December 31, 1996
From Moscow Times:
A YEAR OF GRIEF, NOW CHANGE FOR SKATER
by Gennady Fyodorov
One year after her husband's death, skating star Yekaterina Gordeyeva says she is about to change her life.
"I've grown up in the last year," Gordeyeva told The Moscow Times in an interview this week after practice at the CSKA Ice Palace in Moscow, the same rink where she and Sergei Grinkov came some two decades ago to become one of the best pairs in the history of this sport.
"The tragedy also helped me, in a way, to understand what life is all about. In the past, it used to be simple -- competing, training, traveling from place to place -- my life was pre-arranged, and I just had to follow the schedule. Now I know how to cope, to deal with people."
Together with Grinkov, Gordeyeva won two Olympic titles and numerous world and European medals. They could have made history by winning the third Olympic gold in Nagano, Japan in 1998. But on Nov. 20, 1995, Grinkov suffered a heart attack during practice, which led to his death in Lake Placid, New York.
At the time she believed that "I want Daria to have a father," Gordeyeva said of her 4-year-old daughter. "I've adjusted mentally after Sergei's death and it's time to make a change in my life."
"As far as my professional career as a skater, I will continue to perform in ice shows but I want to return to the sport, to pairs competition. It's a matter of finding a 'right' partner," Gordeyeva said.
The skater even looks different than she did a year ago, when she appeared older than her years, sad and depressed. Now one can see a smile on her face again, the smile that captured the hearts of audiences worldwide when she was on top, winning medals and championships.
Gordeyeva lives in the United States, but whenever she has a chance, she says, she visits Moscow. "I want to come here," she said. "It gives me a change of pace, refreshes my feelings."
While most of the top Russian figure skaters were performing under the bright lights at Sokolniki Arena in the national championships, Gordeyeva was skating in solitude on the other side of Moscow, at CSKA.
She now lives thousand of kilometers away, in Simsbury, Connecticut, about a 25 minute drive from Hartford. She is about to begin a three-month, non-stop, 70-city North American tour with Stars on Ice, a show that includes such big names as Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean, Kurt Browning, Scott Hamilton and Kristi Yamaguchi.
Gordeyeva rents a condominium in Simsbury with her parents, who look after her daughter when she is away performing. Recently this small town became a hotbed for various skaters from the former Soviet republics. Across the street from Gordeyeva live Olympic champions, Ukrainians Viktor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul, with their coach Galina Zmievskaya.
Gordeyeva credits her parents, in particular her mother, Elena, for her newfound strength.
"I've never known how wonderful my parents are," she said. "I lived away from home since the age of 12 or 13 and I had little time with my parents. Now we have been together for a year and I almost reinvented my feelings about them. I found out what they are really like."
Gordeyeva wants to change her life around, to start living a normal, happy, joyful life. In order to find "a new man" she probably would have to look beyond skating, although the last year has brought changes for many skaters.
"It's a closely knit community where everyone knows each other, but recently quite a few people got married, like Viktor [Petrenko] and Kurt [Browning]," she said. "I'm not purposely seeking contacts outside our world, but I wouldn't mind if it happens."
Gordeyeva also wants to pursue other avenues, like acting. Recently she and Petrenko made a television debut in a Walt Disney production of "Beauty and the Beast" that was broadcast on American television in November.
"It's a possibility," she said of becoming an actress, but for now she will focus on performing Elegia, to the music of Rachmaninoff, in the Stars on Ice show.
the G&G corner - Copyright © Su-jan Yip, September 1996 - 2007