring 2007 again on Ilia Averbukh's skating tour, which traveled across Russia, as well as shows in Lithuania, Latvia and Israel. His programs on tour were to "Harlem Nocturne", by Earl Hagen, and "You can leave your hat on", by Joe Cocker.

For the 2007-2008 season, Griazev was initially assigned to the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy competition in Oberdstorf, Germany, but had to withdraw due to injury. He won the bronze at the 2007 Cup of Russia in Moscow and placed 7th at the 2007 NHK Trophy. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Russian Figure Skating Championships.

He placed 5th at the 2009 Russian Figure Skating Championships. He retired from competitive skating following that season.

Programs

Season	Short Program	Free Skating	Exhibition
2007-2008	Souvenir from Rio by Space	The Godfather by Nino Rota	Harlem Nocturne
2006-2007	Latin Medley	Notre-Dame de Paris Le Temps des Cathédrales/Belle/Les Sans-Papiers	Latin Medley
2005-2006	Carmen	Notre-Dame de Paris Le Temps des Cathédrales/Belle/Les Sans-Papiers	Libertango Carmen
2004-2005	Carmen	The Feeling Begins Incantation	Libertango
2003-2004	Libertango	Selection from Fellini soundtracks	Korobushka
2001-2002	Incantation	Il barbiere di Siviglia

Results

Event	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
World Championships				12th	11th	17th
European Championships				8th	5th		16th
World Junior Championships		14th		1st
Russian Championships	8th	6th	5th	3rd	2nd	9th	1st	3rd	5th
Russian Junior Championships		2nd
Cup of Russia					7th		7th	3rd
NHK Trophy								7th
Trophée Eric Bompard							7th
Cup of China						3rd
Skate Canada International						9th
Cup of Nice		3rd			1st
Junior Grand Prix Final		6th	4th	2nd
Junior Grand Prix, Slovakia				1st
Junior Grand Prix, Bulgaria				1st
Junior Grand Prix, USA			1st
Junior Grand Prix, Canada			1st
Junior Grand Prix, Czech Republic		1st
Junior Grand Prix, Sweden		1st

External links

Navigation