Marina Klimova

Marina Klimova

Klimova and Ponomarenko in 1989
Personal information
Full name Marina Vladimirovna Klimova
Country represented  Soviet Union
 Unified Team
Born (1966-07-28) 28 July 1966
Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Former partner Sergei Ponomarenko
Oleg Volkov
Retired 1996
Marina Klimova
Medal record
Figure skating
Representing the  Soviet Union
1988 Calgary Ice dancing
1984 Sarajevo Ice dancing
Representing the Unified Team
1992 Albertville Ice dancing

Marina Vladimirovna Klimova (Russian: Марина Владимировна Климова; born 28 July 1966) is a former competitive ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union and the Unified Team. With skating partner and husband Sergei Ponomarenko, she is the 1992 Olympic champion, the 1988 Olympic silver medalist, the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion, and a four-time European champion.

Career

Klimova trained at Spartak in Moscow. Early in her career, she skated with Oleg Gennadyevich Volkov.

Klimova and Ponomarenko were fourth in their European Championships debut in 1983. Their breakthrough came the following season when they won the bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and 1984 European Championships. In 1985, they won their first World medal, silver. They were four-time consecutive World silver medalists from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, they also won the Olympic silver medal, behind Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin.

In 1989, Klimova and Ponomarenko won the first of their four consecutive European titles. They also won the 1989 World Championships and followed that up with another World gold the following year.

At the 1991 World Championships, they had a setback when they placed second to Isabelle Duchesnay & Paul Duchesnay. Four months before the Olympics, they decided to leave coach Natalia Dubova.[2] They re-established themselves as the top ice dancers in the world by winning another 1992 European title and then capturing the 1992 Olympic title. They ended their season with their third World title. They retired from eligible skating after the World Championships and turned to professional and show skating.

In addition to winning three World Championships and four European Championships, Klimova and Ponomarenko are the first figure skaters in any discipline to have won Olympic medals in three different colors. They won the bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics, the silver medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics for the Soviet Union and the gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics for the Unified Team.

Klimova and Ponomarenko were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000.[3] They coach young figure skaters at Sharks Ice in San Jose, California.

Personal life

Klimova and Ponomarenko married in September 1984. They now reside in the United States in Morgan Hill, California. They have two sons, Tim Ponomarenko, born in 1998, and Anthony Ponomarenko, born on January 5, 2001 in San Jose, California.[4] Anthony is a competitive ice dancer for the United States.[4][5]

Programs

(With Ponomarenko)

Season Original set pattern
/ Original dance
Free dance Exhibition
1992–1996



  • Clowns March to Sousa



  • Masquerade Waltz
    by Aram Khachaturian

1991–1992
1990–1991
1989–1990
1988–1989
1987–1988
1986–1987
1985–1986
1984–1985
1983–1984
1982–1983

Results

(ice dance with Sergei Ponomarenko)

International
Event 1980-81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Olympics 3rd 2nd 1st
Worlds 4th 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st
Europeans 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st
Goodwill Games 1st
Fujifilm Trophy 1st
Moscow News 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st
Nebelhorn 1st 1st
Golden Spin 2nd
Int. St. Gervais 1st 1st
National
Soviet Champ. 8th 6th 5th 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Spartakiada 3rd

Professional career

Event 1994–1995 1995–1996
World Pro. Championships 2nd 2nd

With Oleg Volkov

National: Junior
Event 1977–1978 1978–1979
Spartakiada 3rd
USSR Cup 1st 1st

References

  1. "Marina Klimova". Sports Reference. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  2. Vaytsekhovskaya, Elena (1991). Марина Климова, Сергей Пономаренко: "ЗА ВСЕ НАДО ПЛАТИТЬ САМИМ. ЗА ОШИБКИ ТОЖЕ" [Klimova & Ponomarenko interview] (in Russian). Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  3. "Hall of Fame Members". World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Christina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014.
  5. Whetstone, Mimi (September 15, 2012). "Feng and Ponomarenko, Kang nab novice gold". Ice Network.

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