Povilas Vanagas (; born 23 July 1970) is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

. With his wife Margarita Drobiazko, he is the 2000 World bronze medalist, a three-time

Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – originally known as the Champions Series Final – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). It is the culminating event of the Grand Prix Series. Meda ...

bronze medalist, a two-time

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 ...

bronze medalist (2000, 2006), the 1999 Skate Canada champion, and competed in five

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, finishing as high as 5th.

Career

Vanagas began skating at the age of three. His mother, Lilija Vanagiene, was Lithuania's national skating coach. Vanagas won six national titles in men's singles. At age 18, he was drafted into 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 ...

army and sent to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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 ...

. Given a choice between becoming a soldier or skating full-time, Vanagas chose to become an ice dancer. Tatiana Tarasova paired Vanagas with Russian ice dancer Margarita Drobiazko in Moscow. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, they decided to represent

. Vanagas said, "It was difficult at the beginning because there was a lot of friction between Russia and Lithuania. Since Rita is Russian, it caused many problems." They moved to

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, Lithuania and began training with Elena Maslennikova. In 1995, they began working also in England with

Betty Callaway Betty Daphne Callaway-Fittall, MBE (née Roberts; 22 March 1928 – 27 June 2011) was an English figure skating coach who specialised in ice dancing. She was best known as the coach of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the 1984 Olympic champi ...

Jayne Torvill Jayne Torvill, OBE (born 7 October 1957) is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. She and her partner Christopher Dean are considered amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Wint ...

, and

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal ...

. In 1999, Drobiazko and Vanagas began spending time with

Elena Tchaikovskaia Elena Anatolyevna Tchaikovskaia, also spelled as Chaykovskaya or Chaikovskaia (, née Osipova (); born 30 December 1939) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor for the Soviet Union. She runs a skating school at t ...

in Moscow, while continuing to work with Maslennikova in Kaunas. They were also coached by Lilija Vanagiene and Anatoliy Petukhov. Drobiazko and Vanagas retired from competition following the 2001–2002 Olympic season, but returned to competition in 2005 to compete at their fifth Olympics. In preparation for the 2005–2006 season, they worked with Maslennikova, Rostislav Sinicyn,

Igor Shpilband Igor Yuryevich Shpilband (, born July 14, 1964) is an American ice dancing coach and former competitor for the Soviet Union. He is the 1983 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, World Junior champion with former partner Tatiana Gladkova. P ...

Marina Zueva Marina Olegovna Zoueva or Zueva (; born 9 April 1956) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Representing the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman, she placed 5th at the 1977 World Championships and ...

, Gintaras Svistunavicius, and David Liu, in the United States, Germany, Russia, and Lithuania. Drobiazko and Vanagas became the first and only figure skaters to compete at five Olympics. They retired again in 2006 following the World Championships. Their choreographers included Elena Maslennikova,

and

, Elena Tchaikovskaia, Tatiana Pomerantseva, Elena Kholina, Yuri Puzakov, Vasily Kleimenov, and Gintaras Svistunavicius. In the summer of 2022, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Vanagas played a role in a ballet ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' on ice with Drobiazko in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

that was organized by the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

. On August 10, Lithuania's president

Gitanas Nausėda Gitanas Nausėda (; ; born 19 May 1964) is a Lithuanian politician, economist, and banker who is serving as the ninth and incumbent president of Lithuania since 2019. Born in Klaipėda, Nausėda graduated from Vilnius University with an economic ...

signed a decree stripping off the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

from both skaters. He appeared in the first seven seasons 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 ...

''.

Personal life

Vanagas is fluent in Lithuanian,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, and English. While competing, he was a caregiver for an elderly woman. Vanagas has been married to Drobiazko since June 2000. In the summer of 2022, during the

, Vanagas and Drobiazko played a role in a ballet ''

'' on ice in

that was organized by former Olympic champion

Tatiana Navka Tatyana Aleksandrovna Navka (; born 13 April 1975) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer and the wife of Dmitry Peskov. With her dance partner Roman Kostomarov, she is the 2006 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (2004–05), a ...

. On August 10, 2022, Lithuania's president

signed a decree stripping off the

from both skaters. On September 15, 2023, Lithuania's president

signed a decree stripping Povilas Vanagas' wife and professional partner, Margarita Drobiazko, of her Lithuanian citizenship due to her "public support for the Russian federation" during its invasion of Ukraine.

Programs

(with Margarita Drobiazko)

Competitive highlights

(ice dance with Margarita Drobiazko)

References

External links

Drobiazko & Vanagas - Official website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanagas, Povilas 1970 births Lithuanian male ice dancers Olympic figure skaters for Lithuania Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Living people World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Kaunas Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating Lithuanian emigrants to Russia Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia FISU World University Games silver medalists for Lithuania Competitors at the 1993 Winter Universiade