1971-
Russian figure skater
Figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva, who skated with partner Sergei Grinkov, won four World Championships and two Olympic gold medals in pairs skating. Although her career was temporarily halted by Grinkov's tragic death in 1995, she has continued to skate as a solo professional.
An Early Start
Gordeeva was born in 1971 in the Soviet capital of Moscow. Her mother was a teletype operator for the Soviet news agency, Tass, and her father was a dancer for the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army. From her father, Gordeeva inherited a talent for graceful movement. She began skating when she was four years old.
In 1982, when Gordeeva was eleven years old, she began skating with Sergei Grinkov, who was four years her senior, at the Central Army Club in Moscow. They developed a close relationship, much like that of a brother and sister; according to E. M. Swift in Sports Illustrated, they skated "lyrically, harmoniously, but without emotional tension."
In 1984, they competed in the junior world championships, coming in fifth; in the year after that, they won a gold medal. In 1986, they won the first of four world championships. They would take the world title again in 1987, 1989, and 1990.
First Olympic Gold
The pair won an Olympic gold medal in 1998, in Calgary. Gordeeva was sixteen, and Grinkov was twenty. In Sports Illustrated, E.M. Swift quoted skating champion and choreographer Sandra Bezic, who said, "He presented her so beautifully, like a cherished little sister. They are everything pairs skating should be."
After winning their fourth world championship, in 1990, the pair quit amateur competition, and joined Tom Collins's Tour of World Champions, planning to skate for four or five years, make some money, and then move on to separate careers. However, their plans changed when they fell in love during the Collins tour. Collins told Leigh Montville in Sports Illustrated, "You could see it happen. It was all very sweet. They were with each other all the time."
Gordeeva told Joanna Powell in Good Housekeeping, "There was something special about us. We never changed partners. I never skated with anyone else. I never touched anyone else, only Sergei. After we became lovers, our skating started to become more sensitive and more beautiful."
The two skaters were married in April of 1991, in Moscow; in 1992 they had a daughter, Daria.
Second Gold Medal
Historically, professional athletes were not allowed to compete in the Olympics, but in 1992, these rules were changed, making Gordeeva and Grinkov eligible to compete in the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Skating to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, the pair, now married and parents, won another gold medal.
After winning their second Olympic gold medal, Gordeeva and Grinkov moved to Simsbury, Connecticut in 1994, and skated in the Stars on Ice tour.
A Tragic Loss
On November 20, 1995, tragedy struck when the 28-year-old Grinkov died unexpectedly while he and Gordeeva were rehearsing for a Stars on Ice show at a rink in Lake Placid, New York. Gordeeva later wrote in her memoir, My Sergei, "Sergei was gliding on the ice, but he didn't do the crossovers. His hands didn't go around my waist for the lift…. He couldn't control himself. He tried to stop, but he kept gliding into the boards. He tried to hold onto the boards…. Then he bent hisknees and lay down on the ice very carefully. I kept asking what was happening…. But he didn't speak at all."
Grinkov, who had appeared to be completely healthy except for a problem with high blood pressure, had suffered a massive heart attack. After his death, doctors determined that two of the arteries in his heart had been completely blocked. Heart disease ran in his family; his father had died from a heart attack in his fifties.
Gordeeva took Grinkov's body home to Moscow for the funeral and spent three months in Russia. Although she considered giving up skating forever, she realized that she was not trained to do anything else. In addition, she missed the feel and flow of skating, and she decided to return to the ice.
In early 1996, three months after Grinkov's death, she skated again, solo, at a tribute to Grinkov in Hartford, Connecticut. The transition from pairs skating to solo skating was difficult, but Gordeeva told Lopez, "You can't lock yourself inside yourself or you'll die. My mother told me you have to get up now. You have a daughter to live for." When Gordeeva returned as a single skater, observers were impressed by what Powell called her "elegant fusion of raw emotion and gentle, ballerina-style grace." Fellow skater Brian Boitano told Lopez, "People are mesmerized by her."
According to Mark Starr in Newsweek, Gordeeva said after that performance, "I want you to know I skated tonight not alone. I skated with Sergei. That's why it was so good."
However, she also said, "My life of great skating, and skating with him, is over," according to Steve Lopez in Time. "I don't try to go now for Olympics. I take skating for a job."
In 1996, Gordeeva published My Sergei, a tribute to her late husband and partner. By 1998, the book had sold more than one million copies in both hardcover and paperback, testifying both to Gordeeva's popularity and to the public's fascination with the intensely romantic relationship between the two skaters. For Gordeeva, writing the book helped her express her love and her grief, but it also reminded her of his death; she quit her book tour early because she found it too difficult to be constantly reminded of the tragedy. The book was later adapted for television; "My Sergei" aired on CBS in winter of 1998.
Later in 1996, she began skating in the Stars on Ice show, joining other former Olympians for the 57-city tour.
In 1997, Gordeeva moved out of the condominium she had shared with Grinkov and into a five-bedroom house in Simsbury. She told Powell that she felt weighted down by memories in the condo: "I felt I couldn't start anything new while I was there. It reminded me too much of [Grinkov]."
Gordeeva also appeared in "Snowden on Ice" in 1997. The hour-long CBS special featured Gordeeva as a young woman who, with the help of a magical snowman, rediscovers her love for skating. Her daughter Daria also appeared in the special.
In 1998, Gordeeva published A Letter for Daria, a children's book of reminiscences and advice for her daughter.
A New Life
In that same year, Gordeeva met Ilia Kulik, who had won a gold medal in men's figure skating at the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Eventually, they became romantically involved.
Gordeeva and Kulik had a daughter, Elizaveta, born in June of 2001, and Gordeeva cut back her skating in order to spend more time with Elizaveta and Daria. Of Gordeeva's relationship with Kulik, a People reporter noted that Gordeeva's manager, Deb Nast, said, "She's found love again."
On June 10, 2002, Gordeeva and Kulik were married in San Francisco. Gordeeva, who was considering moving from skating into coaching other skaters, said she wanted to stay close to home. "I'm trying to live more for the kids," she told Jason Lynch and Susan Horsburgh in People.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address: c/o IMG, 22 East 71st Street, New York, NY 10021-4911.
SELECTED WRITINGS BY GORDEEVA:
(With E.M. Swift) My Sergei: A Love Story, Warner, 1996.
Chronology
| 1971 | Born May 28 in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia) |
| 1975 | Begins skating at the Central Army Club in Moscow |
| 1982 | Begins partnership with Sergei Grinkov |
| 1984 | Competes in junior world championships |
| 1985 | Competes in junior world championships |
| 1986 | Wins first of four world championships |
| 1988 | Competes in Calgary Olympics |
| 1990 | Quits amateur competition to become professional skater |
| 1991 | Marries Grinkov |
| 1992 | Gives birth to daughter Daria |
| 1994 | Competes in Lillehammer Olympic Games |
| 1994 | Begins skating for Stars on Ice |
| 1995 | Grinkov dies from a heart attack |
| 1996 | Begins solo skating career |
| 1998 | Meets skater Ilia Kulik, becomes romantically involved |
| 2001 | Gives birth to daughter, Elizaveta |
| 2002 | Marries Kulik; considers a career in coaching |
Awards and Accomplishments
| 1985 | Gold medal, junior world championships |
| 1986-87, 1989-90 | Gold medal, world championships |
| 1988 | Gold medal, Calgary Olympics |
| 1994 | Gold medal, Lillehammer Olympics |
A Letter for Daria, Little, Brown, 1998.
Related Biography: Skater Sergei Grinkov
Born in Moscow on February 4, 1967, Sergei Grinkov was the son of Anna and Mikhail Grinkov, both officers in the Soviet Interior Ministry police. When he was five years old, his parents saw an advertisem*nt in the paper saying that the Soviet Union was looking for its next group of Olympic champions, and they brought him to the Central Army skating rink for a free lesson. Grinkov was not an immediate sensation; his performance was uneven. However, he loved skating and preferred physical training to academic studies.
When he was fourteen, his coach, Stanislav Zhuk, suggested that he become a pairs skater. Grinkov was matched with the eleven-year-old Ekaterina Gordeeva, and initially told his coach, according to William Plummer in People, "I could never lift this girl!"
However, in time the two skaters developed a deep rapport, and won their first world title in 1986. In 1988 they won a gold medal at the Calgary Olympics, and won another gold at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994. They had been married in 1991 and had a daughter, Daria, and their new maturity gave depth and passion to their performance. Audiences were mesmerized both by their artistic and technical skill and by the obvious passion and romance between the two.
Their partnership ended tragically when Grinkov died suddenly on November 20, 1995, while training for a Stars on Ice show in Lake Placid, New York. Gordeeva took his body back to Russia, and he was buried in Moscow's Vaganskovskoye Cemetery.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Periodicals
Ehrenpreis, Yael. "Death of a Skater." Science World (February 23, 1996): 7.
"Ekaterina Gordeeva." People (March 15, 1999): 274.
Gordeeva, Ekaterina. "Oh Why Did You Pick Me?" Excerpt from My Sergei: A Love Story, in Newsweek (December 23, 1996): 58.
Kantrowitz, Barbara. "Beyond the Tears." People (March 25, 1996): 78.
Kelleher, Terry. "Dramatic Turns." People (November 24, 1997): 17.
Lodge, Sally. "Skating Star Shines Again as Author." Publishers Weekly (May 4, 1998): 27.
Lopez, Steve. "Life After the Glory." Time (January 26, 1998): 64.
Lynch, Jason, and Susan Horsburgh. "Melting the Ice." People (January 13, 2003): 125.
Montville, Leigh. "Love Story." Sports Illustrated (December 4, 1995): 34.
"My Sergei: A Love Story." Chatelaine (March 1997): 137.
Plummer, William. "Soulmates on Ice." People (December 11, 1995): 124.
Powell, Joanna. "Everything Reminds Me of Sergei." Good Housekeeping (November 1997): 104.
Starr, Mark. "Solo But Not Alone." Newsweek (December 23, 1996): 56.
Swift, E.M. "Gordeeva and Grinkov." Sports Illustrated (February 28, 1994): 48.
Swift, E.M. "A Magical Twosome." Sports Illustrated (February 29, 1988): 36.
Swift, E.M. "She Was Not Alone." Sports Illustrated (December 30, 1996): 74.
"Twice Blessed." People (April 30, 2001): 58.
Sketch by Kelly Winters
