Marina Viatcheslavovna Anissina (Russian: Марина Вячеславовна Анисина, born August 30, 1975 in Moscow, Russian SSR) is a French-Russian ice dancer. With partner Gwendal Peizerat, she is the 2002 Olympic champion.
[edit] Personal life
Marina Anissina's mother, Irina Cherniaeva, is a former pair skater who competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Marina Anissina's father is Vyacheslav Anisin, a World and European champion in ice hockey.
On February 23, 2008, Anissina married Russian actor Nikita Djigurda in Moscow after the two met when they were partnered on a celebrity ice dancing television show. On January 7, 2009 the couple welcomed a son, Mik-Angel Krist (in Russian: Мик-Анжель Крист).[1] In May 2009, Dzhigurda confirmed that they are expecting a second child.[2]
[edit] Career
Early in her career, Marina Anissina competed with Sergei Sakhnovski, representing the Soviet Union.
Following that partnership, she teamed up with Ilia Averbukh. They represented the Soviet Union and, after that country's dissolution, Russia. They were the 1990 and 1992 World Junior Champions.
When that partnership ended, Marina Anissina wrote several letters to find a new skating partner. She searched internationally. Finally, she teamed up with Gwendal Peizerat from France in 1993. They were coached by Muriel Boucher-Zazoui. They skated for the club Lyon TSC. Anissina received expedited French citizenship.
Anissina and Peizerat were the 2000 World Champions and have won three other world medals. They are the 1998 Olympic bronze medalists and 2002 Olympic Champions. At the 2002 Olympics, they became the first team representing France to win Olympic gold in ice dancing.
They retired from competitive skating in 2002 and skate professionally in shows, including Champions on Ice.
Their signature move is a "reverse lift", wherein Anissina lifts Peizerat off the ice, rather than vice versa. This set the two apart from other dance couples, as most lifts in ice dance involve the man lifting the woman.
[edit] Competitive highlights
[edit] Results for France
(with Peizerat)
[edit] Results for Russia and the Soviet Union
(with Averbukh)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
