Figure skater Ruslan Goncharov: biography, personal life and interesting facts

In the sports world, figure skating has always occupied a privileged position. An exquisite sport for true connoisseurs of beauty, where grace and grace come to the fore, leaving hours of exhausting training unnoticeable to the viewer.

The Soviet school of figure skating has always stood apart, giving the sports world a whole scattering of great figure skaters with its unique style of skating, recognized throughout the world. The collapse of the Soviet Union did not affect the presence of talents in figure skating. One of them, Ukrainian figure skater Ruslan Goncharov, will be discussed in the article.

Childhood

Ruslan Goncharov was born on January 20, 1973 in the usual Odessa family. Ruslana's father, Nikolai Ivanovich, was a sailor all his life, he visited many countries of the world. Mom, Valentina Pavlovna, worked as a teacher in the regional secondary school. The choice of where to give the child was not long in front of the Goncharov family. Everything decided the close location to the house of the ice complex "Ledinka". Since the age of six, Ruslan began his skating classes in the children's and youth sports school of the Olympic reserve. It was there that they put the equipment to the young guy, they taught him how to move properly on skates.

The first steps in professional sports

At the age of fifteen years before Ruslan, the question of choosing a particular specialization in figure skating arose. It was necessary to choose between two directions: individual performances or dancing on ice in pairs with a partner. In the end, Ruslan and the coach decided to stop their choice of pair skating. Eleonora Gritsay became the first partner of Ruslana. The joint performances of this couple lasted only one year. The next partner Ruslan Goncharova was Elena Grushina. As time later showed, this sports union was preserved for many years.

Two years of joint training and performances in the domestic arena did not pass for the Goncharov-Grushin couple for nothing. In 1991, they were included in the junior team of the Soviet Union to perform at the World Championships. The world championship brought debutants quite high, fourth place. It would seem that before the promising young couple all the roads to the sports peaks are open. But the coming 1992 brought with it the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the vague prospects for figure skaters.

National team of Ukraine

Figure skater Ruslan Goncharov together with his partner make the decision to represent their historical homeland, Ukraine, on the world sports arena. Having won the third place in the 1993 championship of Ukraine, the pair is selected for the world championship. At that time Ruslan Goncharov with his partner acted under the leadership of Alexander Tumanovsky. The first adult world championship, held in Japan, did not bring a young couple of special dividends. Ruslan and Elena took only the eighteenth final place. The next few seasons also did not bring this pair of special fame. Constantly getting into the winners in the domestic arena at the world championships and Europe, the pair took places only in the second ten. It became clear that in order to achieve higher results, it is necessary to reach a completely different qualitative level.

Moving to the USA

Ruslan Goncharov, whose private life interested many of his fans, in 1995 married Elena Grushina. Two years later, the couple decide to move to a permanent residence in the United States, choosing for the life and training of the state of Connecticut. Together with the move, the couple decides to take another cardinal step - the change of coach. Instead of having worked a couple of years with a pair of Alexander Tumanovsky Ruslan and Elena begin to train Natalia Lynchuk and Gennady Karponosov. And already in the second season of joint work, the couple Goncharov-Grushin achieves tangible results. In the season of 1999, the pair for the first time become champions of Ukraine, and falls into the top ten in the world championship and European championship. In 2002, Goncharov and Grushina perform at the Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, once again getting into the top ten of the world's strongest pairs, taking the final ninth place.

Working with Tarasova and Morozov

The next step, aimed at further career growth, was the work with the famous Tatyana Tarasova. Also, the choreographer Nikolai Morozov started to work with the pair, who was responsible for staging the dance number. Subsequently, Nikolai Morozov completely switched to the training process of the pair Goncharov-Grushin, replacing the coaching bridge Tatyana Tarasova. The results of the work of the new coaching staff were not slow to affect: at the 2005 World Championship held in Moscow, Ruslan Goncharov's couple - his wife Elena Grushina rose for the first time on the podium of the world championships, finishing third.

Career peak

Triumphal for the Goncharov-Grushin pair was the 2005-2006 season. At the beginning of the season, the pair won the Grand Prix in Paris. Then came the successful performances in Canada and Japan: twice the couple managed to take the second place at the competitions held. In early 2006, the pair performed superbly at the European Championships in Paris, taking the final second place. And as the apotheosis of the whole sports career - the third place in Turin, at the Winter Olympics. At the end of the sporting year, Ruslan Goncharov was awarded the Order of Merit of the third degree by the Decree of the President of Ukraine.

Life after the end of sports career

After a successful performance at the Olympics Goncharov Ruslan, the figure skater whose biography is presented to your attention in the article, decided to finish the career of a professional athlete. Unfortunately, the end of the sports career affected the family life of the couple. In 2008, Ruslan and Elena make a joint decision to divorce.

Ruslan Goncharov, a figure skater whose personal life has developed in such an interesting way, being out of professional sports, did not say goodbye to his favorite figure skating. He continued to perform in various television projects related to figure skating. His partners were such famous media personalities as Amalia Mordvinova, Yana Rudkovskaya, Irina Chaschina, Linda Nigmatulina.

In 2010 Ruslan Goncharov successfully performed in the ice show Evgeni Plushenko "Kings of Ice". The last of the notable appearances on the television screens of the country is participation in the project "Ice Age: The Cup of Professionals". In addition to performing in ice shows, Ruslan is currently heading the National Academy of Figure Skating, located in the Kiev region. He also opened the "Dance School on Ice Ruslan Goncharov", based in the suburbs.

This is how the career of a wonderful athlete, the illustrious figure skater Ruslan Goncharov, turned out to be rich in events.