Aleksandr Yudaevich Gorelik (; 9 August 1945 – 27 September 2012) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 ...

. He competed with Tatiana Zhuk. They are the 1965 World bronze medalists and the 1966 and 1968 World silver medalists. At the

European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The ...

, they won the bronze medal in 1965 and the silver in 1966. They won the silver medal at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...

Personal life and career

Gorelik is Jewish. Earlier in his career, he competed with Tatiana Sharanova. They placed 7th at the 1964 European Championships. They were the first in the world pair with a great difference in height. Earlier in his career, he competed with Tatiana Sharanova. They placed 7th at the 1964 European Championships. They were the first in the world pair with a great difference in height. His competitive career ended in 1969 when Zhuk became pregnant. She and her husband

Albert Shesternyov Albert Alekseyevich Shesternyov ( rus, Альбе́рт Алексе́евич Шестернёв, p=ɐlʲˈbʲert ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪvʲɪtɕ ʂɨsʲtʲɪrˈnʲɵf; 20 June 1941 – 5 November 1994) was a football player for CSKA Moscow and the ...

decided to keep the baby and retire from competitive skating. Gorelik did not want to look for a new partner and start skating over again. After trying without success to train with

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

, he also retired. Gorelik worked as a figure skating commentator on radio and was invited to play the main role (Sergei Berestov) in 1969 movie about figure skating '' Goluboi led''. He performed at circus on ice shows with Tatiana Zhuk and later worked as a coach. He was a figure skating commentator for

Russia TV Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia S ...

for a time.

Results

With Sharanova

With Zhuk

References

Skatabase: 1960s Europeans

External links