Aleksandr Gorshkov (figure skater)

Aleksandr Gorshkov

Gorshkov in 2010
Personal information
Full name Aleksandr Georgievich Gorshkov
Country represented Soviet Union
Born (1946-10-08) 8 October 1946
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Former partner Lyudmila Pakhomova
Former coach Elena Tchaikovskaya
Retired 1976
Medal record
Ice dancing
Competitor for  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
1976 Innsbruck Ice dancing
World Championships
1976 Gothenburg Ice dancing
1974 Munich Ice dancing
1973 Bratislava Ice dancing
1972 Calgary Ice dancing
1971 Lyon Ice dancing
1970 Ljubljana Ice dancing
1969 Colorado Springs Ice dancing
European Championships
1976 Geneva Ice dancing
1975 Copenhagen Ice dancing
1974 Zagreb Ice dancing
1973 Cologne Ice dancing
1972 Gothenburg Ice dancing
1971 Zürich Ice dancing
1970 Leningrad Ice dancing
1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ice dancing

Aleksandr Georgievich Gorshkov (Russian: Александр Георгиевич Горшков, born 8 October 1946) is a former ice dancer who competed internationally for the Soviet Union. With partner Lyudmila Pakhomova, he is the 1976 Olympic champion.

Since 2010, Gorshkov is the president of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FFKKR).

Life and career

Gorshkov began skating at age six after his mother heard that the Sokolniki skating school was taking new students.[1] He was moved to the weakest group after a year but his mother brought him to a stronger one when a new coach took over.[1]

In 1966 while at CSKA Moscow, he received an invitation from Lyudmila Pakhomova to skate with her.[1] Since he had much less experience, some experts were skeptical of her choice.[2] Despite the initial experience gap, Gorshkov said Pakhomova was a strong personality who was determined they would become champions.[1]

Pakhomova and Gorshkov in 1969

Pakhomova / Gorshkov began training in May 1966, under coach Elena Tchaikovskaya, and made their international debut in December of the same year.[1] They competed for Dynamo.[3] After teaming up, a personal relationship developed between Pakhomova and Gorshkov and he proposed they get married; she responded they would marry only if they became World champions.[1]

Pakhomova / Gorshkov performed in the ice dancing demonstration event at the 1968 Winter Olympics – the event determined if ice dancing would be added as an official Olympic sport and was successful.[4] They won their first World title in 1970 and married later that year.[1] The duo repeated as World champions in 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974. In 1974, Pakhomova / Gorshkov and Tchaikovskaya created the Tango Romantica, which the ISU would later adopt as a compulsory dance.[4]

Following the 1975 European Championships, Gorshkov began feeling ill and underwent a lung operation, with their coach Elena Tchaikovskaya donating blood.[1][2] They flew to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the 1975 World Championships, unsure about their participation.[1] During the first practice session, Gorshkov had trouble breathing and needed to be given oxygen – they withdrew from the event.[1][4] In the Soviet Union, rumors circulated that Gorshkov had died on the flight to the United States and the chairman of the Soviet Sports Committee called him to check if he was still alive.[1]

A 3-ruble Russian coin of 2010 commemorating Pakhomova and Gorshkov

Pakhomova / Gorshkov returned to competition the following season. Ice dancing debuted as an official Olympic sport at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, and Pakhomova / Gorshkov became the first Olympics champions in the discipline. They won their sixth World title in 1976 in Goteburg, Sweden. They retired from competition later that year.[1] In 1977, they had a daughter, Yulia Gorshkova.[1]

Pakhomova died of leukemia on 17 May 1986.[1][5] Gorshkov and his late wife were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1988.

Gorshkov later served as the chairman of the International Skating Union's ice dance technical committee.[4] At an election conference held in Novogorsk on 4 June 2010, he was unanimously elected president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation.[6] He is president of a Regional Public Charitable Foundation for the Arts and Sports named after Pakhomova.[2]

Gorshkov later married Irina Ivanovna Gorshkova.[1] He has a stepson from her previous marriage, Stanislav Belyaev.[1]

Results

(with Pakhomova)

International
Event 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76
Olympics 1st
Worlds 13th 6th 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Europeans 10th 5th 3rd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st
Moscow News 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
National
Soviet Champ. 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Пахомова заразила Горшкова фанатизмом. РОДНАЯ ГАЗЕТА № 45(181) (in Russian). 23 November 2006. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov: the first Olympic champions in ice-dancing". The Voice of Russia. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Pakhomova's profile at the Great Olympic Encyclopedia" (in Russian).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Russell, Susan D. (5 January 2013). "Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov". IFS Magazine.
  5. ↑ "LYUDMILA PAKHOMOVA – Obituary". Associated Press (The New York Times). 18 May 1986. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Горшков стал новым президентом ФФККР, Писеев – новый гендиректор – Новости Зимних видов спорта" [Gorshkov is the new FFKKR president, Piseev has become CEO] (in Russian). Mail.ru. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2013.

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