Seven years ago

[Debbie S]

Today is the 7th anniversary of Sergei Grinkov's death.

Looking at the top pairs teams now, with no offense to B/S, S/P, S/Z and others, you realize just how great G&G were. I wonder if we'll ever see another pair team with their combination of grace, elegance, power, consistency, and passion for each other and the sport.

Sending out good thoughts to Katia and Daria on what I'm sure is a difficult day.

[Emanfan]

I think we will not see the likes of Serge & Katia for a long, long time. We may see great pairs with great talent, but those two on the ice made it melt.

(Has it been 7 years already??)

[Artemis]

G&G were unique. I think it's futile to compare any other team. (I actually dislike all skater comparisons in general ... but that's a whole other topic.)

So ... does anyone else remember where they were when they heard the news about Sergei? I was driving around town doing errands and heard it on the radio news. I actually had to pull over because I was crying and couldn't see.

[Emanfan]

Yes. I had just come home from work and my next door neighbour (who is another huge skating fan) called to tell me the bad news. I remember we couldn't believe that someone like Sergei could suffer such a fate - it seemed inconceivable.

Then six months later, lo and behold, my friend's husband (who was an athlete since the day he was born it seemed) had the same thing happen to him while jogging in our Central Park. As Bill's luck would have it, it didn't kill him - he was very lucky. The doctors were able to mend the anomaly and he is healthy to this day.

[TRAxel]

I remember it all too well. My mom and I just sat down to eat some dinner and it was announced on the news...mom and I looked at each other in disbelief!! I instantly lost my appetite and stopped eating.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Debbie S]

I remember first hearing a "teaser" on the evening news. Dan Rather was doing his "coming up..." bits and said something like, "Death on the ice - an Olympic champion collapses in Lake Placid." I knew the SOI cast was in Lake Placid for rehearsals, and as the news went to commercial, I stopped eating and began to imagine all these horrible scenarios (which I won't go into) about who it could be, what could have happened, etc., but I have to say that when they finally told the whole story about 15 min later (gee, thanks CBS :( ), I never thought that it could be what it was. You just don't think someone as outwardly healthy as Sergei could die of a heart attack.

I first thought of Katia, then Daria. In just a few minutes, their whole lives had changed forever.

[Flatfoote]

I'm glad I didn't hear that Dan Rather/CBS teaser. I may have sworn off both after that. How cheap to make it a teaser about such a tragic death.

I was home, my sister called and told me. She is clueless with names and stuff, so she was kinda butchering his name, and wasn't really sure "which one" he was. I finally made out "Grinkov" in the name she was trying to say. Needless to say, I was in shock! And kinda hoping she was wrong, since she was so clueless...:cry:

[Trillian]

Originally posted by Debbie S
I remember first hearing a "teaser" on the evening news. Dan Rather was doing his "coming up..." bits and said something like, "Death on the ice - an Olympic champion collapses in Lake Placid."

I got a similar thing--I still remember it word for words. I hadn't watched the six o'clock news, so a little while after that I happened to hear the blurb: "An Olympic skating champion dies in practice. The story at eleven." They showed a clip of G&G skating, so I knew it had to be one of them--just didn't know which one or what had happened. Luckily a friend from school, who wasn't into skating herself but knew that those two were particular favorites of mine, had seen the story and called me.

It's funny--it seems so far away now, but I still remember the first person I called. I was in ninth grade at the time and had moved over the summer, and I hadn't talked to my former best friend since then. We'd already been growing apart and the move pretty much ended it. But she was as big a skating fan as I was at that point and G&G had been favorites of both of ours. I actually wound up having to call her at the house of a friend I didn't even know in order to get ahold of her, but that was the one and only time we talked on the phone after my move. I've run into her a few times when I've gone back to visit, but I think that night may have been the last "real" conversation we ever had.

[Emanfan]

I just received in the mail two compilation tapes of D&V's last season. I was going to watch them tonight, but I think I'll go home and re-watch Sergei's Celebration of Life.

Kind of brings home the notion that you should appreciate what's around you. You never know when it's going to get snapped away.

[spiralsrfun]

I can't believe it's been seven years.... :cry:

[ILoveAllSkaters]

I dedicate this post in memory of Sergei Grinkov, on the anniversary of his passing. :(

[summertime]

I remembered it was the 7th anniversary today.

I still remember when I first heard quite vividly.

I had just walked through the door and the T.V. was on, saw the news, and recall saying aloud "NOOOOO ! . . . ".

[Orable]

yes I remember I was having dinner and my sister came to me and said, hey do you know a skater named something like Rinkov. I said yeah what about him, and she said well he died today and to come see the evening news. I was in total shock, I yelled WHAT and my parents came from another room to see what was wrong. What shocked me the most was that he was seemingly perfectly healthy; how can a guy under 30 just have a heart attack--especially one who was a world-class athlete?

It is amazing (and not in a good way) how lives can just change in a matter of a few minutes. My father passed away suddenly about a month and a half ago--also from a heart attack--and my life has not really been the same ever since. in the days following my father's death, I found myself thinking about Katia G and her daughter often, and finally understanding her grief. I'd never lost somone so close to me before, so I was never able to fully grasp her emotions.

~O~

[Kati]

It seems to me it was only one year ago... I heard it from my collegue at job, couldn't believe it. Gordeeva and Grinkov were my favourites for so many years. It still makes me cry every time I re-read Katia's book My Sergei... :( I'm happy she foud a new love in Ilia though.

[Koala]

I was at the rink when I heard the news!!! I just couldn't believe it!!

They just made magic on the ice and I don't think it'll ever be matched! They were perfect!!!

[loveskating]

I picked my daughter up at the rink after work. She told me her freind, who had a radio on her tape player type thing, and was listening in the locker area while taking off her skates, said that Sergei Grinkov was dead. I gasped, and replied, "Oh, I'm sure that is not true. She must be mistaken."

When we got home, I instantly turned on the radio, and when I heard it was true, I could not believe it, I just could not process it at all. I think at first I felt anger and suspicion. "What the HECK happened," I said, "how could HE just drop dead?" After a time, we both sat down and cried and cried. Then we played our video tapes of Katia and Sergei all evening. It was such a sadness...I still tear up when I speak of it. I had suffered loss, and greived, and I knew what Katia and Daria were in for, so my heart just broke for them and I prayed for them.

I don't think anyone else has matched G&G technically...I think that B&S at Cup of Russia, the City LIghts program last season, skated the best pairs program I've ever seen, but that's a different issue, B&S are not as good overall as G&G were, no one is.

[Scott]

No one I can think of will ever come close to matching this great teams accomplishments. The quality of their pair movements was beyond discription. I remeber hearing the news ofhis death on the radio. I actually thought that I was hearing things and had to wait for the next news report. I will never ever forget the skating tribute to him that was broadcast from the Hartford Civic Center. That was one of the most emotional events I have ever seen.