Elena Grushina

Elena Grushina
Grushina and Goncharov in 2004.
Full name	Elena Eduardovna Grushina Olena Eduardivna Hrushyna
Born	(1975-01-08) 8 January 1975 (age 49) Odessa, Ukrainian SSR
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Ukraine
Began skating	1979
Retired	2006
Event Olympic Games 0 0 1 World Championships 0 0 1 European Championships 0 2 1 Grand Prix Final 0 1 0 Ukrainian Championships 5 4 2 Medal list Olympic Games 2006 Turin Ice dance World Championships 2005 Moscow Ice dance European Championships 2005 Turin Ice dance 2006 Lyon Ice dance 2004 Budapest Ice dance Grand Prix Final 2005–06 Tokyo Ice dance Ukrainian Championships 1999 Kyiv Ice dance 2002 Kyiv Ice dance 2004 Kyiv Ice dance 2005 Kyiv Ice dance 2006 Kyiv Ice dance 1993 Odesa Ice dance 1995 Kyiv Ice dance 1997 Odesa Ice dance 1998 Kyiv Ice dance 1994 Kyiv Ice dance 1996 Kyiv Ice dance

Elena Eduardovna Grushina (Russian: Елена Эдуардовна Грушина or Ukrainian: Олена Едуардівна Грушина Olena Eduardivna Hrushyna; born 8 January 1975) is a Ukrainian ice dancer. With partner and then-husband Ruslan Goncharov, she is the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, 2005 World bronze medalist, and two-time (2005, 2006) European silver medalist.

Grushina began skating at four and switched from single skating to ice dancing when she was 12.^[1] Grushina first competed with Mikhail Tashlitsky but the partnership ended when he decided to focus on school.^[1]

Having trained in the same group in Odessa,^[1] Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov were paired together in 1989.^[2] They finished fourth at the 1992 Junior Worlds.^[1] They were 18th in their senior Worlds debut at the 1994 World Championships. In early 1997, Grushina and Goncharov began training with coaches Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov in Newark, Delaware.^[1][3] They finished 15th at their first Olympics in 1998. They won their first Grand Prix medal, silver, at 1999 Skate Canada International.

Grushina and Goncharov were 9th at the 2002 Olympics and 6th at the 2002 World Championships. In the summer of 2002, they changed coaches to Tatiana Tarasova and Nikolai Morozov in Newington, Connecticut.^[1] During the 2002–03 season, they won three gold medals on the Grand Prix series, at 2002 Skate America, 2002 Skate Canada International, and 2002 Trophée Lalique. They qualified for the Grand Prix Final where they finished fourth. They were also fourth at the 2003 European Championships and fifth at the 2003 World Championships.

During the 2003–04 season, Grushina and Goncharov won three silver medals on the Grand Prix series, at 2003 Skate America, 2003 Cup of China, and 2003 NHK Trophy. They qualified for the Grand Prix Final where they again finished fourth, but a couple months later they won their first European medal, bronze, at the 2004 European Championships. They were fourth at the 2004 World Championships.

During the 2004–05 season, Grushina and Goncharov competed at one Grand Prix event, 2004 Cup of Russia, where they won the silver medal. Since they only competed at one event, they did not earn enough points to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. They won their second European medal, silver, at the 2005 European Championships. They capped off their season by winning their first World medal, bronze, at the 2005 World Championships.

During the 2005–06 season, Grushina and Goncharov competed at two Grand Prix events. They won silver at 2005 Skate Canada International and gold at 2005 Trophée Eric Bompard. They qualified for their third Grand Prix Final and came away with their first medal at the event, silver. They won their third European medal, silver, at the 2006 European Championships. At the 2006 Olympics, they were fifth in the compulsory dance but placed third in the original and free dances to capture their first Olympic medal. They retired after the Olympics.

Grushina and Goncharov married in 1995,^[1][3] but are now divorced. Grushina took part in Russian Dancing On Ice show where she met Mikhail Zelensky, a TV presenter. Their daughter, Sofia, was born in 2008.^[4][5]

(with Ruslan Goncharov)

(with Goncharov for Ukraine)

(with Goncharov for the Soviet Union)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elena Grushina.

• Official site
• Elena Grushina / Ruslan Goncharov at the International Skating Union
• Elena Grushina / Ruslan Goncharov at Tracings
• Care to Ice Dance? – Grushina & Goncharov