Elene Gedevanishvili (, born 7 January 1990) is a
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
former competitive
figure skater
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
. She is a two-time (
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
)
European bronze medalist. In winning the medal in 2010, Gedevanishvili became the first skater from Georgia to medal at an ISU Championships.
[ She has competed at three ]Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
: Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
and Sochi 2014
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
.
Personal life
Elene Gedevanishvili was born in Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
, Georgian SSR
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
.[ She is the elder sister of Dmitri Gedevanishvili, a competitive ]alpine skier
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...
.[ She graduated from ]Plymouth State University
Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students an ...
in Spring 2019 with Bachelor of science in Psychology of Exercise.[
Gedevanishvili now works as an ice skating instructor at Cutting Edge Ice Academy, an ice hockey training facility in Elmwood Park, NJ.
]
Career
Early years
As a child, Gedevanishvili lived and trained in Georgia and went to training camps in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, Russia. At the age of nine, she and her mother settled in Moscow and at age eleven, she began working with Elena Buianova (Vodorezova).[ She trained at ]CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...
with Buianova and Tatiana Tarasova
Tatiana Anatolyevna Tarasova (; born 13 February 1947) is a Russian figure skating coach and national figure skating team adviser. Tarasova has been coach to more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in skating history. Her students h ...
. At the 2005–06 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Estonia, she became the first Georgian skater to win a Junior Grand Prix event.
Senior debut
Gedevanishvili made her senior international debut at the 2006 European Championships where she finished 5th. Her second senior competition was 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 t ...
. She was 6th in the short program and finished 10th overall. She ended the season at the 2006 World Championships, placing 14th.
In October 2006, Gedevanishvili was forced to leave Russia after the Russian authorities revoked her mother's visa on a technicality.[ Her mother was given ten days to leave the country so Buianova recommended that the skater train in ]Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
with Anna Levandi (Kondrashova) for her first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2006 Cup of China
The 2006 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2006–07 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Nanjing on November 9 ...
, which was to take place in three weeks.[ Shortly thereafter, Gedevanishvili contracted a case of ]whooping cough
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...
that went undiagnosed for several months.[ She withdrew from both of her Grand Prix events. In December 2006,][ she moved to ]Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne is a Township (New Jersey), township in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York ...
to train with coach Galina Zmievskaya
Galina Yakovlevna Zmievskaya (russian: Галина Яковлевна Змиевская, uk, Галина Яківна Змієвська, ''Halyna Yakivna Zmievs'ka'') (born 1952) is a Ukrainian-American figure skating coach in the United Stat ...
, former coach of Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul
, altname= Oksana Baiul-Farina
, birth_date=
, birth_place=Dnipro, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
, residence=
, height=
, formercoach= Galina Zmievskaya Valentyn Nikolayev Stanislav Koritek
, formerchoreographer= Sarah Kawahara
, formertra ...
. She left Zmievskaya in April 2007 due to a personality conflict.
Gedevanishvili was awarded the Order of Honor Order of Honor may refer to:
*Order of Honour (Armenia)
*Order of Honor (Belarus), established in 1995
* Order of Honor (Georgia)
*Order of Honour (Greece), an award that replaced the abolished Royal Order of George I in 1975
*Order of Honour (Moldo ...
by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. for her achievements as an athlete and in recognition of her treatment in Russia.[ She moved to to train with coaches ]Roman Serov
Roman Serov (born 16 December 1976 in Moscow) is a Russian-born figure skater and skating coach who has also competed for Israel. He won two medals on the Grand Prix series and is a two-time Israeli national champion.
Career
Serov represented ...
and Viktor Kudriavtsev
Viktor Nikolayevich Kudriavtsev (russian: Виктор Николаевич Кудрявцев; born 24 October 1937 in Tula, Russia) is a Russian figure skating coach and choreographer.
Career
Kudriavtsev began skating at age 16 and turned to ...
at the Ice House. In 2009, she changed coaches to Robin Wagner.[ She also occasionally worked with Roman Serov on her jumps and 1982 World Champion ]Elaine Zayak
Elaine Kathryn Zayak (born April 4, 1965) is an American former figure skater. She is the 1982 World champion and 1981 U.S. national champion. She competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics, placing 6th.
Personal life
Zayak was born and raised in ...
.[ Gedevanishvili can perform the ]Biellmann spin
The Biellmann spin is a difficult variation of the layback spin in figure skating. It was made popular by world champion Denise Biellmann.
Description
The Biellmann spin is a difficult variation of the layback spin in figure skating. It is exe ...
with a foot change.
2009–present
In 2009, Gedevanishvili finished 25th at Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...
, the lowest result at the event in her career, but then achieved a career-best result at the World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
where she finished 10th. Her Worlds placement qualified her for her second Olympics.
Gedevanishvili became the first skater representing Georgia to medal at an ISU Championships when she won the bronze medal at the 2010 European Championships.[ She then competed in the ]2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
, placing 9th in the short program, 17th in the free skate, and 14th overall. At the final event of the season, the 2010 World Championships, she finished 18th.
In the 2010–11 season, Gedevanishvili finished 8th at the 2011 European Championships. She was able to repeat her career-best 10th-place finish at the World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. In July 2011, Gedevanishvili switched coaches to Brian Orser
Brian Ernest Orser, (born 18 December 1961) is a Canadian former competitive and professional figure skater and coach to Olympic champions. He is the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medallist, 1987 World champion and eight-time (1981–88) Can ...
in Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada.[ On 28 January 2012, she won her second European bronze medal at the 2012 European Championships. She was 10th at the 2012 World Championships.
In the 2012–13 season, Gedevanishvili was 14th at ]European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
. At the 2013 World Championships, she missed an opportunity to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
by finishing 29th, the lowest Worlds placement of her career. In the summer of 2013, Gedevanishvili moved from Toronto to Boxborough, Massachusetts
Boxborough is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. The town name is often simplified to "Boxboro" on highway signs and official documents.
Geography
According to the United State ...
in order to be closer to her family.[ ]Konstantin Kostin
Konstantin V. Kostin (russian: Константин Костин, , born 4 September 1973) is a Latvian figure skater. He competed for the Soviet Union through 1991 and then for Latvia from 1992 to the end of his career in 2001. He is the 1992 W ...
and Edouard Pliner
Edouard Georgievich Pliner (russian: Эдуард Георгиевич Плинер; June 13, 1936 – October 25, 2016) was a Russian figure skating coach.
Life and career
Pliner was born in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in 1936 and started ...
became her coaches.[
In September 2013, Gedevanishvili placed 6th at the ]Nebelhorn Trophy
The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. It became part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014–15 season.
The competitio ...
, the last Olympic qualifying event. As a result of her placement, Georgia received one of the six ladies' spots available to countries not having qualified at 2013 Worlds. Gedevanishvili switched coaches back to Brian Orser
Brian Ernest Orser, (born 18 December 1961) is a Canadian former competitive and professional figure skater and coach to Olympic champions. He is the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medallist, 1987 World champion and eight-time (1981–88) Can ...
and Ghislain Briand after the Grand Prix series. Gedevanishvili placed 10th at European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
and 19th at the 2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
.[
For the 2014-15 season, Gedevanishvili was assigned to the ]2014 Skate America
The 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2014–15 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Octob ...
.
Currently, Gedevanishvili is a skating technique instructor for ice hockey players at Cutting Edge Ice Academy in Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Elmwood Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and is a bedroom community, bedroom suburb located from New York City. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's ...
.
Programs
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 ...
; CS: Challenger Series (began in the 2014–15 season); JGP: Junior Grand Prix
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
''
References
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gedevanishvili, Elene
1990 births
Living people
Female single skaters from Georgia (country)
Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Sportspeople from Hackensack, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Tbilisi
Olympic figure skaters of Georgia (country)
European Figure Skating Championships medalists
Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia)
Plymouth State University alumni