Oleg Kimovich Vasiliev (; born 22 November 1959) is a Russian 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 ...

who competed internationally for the

Soviet Union 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 ...

. With his then-wife Elena Valova, he 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. After retiring from competition, Vasiliev became a coach, leading the pair of Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin to the 2006 Olympic title.

Personal life

Vasiliev was born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(modern-day Saint Petersburg),

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, to parents Ludmila Konstantinovna Vasilieva, a nurse, and Kim Mikhailovich Vasiliev. He graduated from the Institute for Physical Culture in Saint Petersburg. Vasiliev moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in December 1997. He was married to Valova from 1984 to 1992. He later married a Saint Petersburg resident named Valentina (divorced in 2000), with whom he has a daughter, Katia. His first daughter was born circa 1994. Around 2013, Vasiliev married his third wife, Natalia, who is from Moscow. As of August 2016, the couple lives in Moscow with their daughter Varvara (born circa 2014).

Career

Competitive career

Vasiliev's parents decided to introduce him to skating when he was five because he had had pneumonia several times as a child and his doctor recommended an outdoor activity. As a single skater, Vasiliev won a Junior national title. Coach Tamara Moskvina invited Vasiliev to switch to

pair skating 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 ...

several times before he agreed, at age 18. Initially, he was physically ill-suited for the discipline and had much work to develop his muscles. He and his first partner, Larisa Selezneva, argued incessantly and split after three months. Moskvina then paired him with Elena Valova, with whom he continued to train in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). Valova/Vasiliev's breakthrough came in the 1982–83 season. They won bronze at the

Prize of Moscow News The Prize of ''Moscow News'' (), also known as the Moscow Skate, Nouvelles de Moscou, and the Moscow News Trophy, was an international, senior-level figure skating competition held in the Soviet Union from 1966 to 1990 (excluding 1989, in 1990 was ...

, gold at the 1982 Skate America, 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 language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

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 European, or Europeans, 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 and other West ...

and

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

but 1986 saw the emergence of the young Moscow pair

Ekaterina Gordeeva Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva (; born 28 May 1971) is a Soviet and Russian figure skater. With her late husband Sergei Grinkov, she is the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion, a four-time World Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990), a th ...

Sergei Grinkov Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov (; 4 February 1967 – 20 November 1995) was a Soviet and Russian pair skater. Together with his wife Ekaterina Gordeeva, he was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and a four-time World Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, ...

. Although Valova/Vasiliev were awarded gold at the 1986 Europeans, they finished second to the Muscovites at both the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and 1987 Worlds. In their final amateur season, Valova/Vasiliev took silver at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

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. Vasiliev was awarded the

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

Coaching career

Vasiliev initially had no interest in coaching but changed his mind. He coached one season for the Latvian federation and then about two years for the French federation near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Since 1998, Vasiliev has coached in

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. During his time in the United States, he worked at the Oakton Ice Arena in

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located north of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airpo ...

. He has coached the following skaters: *

Vera Bazarova Vera Yevgenyevna Bazarova (, born 28 January 1993) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Yuri Larionov, she is the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time European medalist (silver in 2012; bronze in 2011 and 2014), t ...

Andrei Deputat Andrei Dmitriyevich Deputat (; born 20 December 1992) is a Ukrainian-Russian pair skater who has represented Russia internationally since 2012. With former partner Vasilisa Davankova, he is the 2012 World Junior bronze medalist, the 2012–13 ...

: From April 2014 to 2016. * Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin: From January 2001 to March 2006. (2006 Olympic champions and two-time World champions) *

Maria Mukhortova Maria Vladimirovna Mukhortova (; born 20 November 1985) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Maxim Trankov, she is the 2008 European silver medalist, a five-time Grand Prix medalist (including one gold medal at Trophée Eric Bompard ...

Maxim Trankov Maxim Leonidovich Trankov (; born 7 October 1983) is a Russian pair skater. With Tatiana Volosozhar, he is a two-time 2014 Olympic champion in the pairs and in team events, the 2013 World champion, a four-time (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016) Eur ...

: From December 2006 to March 2010. (2008 European silver medalists) * Viktoria Volchkova: From spring 2002 to mid-2003. (2002 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist) *

Fumie Suguri is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is a three-time World Figure Skating Championships, World medalist, a three-time Four Continents Championships, Four Continents champion, the 2003 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Grand Prix ...

: From autumn 2004 to 2005. *

Katarina Gerboldt Katarina Alexandrovna Gerboldt (; born 28 March 1989) is a Russian retired Figure skating, figure skater. In single skating, her best result at an ISU Championship was sixth at the 2009 European Figure Skating Championships, 2009 European Champion ...

/ Alexander Enbert: From May 2013 to April 2014. *

Ivan Righini Ivan Righini, previously Ivan Vadimovich Bariev (, born 16 April 1991) is a retired Italian competitive figure skater and current choreographer. He is a two-time Bavarian Open champion and a four-time Italian national champion. He has reached th ...

Nicole Della Monica Nicole Della Monica (born 3 June 1989) is a retired Italian pair skater. With her former partner Matteo Guarise, she is a seven-time Italian Figure Skating Championships, Italian national champion (2016–22) and has represented Italy at the Fig ...

/ Matteo Guarise

Television

He appeared in the sixth season of ice show contest ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

''.

Programs

(with Valova)

1979–1988

1989–1997

Results

Amateur career with Valova

Professional career with Valova

References

External links

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasiliev, Oleg 1959 births Living people Russian male pair skaters Soviet male pair skaters Olympic figure skaters for 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 Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Competitors at the 1981 Winter Universiade 20th-century Russian sportsmen