Top level figure skaters make it look so easy, gliding across the ice, leaping, spinning, stopping on a dime, and all of it while staying perfectly in coordination with the music. Of course, it isn’t really that easy. Simply standing up on skates requires some practice and stopping by some means other than slamming into a wall demands even more. Starting young is your best bet for skating competently, to say nothing of mastering the fine art of figure skating.
Ekaterina Gordeeva, born in Moscow, was only 4 years old when she took to the ice. Her mother was a teletype operator for the Soviet news agency while her father was a dancer for the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble — she’s apparently a chip off the old block. Skates small enough for a 4-year-old wasn’t available, so little Ekaterina had to wear multiple pairs of socks!
When she was 14, Gordeeva and her skating partner (and later, husband) Sergei Grinkov won the World Junior Figure Skating Championship and the next year, they won the regular event. Two years after that, they were in Calgary for the 1988 Winter Olympics where they became the youngest pairs team to win a gold medal. After a few years as professional skaters, the duo returned to the Olympics, winning another gold medal at Lillehammer in 1994.
In the video posted below, you’ll see that Gordeeva still has the moves, putting on a display of figure skating artistry at an event in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 2015. You’ll be in awe as she glides across the ice to Susan Boyle’s version of “I Dreamed a Dream.”
Are you a big fan of Ekaterina Gordeeva? How did you like this routine? Be sure to tell us all about it in the comments section below. Don’t forget to like and share: whether your friends are into figure skating, music, or both, they’ll love this one!
https://youtu.be/3FqYfo_NDcY
