In the sports world, figure skating has always occupied a privileged position. An exquisite sport for true connoisseurs of beauty, where grace and elegance come to the fore, leaving many hours of exhausting training invisible to the viewer.
The Soviet school of figure skating has always stood apart, giving the sports world a whole scattering of great skaters with their unique skating style, recognizable all over the world. The collapse of the Soviet Union did not affect the availability of talent in figure skating. One of them, Ukrainian figure skater Ruslan Goncharov, will be discussed in the article.
Childhood
Ruslan Goncharov was born on January 20, 1973 in an ordinary Odessa family. Ruslan's father, Nikolai Ivanovich, was a sailor all his life, he visited many countries of the world. Mom, Valentina Pavlovna, worked as a teacher in a regional secondary school. The choice of where to give the child was not long faced by the Goncharov family. Everything was decided by the proximity to the house of the ice complex "Ldinka". From the age of six, Ruslan began his figure skating classes at the children'syouth sports school of the Olympic reserve. It was there that the young guy was given equipment, taught how to skate correctly.
First steps in professional sports
At the age of fifteen, Ruslan faced the acute question of choosing a specific specialization in figure skating. It was necessary to choose between two directions: individual performances or dancing on ice in a pair with a partner. In the end, Ruslan, together with the coach, decided to opt for pair skating. Ruslan's first partner was Eleonora Gritsai. Joint performances of this couple lasted only one year. The next partner of Ruslan Goncharov was Elena Grushina. As time later showed, this sports union survived for many years.
Two years of joint training and performances in the domestic arena were not in vain for the Goncharov-Grushin pair. In 1991, they were included in the junior team of the Soviet Union to compete at the World Championships. The world championship brought the debutants a rather high, fourth place. It would seem that all roads to sports peaks are open to a promising young couple. But the coming year of 1992 brought with it the collapse of the Soviet Union and vague prospects for figure skaters.
Team of Ukraine
Skater Ruslan Goncharov, together with his partner, decide to represent their historical homeland, Ukraine, on the world sports arena. Having taken third place at the 1993 Ukrainian Championship, the couple is selected for the worldchampionship. At that moment, Ruslan Goncharov and his partner performed under the guidance of Alexander Tumanovsky. The first adult world championship, held in Japan, did not bring special dividends to the young couple. Ruslan and Elena took only the eighteenth final place. The next few seasons also did not bring much fame to this couple. Constantly getting into the prize-winners in the domestic arena at the World and European Championships, the couple took places only in the second ten. It became clear that in order to achieve better results, you need to reach a completely different quality level.
Moving to the USA
Ruslan Goncharov, whose personal life was of interest to many of his fans, married Elena Grushina in 1995. Two years later, the couple decide to move permanently to the United States, choosing the state of Connecticut for life and training. Along with the move, the couple decides to take another cardinal step - changing the coach. Instead of having worked for several years with a couple of Alexander Tumanovsky, Ruslan and Elena begin to train Natalia Linchuk and Gennady Karponosov. And already in the second season of joint work, the Goncharov-Grushina couple is achieving tangible results. In the 1999 season, the couple became the champions of Ukraine for the first time, and got into the top ten according to the results of the World Championship and the European Championship. In 2002, Goncharov and Grushina competed at the Winter Olympic Games held in S alt Lake City, once again falling into the top ten strongest couples in the world, finishing in ninth place.
Working with Tarasova and Morozov
The next step towards further career growth was the work with the famous Tatyana Tarasova. Also, the choreographer Nikolai Morozov, who was responsible for staging the dance number, began working with the couple. Subsequently, Nikolai Morozov completely switched to the training process of the Goncharov-Grushin pair, replacing Tatyana Tarasova on the coaching bridge. The results of the work of the new coaching staff were not long in coming: at the 2005 World Championships, held in Moscow, a couple Ruslan Goncharov - his wife Elena Grushina for the first time rises to the podium of world championships, taking the final third place.
Peak career
The 2005-2006 season became a triumph for the Goncharov-Grushin couple. At the beginning of the season, the couple won the Grand Prix in Paris. This was followed by successful performances in Canada and Japan: twice the couple managed to take second place in the competitions. In early 2006, the couple performed superbly at the European Championships in Paris, taking the final second place. And as the apotheosis of the entire sports career - the third place in Turin, at the Winter Olympics. Following the results of the sports year, Ruslan Goncharov was awarded the Order of Merit, III degree, by the Decree of the President of Ukraine.
Life after the end of a sports career
After a successful performance at the Olympic Games, Ruslan Goncharov, a figure skater whose biography is presented to your attention in the article, decided to end his career as a professional athlete. Unfortunately, the end of a sports career also affected the couple's family life. In 2008, Ruslan and Elena make a joint decision to divorce.
Ruslan Goncharov, a figure skater whose personal life has developed in such an interesting way, being outside of professional sports, did not say goodbye to his beloved figure skating. He continued to perform in various television projects related to figure skating. His partners were such well-known media personalities as Amalia Mordvinova, Yana Rudkovskaya, Irina Chashchina, Linda Nigmatulina.
In 2010, Ruslan Goncharov successfully performed in Evgeni Plushenko's ice show "Kings of Ice". The last of the notable appearances on the country's television screens is participation in the Ice Age: Professional Cup project. In addition to performing in ice shows, Ruslan is currently the head of the National Figure Skating Academy, located in the Kyiv region. He also opened the Ruslan Goncharov Ice Dance School, based in the Moscow region.
This was such an eventful career of a wonderful athlete, the famous figure skater Ruslan Goncharov.
