READ . ARTICLES . reports . scans . song lyrics

November 1995

From a French magazine:

SERGEI GRINKOV, 28, DIED OF A HEART ATTACK DURING TRAINING

translated by Laura Martinoty

Click here to view the scan of the original French article.

Figure skating cries for his favorite pair

They were skating together since childhood and had begun a family. The russian athlet was struck in glory.

For all the amateurs of figure skating, this season will have a bittersweet taste. Sergei Grinkov, 28, and Ekaterina Gordeeva, 24, were, once more, ready to make us dream. But during a classical training session, Sergei suffered a heart attack while trying to throw the 45kg of his gracious partner. This spectacular move, this accomplished athelet (1,82m and 81kg) did it thousand times, which let him form one of the greatest palmares (prize list?) in the figure skating history. The pair won four world titles, three europeans titles and two olympic titles in Calgary in 1988, and in Lillehammer, six year later. The two champions were not only an on-ice team. Childhood friends, grown up in Moscow, they married in april 1991. And because their love was stronger than anything else, Ekaterina stopped her career to give birth to a baby girl, Daria. They settled down in USA and were rehearsing a show they were to give in Lake Placid when the tragedy occured. Figure skating cries in most attaching pair."
Nicolas Pigasse

Little box under the article
" An unpredictable tragedy
How could an athlete so prepared and medically watched like Sergei Grinkov collapse so suddenly? Too much practice? Tireness? Medical negligence? For Dr Francis Varga, who conducted the autopsy, this tragedy was unpredictable.'He was healthy, despite a small alert 24 hours before. A classical examn wouldn't have shown his cardiac weakness."

Caption Moonlight Sonata photo:
"Perfect moves. It's this move, which contributed to their incredible palmares (prize list?), which was fatal to Sergei."

Caption Family + Podium photos
" Happiness time. Sergei and Ekaterina were skating and living together. Friends since childhoodk, they married in 1991 et had a little daughter, Daria, three years old."