Elena Aleksandrovna Valova (russian: Елена Александровна Валова; born 4 January 1963) is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. With her then-husband Oleg Vasiliev, she is the 1984 Olympic champion, 1988 Olympic silver medalist, and three-time World Champion (1983, 1985, 1988). Their coach throughout their career was

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 ...

Personal life

Valova was born in

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 ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, to parents Alla Borisovna Valova and Aleksander Dmitrievich Valov. She graduated from the P.F. Lesgaft University of Sports. She and Vasiliev were married from 1984–1992. Valova is now remarried to German Galusha and has a son, Roman, born in 1996. She moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1997 and currently lives in Moon Township.

Career

Valova began training at age seven under Tatiana Mishina, Alexei Mishin, and Nina Monahova. As a pair skater, she was coached by

, who partnered her with Oleg Vasiliev. The pair trained in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). Valova/Vasiliev's breakthrough came in the 1982–83 season. They won bronze at the Prize of Moscow News, gold at the

1982 Skate America The 1982 Skate America was held in Lake Placid, New York on October 6–10. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipli ...

, and then silver at the 1983 European Championships. The pair concluded their season by winning their first World title. They missed the 1983 national championships due to Vasiliev's broken jaw. In 1984, Valova/Vasiliev won their first European title and then took gold at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games ( Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки иг� ...

in Sarajevo. The deaths of several Soviet government officials, including one during the Olympics, cast a pall over the Soviet team and the athletes were told not to show too much joy. The pair took silver at their final event of the season, the 1984 World Championships. In 1985, the pair won gold at both the European and World Championships but 1986 saw the emergence of the young Moscow pair Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov. Although Valova/Vasiliev were awarded gold at the 1986 Europeans, they finished second to the Muscovites at both the 1986 and 1987 Worlds. In their final amateur season, Valova/Vasiliev took silver at the

1988 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 57 , athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 women) , events = 46 in 6 sports (10 disciplines) , opening = February 13, 1988 , closing = February 28, 1988 , opened_by = Governor General Jeanne Sauvé , cauldron ...

behind Gordeeva/Grinkov but then prevailed over the reigning Olympic champions at the 1988 World Championships. After winning their third World title, Valova/Vasiliev retired from ISU competition. After performing for a year in Igor Bobrin's ice theatre, they signed a U.S. contract – the first Soviets to do so without losing their citizenship. The pair performed together in various shows and events until the end of 1997. Valova was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1984). She represented VSS Trud. She currently teaches skating at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center. She coached Kylie Gleason / Taylor Toth, who were the 2002 U.S. champions in juvenile pairs and the 2003 U.S. champions in intermediate pairs.

Programs

(with Vasiliev)

1979–1988

} ---- * Kalinka ---- * Romance
(from The Blizzard)
by Georgy Sviridov , - ! 1985–1986 , * Music
by Raimonds Pauls , * Shurale
by Färit Yarullin , * Romance
(from The Blizzard)
by Georgy Sviridov , - ! 1984–1985 , * Flight of the Bumblebee
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , * Shurale
by Färit Yarullin , * Baba-Yaga
(from Pictures at an Exhibition)
by Modest Mussorgsky ---- * Madama Butterfly
by

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long l ...

, - ! 1983–1984 , * Kalinka , * Get Back * Für Elise
by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

* Stairway to Heaven , * Baba-Yaga
(from Pictures at an Exhibition)
by Modest Mussorgsky ---- * Solveig's Song
by Edvard Grieg , - ! 1982–1983 , * March of the Toreadors
(from

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

)
by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

---- * Sibaney , * Get Back * Für Elise
by Ludwig van Beethoven * Stairway to Heaven , * Solveig's Song
by Edvard Grieg ---- * Circus , - ! 1981–1982 , , * Scheherazade
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , , - ! 1980–1981 , , * Scheherazade
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov ---- * Pictures at an Exhibition
by Modest Mussorgsky , , - ! 1979–1980 , * Demon , * Little Eagle
russian: Орлёнок * On the Nameless Height
russian: На безымянной высоте * We are blacksmiths
russian: Мы кузнецы и дух наш молод ,

1989–1997

}
by Alexey Rybnikov ---- * The Story of My Life
by Michael Crawford ---- * Bridge over Troubled Water ---- * Paso Doble
(from Strictly Ballroom) ---- *

A Whiter Shade of Pale "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, ...

---- * Kalinka ---- * Waltz
by Jerry Herman ---- * Swan Lake (''comedic'')
by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic music, Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer Music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose music would make a lasting impressi ...

---- *

Zorba's Dance "Zorba's Dance" ( el, Ο Χορός Του Ζορμπά) is an instrumental by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. The song featured for the dance, which has become known as sirtaki, in the 1964 film ''Zorba the Greek'', for which Theodorakis wrote t ...

(from Zorba the Greek)
by Mikis Theodorakis ---- * Shurale
by Färit Yarullin

Results

Amateur career with Vasiliev

Professional career with Vasiliev

References

External links

Valova-vasiliev.com (Archive.org)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valova, Elena 1963 births Living people Russian female pair skaters Soviet female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union Figure skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Russian figure skating coaches Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Female sports coaches Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics