Question:Ice Dancing pair from past Olympics

[thommy]

This is along shot,but here goes:watching the
ice dancing short program last night reminded
me of a european couple that I was in awe of
in a previous Olympics.I cannot remember the
year,but I remember the woman had striking
features with wavy red hair.The first program
had the couple skating to something dramatic
and at the end they both ended up on the ice
grasping for each others hands at the end of the
music.Their next program had them dressed
as rag dolls/raggedy ann and andy and it was
almost like a polka but playful and a little
suggestive.It had to be the ice dancing and the
couple could have been Russian-I think!Who are they?can anyone help?
Sorry guys,it's all I could remember...
Thom

[dcden]

Hmmm... two suggestions. First it may have been Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko. I remember their 91 Worlds free dance (Lawrence of Arabia) had them ending on their knees holding each other with one hand and leaning away from each other. Their 92 Olympic free dance ended with them lying on the ice in embrace (one pose from that program: http://home.snafu.de/eberl/archiv/photodir/photos/dance/klimova-ponomarenko_rus_em92_lausanne_fs_b.jpg). Their 92 Olympic OD was indeed a playful polka but I don't recall their outfits looking like Raggedy Ann/Andy. Aside: I loved this OD!

Another thought was Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, 2002 Olympic champions. She was indeed redheaded and Russian, but she gained French citizenship and they represented France.

Hope this helps, tried to find more images of K/P on line but could not.

[znachki]

The other possibility not mentioned - and I think those two are the likely ones, would be Bestemianova and Bukhin - Russian. 1988 Olympic Gold - can't find a picture.

[Kati]

Could they possibly be Finland's Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko? Susanna had her long hair dyed red temporarily. Striking features, yes, too... And the "rag doll" or "Raggedy Ann/Andy" number could be their La Strada LP with Nini Rota's music. They really had ragged clothes and everything there... Just a guess!