Denis Alexandrovich Petukhov (russian: Денис Александрович Петухов; born October 6, 1978) is a retired Russian-American

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. With his wife Melissa Gregory, he is the 2005 Four Continents silver medalist, a 2006 United States Olympic team member, and a four-time (2004–07)

U.S. national Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

silver medalist.

Personal life

Petukhov was raised in Kirov by his mother, Lubov. He has one younger sister, Natalia. Gregory and Petukhov were married in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

on February 2, 2001. The next month they flew to Kirov, Russia so that Petukhov's family could celebrate their marriage as well. The couple's son, Daxton Dale Petukhov, was born on November 21, 2014. They welcomed their 2nd son Lennox William Petukhov on June 14, 2017. Petukhov became a U.S. citizen on February 22, 2005.

Career

Petukhov began skating at age eight, in ice dancing from the start. He originally competed for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

with partner

Oksana Potdykova Oksana Balkanovna Potdykova (russian: Оксана Балкановна Потдыкова; born 20 January 1979) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. Competing with Denis Petukhov, she became a two-time World Junior medalist (s ...

, with whom he was the 2000 Russian national bronze medalist and a two-time medalist at the World Junior Championships. That partnership ended in the spring of 2000 when she ruptured her

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

and was forced to retire from skating. Petukhov met American ice dancer Melissa Gregory through an online partner search for pairs skaters. He came to the United States on a tourist visa at the end of August 2000 to test with her and other prospective partners, but canceled his other tryouts after skating with Gregory first, and never used his return plane ticket to

. Gregory and Petukhov were originally coached by Oleg Epstein and Sandy Hess but made a change in 2003 to Nikolai Morozov and

Shae-Lynn Bourne Shae-Lynn Bourne (born January 24, 1976) is a Canadian ice dancer and choreographer. In 2003, she and partner Victor Kraatz became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship. They competed at three Winter Olympic Games, pl ...

. Following the 2005–06 season, they switched again to

Natalia Linichuk Natalya Vladimirovna Linichuk (; born 6 February 1956) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitive ice dancer for the Soviet Union. With partner and husband Gennadi Karponosov, she is the 1980 Olympic champion and a two-time World cham ...

and Gennadi Karpanosov at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

. On September 7, 2007, they announced another coaching change, this time to

Priscilla Hill Priscilla Hill-Wampler (born October 4, 1961) is an American figure skating coach and former competitor. She is a two-time U.S. national medalist (silver in 1981, bronze in 1978) and finished within the top ten at two World Championships. She won ...

at The Pond Ice Arena, also in

. Gregory and Petukhov won four silver medals and two bronze medals at the

U.S. Figure Skating Championships The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...

and competed in the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

. Petukhov is one of the few skaters to have competed at both the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and

Four Continents Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) is an annual figure skating competition. The International Skating Union established it in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-African and non-European countries with a similar competit ...

. Gregory and Petukhov both suffered injuries in a fall during the warmup before the free dance at

2007 Skate Canada International The 2007 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2007–08 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Quebec on November ...

on November 4, 2007. Petukhov lost his footing while practicing a one-handed rotational lift, dropping Gregory onto the ice and injuring her ribs and hip and skidding into the boards himself, hurting his own knee and neck. Gregory was taken to a hospital following the fall but released that night. They were then forced to withdraw from competition for the rest of the season while they healed from their injuries. Gregory and Petukhov did not return to competition, partially due to financial difficulties. In 2008, they moved to Connecticut and began coaching and choreographing for other skaters at the International Skating Center of Connecticut. They also launched their own

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel,
OlympianUncut
', which focuses on a behind-the-scenes look at the skating world. They continue to skate in shows such as the ''Stars, Stripes and Skates'' show in September 2009. Petukhov choreographed the majority of his and Gregory's programs himself and has also choreographed programs for other skaters such as singles skaters

Johnny Weir John Garvin Weir (; born July 2, 1984) is an American figure skater and television commentator. He is a two-time Olympian (representing the United States in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, respectively), the 2008 World bronze medalist, a t ...

and

Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time European ...

. In 2010, Petukhov was cast on Skating with the Stars as a partner for celebrity contestant

Sean Young Mary Sean Young (born November 20, 1959) is an American actress. She is particularly known for working in sci-fi films, although she has performed roles in a variety of genres. Young's early roles include the independent romance '' Jane Aust ...

. In 2016, Gregory & Petukhov opened a luxury ice rink by The World Trade Center in New York City name
The Rink at Brookfield Place with Gregory & Petukhov
They also coach at various rinks in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Programs

(with Gregory)

Competitive highlights

''GP:

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

; JGP: Junior Series (Junior Grand Prix)''

With Gregory

With Potdykova

References

External links

Official siteGregory & Petukhov fansite
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petukhov, Denis 1978 births American male ice dancers Russian male ice dancers Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Living people University of Delaware people Russian emigrants to the United States Olympic figure skaters of the United States Sportspeople from Kirov, Kirov Oblast Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Competitors at the 1999 Winter Universiade