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Great Athletes

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov

by R. K. L. Panjabi

Sport: Figure skating

Ekaterina Gordeeva

Early Lives

Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gordeeva’s father was a Russian folk dancer who wanted his daughter to become a ballet dancer. Her mother was a teletype operator for a Soviet news agency. Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov’s parents were employed in the Moscow police department. Ekaterina started skating at the age of four, and both she and Sergei became child beneficiaries of the Soviet Union’s emphasis on excellence in sports. When Ekaterina was eleven years old she was teamed for pairs skating with Sergei, and both had to undergo considerable retraining to perform together as a team.

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The Road to Excellence

Traveling to numerous competitions around the world, the working relationship between Ekaterina and Sergei matured into a close personal friendship. Having placed fifth at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships in Sapporo, Japan, in 1983, they trained with greater determination and won this Junior World Figure Skating Championships the following year in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1986, they ranked second in both the Soviet National Championships and at the European championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ekaterina and Sergei—known as “G and G” within the international skating community—won their first gold medal at the 1986 World Figure Skating Championships in Geneva, Switzerland. They repeated this feat the following year in Cincinnati, Ohio, and also secured victory in the Soviet National Championships, held in Vilnius, Lithuania. International recognition of their considerable skill and talent followed their first American skating tour that year.

The Emerging Champions

In 1988, the duo won the European championships at Prague, Czechoslovakia, and won gold at the Olympics, in Calgary, Canada. In 1989, as their homeland was undergoing massive political change, Ekaterina and Sergei continued their stunning victories in the World Figure Skating Championships in Paris, France, followed by the European championships at St. Petersburg in 1990. That year they also won the World Figure Skating Championships held in Halifax, Canada.

In 1990, the pair decided to turn professional. Their close personal friendship had blossomed into mutual love, and when Sergei at last acquired the title to a small apartment in Moscow, he proposed to Ekaterina. They were married on April 28, 1991. That year they joined the touring show “Stars on Ice” and secured victories in two important competitive events, the World Professional Figure Skating Championships, held in Landover, Maryland, and the Challenge of Champions in Oslo, Norway. The following year, their daughter, Daria, was born. Because it became possible for professional skaters to request amateur status in order to compete in the Olympics, Ekaterina and Sergei decided to go for the gold once again. In 1994, their victory in the Russian National Championships landed them a spot on the Russian Olympic team. They won the coveted gold medal at the Olympic Games held in Lillehammer, Norway, as well as the European championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Having resumed professional status after the Olympics, they went on to win the World Professional Championships in 1994 and the Challenge of Champions the following year.

Continuing the Story

In 1995, at the height of Ekaterina and Sergei’s skating careers and international fame, Sergei had a massive heart attack while practicing on a rink in Lake Placid, New York. He died on November 20, 1995, at the age of twenty-eight. Although Sergei had suffered from back trouble and foot problems, there was no prior indication of heart disease. His sudden death was a shock that reverberated around the world. Sergei and Ekaterina were widely admired both for their skating and for the joy their performances brought to so many millions of people. Sergei was popular in the international skating community, and his kindness to his colleagues, his love for his wife and daughter, and his independent spirit endeared him to all. Ekaterina’s grief was shared across the world as friends mourned in the United States and again at a large funeral in Russia, which drew thousands.

Struggling through immense personal grief, Ekaterina found solace in her daughter. She eventually returned to the ice rink, which had been the focal point of her life. She had to learn to skate alone, no small feat for an athlete who had always been part of a pair. The skating community honored Sergei in a special celebration of the duo’s art and skill, but Ekaterina performed alone. She recounted the story of their life and love in a tribute to her husband, My Sergei: A Love Story (1996), cowritten by E. M. Swift. The book became a best-seller and was followed by A Letter for Daria, coauthored by Antonina Bouis and published in 1998. Having always relied so much on her husband, Ekaterina struggled to find her own path through life and raise her daughter as well. She decided to settle in the United States, where Daria had been born.

In 1996, Ekaterina and Sergei were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Besides a successful writing career, Ekaterina has worked on television shows, done product endorsements, and commentated for CBS at the Olympics. In 2002, Ekaterina married Russian figure-skating champion Ilia Kulik. The couple had a daughter the previous year. In 2003, Ekaterina returned to the ice, this time with Daria.

Summary

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov entranced the world with their grace and skill as skaters. However, their personal love story made them media celebrities. In 1994, People magazine named Ekaterina one of the fifty most beautiful people in the world. The tragedy that struck at the height of their glory resonated with the skating community, and Ekaterina’s personal journey to overcome her grief and emerge triumphant was an inspiration. The pair was significant because their care for each other transcended the world of skating and made their art inspiring, exemplifying beauty and grace to many around the world.

Additional Sources

1 

Gordeeva, Ekaterina, and Antonina W. Bouis. A Letter for Daria. Boston: Little, Brown, 1998.

2 

Gordeeva, Ekaterina, and E. M. Swift. My Sergei: A Love Story. New York: Warner Books, 1996.

3 

Hines, James R. Figure Skating: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

4 

Wallechinsky, David, and Jaime Loucky. The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. Wilmington, Del.: Sport Media, 2005.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Panjabi, R. K. L. "Ekaterina Gordeeva And Sergei Grinkov." Great Athletes,Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Athletes_1996.
APA 7th
Panjabi, R. K. (2009). Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. Great Athletes. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Panjabi, R. K. L. "Ekaterina Gordeeva And Sergei Grinkov." Great Athletes. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.