The famous Soviet figure skater Yuri Ovchinnikov was distinguished by a creative approach to staging numbers on ice. His fiery performances brought fame and love to millions of figure skating fans.
Biography
Yuri Lvovich Ovchinnikov was born in Leningrad on June 3, 1950. Parents, Lev Konstantinovich and Evdokia Petrovna, decided to send their son to the figure skating section. This choice was due to the fact that Jura was constantly sick in childhood. The boy himself was more attracted to theater and cinema and to sport was indifferent. But the decision of the parents determined the future life of Yuri.
Ice ups and downs
Diseases eventually disappeared without a trace, Yuri grew stronger and hardened on ice. The character, strong-willed by nature, also became even more solid.
At the age of 19, Yuri Ovchinnikov is a figure skater of the national team. In those years, at world tournaments, athletes had to prepare both free and mandatory programs. The latter seemed boring and unnecessary to Ovchinnikov. For this reason, he never became the world champion. But in the free program he had no equal.
Ovchinnikov's dance performances were striking in their artistry, an abundance of technical elements and energy that charged the audience with a positive.
In 1975, the Soviet skater became the third in the European Championship. The national championship also obeyed him.
Success Yuri contributed to his coaches. First it was the famous Igor Moskvin, and then - the legend of Soviet figure skating Alexei Mishin.
Ovchinnikov's fame was so huge that the famous Canadian Toller Cranston came to his performances in the USSR.
Yuri was one of the first skaters who tried to include in his program a series of four triple jumps. His hallmark was a span of more than 6 meters on a double axel.
After a series of successful performances, a leg injury followed. Few believed that Ovchinnikov could return to the ice. But the love of skating and persistent nature, together with training, led to the fact that after a while the skater returned to the sport and returned triumphantly - the audience met the athlete standing and with applause.
By that time, the USSR ice skating federation had canceled the mandatory program, which in a sense was a victory for Ovchinnikov. Now skaters could fully show their creative abilities.
Life goes on
After the end of his career, skater Yuri Ovchinnikov switched to coaching. In 1980, he became the mentor of the future star - Igor Bobrin, who a year later, under his leadership, won the European Championship. Yuri was not allowed to leave the country, because he was friends with Mikhail Baryshnikov, who did not return to his homeland from the next tour. Sergey Volkov helped Bobrin in competitions abroad.
In 1983, Yuri Ovchinnikov - the first figure skater of the ice theater Tatyana Tarasova. In combination, he is also the director of this theater.
This is followed by participation in world-class ice shows. Together with Tarasova and figure skaters Torville and Dean Ovchinnikov performed on many ice rinks in the world.
Then Yuri went abroad and lived there for 20 years in the city of San Diego. Engaged in coaching with the team of synchronized figure skating.
After 2010, he returned to Russia and takes an active part in the development of the country's figure skating.
A family
The personal life of Yuri Ovchinnikov was very successful. He was married twice. From the first marriage has a daughter. The second wife (Englishwoman) gave him two children.
Skater Yuri Ovchinnikov achieved high results not only in his sports career, but also in other areas of his life. Despite his age, Yuri himself claims that he prefers a busy life, since he is not interested in living βjust like thatβ.