Here are some interesting facts about some of the top skaters and their coaches.
Favorite School Subject
- Shue Shen; Chinese Litteratur
- Hongbo Zhao; Sports
- Natalia Dubova; History
- Peggy Schwarz; Matematics, Biology
- Ingo Steuer; Art
- Povilas Vanagas; Physical Culture
- Elena Sokolova; Anathomy, History
- Tara Lipinski; Biology
- Viacheslav Zagorodniuk; English, Biology
Heroes of the Sport
- Sarah Abitbol; Gordeeva/Grinkov
- Kristina Czako; Igor Bobrin
- Margarita Dobriazko; Torvill/Dean
- Martin Siudek; Gordeeva/Grinkov
- Marina Eltsova; Gordeeva/Grinkov
- Elena Bereznaya; Gordeeva/Grinkov
- Maria Butyrskaya; Katarina Witt
- Shue Shen; Lu Chen
- Hongbo Zhao; Sergei Grinkov
- Kati Winkler; Rahkamo/Kokko&The Duchesnays
- Rene Lohse; Rahkamo/Kokko%The Duchesnays
- Oleg Ovsiannikov; Ludmila Pahomova
- Tara Lipinski; Kurt Browning
- Igor Sphiband; Ludmila Pahomova
- Ada Minevich; Viktor Petrenko&Ekatarina Gordeeva
Advice given to future Olympians
- Alexei Mishin; You have to be born talented, work hard and be lucky
- Ada Minevich; Work hard and have a strong will
- Natalia Dubova; Be patient, work hard
- Michael Tyllesen; Believe in yourself, enjoy what you do and work hard
- Pascal Lavanchy; Always get the sport attitude and never forget that dreams are made to be
reached. The only thing you need is confidence and hard work
- Szabols Vidrai; Anyone who wants to compete in the Olympics, should be strong in mind and
body and be determined
- Maurizio Margaglio; Forget all around you and think how incredible to come to the Olympic
Games: then just skate, always.
- Zhengin Guo; Don´t drink too much and stop smoking!!
The skaters/Coaches were asked what they liked the most about their country here is the
answers
- Marina Anissina; I love the mountains of France(France)
- Szabols Vidrai; I love the beautifull Hungarian girls and Cars. I have a Lada(Hungary)
- Michael Schmerkin; Israeli people and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
- Martin Siudek; Dorotke???(Poland)
- Maria Butyrskaya; I like Moscow and the Russian people(Russia)
- Hongbo Zhao; The people. He better!!(China)
- Maria Kudryatseva; I love my country because it is very big(Russia)
- Alexei Mishin; I love Russia, because it is my motherland(Russia)
- Ada Minevich; The people(The Ukraine)
- Mandy Wötzel; Germans are always on time and correct(Germany)
- Pascal Lavanchy; The family spirit and the food(France)
Favorite Quotes from the Skaters/Coaches
- Michelle Kwan; Work hard, be yourself, have fun
- Carol Heiss-Jenkins; What comes around goes around
- Ada Minevich; Through all the obstacles-to the stars
- Irina Slutskaya; Do not fall down
- Maria Butyrskaya; Whatever God is doing, it´s alright
- Gwendal Peizerat; “Carpe Diem” Seeze the day
Some very interesting statements
- Zhengxin Guo; When asked which other sport he preferred he answered; Figure Skating!!!!
When asked which skater he considered to be his hero he answered, Myself!!!
- Michael Weiss; When asked in which other sport he would like to participate in at the
Olympics he answered; Beach-Volly because it is warmer than Ice skating!!
- Kristina Czako; When asked what she liked most about the sport she answered- and pay
attention; The correct judging!!!???(Extremely interesting)
- Margarita Dobriazko; When she was asked which sport she would like to include in the Winter
Olympics she answered; Speedway!!
- Elena Bereznaya; When she was asked about her favorite movie she answered; The saint- with
Val Kilmer-I like him very much
They weren´t actually confronted with the questions, they have given the information
themselves, to see more please go to The Olympic Fanmail here you will also find interesting things about many other skaters and coaches.
Here are some did you know questions.
Did you know?
- That Evgeni Pliushenko has been trained by a former weightlifter
- That Alexei Urmanov was the first skater to perform a Quad in competition- at Europeans
1991, when he was 17 years old
- That the name Ilia Kulik has a middle name (Alexandrovich)
- That Zhengxin Guo aready at the Worlds in 1997 in Lausanne performed two quads in one
program!!
- That Timothy Goebel became the first American to land a Quad(Salchow) in competition at
the Goodwill Games
- That Elvis Stojko was the first skater to perform a Quad-Tripple combination in competition-
at Worlds 1995
- That only Torvill/Dean is the only couple outside the former Sovjet to have won Olympic Ice
dance Gold(1984)
- That Torvill/Dean are the only icedancers to have received a 6.0 at the Olympics.
- That Moniotte/Lavanchy came closer to defeating Grishuk/Platov than any other couple during
their unbeaten winning period, at Worlds 1994 they were one judge away from defeating the
Russians in the free-skate which would have given them the Gold.
- That is was Ilia Averbukh who broke the partnership with Anissina and not the other way
round.
- That not even Denise Biellmann the enventor of the “Biellmann” spin can do the spin on two
feet, like Irina Slutskaya
If you mean that any of the facts written of this page is wrong please contact me. Here