Marina Evgenievna Cherkasova (russian: Марина Евгеньевна Черкасова; born 17 November 1964) is a Russian retired

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 ...

. With

Sergei Shakhrai Sergei Semyonovich Shakhrai (russian: Серге́й Семёнович Шахрай; born 28 June 1958) is a Russian retired pair skater. With partner Marina Cherkasova, he is the 1980 Olympic silver medalist, 1980 World champion, and 1979 ...

, she won the 1979 European title at the age of 14. At 15, she was the 1980 Olympic silver medalist and 1980 World champion.

Career

Cherkasova and Shakhrai trained 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 ...

with

Stanislav Zhuk Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk (russian: Станислав Алексеевич Жук, ; 25 January 1935 – 1 November 1998) was a pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Nina, he won three silver medals at the European Figur ...

. Their main rivals included fellow Soviets

Irina Rodnina Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina ( rus, Ирина Константиновна Роднина, p=ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skating, figure skater, who is ...

Alexander Zaitsev Alexander Zaytsev may refer to: *Alexander Zaytsev (artist), Alexander Dmitryevich Zaytsev (1903–1982), Russian painter and art educator *Alexander Zaytsev (pilot), Alexander Andreyevich Zaytsev (1911–1965), Soviet aircraft pilot and Hero of the ...

, whom they never defeated,

Irina Vorobieva Irina Nikolayevna Vorobieva (russian: Ирина Николаевна Воробьёва; 30 June 1958 – 12 April 2022) was a Russian pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socia ...

Igor Lisovsky Igor Olegovich Lisovsky (russian: Игорь Олегович Лисовский; born on 25 June 1954) is a former Soviet pair skater. With his then-wife Irina Vorobieva, he is the 1981 World champion and the 1981 European champion. They were ...

Marina Pestova Marina Nikolayevna Pestova, married surname: Akbarov, (russian: Марина Николаевна Пестова, born 20 December 1964) is a former pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union. With her skating partner, Stanislav Leonovich, she ...

Stanislav Leonovich Stanislav Viktorovich Leonovich (; 22 July 1958 – 1 July 2022) was a Russian figure skating coach and pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his skating partner, Marina Pestova, he became a two-time World medalist (silver in 1982, ...

, and

Veronika Pershina Veronica Petrovna Pershina or Voyk (russian: Вероника Петровна Першина, born December 20, 1966) is a former competitive pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union. With Marat Akbarov, she is the 1985 European bronze medal ...

Marat Akbarov Marat Akbarov (russian: Марат Фагимович Акбаров, born February 3, 1961) is a former competitive pair skater for the Soviet Union. With Veronica Pershina, he is the 1985 European bronze medalist and 1979 World Junior champion ...

. Cherkasova and Shakhrai were 12 and 18 respectively when they were paired together. Initially, there was a 35 cm height difference between the pair, with Cherkasova only 138 cm tall. Cherkasova was 12 when the pair captured the bronze at their first European Championship in 1977. Their height difference facilitated innovation in twist and lift elements; they became the first pair to perform the split quadruple twist in 1977.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFz7aN2H6s Later, the judging standards were changed to value physical harmony between the partners, which handicapped Cherkasova and her partner. They won 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 ...

title in 1979. By 1980 Cherkasova had grown 20 cm. The change affected their technical elements, however, the pair managed to win silver at 1980 Europeans, silver at the 1980 Olympics, and gold at Worlds. At the age of 15 years, 93 days, Cherkasova was one of the youngest figure skating Olympic medalists. Shakhrai's problems lifting his now 45 kg partner eventually resulted in them splitting up. By 1981, Cherkasova had grown so tall that Shakhrai could no longer effectively lift her. This caused them to miss the medal podium at the World Championship in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

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 cap ...

, finishing in fourth place. Cherkasova and Shakhrai continued to train into the 1982 season, however eventually broke up. She briefly paired with Rashid Kadyrkaev, a World junior medalist in 1980 and 1981, but he left to skate with Elena Kvitchenko at the invitation of

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 ...

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 ...

Later life

In 1982, Cherkasova joined the Moscow Ice Ballet where she met her husband. In 1986, they had a son, Vitaly, and a few years later, a daughter named Daria. Cherkasova is now a children's coach in Moscow.

Competitive highlights

(with Shakhrai)

References

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkasova, Marina 1964 births Living people Soviet female pair skaters Russian female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics