Ekaterina Gordeeva
Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva was born in Moscow in what was then the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Her father, Alexander Alexeyevich Gordeev, is a dancer for the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble, while her mother, Elena Lvovna Gordeeva, is a teletype operator for TASS.
"[4] Gordeeva began figure skating at age four, when she entered Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA Moscow.
[6] She was not a particularly strong jumper, and in August 1981,[7] coach Vladimir Zaharov paired the 10-year-old Gordeeva with the 14-year-old Sergei Grinkov.
Because Grinkov frequently missed practice, their coach eventually insisted that Gordeeva pair with someone else, but she refused.
[9] She was hospitalized for a time, but they were still able to compete in and win a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics, which began the following February in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
They also completed the element at the 1987 European Championships, but due to a problem with Grinkov's boot strap and a misunderstanding about the rules (the referee signaled them to stop, going so far as to turn off their music, but they continued skating), they were disqualified from that event.
[11] They stopped performing the quad twist because it made no significant improvement to their marks, making the added physical stress unnecessary.
Katia writes in her book, "My Sergei: A Love Story," that this element raised her heart rate and blood pressure to levels that alarmed the Soviet team's doctors.
Shortly after Daria's birth, Gordeeva resumed training for the new season of Stars on Ice, which premiered in November 1992 and continued through the following April.
On 20 November 1995, while the pair were rehearsing in Lake Placid, New York, for opening night of the upcoming tour, Grinkov collapsed on the ice and died at age 28 from a massive heart attack.
[19] They were known for the quality of their basic skating technique: "Grinkov and Gordeeva had something special that was more easily appreciated in person.
"[22] Gordeeva returned to Stars on Ice as a solo skater in 1996 and toured with the show every year until 2000, when she took time off to give birth to another daughter, Elizaveta Ilinichna Kulik, in June 2001.
[25] In 2001, she was the subject of a Lenox figurine called "Katia's Celebration of Life," which depicts her performing a layback spin in the tribute she skated for Grinkov.
During that show in 2007, the mother-daughter duo became a trio when they were joined by Gordeeva's younger daughter, Liza, and all three skated together to "Homesick" performed live by The Cheetah Girls.
During the taping of Ice Age 2, she flew to the United States from Russia to headline Skate for the Heart a second time.
In 2010, she was paired with hockey player Valeri Bure in another figure skating reality show, season 2 of Battle of the Blades.
[28] She is currently a member of the coaching team at the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club in West Edmonton Mall.
On 15 June 2001, Gordeeva gave birth to her second daughter, Elizaveta (or the diminutive "Liza," pronounced LEE-za) Ilinichna Kulik.
[36][37] Gordeeva married Canadian figure skater and 2002 Olympic pairs champion David Pelletier on 25 July 2020.
My Sergei: A Love Story was written by Gordeeva with Sports Illustrated writer E. M. Swift and published in 1996.
2002 Olympic pairs skating champions Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze starred as Gordeeva and Grinkov respectively.
It is an autobiographical letter from mother to daughter about childhood memories, skating, differences between Russian and American culture and the importance of family.
