Stanislav Zhuk

Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk (Russian: Станислав Алексеевич Жук, listenⓘ; 25 January 1935 – 1 November 1998) was a pair skater who represented the Soviet Union.

With his wife Nina, he won three silver medals at the European Figure Skating Championships and finished sixth at the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Among the pairs he coached were Olympic gold medalists Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev and Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov.

A native Siberian, his father, Aleksey Zhuk, returned to Ulyanovsk together with his friend Pavel Dementyev after he finished Marine military service.

The most powerful Soviet Union figure skating team formed there under the leadership of coach Peter Orlov, the Master of Sports.

The 1961 World Championships were cancelled after the United States National Skating Team was killed in a plane crash en route to the competition in Prague.

Nina and Stanislav decided to finish their professional career and join the Moscow State Ballet on Ice.

Zhuk also sacrificed his own rehearsals and performances in the Moscow State Ballet on Ice to help prepare his sister Tatyana for competition.

Stanislav Zhuk trainees won 67 gold, 36 silver and 35 bronze medals at the Olympic Games and World and European Championships.

Zhuk caused controversy in his later years, particularly with Gordeeva and Grinkov, and was eventually quietly deposed at the Soviet skating club.