The young skaters were paired as a team when Grinkov was 15 and Gordeeva was just 11 years old. As she explained in her book, My Sergei: A Love Story, their coaches decided to put them together because neither one of them were strong jumpers on their own at that point. Initially, the significant difference in their heights drew some criticism, but it wasn't long before they proved all the haters wrong. G&G (as the pair was known) won their first World Championships, as well as the Soviet Nationals, in 1986; they won the Worlds again in 1987.
"I didn't feel any pain at first, then my head felt like it was splitting apart. Someone picked me up, and then I blacked out. I came to in the first-aid room, and I was driven to the hospital," Gordeeva wrote.
"I lay there worrying about missing practice and the Olympics, and I was mad at Sergei because I thought this fall was his mistake," she recalled. "Then there was a knock on the door, and it was Sergei."
"He was carrying a dozen roses, and he was very upset," she wrote. "It was the first time he'd given me flowers. I was surprised, even happy to see how distressed he was. Spending so much time together can lead to intense personality conflicts, and successful pairs are not necessarily friendly. But Sergei was so sad that I began to feel sorry for him."
"It was another week before I was allowed on the ice, and Sergei continued to visit me at home every day. When, at last, I could skate again, I immediately noticed a change in the way he was holding me. He was holding me tighter, as if he didn't want to give me a chance to touch the ice. Something had happened in those two weeks, and even I — so focused on skating, so serious about training and life — realized that his thoughts for me had changed. Before we had been like two skaters. After that, we were a pair."
So it wasn't a huge surprise when the gold medalists got married during a hiatus from competing in 1991; their daughter, Daria, was born the next year. Gordeeva and Grinkov made a triumphant return to the Olympics in 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway, where they won the gold again.
“He was my hero,” Gordeeva told the Los Angeles Times in 1996. “From the first time I met him and the first time I started to skate with him, I always admired him."
Related: Skating Legend, Who Entered the 1988 Winter Olympics as an Underdog, Delivered One of Figure Skating's Greatest Routines
Hence then, the article about 1988 olympic skating legends paired as teenagers became figure skating s greatest love story was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 1988 Olympic Skating Legends, Paired as Teenagers, Became Figure Skating's Greatest Love Story )
Also on site :
- The global rich like Peter Thiel are eyeing the exit door. Argentina wants to be a ‘serious contender’ in the migration game
- Coca-Cola suspended production at its Fairlife dairy after a ransomware attack
- ‘Age of Attraction’ Is Netflix’s Top New Reality Launch, But ‘Star Search’ & ‘Calabasas Confidential’ Struggle