The path to fame is always difficult. Skater Alexander Smirnov knows this firsthand. The road to victory was difficult. But, despite all the vicissitudes of fate, Alexander took place as a professional skater. And together with Yuko Kawaguchi, he showed himself to be a talented, purposeful athlete and just a good person.
Titles and awards
2015, European Championship, Stockholm, a brilliant and bright victory for Alexander Smirnov and Yuko Kawaguchi. They took first place. Fans welcomed the winners of the pair figure skating vibrantly and emotionally. The fragile tears of Yuko did not leave anyone indifferent.
2015, the third stage of the Grand Prix series, China, Beijing, the confident victory of the skaters in a difficult fight. In the free program, they went around two Chinese couples, in the end they won a prize. In total, they won 12 medals at the stages of the Grand Prix.
2010 was a significant year for the couple. At the European Championships they won a gold medal. It was a triumph of a young couple!
2009, the world championship, a bronze medal, from the second place they separated only 0.13 points.
2008, victory at the championship of Russia, they became the third in Europe, the fourth pair in the world.
The International Skating Union awarded them 8th place in the ranking.
Alexander Smirnov (skater): biography of a simple guy
The skater was born on October 11, 1984 in the city of Tver, Russia. He began to play sports at the age of 4. The training took place in the morning and in the evening, my mother regularly took her son to the rink. The first coach was Larisa Yakovleva.
It was she who studied with him until the age of 17. Thanks to her, Alexander Smirnov (skater) was formed as a personality and champion. Larisa Yakovleva replaced the boy’s parents, shared her experience, revealed all the secrets of figure skating.
She was the first to understand that the guy would be a good judge, but in Tver he had no chance to get into big sport. Yakovleva advised to leave for St. Petersburg and go in for pair skating. In 2001, the athlete leaves his hometown in the Northern capital.
Not everything went well in St. Petersburg. There was no apartment and no money, no friends or relatives were near, no scholarships. But Alexander Smirnov is a skater who never gives up. The situation soon resolved, and he was allowed to live in a commentary booth at the stadium.
For three long years, Alexander Smirnov, a skater and a future star, lived in a transparent box with a cat brought from his native Tver. He even took it with him to the competition while it was possible. Later 3 more guys got hooked to him so that longing and loneliness did not prevail over the guy.
The first steps in big sport
The first coach in St. Petersburg was Lyudmila Smirnova, and later Alexandra was coached by Nikolai Velikov. The first partner on the ice was Alexandra Danilova, but the duet did not last long.
Then Ekaterina Vasilyeva became his partner , but after a while she left to work in Germany. In 2006, Catherine and Alexander took 6th place in the world champion among juniors.
Nikolay Velikov suggested the skater in partner Yuko Kawaguchi. A miniature Japanese woman took Russian citizenship for the sake of figure skating. Despite the different mentality, the partners found a common language almost immediately.
Not knowing the language, they understood each other, especially Alexander Smirnov. The skater realized how important it is to feel your partner. It became clear to everyone that the duet had taken place, and victories and awards awaited them.
At the request of Yuko, the couple changed their coach. Now they are being trained by Moskvin, she puts all her knowledge, love and professionalism into the guys. Thanks to perseverance and great industriousness, Sasha and Yuko began their triumphal procession in pair figure skating.
Alexander Smirnov (skater): family
Sasha does not like to talk about personal life. It is known that in 2010 he married Ekaterina Garun. She came from Samara, worked as a stylist in Moscow. Her parents are famous Samara hairdressers.
The meeting took place in America, where young people met at a party. Sasha came to the USA for the World Cup, and Katya for work. Soon they played a magnificent and cheerful wedding, although they planned a very modest celebration.
In 2014, a young couple had a son. Sasha is not the first child, in Tver from a common-law wife he also has a son. According to Alexander Smirnov (skater), children are a great joy and meaning of life.