Men's figure skating in Russia and the USSR has a long history of sports victories. Athletes such as Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, Sergey Chetverukhin, Igor Bobrin, Alexander Fadeev, Victor Petrenko, Alexei Urmanov, Ilya Kulik, Alexei Yagudin, Evgeni Plushenko were only the most famous names of Russian skaters at one time. Not all of the above have Olympic Games awards - for example, Alexander Fadeev at the Olympics took seventh and fourth places, he made a great contribution to the development of sports and won many awards.
Biography of the skater Alexander Fadeev
The future world champion was born in the city of Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan in 1964. In the same city, he first skated (this happened at the rink in Gorky Park). There, little Sasha was noticed by the coach Gennady Sergeyevich Tarasov and suggested that the boy engage in figure skating.
Success was not long in coming - Alexander won the title of world champion among juniors. The talented young man was noted by the famous coach Stanislav Zhuk (his photo is presented below) and brought to the capital.
Career in Moscow
While training with the Beetle, Alexander learned to perform cascades of triple jumps, which at that time were considered very difficult. For example, he was one of the first to perform salchow and sheepskin coat in three turns. Also, Alexander Vladimirovich Fadeev is considered the first athlete who ventured to complete a jump in four turns.
At the competitions for the world champion title in 1983, Fadeev went for a quadruple sheepskin coat, and, despite the mistake, completed it. The arbitrary program of the 1982/83 season to the music of "Ballads for Adeline" was distinguished by a large number of complex technical elements. The program included such complex jumps as a quadruple sheepskin coat, a triple axel with another jump, the most difficult element - a triple lutz, a triple sheepskin coat, a combination of a double axel, an oiler and a three-turn sheepskin coat. With this program, Aleksanlr Fadeev was out of competition at the USSR Championship and won the first medal of the European Championship (it was bronze).
Fadeev became the world champion in the 84/85 season. Competitions were held in the Japanese capital - the city of Tokyo. The skater did not just win gold - he became the first in all three programs (mandatory figures, short and free). He also demonstrated high technical skills: he unmistakably jumped a cascade from a triple axel and a sheepskin coat in two turns and triple lutz and a sheepskin coat. Six judges rated Alexander's technique at 5.9 points, which, according to the old system, is almost the highest achievement.
Work with Stanislav Leonovich
Alexander did not have a very successful season 85/86 (he became only the third in the European Championship and did not manage to defend the world title - he also won bronze).
The next season, skater Alexander Fadeev began already under the leadership of Stanislav Leonovich. In 1987, he again became the winner of the European Championship and earned three maximum marks: 6.0 (according to the old judging system).
The program "Night on the Bald Mountain"
This program is perhaps one of the most famous in the performance of Alexander. She was staged by choreographer Marina Olegovna Zueva in the 88/89 season. Zueva wanted to change the style of skiing Alexander. For a free program I chose the work of composer Modest Mussorgsky "Night on the Bald Mountain".
In addition to the fact that Fadeev was very artistic, he also demonstrated the strongest technique. So, at the 1989 European Championships in Birmingham, Alexander completely performed all triple jumps (there were eight of them in the free program). The judges were struck by his skating, and he received the four highest scores of 6.0. Of course, Alexander Fadeev became the champion of these competitions (this was his fourth European Championship title).
What places Alexander occupied in the competition is presented in the picture below.
Personal life of the skater Alexander Fadeev
In the nineties, the world champion moved to America. Overseas, he performed in ice shows and participated in competitions among professionals.
Currently engaged in coaching. The wife of Alexander - Zidel Fadeeva works as a choreographer.
It is interesting that the first kiss of the Olympic champions and spouses Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov happened thanks to the skater Alexander Fadeev: before the New Year holidays, he called them to the bathhouse, where Sergey kissed Catherine for the first time. Alexander himself at that moment retired to the steam room.