Couples, On and off the ice?

[PlatniumAngel]

I was interested in some of the teams that are couples off the ice as well? Of course there's alays the famous Gordeeva and Grinkov, but who else?

[supersk8er]

Jamie and David...:D

[Oracle]

Spielberg & Joeright, Meno & Sand, Sylvia Fontana & John Zimmerman.

[Roseline]

Dance:
Albena Denkova & Maxim Staviyski
Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas
Megan Wing & Aaron Lowe
Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov
Elizabeth Punsalan & Jerod Swallow

Pairs:

Kristy & Kris Wirtz
Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bernadis
Julia Obertas & Sergei Slavnov
Dorota Zagorska & Mariusz Siudek

[Isabelle]

Add Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon, Valerie Marcoux & Craig Buntin, Elizabeth Putnam & Sean Wirtz to the list.

[NJSk8Fan]

Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen
Klimova and Ponomarenko
Leonova and Kavahlko
Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko
Lobacheva and Averbukh
Rocky Marval and Isabelle Brasseur
Shishkova and Naumov
Kovarikova and Novotny

[AL]

Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto

[ceceB]

Grushina and Goncharov (right?)

[PlatniumAngel]

Now I think Albena Denkova and Maxim Straviski, what about Totmanina and Marinin?

[icenut84]

Originally posted by PlatniumAngel
Now I think Albena Denkova and Maxim Straviski, what about Totmanina and Marinin?

I'm pretty sure Totmianina & Marinin are NOT together off the ice.

I think Petrova & Tikhonov might be though. Plus you can also add Bestemianova & Bukin, and Usova & Zhulin used to be.

Also Shen & Zhao and Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze (though I'm not 100% about those, but I think so).

[Oracle]

Bestemianova was married to Igor Bobrin & Bukin had a wife, too. Did they divorce their respective spouses to marry? (Bobrin, btw, is a former skater).

[SkateFan123]

Originally posted by icenut84
I'm pretty sure Totmianina & Marinin are NOT together off the ice.

I think Petrova & Tikhonov might be though. Plus you can also add Bestemianova & Bukin, and Usova & Zhulin used to be.

Also Shen & Zhao and Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze (though I'm not 100% about those, but I think so).

Berezhenay and Sirkarulidze are not an off ice couple. They were but are not any longer. I never heard Shen and Shao as an off ice couple. Will have to check into that one!

[skaternum]

Originally posted by SkateFan123
I never heard Shen and Shao as an off ice couple. Will have to check into that one!

I read that in an issue of International Figure Skating last year.

[VGL]

Chantal Lefevbre and Arseniy Markov

[sk8rbean]

Inoue and Baldwin

[triple twist]

Oh my goodness it seems as if everyone is a couple off the ice! I wonder why?

[Rachel]

Originally posted by Oracle
Bestemianova was married to Igor Bobrin & Bukin had a wife, too. Did they divorce their respective spouses to marry? (Bobrin, btw, is a former skater).

No. Bestemianova and Bobrin are still married to each other.

[Rachel]

Originally posted by triple twist
Oh my goodness it seems as if everyone is a couple off the ice! I wonder why?

I don't imagine that most of them have much opportunity to meet a lot of other people.

[dale]

Allie-Hann McCurdy & Michael Coreno, Canada Junior Dance are a couple on and off the ice.

[SkateFan123]

Originally posted by sk8rbean
Inoue and Baldwin

DUH! Forgot about them!

Thanks for the reminder.

[yogurtslinger]

Shen & Zhao are a couple.

Also, I saw this interview on a Chinese channel with Lu Chen, and I think she is dating Dennis!! (I think it's Dennis- it's some guy whose name starts with a "D" on the tour)

[icedancer2]

That would be Denis Petrov. Yes, he and Lu Chen are a couple.

[Bailey]

Josee Chouinard and Jean-Michel Bombardier

[sk8rbean]

Originally posted by triple twist
Oh my goodness it seems as if everyone is a couple off the ice! I wonder why?

I think it's more likely because they spend so much time together that it helps to have a really good relationship. In addition, it is easy to forge the emotional connection that makes a good team if they don't have to act it.

[Little Bit]

Originally posted by supersk8er
Jamie and David...:D

Are they really a couple off the ice as well?
I think that is wonderful if they are.

[bunghodog]

Inoue and Baldwin

I have never heard that, are you sure? I know they seem very close and good chemistry but I just thought that was for skating.

[Tpangner]

Originally posted by Little Bit
Are they really a couple off the ice as well?
I think that is wonderful if they are.
Yes they have been together for a couple of years now...Since 1999 or 2000 I think....

[Trillian]

Originally posted by bunghodog
Inoue and Baldwin

I have never heard that, are you sure? I know they seem very close and good chemistry but I just thought that was for skating.

Yeah, it seems to be well-known. I'd heard about it long before nationals (I think it's been mentioned in articles?), but the body language at nationals was a pretty obvious confirmation. I thought he looked like one of the most lovestruck guys I've ever seen.

[skaternum]

There was an article in Skating magazine about Inoue and Baldwin. It specifically stated they're romantically involved.

[Artemis]

Originally posted by triple twist
Oh my goodness it seems as if everyone is a couple off the ice! I wonder why?

Aside from the limited opportunities to meet other people, I think potentially adds a lot to the on-ice performance when there's a strong off-ice connection. So although it's not a necessity for becoming a great pair, it certainly helps! (Although I'm sure no one has ever said "Hey, let's start dating, it will really help our skating!")

And, as Jay Leno said in his interview with David and Jamie at SLC, "So, one day you were there holding her up in the air, and you looked up and decided you liked what you saw." ;)

[Artemis]

Some older ones:

the Protopopovs

Usova & Platov

Bechke & Petrov were an off-ice pair (married I think) but then split

Isabelle Brasseur & Lloyd Eisler were an off-ice pair for a short time near the end of their eligible career, then decided they worked better as just friends.

[icedancer2]

Originally posted by Artemis
Some older ones:

Usova & Grinkov



Usova and Grinkov? Do you mean Platov? Or Zhulin? Sergei Grinkov? REally?

Well, I suppose that could be so very true.

[Artemis]

Doi on me! Yes, I meant Platov. Silly me.

[icenut84]

Obviously there's Gordeeva & Grinkov too. And Jill Trenary and Christopher Dean. Also, I think Abotbol & Bernadis and Zagorska & Siudek are couples, too.

[icenut84]

Originally posted by Artemis
Usova & Platov

Usova & Platov? Really? I knew they skated together for a while but I didn't know they were together off-ice. Are they still together?

Another couple - Alexander Zhulin and Tatiana Navka. Also Shae-Lynn Bourne is with Nikolai Morozov (and used to be with Steven Cousins).

[snoopysnake]

Carol Heiss and Hayes Jenkins

Beata Handra and Charles Sinek

Carolina Kostner and Stephane Lambiel

Tanith Belbin and Feodor Andreev

Pahkomova (deceased) and Gorshkov

divorced couples: Christopher Dean and Isabelle Duschenay, Tracey Wainman and Jozef Sabovcik, Scott Williams and Charlene Wong, Rodnina and Zeitsev, Dick Button and Slavka Kohut

dated but split:
Alexei Urmanov and Natalia Mishketunok, Scott Hamilton and Kitty Carruthers, Scott Hamilton and Lea Ann Miller, Tai Babilonia and Peter Carruthers

[Artemis]

Oh, I thought this thread was about skating duos (pairs or dance) who are couples both on and off the ice. If we're talking just about skaters who are in relationships with other skaters, it would almost be shorter to list those that aren't involved with other skaters!

[mumof2]

Elena Sokolova and Oleg Ovsianokov are a couple.

[tdnuva]

Originally posted by mumof2
Elena Sokolova and Oleg Ovsianokov are a couple.

Hmm....

how sure are you about that?

[Miezekatze]

I don't think Usova & Platov are a couple off-ice. Don't know if they ever were (never heard anything like it though), but in some recent interview Platov mentioned having a girlfriend (definitely not Usova).

tdnuva, Elena Sokolova mentioned in some interview last year that she has a relationship with Oleg. (i of course don't know if they are still together).

[Oracle]

Did anyone mention Vakhtang Murvanidze & Kristin Fraser? This info came from Dec. '03 issue of IFS. She is an American ice dancer who represents Azerbaijan.

[PlatniumAngel]

Who is Vakhtang Murvanidze?

[jcspkbfan]

Originally posted by Artemis
Isabelle Brasseur & Lloyd Eisler were an off-ice pair for a short time near the end of their eligible career, then decided they worked better as just friends.

B&E's time as an off-ice couple took place sometime around 1989/90, IIRC from their book. I also remember the main reason they broke up was because they thought they needed a break from each other from spending sooo much time together both on and off the ice! :lol:

Another addition to the list: Kurt Browning and Christine Hough (who dated sometime around the late '80s and broke up in 1990, according to Kurt's autobiography). They'd fall under the "skating couples who are no longer together" category, of course. ;)

[heyyou!]

Do you think it's really a good idea to be in a relationship outside of skating with your partner? I mean wouldn't it affect their skating if something happened in the relationship?

[icenut84]

Originally posted by heyyou!
Do you think it's really a good idea to be in a relationship outside of skating with your partner? I mean wouldn't it affect their skating if something happened in the relationship?

I think that's probably a reason why some couples don't get together. It can still work though - IIRC Bechke & Petrov were married (?) and then split up, but continued skating together. By this time, skating is their career and often their whole life. I guess they see they have no choice but to be professional about it and continue working. It's probably similar to how some teams don't even like each other but continue to skate together, working towards their shared goals. (Weren't Grishuk & Platov less than friends off the ice? Towards the end of their careers at least.)

[snoopysnake]

Some of the Russian or former Soviet Union couples were married more for convenience than love, so that they could qualify for better apartments, cars, food and other advantages. Usova and Zhulin are a good example of this; Zhulin explained this years ago in an interview with American Skating World. He said this happened a lot.

Two major exceptions seem to be Klimova and Ponomorenko and Gordeeva and Grinkov.

[La Rhumba]

I never saw Usova/Zhulin as having a *Marriage of Convenience* at all. All hell broke loose when Zhulin started his affair with Oksana, and Maya was very much the heartbroken, humiliated wife from a previously happy *love* marriage. Are you sure Zhulin was talking about himself and Maya in that interview you mention?

This may've applied to Natalia Annenko/Genrikh Stretenski though, who, the TV Commentator in the UK told us, were married when they began skating internationally, then Natalia married their Coach whilst they remained an ice dance couple. She later married Peter Tchernychev, and now I believe is married to another man in America..... but whether he's in Skating or not, I don't know?

Re Oleg Ovsiannikov - how old is he? Elena Sokolova is 24, even though she only looks about 15, but Oleg must be waaay older than her?
He does seem to like the young blonde look though, as a few years ago, before turning Pro, he dated young British blonde icedancer Charlotte Clements for a brief time.

Overall I would think it's better not to be dating your skating partner, unless off-ice problems can be left in the locker room. Marika Humphreys and Vitaliy Baranov, former British Ice Dance Champions, 15th at SLC Olympics, and a married couple, seem to cope very well. But in terms of creating chemistry between partners you can't get better than Torvill and Dean, and they weren't a couple off-ice, had a brilliant career, and eventually found lasting love with both marrying Americans. :D