Sergei Vladilenovich Ponomarenko

Sergei Ponomarenko
Full name	Sergei Vladilenovich Ponomarenko
nation	Soviet Union United Team
birthday	October 6, 1960
place of birth	Moscow
size	173 cm
Weight	68 kg
Career
discipline	Ice dance
Partner	Marina Klimowa, Tatiana Durasowa
society	Spartak Moscow
Trainer	Natalja Dubowa, Tatiana Tarasowa
status	resigned
End of career	1992
Medal table
Olympic medals 1 × 1 × 1 × World Cup medals 3 × 5 × 0 × EM medals 4 × 3 × 1 ×
winter Olympics bronze Sarajevo 1984 Ice dance silver Calgary 1988 Ice dance gold Albertville 1992 Ice dance  World figure skating championships silver Tokyo 1985 Ice dance silver Geneva 1986 Ice dance silver Cincinnati 1987 Ice dance silver Budapest 1988 Ice dance gold Paris 1989 Ice dance gold Halifax 1990 Ice dance silver Munich 1991 Ice dance gold Oakland 1992 Ice dance  European figure skating championships bronze Budapest 1984 Ice dance silver Gothenburg 1985 Ice dance silver Copenhagen 1986 Ice dance silver Sarajevo 1987 Ice dance gold Birmingham 1989 Ice dance gold Leningrad 1990 Ice dance gold Sofia 1991 Ice dance gold Lausanne 1992 Ice dance

Sergei Wladilenowitsch Ponomarenko ( Russian Сергей Владиленович Пономаренко ; born  October 6, 1960 in Moscow ) is a former Russian figure skater who started in ice dancing for the Soviet Union and the United Team .

With Tatyana Durasova Sergei Ponomarenko was twice junior world champion , 1978 and 1979. However, the pair never started at European or World Championships . They split up after winning the junior world championship. Sergei Ponomarenko was looking for and found a new ice dance partner in Marina Klimowa . With her he was fourth straight away at the first start at the European Championships in 1983 . In the following year, the couple achieved their final breakthrough by winning the bronze medal at the European Championships and the Olympic Games . In the years that followed, the couple won medals at ISU championships every year without exception until the end of their amateur career in 1992.

Sergei Ponomarenko and Marina Klimowa at the ISU exhibition in the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, 1989

At the beginning of their international amateur career , Marina Klimowa and Sergei Ponomarenko stood in the shadow of their compatriots Natalja Bestemjanowa and Andrei Bukin . They always won silver behind them in the period from 1985 to 1988, including at the Olympic Games in Calgary . Only when Bestemjanowa / Bukin ended their amateur career in 1988, Klimowa / Ponomarenko were able to win titles. Her winning streak from 1989 to 1992 was only broken at the 1991 World Championships by Isabelle Duchesnay and Paul Duchesnay . Marina Klimowa and Sergei Ponomarenko appeared in 1992 with an innovative freestyle to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and were thus able to assert themselves in all important competitions in 1992, so they became Olympic champions in Albertville at their third Olympic Games and thus completed their collection of medals.

Marina Klimowa and Sergei Ponomarenko were trained by Natalja Dubova and later by Tatiana Tarasova and started for the Spartak Moscow club . In 1986 they already stood out for their very elegant freestyle “Golden Waltz”. The “golden waltz” later became a compulsory dance.

Marina Klimowa and Sergei Ponomarenko married in 1984, the couple have two sons. Following their amateur careers , they became professionals . The couple currently resides in Morgan Hill , California and work as a figure skating coach at Sharks Ice in San Jose , California.

Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko were inducted into the Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000 .

Results

Ice dance

(with Marina Klimowa )

Competition / year	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
winter Olympics		3.				2.				1.
World championships		4th	2.	2.	2.	2.	1.	1.	2.	1.
European championships	4th	3.	2.	2.	2.		1.	1.	1.	1.
Soviet championships			1.	1.			1.	1.

(with Tatjana Durasowa )

Competition / year	1978	1979
Junior World Championships	1.	1.

Web links

• Klimova & Ponomarenko Official Website
• Sergei Wladilenowitsch Ponomarenko in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )