Larisa Yurievna Selezneva (russian: Лариса Юрьевна Селезнёва; born September 12, 1963 in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) is a Russian 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 ...

who represented 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 her husband Oleg Makarov, she is the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, 1985 World silver medalist, 1988 World bronze medalist, and two-time European champion (1987, 1989). They were coached by

Igor Moskvin Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...

Career

Selezneva trained in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). She was partnered with Oleg Vasiliev early in her pairs career but they split after three months. Selezneva and Makarov were paired together by their coaches in 1978. They won the World Junior Championships in 1980 and 1981. They then rapidly progressed in the senior ranks. In 1984, they won the bronze medal at the Sarajevo Olympics, which was the first major international competition for the pair. Selezneva, along with Makarov, was awarded the ''Medal for Distinguished Labor'' (1984). Armed with strong pairs skills and difficult side-by-side triple jumps, they won the silver medal at the 1985 World Championships in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, almost defeating the then-reigning World and Olympic champion team,

Elena Valova Elena Aleksandrovna Valova (russian: Елена Александровна Валова; born 4 January 1963) is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the Soviet Union. With her then-husband Oleg Vasiliev, she is the 19 ...

/ Oleg Vasiliev, also from the

. Makarov broke his knee before the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

and competed at the event with his knee in a cast and four pain-killing shots. They finished fourth at the event and won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Championships. They also won two European titles, in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and 1989. They retired from competition in 1990. Selezneva / Makarov were one of the first pairs to regularly include side-by-side triple jumps in their programs. They were coached by

Personal life

Selezneva and Makarov married in 1987. The family moved from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia to New York in 2001, having been recommended as coaches by

Tamara Moskvina Tamara Nikolayevna Moskvina (, née Bratus, Братусь; born 26 June 1941) is a Russian pair skating coach and former competitive skater. Competing in pairs with Alexei Mishin, she became the 1969 World silver medalist and Soviet national ...

and Igor Moskvin. The pair coach at various rinks in New York and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. They have two children, a daughter, Ksenia (born December 20, 1992 in Saint Petersburg), and a son, Aleksey, who was born nine years later in the United States. Their daughter became a competitive figure skater like her parents; she is the 2010 Russian national champion and represented Russia at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The pair and their daughter became naturalized U.S. citizens on August 16, 2013.

Competitive highlights

Pairs with Oleg Makarov

Other results

1990–1991 * World Professional Championships – 3rd * World Challenge of Champions – 3rd 1991–1992 * World Challenge of Champions – 2nd

References

External links

* *

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selezneva, Larisa 1963 births Living people Soviet female pair skaters Russian female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union Figure skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics