Ilona Melnichenko ( uk, Ілона Мельниченко) is a former

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 ...

who competed for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. With former partner

Gennady Kaskov Gennady Kaskov ( uk, Геннадій Каськов) is a former Soviet ice dancer. With former partner Ilona Melnichenko, he is the 1987 World Junior champion, 1990 Skate America bronze medallist, and 1991 Winter Universiade champion. Career ...

, she is the 1987 World Junior champion and 1991

Winter Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

champion. She is from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

and has a bachelor's degree in Physical Education from the Odessa State Institute of Physical Culture. Melnichenko was married to former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

Artem Torgeshev, the 1987 World Junior silver medalist, with whom she has two children, Andrew and Deana. They coach at the Panthers Figure Skating Club, Saveology Iceplex in

Coral Springs, Florida Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. C ...

. Together they have coached many notable skaters, including Franchesca Chiera, Sophia Chouinard, Samantha Scott, Luiz Manella, and Andrew Torgashev. Their son,

Andrew Torgashev Andrew Torgashev (born May 29, 2001) is an American figure skater. He is the 2019 CS Asian Open Trophy silver medalist, the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy bronze medalist, the 2018 JGP Lithuania champion, the 2015 U.S. national junior champion, and t ...

, was born May 29, 2001 in Coral Springs, Florida and competes for the United States in single skating.

Results

(with Kaskov)

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Melnichenko, Ilona Soviet female ice dancers Ukrainian female ice dancers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Sportspeople from Odesa World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Universiade medalists in figure skating Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Universiade silver medalists for the Soviet Union Competitors at the 1989 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 1991 Winter Universiade