Early in his career, he competed with Tatiana Durasova, becoming the 1978 and 1979 World Junior champion.

Their breakthrough came the following season when they won the bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and 1984 European Championships.

They also won the 1989 World Championships and narrowly won another World gold in 1990 on the strength of their compulsories and their original dance, even though they lost the free dance to Isabelle Duchesnay and Paul Duchesnay from France.

[2] Kestnbaum also states their the relationship Klimova and Ponomarenko present "is not gendered stereotypically, but it is figured as difference, as opposing elements".

[5] Kestnbaum also reported that the program displayed Ponomarenko's strength and Kimova's beauty and flexibility, stating that their movements, spider imagery, and costumes depicted that "the man is normative and the woman an exotic danger".

[7] He and his wife coach young figure skaters at Sharks Ice at San Jose, California.

[8][9] (With Klimova) Professional career Media related to Sergei Ponomarenko at Wikimedia Commons