His mother competed in running and 400 meter hurdles, while his father Leonid was involved in equestrian sports and taught him to ride a horse.

In the summer of 1999 at age 15, he was invited to Saint Petersburg to skate with Irina Ulanova, the daughter of Lyudmila Smirnova and Alexei Ulanov.

[12][13] Trankov and fellow pair skater Alexander Smirnov lived at the rink, sleeping in the stands or in the coaches' room, and struggled for food but told their parents they were staying in a dormitory.

[13] He skated for one year with Natalia Shestakova; had he joined the group a few months earlier, the Velikovs would have paired him with Julia Obertas.

Having taken the bronze medal at the senior Russian Nationals, the pair was sent to the 2006 World Championships following the withdrawal of Olympic champions Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin.

[22] The Velikovs suggested he team up with Tatiana Volosozhar but the topic was dropped following the 2006 World Championships when the pair switched coaches to Tamara Moskvina.

[9][23] Although Trankov was interested in skating with Volosozhar, he assumed she would decline because she appeared happy in her partnership with Stanislav Morozov.

[9] He resumed skating with Mukhortova but the quarrels continued and Moskvina transferred the pair to Artur Dmitriev in August 2006.

"[25] In late 2006, they were on the verge of ending their career together, however, Tatiana Tarasova dissuaded them and contacted Oleg Vasiliev to take them on as students.

They then won the Russian national title, finishing nearly 14 points ahead of silver medalists Julia Obertas / Sergei Slavnov, but had to withdraw from the 2007 European Championships after Mukhortova sustained an injury in practice.

The following season, Mukhortova/Trankov won their first Grand Prix medal, bronze at 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard and placed fourth at Cup of Russia.

They were unable to defend their national title, placing second to Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov with a gap of ten points.

[27] When the season ended, Vasiliev focused on improving Trankov's basic skating, noting Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy's deep edges and flow.

They won the bronze medal at 2008 Skate America and silver at 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard, qualifying them for their first senior Grand Prix Final where they finished sixth.

They set a new overall personal best score and won the gold medal ahead of two-time World champions Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy.

[29] They were silver medalists at their second Grand Prix event, Skate Canada, and won another bronze medal at the 2010 European Championships.

The pair finished seventh at the 2010 Winter Olympics and fourth at the 2010 World Championships held in Turin, Italy, in March 2010.

[33] In late December 2010, they won gold at the 2011 Russian Championships,[37][38] defeating Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov, the reigning national champions and World bronze medalists.

Per ISU regulations, Volosozhar was barred from international competition for one year from her last event representing Ukraine, the 2010 Winter Olympics.

She became eligible for international competition on 16 February 2011, in time for the Mont Blanc Trophy, where the pair competed in order to meet the ISU's minimum technical score requirements for the World Championships.

[32][46] In the summer, Trankov sustained a shoulder injury while skating on unsharpened blades since no one with the expertise was available at the time; As a result, they stopped working on lifts for a while.

[48] Trankov's inguinal rings (groin) injury caused them to change a pair spin at the Grand Prix Final.

[49] Volosozhar/Trankov were the leaders after the short program but placed second to Savchenko/Szolkowy in the free skate and were awarded the silver medal — only 0.18 of point separating the two teams at the end of the competition.

Trankov's father died of a sudden heart attack on 20 January 2013, a few days before the 2013 European Championships; an official confirmed the pair would compete at the event.

[10] They placed first in both programs and won the gold medal with a total score of 212.45—more than seven points ahead of silver medalists Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy.

At the post-event press conference, Volosozhar said, "It is difficult to raise the mood at this time, but I am glad we made the decision to compete here.

Volosozhar/Trankov trained in Moscow, Sochi, West Orange, New Jersey, and Italy in preparation for the 2013–14 season and planned to perform in a reduced number of shows.

Having qualified for their third Grand Prix Final, they were second to Savchenko/Szolkowy in Fukuoka, Japan, and then took the gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Volosozhar and Trankov were first in the short program at the Trophee Eric Bompard, a result that became final after the second day of the competition was cancelled in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks.

[64] Recovering from her injury; Volosozhar and Trankov decided to compete at the 2016 Russian Championships scheduled on December 24–27 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.