Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gordejewa

Ekaterina Gordeeva
Ekaterina Gordejewa (2014)
Full name	Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gordejewa
nation	Soviet Union / Russia
birthday	May 28, 1971
place of birth	Moscow
Career
discipline	Pair skating
Partner	Sergei Grinkov
society	CSKA Moscow
Trainer	Stanislaw Schuk, Stanislaw Leonowitsch
choreographer	Maria Sujewa, Tatiana Tarasowa
End of career	1994
Medal table
Olympic medals 2 × 0 × 0 × World Cup medals 4 × 1 × 0 × EM medals 3 × 1 × 0 ×
winter Olympics gold Calgary 1988 Couples gold Lillehammer 1994 Couples  World figure skating championships gold Geneva 1986 Couples gold Cincinnati 1987 Couples silver Budapest 1988 Couples gold Paris 1989 Couples gold Halifax 1990 Couples  European figure skating championships silver Copenhagen 1986 Couples gold Prague 1988 Couples gold Leningrad 1990 Couples gold Copenhagen 1994 Couples
Placements in the figure skating Grand Prix
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Grand Prix competitions 3 1 0

Yekaterina "Katja" Alexandrovna Gordejewa ( Russian Екатерина Александровна Гордеева ; born May 28, 1971 in Moscow ) is a former Russian figure skater who started in pair skating for the Soviet Union and Russia .

Jekaterina Gordejewa is the daughter of Alexander Alexejewitsch Gordejew (dancer) and Jelena Lwowna Gordejewa (employee at TASS ). At the age of four, Gordejewa started figure skating at CSKA Moscow. In 1982, she switched to pair skating because she had trouble jumping in a single run . Her figure skating partner was Sergei Grinkow . The couple were often referred to simply as "G&G" throughout their careers. They were trained by Stanislaw Schuk and Stanislaw Leonowitsch , Marina Sujewa and Tatjana Tarasowa were responsible for the choreography .

1985 Gordejewa and Grinkow were junior world champions in Colorado Springs . A year later they took part in the Soviet championships for the first time and finished them as the second best couple behind Jelena Walowa and Oleg Wassiljew . The same order arose on their European championship debut in Copenhagen . They won the silver medal. But already on their world championship debut in Geneva Gordejewa and Grinkow managed to defeat their competitors and become world champions.

In 1987 Gordejewa and Grinkow won the Soviet championships for the first and only time in their careers. At the European Championships they were disqualified because there were problems with Grinkow's skate straps and a misunderstanding about the existing rules. At the world championship in Cincinnati they defended their world title.

The 1988 Olympic year began for Gordejewa and Grinkow in Prague with the win of their first European championship title, but in the absence of their greatest competitors Walowa and Vasiljew. In Calgary Gordejewa and Grinkow were unanimously Olympic champions on their Olympic debut ahead of Walowa / Vasiljew. At the World Championships they were defeated by a fall in the freestyle.

In 1989, the couple did not take part in the European Championship, but became world champions for the third time in Paris . 1990 was the only year of their career in which they became both European and world champions . It was the fourth and final world title for Gordejewa and Grinkow.

In the fall of 1990, they ended their amateur career and switched to the professionals. They toured the USA and Canada with Stars on Ice and became professional world champions three times. Gordejewa and Grinkow married in April 1991. In September 1992 their daughter Daria was born in Morristown , New Jersey .

A new rule allowed Ekaterina Gordejewa and Sergei Grinkow to be reamateurised for the 1994 Olympic season. They did that, became Russian champions, European champions and finally Olympic champions for the second time in Lillehammer . They were the only amateur athletes who managed to do this. After that, they returned to the pros and settled in Simsbury , Connecticut .

Gordejewa and Grinkow are one of the few couples who successfully performed a four-fold twist-lift in competition. With two Olympic victories and four world championship titles , they are among the most successful figure skating couples in history.

Azerbaijani postage stamp in honor of Sergei Grinkov and Yekaterina Gordeyeva

On November 12, 1995, Gordejewa and Grinkow had their last public appearance together at a show in Albany , New York . They ran to Verdi's Requiem and “Out of Tears” by the Rolling Stones . On November 20, 1995, Sergei Grinkow collapsed while exercising on the ice in Lake Placid and died of a heart attack . The doctors found that Grinkow's coronary arteries were blocked, and later tests showed that Grinkow was genetically predisposed. The genetic risk factor for early heart attacks is also called the "Grinkow risk factor" after him. At the time of his death, Grinkov was 28, his wife Ekaterina Gordejewa 24 and his daughter 3 years old. He was buried in the Vagankovo ​​Cemetery in Moscow. In his honor, his widow ran with many other well-known figure skaters in February 1996 in a figure skating event that was later broadcast on television. She also wrote the book My Sergej ("Mein Sergei" - German title Mondscheinsonat auf dem Eis ). This book was also made into a film for television in 1998. She moved to California with her daughter and in 2002 married the 1998 Olympic figure skating champion, Ilya Kulik , with whom she has a daughter named Jelisaweta "Lisa" Ilyinichna . The family now lives in Avon, Connecticut. To raise awareness of heart disease, Gordejewa took part in some events. After her first husband, her father had a sudden heart attack in 2008.

Results

Pair skating

(with Sergei Grinkow )

Competition / year	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
winter Olympics				1.						1.
World championships		1.	1.	2.	1.	1.
European championships		2.	D.	1.		1.				1.
Junior World Championships	1.
Soviet championships		2.	1.
Russian championships										1.

• D = disqualified

Web links

Commons : Ekaterina Gordeeva  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Yekaterina Alexandrovna Gordejewa in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Gordejewna and Grinkow website
• Gordejewna fansite
• Literature by and about Jekaterina Alexandrowna Gordejewa in the catalog of the German National Library