The first appearance on the ice of Sergey Grinkov and Ekaterina Gordeeva immediately made this duet one of the most popular among figure skating enthusiasts. The fate of the sport and the personal relationship of the skaters was followed with interest by the whole country. We will talk about their triumphal victories, happy life and family tragedy in this article.
First steps on ice
In the 80s. XX century in the Soviet Union figure skating was at the peak of popularity. Parents actively gave their children in the figure skating section. The parents of future Olympic champions Sergey Grinkov and Ekaterina Gordeeva did not become an exception.
Sergey Grinkov first appeared at the rink at the age of 5 years. His alma mother was the school of figure skating at the sports club CSKA.
Katya did not immediately get into figure skating. From the age of three she performed in the Kalinka team, having successfully passed the competitive selection in the ballet school at the Bolshoi Theater. Her father, the dancer of the famous dance ensemble named after I. Moiseyev, dreamed that his daughter would follow in his footsteps. But fate decreed that Katyusha also ended up in the figure skating school of the CSKA club.
Given the sports data of young athletes, the coaches decided to form a dance duet from them and combined them into a pair. It happened in 1981. Since then, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov have been inseparable.
Katya was 11 years old, Sergey - 15. After a very short time, under the guidance of coaches V. Zakharov and N. Shevalovskaya, they won their first serious victories.
Personal relationship history
The first time Sergey Grinkov kissed Catherine when they were visiting his friend athlete Alexander Fadeev. It happened at his summer cottage.
Then the sports duet Gordeeva-Grinkov went to competitions in England. Already here, far from home and the custody of parents, real feelings began to arise between them.
At one of the training sessions, Katya was seriously injured. Sergei stumbled at the moment of support, when the partner was high above her head. The skater fell, hitting her head on the ice. After this incident, Sergei became more kind to Katya. They turned from a sports duo into a couple.
When Sergey Grinkov got the apartment, he invited Katya to live together and marry him. The whole country followed the development of the history of personal relationships between skaters. Speaking on ice, the guys seemed to glow with happiness. The harmony between them helped in the conquest of the pedestals. When Catherine became pregnant, the couple decided that they would go to America to give birth. So, on September 11, 1992, their wonderful daughter Daria was born.
Sergey Grinkov was a loving husband and caring father. With Catherine, they were very happy because they loved each other, illuminating everything around with their feelings.
Sports success skaters
Having appeared on the ice arena, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov immediately became the new stars of pair skating. In 1985, they won their first world junior championship. In 1986, they ascended to the highest step of the podium of world championship. The skaters subsequently repeated this success three times. Fourteen-year-old Katya Gordeeva for the first time in the history of figure skating became the youngest winner of the title of world champion.
In 1987, Grinkov Sergey Mikhailovich and his partner in sports and in life, Ekaterina Gordeeva, won the USSR championship in figure skating. At tournaments of international level, they first performed a complex element. The twist they did contained four turns.
In 1988, they became the first at the Calgary Olympics. In the same year and in 1990, gold medals of the European Championships appeared in the piggy bank of their awards.
During the perestroika period, Gordeeva and Grinkov left for America.
Tragedy in the family of famous skaters
November 20, 1995, during a training session before the upcoming tour of the Stars on Ice show, Sergei lost consciousness. Without recovering, he died in a hospital. The cause of Sergei Grinkov’s death is a blockage in the arteries of the heart. The day before his death, the athlete suffered a microinfarction.
Sergei Grinkov was buried in Moscow, at the Vagankovsky cemetery. Thousands of fans of his talent came to see the outstanding skater.
After suffering grief, Katya Gordeeva was able to live on for the sake of her daughter Dasha. She met the skater Ilya Kulik, who became her new partner on the ice and in life. In 2008, the skater took part in the television show "Ice Age-3".