Samvel Gezalian

Samvel Gezalian
Personal information
Alternative names Samvel Gyozalyan[1]
Country represented Armenia
Germany
Belarus
Soviet Union
Born (1970-09-12) 12 September 1970
Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Former partner Ksenia Smetanenko, Jennifer Goolsbee, Tatiana Navka, Maria Anikanova
Former coach Natalia Dubova, Tatiana Tarasova, Svetlana Rubleva, Boris Rublev
Retired 1998

Samvel (or Samuel) Gezalian (Armenian: Սամվել Գյոզալյան, Russian: Самвел Гезалян; born 12 September 1970)[1] is an Armenian former competitive ice dancer who represented the Soviet Union, Belarus, and Armenia in international competition. With Tatiana Navka, he is the 1991 Skate America and Nations Cup champion and placed 11th at the 1994 Winter Olympics for Belarus. With Ksenia Smetanenko, he is the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion and competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics for Armenia.

Career

Early years in skating

Gezalian began learning ice dancing at age ten in Odessa, where he was coached by Svetlana Rubleva and Boris Rublev. He later moved to Moscow. By 1985, he was skating with Maria Anikanova, coached by Tatiana Tarasova.[2] In 1988, the duo joined Natalia Dubova's group following Tarasova's decision to stop coaching.[2]

Partnership with Navka

After Anikanova ended her competitive career, Gezalian teamed up with Tatiana Navka. Representing the Soviet Union, Navka/Gezalian won gold at the 1991 Skate America and 1991 Nations Cup. Following the Soviet Union's dissolution, Navka/Gezalian chose to skate for Belarus. They placed ninth in their debut at the European and World Championships, in 1993.

In the 1993–94 season, Navka/Gezalian won silver at the 1993 Skate Canada International and placed fourth at the 1993 NHK Trophy. They competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, placing 11th, before achieving their career-best Worlds result, fifth at the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan.

In 1994–95, Navka/Gezalian won silver at the 1994 NHK Trophy and went on to achieve their best European result, fourth, at the 1995 European Championships in Dortmund. Their partnership came to an end following the 1995 World Championships where they placed seventh.

Partnerships with Goolsbee and Smetanenko

Gezalian then teamed up with American-born Jennifer Goolsbee to represent Germany. They won the 1997 German Figure Skating Championships. Their partnership soon ended due to Goolsbee's citizenship problems.

Later in 1997, Gezalian teamed up with Ksenia Smetanenko to compete for his native Armenia. Placing sixth at the 1997 Karl Schäfer Memorial, they qualified a spot for Armenia at the Olympics. Smetanenko/Gezalian then won gold at the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb and placed 20th at the 1998 European Championships before competing at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where they placed 24th. They retired from competition at the end of the season.

Post-competitive career

Gezalian works as a skating coach in New York.[3][4]

Results

With Smetanenko for Armenia

International
Event 1997–1998
Winter Olympics 24th
World Championships 27th
European Championships 20th
Golden Spin of Zagreb 1st
Karl Schäfer Memorial 6th

With Goolsbee for Germany

National
Event 1997
German Championships 1st

With Navka for Belarus and the Soviet Union

International
Event 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Winter Olympics 11th
World Championships 9th 5th 7th
European Champ. 9th 10th 4th
Nations Cup 1st
NHK Trophy 7th 4th 2nd
Skate America 1st
Skate Canada 2nd
National
Belarusian Champ. 1st

References

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