Tatiana Totmianina, sickly as a child,[2] was introduced to skating at the age of four by her mother, a recreational skater.

Early in their career together, they were coached by Natalia Pavlova in Saint Petersburg, with choreography by Svetlana Korol.

[7] Totmianina/Marinin left Pavlova just prior to the 2001 European Championships; they moved to Chicago, Illinois in the United States to train under Vasiliev.

Twice in a row, they finished second at the World Championships to their Chinese rivals Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo, before finally winning gold in 2004.

Although Totmianina did not blame him, the accident weighed heavily on Marinin and when the pair returned to training, he was unable to lift her due to panic.

They won their second consecutive World title easily, with a total score 10 points higher than the second-place finishers.

The pair toured with the Champions on Ice show, with other notable skaters including Michelle Kwan, Evgeni Plushenko, and Viktor Petrenko, among others.

She also continues to skate with Marinin in Russian ice shows, alongside other famous skaters including her fiancé, Yagudin.

[4] Shortly after Totmianina's engagement to Alexei Yagudin, her mother was seriously injured in a January 2009 car accident.

[4] On 20 November 2009, Totmianina gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Elizaveta ("Liza").