Marina Vyacheslavovna Anissina (russian: Марина Вячеславовна Анисина; born 30 August 1975) is a Franco-Russian
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 ...
. Competing with
Gwendal Peizerat
Gwendal Peizerat (born 21 April 1972) is a French former competitive ice dancer. With Marina Anissina, he is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time French national champion.
Per ...
for France, she is the
2002 Olympic champion, the
1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the
2000 World champion, and a six-time
French national champion.
Earlier in her career, Anissina competed with
Ilia Averbukh
Ilia Izyaslavich Averbukh (russian: Илья Изяславич Авербух, correctly spelled "Ilya"; born 18 December 1973) is a Russian ice dancer. With his then-wife Irina Lobacheva, he is the 2002 Olympic silver medalist, the 2002 World ...
for Russia and the Soviet Union. They won gold at two
World Junior Championships.
Personal life
Born to
Irina Cherniaeva
Irina Evgenyevna Cherniaeva (russian: Ирина Евгеньевна Черняева; born 29 October 1955, in Moscow) is a Russian former pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union. With her skating partner, Vasili Blagov, she represented t ...
, a 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 placed sixth at the
1972 Winter Olympics
The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...
,
[ and ]Vyacheslav Anisin
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Anisin (born 11 July 1951) is a Russian retired professional ice hockey player.
Anisin played in the Soviet Championship League for HC CSKA Moscow, Krylya Sovetov Moscow, SKA Leningrad and HC Spartak Moscow. He would l ...
, a World and European champion in ice hockey, Anissina had a comfortable childhood.[ She is of Ukrainian descent on her mother's side. Her brother is Mikhail Anisin, also a hockey player.
Anissina became a French citizen in 1994.][ On 23 February 2008, she married Russian actor Nikita Djigurda 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 ...
after the two met when they were partnered on a celebrity ice dancing television show.[ They have two children.][ The family currently lives in Moscow.][ Anissina spends time in France and works with young ice dancers.][
]
Career
Early years
Born into an ice skating family,[ Anissina began skating at the age of four.][ By age nine she was determined to become a champion.][ Her mother, having been injured in ]pair skating
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 ...
, discouraged her from following in her footsteps so the young skater went into ice dancing
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 ...
.[
Early in her career, Anissina competed with Sergei Sakhnovski, representing the Soviet Union. Following that partnership, she teamed up with ]Ilia Averbukh
Ilia Izyaslavich Averbukh (russian: Илья Изяславич Авербух, correctly spelled "Ilya"; born 18 December 1973) is a Russian ice dancer. With his then-wife Irina Lobacheva, he is the 2002 Olympic silver medalist, the 2002 World ...
. They represented the Soviet Union and, after that country's dissolution, Russia. They were the 1990 and 1992 World Junior Champions. Their partnership ended at the end of the 1991–92 season;[ Averbukh decided to leave Anissina to skate with ]Irina Lobacheva
Irina Viktorovna Lobacheva (russian: Ирина Викторовна Лобачёва; born 18 February 1973) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With partner and former husband Ilia Averbukh, she is the 2002 Olympic silver medalist, the ...
with whom he had fallen in love.[
Anissina trained for several months without a partner at the same rink as the new duo.][
She received little help from the Russian federation in her search for a new partner.][ She and her mother studied videotapes of international competitions and selected ]Gwendal Peizerat
Gwendal Peizerat (born 21 April 1972) is a French former competitive ice dancer. With Marina Anissina, he is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time French national champion.
Per ...
and Victor Kraatz
Victor Kraatz, (born April 7, 1971) is a Canadian former ice dancer. In 2003, he and his partner, Shae-Lynn Bourne, became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship.
Personal life
Born on April 7, 1971 in West Berlin, V ...
.[ Anissina sent letters to both but the one to Kraatz did not reach him.][ Peizerat did not respond immediately but when his partnership with Marina Morel fell apart, he contacted Anissina.][
]
Partnership with Peizerat
Anissina arrived in Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France, in February 1993, declaring her goal of becoming World and Olympic champion.[ She wanted to bring Peizerat back to Russia with her but his family was opposed.][
Anissina settled in France and began learning the language but experienced homesickness.][ She focused intensely on skating and insisted her partner, who was dividing his time between skating and his education, be equally focused on their career.][ Their first year together produced many quarrels and they came close to splitting up.][ Their coach ]Muriel Boucher-Zazoui
Muriel Boucher-Zazoui is a French coach and choreographer, and retired competitive ice dancer. She competed with Yves Malatier, and together they are the 1977 and 1978 French national champions. They competed twice at the European Championships ...
, however, immediately felt it was a promising partnership, saying "They are like fire and ice".[
Anissina and Peizerat were selected for the ]1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
in Lillehammer
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
but her French citizenship was granted a few weeks too late.[ The Olympics, unlike most skating competitions, require both partners to be citizens of the country they are representing.
Anissina and Peizerat won the 1998 Olympic bronze medal and 1998 and 1999 World silver medals behind ]Anjelika Krylova
Anjelika Alexeyevna Krylova (russian: Анжелика Алексеевна Крылова; born 4 July 1973) is a Russian retired Ice dancing, ice dancer. With partner Oleg Ovsyannikov, she is the 1998 Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, ...
and Oleg Ovsyannikov
Oleg Vladimirovich Ovsyannikov (russian: Олег Владимирович Овсянников; born 23 January 1970) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Anjelika Krylova, he is the 1998 Olympic silver medalist and two-tim ...
. The Russians retired due to injury and Anissina and Peizerat then developed a rivalry with the Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli
Barbara Fusar-Poli (born 6 February 1972) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Maurizio Margaglio, she is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian titl ...
and Maurizio Margaglio
Maurizio Margaglio (; born 16 November 1974) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Barbara Fusar-Poli, he is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian ...
.
The French won the 2000 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 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 2001, Anissina and Peizerat won European and World silver behind the Italians but surged past them in 2002 to reclaim their European title and become the Olympic Champions.
At the 2002 Olympics, they led after the compulsory dances and the original dance. Their free dance, Liberty, mixed music with sections from the famed freedom speech by ]Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
; a 5–4 split of the judges' panel had them in first place in this segment ahead of Lobecheva and Averbukh, and they became the first French ice dancers to win the Olympic gold medal.[
After the Olympics, Anissina and Peizerat retired from competition but continued skating together for many years in shows around the world.][ During their career, they represented the club Lyon TSC. Their signature move was Anissina lifting Peizerat off the ice, switching the traditional gender roles in lifts.
Anissina coached for several years in ]Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
at S.O.G.M.A. 13.[ She has also done some choreography for other skaters.][ In 2013, she said she hoped to qualify for the 2014 Sochi Olympics with Peizerat.]
Programs
With Peizerat
With Averbukh
Results
With Peizerat for France
With Averbukh for Russia and the Soviet Union
References
External links
*
*http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/anisina/ (in Russian)
*http://mgforever.free.fr (in French)
Anissina/Peizerat
(English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anissina, Marina
Olympic figure skaters of France
1975 births
Living people
French female ice dancers
Russian female ice dancers
Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for France
Olympic bronze medalists for France
Figure skaters from Moscow
Olympic medalists in figure skating
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
European Figure Skating Championships medalists
World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Season-end world number one figure skaters
Russian people of Ukrainian descent
European champions for France