Meet Elena & Anton
Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze are the 1998 and 1999 World Pairs Figure Skating Champions and 2002 Olympic Champions. They have skated together as a pair for over six years, sharing many triumphs and their fair share of disappointments. Before you visit the rest of the site to learn more about the dramatic skating career of this great Russian pair, read this page and get to know Elena and Anton!
Elena and Anton
 |
 |
|
|
Elena |
Anton |
| Birthdate: | October 11, 1977 | October 25, 1976 |
| Birthplace: | Nevinnomissk, Russia | St. Petersburg, Russia |
| Height: | 5' 1" (154 cm) | 5' 11" (182 cm) |
| Began Skating: | 1983 | 1982 |
| Family: | mother Tatiana, younger brother Ivan and older brother Alexei | parents Lyudmila and Tehreeal, older siblings Vladimir and Marina |
Shared Information |
||
| Coach: | Tamara Moskvina | |
| Choreographers: | Igor Bobrin, Tamara Moskvina, Christopher Dean, Gorsha Sur | |
| Paired Up: | 1996 | |
| Skating Club: | Yubileny Sport Club, St. Petersburg | |
| Training Location: | St. Petersburg, Russia Hackensack, New Jersey (1999-2001) |
|
Miscellaneous Info
In the summer of 2001, Elena's family opened a café named Axel
in Nevinnomissk. Elena painted murals of the nighttime sky on the walls
and the café is being managed by her older brother.
Anton was voted "most sexy male athlete" by readers of the Russian
newspaper Arguments and Facts in 1999.
Since they won the Olympic silver medal in 1998 and none was awarded in
2002, Elena and Anton could be called the reigning Olympic gold and
silver medalists!
Elena's favorite skating element to perform are throw jumps. Anton prefers
pairs elements such as lifts and throws to the solo jumps and spins.
Elena and Anton are each others' second pairs partners. With Maria Petrova,
Anton was a top-ranked junior skater and the pair won the 1994 and 1995
World Junior Championships. Maria went on to become the 2000 World Champion
with Aleksei Tikhonov.
Both Elena and Anton name 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champions Ekaterina Gordeeva
and Sergei Grinkov as their favorite skaters.
Anton enjoys playing tennis and hockey while Elena took karate lessons and
art classes while living in New Jersey. Elena even sketched a portrait of
President Vladimir Putin at an athlete reception following the 2002 Olympics
and gave it to him!
Elena and Anton hold the record for the most Russian National pairs titles
won since the breakup of the Soviet Union. They won four consecutive titles
from 1999 to 2002.
Anton's father is from Georgia, a small country just south of Russia in
Caucasus mountains. He moved to St. Petersburg as teenager.
Elena and Anton's choreographer, Igor Bobrin, competed for the Soviet Union
in the early 1980's and won the 1981 European Championships. As a competitor,
he was coached by Tamara Moskvina's husband, Igor Moskvin.
Tamara Moskvina was a pairs skater for the Soviet Union in the late 1960's.
With her partner, Alexei Mishin (coach of Evgeny Plushenko), she placed
fifth at the 1968 Winter Olympics and won the silver medal at the 1969 World
Championships. Tamara began coaching in the mid-1970's and her students
have won a combined eight Olympic medals, four of them gold.
About