Yuri Ovchinnikov - figure skater from the pleiad of great Soviet athletes

The illustrious Soviet figure skater Yuri Ovchinnikov was creative in his approach to staging the numbers on the ice. His incendiary performances brought fame and love to millions of fans of figure skating.

Biography

Yury 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 Yuri as a child was constantly ill. The boy himself was more attracted to the theater and cinema and was indifferent to the sport. But the decision of the parents determined the future life of Yuri.

Ice ups and downs

Diseases eventually disappeared without a trace, Yuri was stronger and hardened on ice. Character, strong-willed by nature, also became even more solid.

At the age of 19, Yury Ovchinnikov is a figure skater of the national team. In those years at world tournaments, athletes had to prepare both an arbitrary and mandatory program. The latter seemed to Ovchinnikov boring and unnecessary. It was for this reason that he never became a world champion. But in an arbitrary program he was not equal.

Dancing performances Ovchinnikova struck their artistry, an abundance of technical elements and energy, which charged the audience with a positive.

In 1975, the Soviet figure skater was third in the European Championship. The championship of the country has conquered him.

Successes Yuri contributed to his coaches. First it was the famous Igor Moskvin, and then - the legend of Soviet figure skating Alexei Mishin.

Ovchinnikov's popularity was so enormous that his famed Canadian Toller Cranston came to the USSR to perform in the USSR.

Yuri was one of the first skaters who tried to include in his program a series of four triple jumps. His business card was a span of more than 6 meters on a double axle.

After a succession of successful performances, a foot injury followed. Few people believed that Ovchinnikov would be able to return to the ice. But the love of skiing and the persistent nature combined with training led to the fact that after a while the figure skater returned to the sport and returned triumphantly - the audience met the athlete standing and with an ovation.

By that time, the Federation of Skaters of the USSR abolished the mandatory program, which in a sense was a victory for Ovchinnikov. Now the skaters could fully show their creative abilities.

Life goes on

After the termination of career figure skater Jury Ovchinnikov has switched to trainer's activity. In 1980, he became the mentor of the future star - Igor Bobrin, who a year later under his leadership won the European championship. Outside the country, Yuri was not released, because he was friends with Mikhail Baryshnikov, who did not return to his homeland from the next tour. Sergei Volkov helped Bobrin at competitions abroad.

In 1983, Yuri Ovchinnikov - skater of the first plan of the ice theater Tatyana Tarasova. In combination, he is also the director of this theater.

Then follows participation in world-class ice shows. Together with Tarasova and skaters Torvill and Dean Ovchinnikov performed at many ice arenas around the world.

Then Yuri went abroad and lived there for 20 years in the city of San Diego. He was engaged in coaching with a team of synchronists in figure skating.

After 2010 he returned to Russia and took an active part in the development of 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.

Figure 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 rich life, because he does not care about living "just like that."