Childhood and youth
Ekaterina was born in Moscow on May 28, 1971. Father Alexander Alekseevich Gordeev at that time was listed in the troupe of Igor Moiseev. Mother Elena Lvovna worked at the famous Telegraph Agency (future ITAR-TASS).
Ekaterina Gordeeva in childhood
4 years after her birth, Katya became an older sister - another girl appeared in the family. It is worth noting that the children in this family never needed anything. At that time, parents were considered wealthy and invested a lot in their daughters.
The future figure skater spent her early years on the ice; at the age of three, her parents enrolled her in the CSKA children's sports school, in Vladimir Zakharov's group. From that moment on, Catherine’s life was subject to a strict schedule: skating, stretching and choreographic sketches were replaced by school lessons and homework.
Ekaterina Gordeeva in her youth
It is not surprising that Gordeeva had the opportunity to meet her partner at the skating rink. Young Sergei Grinkov trained there - at the CSKA Youth Sports School. The first meeting took place in 1981, and in 1982 Gordeeva and Grinkov became an official sports couple, performing under the leadership of Vladimir Zakharov. It is believed that it was he who determined the success of the skaters by combining them into one whole at the right time.
Despite their young age and little experience in pair skating, Ekaterina and Sergei quickly learned to interact with each other. Katya was tiny - her height was 152 cm, and her weight was 40 kg; compared to her, Sergei looked like a real Russian hero.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov
At the 1983 Junior World Championships they took sixth place, and in 1984 they returned with gold. Their training was supervised at that time by coach Nadezhda Shevalovskaya, silver medalist of the USSR Championships in 1974 and 1976. Choreographer Marina Zueva was responsible for the content of the programs and the dance form of the skaters.
Feeling wildly empty
At 24, the most beautiful figure skater in the USSR was left a widow with a three-year-old daughter in her arms. Her life also seemed to have ended. Family happiness, career - everything collapsed in one moment. Gordeeva spent one night in the Moscow apartment she shared with Sergei. She couldn't stay there any longer. Marina Zueva tried with all her might to distract Katya from sorrowful thoughts. She painted every moment of the skater - she took her to museums, exhibitions and concerts. But Gordeeva did not understand what was happening around her and how she should live further.
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“There was a feeling of wild emptiness that was slowly killing me. Every morning I caught myself thinking that I would like to fall asleep and never wake up again. We were young and in love. And suddenly he died. All that remains is the memory that lives in my soul and in our daughter Daria. As they usually said about Sergei and me, when we were skating, our hearts beat as one. This was indeed the case. When his heart stopped, mine was broken forever,” wrote Ekaterina in the book “My Sergei.”
The figure skater faced deep depression. Katya’s mother looked after her daughter during this difficult period. Elena Lvovna advised her daughter to quit sports - the money she earned would be enough for the coming years. But Gordeeva didn’t even think about figure skating at that moment. She was afraid to go out on the ice alone, and pairing up with someone else was akin to betrayal for her.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Months passed, but time did not heal the pain. Catherine’s mother could no longer look at her suffering and in her hearts uttered a phrase that brought her daughter back to life: “Dasha needs a strong mother.”
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Figure skating
In the fall of 1985, the couple moved to the group of Stanislav Zhuk. The sports biography of Ekaterina Gordeeva was replenished with several more successful performances. The couple took second place at the USSR Championships, received a silver medal at the European Championships and became champions at the World Championships in Geneva.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov
Fifteen-year-old Katya turned out to be the youngest world champion. And the Gordeeva-Grinkov couple has an unprecedented number of fans. Photos with their images appeared on the covers of all printed publications of the Union.
Just at this time, a scandal erupted regarding a complaint against Zhuk. Figure skater Anna Kondrashova accused the famous coach of “immoral behavior” and harassment against herself and Elena Vodorezova, who trained with him. Her accusatory letter to the CPSU Central Committee was signed by choreographer Marina Zueva and several of Stanislav Alekseevich’s wards, among whom were Sergei and Ekaterina.
The Gordeeva-Grinkov couple won the hearts of millions
They say that the couple was put under pressure by the “authorities”, but, nevertheless, “the job was done.” And the couple again had to change their leader. This time it was Stanislav Leonovich.
The skaters had to miss the 1987 season - during training, Katya fell from a height of three meters, hitting her head hard on the ice. Doctors diagnosed a serious concussion and banned him from playing sports until he fully recovered. However, this did not stop the professional growth of athletes. Already in 1988, they demonstrated the highest aerobatics at the Olympics in Calgary.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov at the Olympics in Calgary
The perfectly executed free program and the short program, rich in complex technical elements, became an exemplary performance by the partners. To this day, these numbers are shown to beginning skaters as the highest achievements of Soviet sports.
The next season was marked by victories at the world championships in 1989 and 1990. However, in both cases the programs were carried out with shortcomings - the advantage over their opponents turned out to be small. Ekaterina and Sergei decided to leave big sport and began to participate in tours of Tatyana Tarasova’s ice theater.
Olympic champions Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov
In essence, this was a forced measure. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many skaters were left without work, and therefore without a livelihood. To avoid this, the couple moved to the USA, where they began skating in ice shows.
Personal life
It has been known for a long time that Katya and Sergei are connected not only by skates. But the couple came to the decision to enter into an official marriage only in 1991. On April 20, the newlyweds got married, and on April 28, they got married. On September 11 of the following year, their daughter Dasha was born. Close and dear families claim that it was an ideal relationship, pure and strong love.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov
Unfortunately, family happiness did not last long. While in Lake Placid in November 1995, Sergei felt unwell. Doctors were called to the stadium and diagnosed acute heart failure. The young skater was quickly transported to the hospital, but there was no time to help. Grinkov died suddenly. Later, Catherine learned that the cause of her husband’s death was a massive heart attack.
Later in an interview, Ekaterina said that when your loved one dies in your arms, you realize how little all these victories, cups and medals mean.
Ekaterina Gordeeva with her husband and daughter
After her husband’s funeral, the figure skater did not have a question about figure skating. How to live further became the main question of her life. She felt the loss of her husband acutely. Only she knows how she had to convince herself that she needed to pull herself together and move on.
Ekaterina managed to pull herself together, and a few months later the figure skater was back on the ice - albeit alone. When she appeared on the ice arena, the audience stood up. And after the screening of the program, she burst into tears. And her three-year-old daughter Dasha came out onto the ice to calm her down.
Ekaterina Gordeeva
After the death of her husband, Gordeeva wrote a memoir book, “My Sergei.” The book immediately became a bestseller. Katya later admitted that she regretted revealing so many personal secrets. Although she does not hide the fact that at that time writing a book became an outlet for her. In 1998, Gordeeva starred in a documentary about Grinkov. They say that she still wears the wedding ring he gave her, her main talisman, on a gold chain.
In 1998-1999, Ekaterina Gordeeva participated in popular ice shows. Her partners were Anton Sikharulidze, John Zimmerman, Arthur Dmitriev. In 2000, in the StarsonIce show, the figure skater went on the ice with Ilya Kulik, and in 2001 it became known that the couple got married.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Ilya Kulik
They didn’t organize a magnificent celebration; they just signed between tours at the Russian embassy in San Francisco. They tried not to advertise their relationship, since many fans of the Gordeeva-Grinkov couple were jealous of her new life. The new alliance seemed like a betrayal to some.
In the summer of 2002, their daughter Lisa was born in a private clinic in Los Angeles. Ilya is 6 years younger than Katya.
Ekaterina Gordeeva with her family
Rumors about the romance of the famous figure skater Gordeeva with actor Yegor Beroev appeared on the eve of the final release of the television show “Ice Age”. Journalists vied with each other to quote eyewitnesses claiming that the couple regularly met in one of the largest hotels in the capital. And the paparazzi even provided several photos of Katya and Yegor in the cozy atmosphere of a romantic dinner.
However, both of them categorically denied a love affair. Ekaterina was already married to Kulik at that time, and Beroev’s wife, Ksenia Alferova, even starred with them in the same show (her partner was Povilas Vanagas).
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Egor Beroev
By the end, serious passions flared up around the scandalous couple - some publications managed to notify readers that Ksenia divorced her husband because of his infidelity. But the divorce never took place.
The legendary figure skater today is a loving wife and caring mother. And Ksenia and Egor are raising their daughter Evdokia together.
The end of a happy fairy tale
Gordeeva and Grinkov were adored all over the world. Two-time Olympic champions with a beautiful romantic story were in great demand in overseas shows. Katya and Sergey enjoyed skating, raised their daughter, dreamed and were absolutely happy.
Photo: RIA Novosti
“Sergei wanted to do so many things, so many things that had nothing to do with figure skating!” — wrote Gordeeva.
It seemed that nothing could destroy this idyll. But in 1995, Sergei passed away.
“Everything was too great for us to end well,” said Gordeeva.
A story of great love, or the Tale of White Swans
The tragedy happened on November 20, 1995. It was a normal training day. Ekaterina and Sergei were practicing their throws, when suddenly their partner became ill. Grinkov bent forward, slowly lay down on the ice and did not get up again. Gordeeva thought that her husband was worried about his back, which he had problems with before. But the couple’s choreographer Marina Zueva
I immediately realized that the situation was much worse. She rushed onto the ice to give Sergei first aid and ordered an ambulance to be called. The doctors arrived instantly, and within a couple of minutes they were already taking the skater to the hospital.
“At the hospital we were told to wait, and I don’t remember how much time passed: 30 minutes, an hour, several hours. And then the doctor came out and said that they couldn’t save Sergei, and allowed me to sit alone with him in the room for a while,” Gordeeva said.
Grinkov was 28 years old. As it turned out later, he died of a massive heart attack.
Happiness interrupted. The triumph and tragedy of the Russian figure skater
Ekaterina Gordeeva now
Ekaterina Gordeeva is still very good and graceful and allows few people into her private life, although she is an active user of Instagram. It is known that she lives with her family in America and occasionally visits Russia. As the skater herself says, they come to Russia to celebrate the New Year and spend it at the dacha.
In America, Gordeeva and Kulik opened their own figure skating school. In 2021, they began work on creating the Romeo and Juliet ice show. In 2021 it was presented to the public.
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Ilya Averbukh in the “Good Morning” program
The eldest daughter Dasha gave up figure skating and preferred to study. In June 2021, a photo appeared on Gordeeva’s Instagram, in the caption of which she congratulated her daughter on graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). But the younger Lisa trains hard. At one time she skated in Moscow with Inna Goncharenko, today she is trained by her father, Ilya Kulik.
In April 2021, Ekaterina took part in the project “Ice Age. Children”, where she was invited as a judge.
Dedication to my husband
Ekaterina pulled herself together, began training at CSKA and soon returned fully to the ice. She dedicated her first performance without Sergei on the show to her deceased husband. Gordeeva prepared a program for Mahler’s composition “Celebration of Life”, at the end of which she could not restrain herself and burst into tears. The little daughter ran out to console the girl. Touching footage spread all over the world.
Gordeeva's dramatic story especially captivated the Americans. A year after Grinkov’s death, Ekaterina published the book “My Sergei.” For five weeks, she met with a correspondent to whom she could pour out her pain. For Catherine, working on the book became a kind of psychotherapy and helped her overcome grief. Although later she regretted that she had opened up too much. It is not surprising that the book eventually became a bestseller, because everything that Gordeeva said came from the heart. Later, Catherine wrote another work, “Letters to Daria,” dedicated to her daughter.
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Awards
- 1986 – gold medal at the World Championships in Geneva
- 1987 – gold medal at the World Championships in Cincinnati
- 1988 – gold medal at the European Championships in Prague
- 1988 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Calgary
- 1989 – gold medal at the World Championships in Paris
- 1990 - gold medal at the World Championships in Halifax
- 1990 – gold medal at the European Championships in Leningrad
- 1994 – gold medal at the European Championships in Copenhagen
- 1994 – gold medal at the Russian Championship
- 1994 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer
