Maria Petrova (figure skater)

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Igorevna and the family name is Petrova.

Maria Petrova
Petrova and Tikhonov perform a pair spiral at the 2005 Russian Nationals
Full name	Maria Igorevna Petrova
Born	(1977-11-29) 29 November 1977 (age 46) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Partner	Alexei Tikhonov
Skating club	Yubileyny Sport Club
Began skating	1982
Medal record Representing  Russia Pairs' Figure skating World Championships 2000 Nice Pairs 2005 Moscow Pairs 2003 Washington, D.C. Pairs 2006 Calgary Pairs European Championships 1999 Prague Pairs 2000 Vienna Pairs 2004 Budapest Pairs 2007 Warsaw Pairs 2002 Lausanne Pairs 2003 Malmö Pairs 2005 Turin Pairs 2006 Lyon Pairs Grand Prix Final 2004-05 Beijing Pairs 1998-99 Saint Petersburg Pairs 2002-03 Saint Petersburg Pairs 2003-04 Colorado Springs Pairs Winter Universiade 1997 Muju Pairs World Junior Championships 1994 Colorado Springs Pairs 1995 Budapest Pairs 1993 Seoul Pairs 1997 Seoul Pairs

Maria Igorevna Petrova (Russian: Мария Игоревна Петрова; born 29 November 1977) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Alexei Tikhonov, she is the 2000 World champion and a two-time (1999, 2000) European champion

Career

Petrova was a sickly child and her doctor recommended she take up a sport; her parents got her into figure skating when she was seven.^[1] She started out in singles but always preferred pair skating and admired Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov so she made the switch to pairs at 13.^[1]

She initially competed with Anton Sikharulidze with whom she is the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Champion.^[2] They split in 1996 and she teamed up with Teimuraz Pulin, winning the silver medal at the 1997 World Junior championships.

Petrova teamed up with Alexei Tikhonov in the summer of 1998.^[3][4] Together, they won the World Championship in 2000. They placed 6th at the 2002 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 2006 Games. They won a silver medal at the 2005 Worlds, and a bronze in 2006.

After making the decision to retire following the 2006 Worlds, Petrova and Tikhonov eventually consented to compete one more year at the Russian Skating Federation's request. During their final season, they finished 6th at the Grand Prix Final, and withdrew from the World Championships due to injury.

Petrova and Tikhonov trained in Saint Petersburg with Ludmila Velikova.^[1] After retiring from competition, they performed in ice shows, including Russian television project Ice Age.^[5]

Programs

With Tikhonov

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2006–2007 [4]	Sarabande by George Frideric Handel (modern arrangement)	Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven
2005–2006 [6][7]		Winter from Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi Fellini soundtracks
2004–2005 [8][9]	Tango by Astor Piazzolla	The Circus Princess by Emmerich Kalman	You Present Me Roses (Russian: Ты дарила мне розы) by Nochnye Snaipery
2003–2004 [10][11]	Music by Baxter	Mister X The Circus Princess by Emmerich Kálmán
2002–2003 [12][13][1]	Rainy Blues by Raimonds Pauls	Symphony Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff	Black Cat, White Cat
2001–2002 [14][15][11]	Adagio from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Chess by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson et al.
2000–2001 [16][11]	Russian Fantasie Francesca de Rimini by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Le tourment Vision de Paradis by Saint-Preux Gospodin Oformitel (film) Diva by Jean-Michel Jarre The Fifth Element by Éric Serra Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
1999–2000 [11]	Francesca de Rimini by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi Mr. Bureaucrat (film soundtrack)
1998–1999 [11]	Doctor Zhivago by Maurice Jarre	Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi

With Sikharulidze

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
1994–1995		Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev
1995–1996	sound of nature from Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky	Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi

Competitive highlights

With Alexei Tikhonov

Results[16][14][10][8][6][4]
International
Event	1998–99	1999–00	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07
Olympics				6th				5th
Worlds	4th	1st	4th	4th	3rd	4th	2nd	3rd	WD
Europeans	1st	1st^†	4th	3rd	3rd	2nd	3rd	3rd	2nd
Grand Prix Final	3rd	4th	5th	5th	3rd	3rd	2nd	4th	6th
GP Bompard							2nd		1st
GP Cup of China						3rd		1st
GP Cup of Russia		1st		2nd	2nd				2nd
GP NHK Trophy	5th	1st	3rd		4th	1st	1st
GP Skate America						2nd
GP Skate Canada	2nd		3rd					2nd
GP Sparkassen/Bofrost	1st	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Goodwill Games				3rd
National
Russian Champ.	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st
GP = Grand Prix; WD = Withdrew ^†Pairs champions Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze were stripped of their title.

With Teimuraz Pulin

International
Event	1996–1997	1997–1999
Nations Cup 1		1st
NHK Trophy		1st
Blue Swords	1st
Winter Universiade	2nd
International: Junior
Junior Worlds	2nd
National
Russian Champ.	1st	1st

With Anton Sikharulidze

International
Event	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96
Worlds		8th	6th
Europeans			6th	5th
NHK Trophy			7th
Skate Canada				2nd
Trophée de France				5th
Goodwill Games			7th
International: Junior
Junior Worlds	2nd	1st	1st
National
Russian Champ.		6th	2nd	4th
Russian Jr. Champ.	1st

References

1. Mittan, Barry (3 June 2003). "Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov: Different Personalities Work for Petrova and Tikhonov". GoldenSkate. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
2. "World Junior Figure Skating Championships: ISU Results: Pairs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2013. (10.5 KB)
3. Kempf, Susanne (2005). "Always Home At St. Petersburg". Absolute Skating.
4. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007.
5. Kozhina, Natalia (16 November 2012). Алексей Тихонов: «Дочку тренировать не буду» [Alexei Tikhonov: "I won't coach my daughter"]. Argumenty i Fakty (in Russian).
6. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 July 2006.
7. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 October 2005.
8. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 June 2005.
9. Mittan, Barry (27 March 2005). "Veteran Russian Pair Makes Final Olympic Run". Skate Today. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012.
10. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 June 2004.
11. "Programs". Petrova-Tikhonov.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
12. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 June 2003.
13. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 24 January 2003.
14. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 February 2002.
15. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 24 December 2001.
16. "Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2001.

External links

• Maria Petrova / Alexei Tikhonov at the International Skating Union
• Official website of Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov
• "Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov". pairsonice.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009.
• "Maria Petrova & Teimuraz Pouline". pairsonice.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2007.
• "Maria Petrova & Anton Sikharulidze". pairsonice.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007.