Natalia Yevgenievna Mishkutionok (russian: Наталья Евгеньевна Мишкутёнок, born 14 July 1970) is a Belarusian 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 ...
. With
Artur Dmitriev
Artur Valeryevich Dmitriev (russian: Артур Валерьевич Дмитриев; born 21 January 1968) is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. He is a two-time Olymp ...
, she is the
1992 Olympic champion, the
1994 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion (
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
,
1992), and a two-time European champion (
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
,
1992).
Personal life
Natalia Mishkutionok was born on 14 July 1970 to a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
mother and a
Belarusian father in the
Byelorussian SSR. In 1995, she settled in
Colorado Springs, Colorado and moved to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
in 2001. She was formerly married to American
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
player Craig Shepherd, with whom she skated professionally on occasion during the late 1990s. She divorced Shepherd and married Alan Hainline. Their daughter, Natasha Alena Mishkutionok-Hainline, was born on 16 January 2006.
Career
Mishkutionok began skating in 1976. She teamed up with
Artur Dmitriev
Artur Valeryevich Dmitriev (russian: Артур Валерьевич Дмитриев; born 21 January 1968) is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. He is a two-time Olymp ...
around 1986. They were coached 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 ...
in
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 ...
and their choreographers were Alexander Matveev with Moskvina. Together, Mishkutionok/Dmitriev won the 1991 and 1992
World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
and
European Championships, and Olympic gold in
1992. They performed to
Franz Liszt's
Liebesträume
' (German for ''Dreams of Love'') is a set of three solo piano works (S.541/R.211) by Franz Liszt, published in 1850. Originally the three ' were conceived as lieder after poems by Ludwig Uhland and Ferdinand Freiligrath. In 1850, two versions ap ...
(Dream of Love), which became one of the most noted programs of their career and earned them four perfect 6.0 marks at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California. They turned professional shortly after that championship.
Mishkutionok/Dmitriev chose to reinstate as amateurs after the ban against such actions was lifted. They attempted to defend their Olympic title in 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 ...
, where they delivered two strong programs. Their free skate to Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto earned a standing ovation and is considered one of their finest performances. The judges awarded the gold medal to Mishkutionok and Dmitriev's friends and countrymen
Ekaterina Gordeeva
Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva (russian: Екатерина Александровна Гордеева; born 28 May 1971) is a Russian figure skater. Together with her husband, the late Sergei Grinkov, she was the 1988 and 1994 Olymp ...
/
Sergei Grinkov
Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov (russian: Сергей Михайлович Гриньков; 4 February 1967 – 20 November 1995) was a Russian pair skater. Together with his wife Ekaterina Gordeeva, he was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and a ...
("G & G"). Mishkutionok decided to retire from competition in 1994.
One hallmark of Mishkutionok/Dmitriev's style was her flexibility and their creative spins, especially one in which Mishkutionok would do a split and point her head down, with an arm around Dmitriev's calf so that they were both vertical and aligned; this signature move, called "Natasha's spin" was incorporated into most of their programs. Another signature move was a backwards inside death spiral in which Mishkutionok bent backwards, holding her foot behind and above her head while Dmitriev also held her raised skate blade and her free hand. Mishkutionok/Dmitriev competed before, during, and after the breakup of the Soviet Union, thus, they competed for the Soviet Union, the
Unified Team, and Russia, all within a four-year period.
Mishkutionok is currently coaching pairs and singles skaters in
Grapevine, Texas
Grapevine is a city and suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County and Denton County. The city is located in the Mid-Cities suburban region betwee ...
and
Farmers Branch, Texas
Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 28,616 at the 2010 census.
Known as ...
. One of her students is the U.S. men's 2009 novice silver medalist Stevan Evans.
Programs
Competitive highlights
(with Artur Dmitriev)
Professional
References
Navigation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishkutionok, Natalia
Russian female pair skaters
Soviet female pair skaters
Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team
Olympic silver medalists for Russia
Olympic figure skaters of the Unified Team
Olympic figure skaters of Russia
Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
American people of Belarusian descent
American people of Polish descent
Russian emigrants to the United States
Living people
1970 births
Figure skaters from Minsk
Russian people of Belarusian descent
Russian people of Polish descent
Olympic medalists in figure skating
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
European Figure Skating Championships medalists
Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics
People from Grapevine, Texas
Universiade medalists in figure skating
Goodwill Games medalists in figure skating
Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Competitors at the 1989 Winter Universiade
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games
Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games