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Date of
birth: Elena Valova – 01/04/1963; Oleg Vasiliev – 11/22/1959. Place of
birth: both were born in Leningrad (current Saint Petersburg), Russia.
They both graduated from the P.F.Lesgaft University of Sports. They were
married to each other from 1884 till 1992. Elena Valova is currently
married (to German Galusha), has a son, Roman, born 1996. Oleg Vasiliev
is divorced, has a daughter, Ekaterina, after the second marriage.
1. The
Beginnings.
Elena
Valova was born in 1963. Parents: Alla Borisovna Valova and Aleksander
Dmitrievich Valov. Elena began her skating at the small public skating
rink near the house where she lived with her parents. Her father even
tried to coach her asking Elena to dance to the music going through
their window. Teachers and students from her school were very well aware
of these endeavors. One day, the principal of the school advised Elena
to go to the ice rink on the Plehanov Street, where Tamara Moskvina was
auditioning children for the skating school. Elena went there and was
accepted to the school in the first attempt.
Elena
Valova, “I was dreaming about large arenas, prestigious championships
and big victories. During my childhood, I loved skating at this small
public skating rink by our house and imagined myself inside the real
stadium, where the champions skated. For the complete picture, I will
say that I even skated to the music that my father would turn on for me,
and I listened to my favorite melodies. Later, my grandmother registered
me for the children’s skating group, and I began training on a regular
basis. I was seven years old.”
Elena’s
first coaches were Nina Monahova, Tatiana and Alexei Mishin. Years of
regular trainings passed. Elena was more successful than others in
learning difficult technical elements. But she did not have leading
positions in Saint Petersburg’s pre-novice and then novice teams. Her
career as a single skater was in its decline. One can only guess the
path of Elena’s life in sports if Tamara Moskvina would not have called
her parents and recommended she try pairs skating. Oleg Vasiliev became
her partner.
Tamara
Moskvina, “Why did I pay attention namely to Elena? Probably, because
she reminded me of myself. They were also saying about me that I was not
good enough, that I should not participate in the major competitions. I
was mad, sometimes cried, but worked as hard as I could, despite
everything. I was keeping an eye on Elena for longtime and understood
that this girl was madly in love with figure skating. Real love is able
to inspire the person, make him or her beautiful and powerful. I know
that from my own experience…”
Oleg
Vasiliev was born on November 22, 1959. Parents: Ludmila Konstantinovna
Vasilieva and Kim Mihailovich Vasiliev. When Oleg was 5 years old, his
mother registered him for the children’s skating group in the local
park. He began skating on the open-air ice rink, by a riverbank. In
three years, Oleg was among other young skaters who were bearing flowers
for the participants of the exhibitions gala dedicated to the opening of
the Sport Palace “Yubileinyi” in Saint Petersburg. Later, Valova and
Vasiliev were training on the rink of this stadium under the guidance of
Tamara Moskvina.
Oleg
Vasiliev: “It was in 1965, when my parents took me to the rink of the
local park. Don’t think that our family was under the influence of the
sport movements of that time, when the parents imagined their kids as
future champions and were afraid to loose a chance. It was simple. I was
very weak as a child, was sick very often, and my doctor advised me to
be more often in the fresh air, to be more active. That is how I began
skating. You know, the doctor’s advice worked. My health improved and
since then I never left the sport. And I think, I never will.” Oleg
began his training as a single skater under the guidance of Igor Moskvin
(spouse of T. Moskvina – famous coach in Russia) in the same group with
at that time famous Russian skaters Yuriy Ovchinnikov and Igor Bobrin.
Igor
Moskvin, “ Communication between Vasiliev and Bobrin is a very
interesting moment. They kind of compete against each other: in jumps,
rythmics, posture. Vasiliev was first to execute triple Lutz and
encouraged Bobrin. Bobrin, with his dances, inspired Vasiliev.”
As a
single skater, Oleg had some achievements: he won Junior Nationals. But
later he became interested in pair skating. When T.Moskvina offered him
to try pair skating, he agreed. Elena Valova became his partner.
It was
in 1978, when the pair of Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev (V&V) was
created. They were 15 and 18 years old. Their single coach throughout
their amateur and professional careers was Tamara Moskvina.
2. Path
to the success: despite all odds.
Unfortunately, the path to success for Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev
was not that easy. The first year was spent not for the battle with the
rivals on the ice, but for the one with injuries. Their first time on
the ice was in 1979. Elena and Oleg started to learn a new program and
began competing, but they were always on the reserve list for the
National team. The young athletes were not discouraged, but conversely,
they continued to train hard. 1980 was the year of Valova&Vasiliev’s
first success, when they won the international competition “Coup des
Alpes” that took place on the ice rinks of France and Germany. That same
year they became bronze medalists of the tournament “Moscow News Prize”.
Their fighting character showed up also in 1981, when one interesting
incident happened. In 1981, an international competition took place in
Spain. It happened that for some reasons no pair besides Valova and
Vasiliev came there to compete. Oleg decided to compete as a single
skater. He executed their long program, replacing pairs’ elements for
singles’(lifts for jumps). Oleg took the third place to the surprise of
all, taking into consideration that he did not practice figures for
three years. In 1982, Elena and Oleg won “Skate America”. During this
competition Elena was compared with Irina Moiseeva, elegant dance figure
skater, favorite of the audience. In the group of Tamara Moskvina,
Valova and Vasiliev, were training with 1981 World Champions Irina
Vorobieva and Igor Lisovskiy. T. Moskvina constantly repeated to her
students, “Watch and remember, what is the nature of the Saint
Petersburg skating school’s technique. It is clean and smooth. You will
reach this level.” Elena and Oleg never forgot these words.
Soon,
the virtues of Valova and Vasiliev became evident. They even gained
their “own” appreciating audience that noticed that the young skaters
not only were executing difficult elements, but also were very creative,
putting them in interesting combinations. It took one more year to come
third in the Soviet Nationals. In December 1982, they were again placed
third in the competition “Moscow News Prize”. They were working hard
preparing for the before-Olympic season, but in the end of December,
1982, Oleg was seriously injured, as a result, they had to miss the
Soviet Nationals, after which the three top pairs would go to the 1983
European Championships. The chance to finally be on the National team
was going away. Two weeks prior the European, they were included on the
team as reserves. Hope appeared. Then happened what is usually called
one chance in a lifetime – Valova and Vasiliev got a spot in the
national team replacing injured leaders Marina Pestova and Stanislav
Leonovich. They were included in advance, with hope of future success.
There was no need to wait for success, it came at their first appearance
at the 1983 Europeans – Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev were placed
second. And then 2 months later, they won the 1983 World Championships
debuting there, as well. They achieved their main goal – they became
Olympic Champions of the 1984 Games in Sarajevo. During the preparation
for their second Olympics, Elena was seriously injured that resulted in
surgery in December 1987. She did not walk until January 1988 – one
month prior to the Olympic Games in Calgary. Nevertheless, their
experience and skills helped them to win the silver medal. Elena and
Oleg finished their amateur career undefeated, winning their third World
title in 1988.
Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev were the
first of the Soviet skaters who turned professional. |
