Elena Viktorovna Berezhnaya is a Russian former pair skater.
26 Facts About Elena Berezhnaya
2.
Elena Berezhnaya recovered rapidly and began competing again in November 1996 with new partner, Anton Sikharulidze.
3.
Elena Berezhnaya was born in the southern Russian town of Nevinnomyssk, her mother having moved from Voronezh and her father from beyond the Urals.
4.
Elena Berezhnaya has an elder brother, Alexei, and a younger one, Ivan.
5.
Elena Berezhnaya's parents divorced when she was five due to her father's alcoholism; her mother remarried but eventually divorced again.
6.
Elena Berezhnaya began skating at the age of four in Nevinnomyssk.
7.
When Elena Berezhnaya was 13, her coach asked her to switch from singles to pairs.
8.
Elena Berezhnaya moved to Moscow, 791 miles to the north, and lived in a dormitory as her mother could not move with her.
9.
The partnership went well at first over time he started to become physically and verbally abusive, hitting Elena Berezhnaya and dropping her from lifts.
10.
Elena Berezhnaya decided to move to Riga, Latvia, saying they would have better and cheaper training conditions.
11.
Elena Berezhnaya kept quiet and did not tell her mother, worrying it would worsen her poor health.
12.
Elena Berezhnaya was the only reason for me to continue.
13.
Elena Berezhnaya thought he showed some improvement Moskvina told her it was not enough and advised her to end the partnership.
14.
Elena Berezhnaya had begun to develop friendships with the other skaters at Yubileyny, becoming particularly close to Anton Sikharulidze, the 1994 and 1995 World Junior champion with Maria Petrova.
15.
On 9 January 1996, Elena Berezhnaya was seriously injured when Shliakhov's blade sliced into her skull while the pair were practicing a side-by-side camel spin in Riga.
16.
Elena Berezhnaya was surprised and overjoyed to see him, but unable to speak or move.
17.
Shliakhov arrived at the hospital with flowers but Elena Berezhnaya did not wish to see him again.
18.
Elena Berezhnaya had made a nearly full recovery, although her speech remained slurred requiring speech therapy.
19.
Elena Berezhnaya returned to competition in November 1996, skating with Sikharulidze at Trophee Lalique where the pair won bronze.
20.
In January 1999, they had to withdraw from the European Championships after the short program due to Elena Berezhnaya having the flu.
21.
In February 2000, the pair won gold at the 2000 Europeans but were stripped of their medals after Elena Berezhnaya tested positive for pseudoephedrine, a substance whose ban was lifted temporarily between 2004 and 2010 before being banned again.
22.
Elena Berezhnaya stated that she had taken cold medication approved by a doctor but had failed to inform the ISU as required.
23.
Elena Berezhnaya allegedly said that she had been intimidated by the head of the French skating organization into voting for the Russian pair in exchange for an advantage for the French couple in the ice dancing competition, which was to follow a few days later.
24.
In 2006, Elena Berezhnaya teamed with the actor Aleksandr Nosik for the Channel One ice show Stars on Ice.
25.
Elena Berezhnaya skated with former training mate John Zimmerman in the Kings on Ice show in 2009, and with Jerome Blanchard in Ice Heart.
26.
Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya had an on-and-off romantic relationship between 1996 and 2002; they remain close friends.