The death of the Olympic champion became known on the morning of November 17. According to Izvestia, Gorshkov felt unwell on the evening of November 16 and was urgently taken to intensive care due to acute myocardial infarction. It was impossible to save his life.
The FFKKR press service reported that Gorshkov “died suddenly” and “always took everything seriously.”
Irina Viner, President of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, suggested that Gorshkova could be very upset. The situation with Kamila Valievadoping case referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“Alexander Gorshkov was a great athlete. His dance duet with Lyudmila Pakhomova is always a couple. Alexander Georgievich headed our figure skating federation for a very long time, I saw him just a few days ago at the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency.
This is a great loss for national figure skating and our entire sport. I want to offer my condolences. I think the final verdict on Valieva, though not yet final, is the last straw,” TASS says, quoting Viner.
He accepted the adventure and entered the Guinness Book of Records
Gorshkov agreed to pair with the champion of the USSR Lyudmila Pakhomova, when he himself was not even a master of sports. The girl offered him cooperation when she was going through difficult times in her career after breaking up with her previous partner.
“We will not have a coach yet, I am leaving CSKA, we will ask to be allowed on the ice – think about it,” Gorshkov said.
Young people coped with all the difficulties, attracted the attention of the great coach Elena Chaikovskaya, and under her leadership they have already become six-time European and world champions.
This feat was no longer presented to anyone in ice dancing – this is how Gorshkov got into the Guinness Book of Records.
Moreover, the future president of FFKKR became the first Olympic champion in ice dancing. In 1976, this figure skating discipline was included in the program of the Olympic Games for the first time, and the pair Pakhomova and Gorshkov confidently won the gold medal.
changing figure skating
Gorshkov and Pakhomova developed a unique style of skating, inventing many new elements – steps and elevators.
While the Soviet couple captivated the foreign audience with their emotional performances in the songs “Along the St. Petersburg” and “Naughty Chastushki”, other duets preferred classical music and academic performance.
Flexibility and emotionality in each movement distinguished Gorshkov and Pakhomova from other couples, who focused mainly on the correct performance of the necessary elements (they were several dozen in number) and cared much less about creating a performance on ice.
In 1973, the couple prepared the famous Kumparsita Tango numbers.
This program so impressed the jury and the entire figure skating world that tango-romance became a compulsory dance in all competitions and remained so until the 2010/11 season – the mandatory dance was cancelled.
A bloody lung surgery and poisoning by his rivals
In addition to medals and victories, Gorshkov’s career had many difficulties. One of the most embarrassing incidents occurred at the 1972 World Championships in Vancouver.
After the mandatory part of the program, the athlete and his partner woke up at night with the same symptoms – both turned inside out. At the same time, they had different dishes for dinner, and Pakhomova hardly touched the food.
“There is an assumption that one of the competitors is trying to poison us,” Gorshkov said. But he was not caught – not a thief.
The doctor diagnosed the champions with acute food poisoning. Athletes barely survived the night: the stomach hurt, the temperature rose.
Both experienced shortness of breath during training. Despite this, the skaters managed to win the free dance and become world champions.
“I will never forget this performance, I remember every step I took – it was very difficult for me,” Gorshkov admitted.
And in 1975, after the European Championships in Copenhagen, the athlete felt severe chest pain, as if something “clicked” inside him.
“Later it turned out that what had burst was a branch of the pulmonary artery and blood began to flow into the pleural cavity,” said Champion.
But doctors misdiagnosed it at first, and only three days later discovered that the athlete’s left lung was completely filled with blood.
Gorshkov underwent an emergency operation that saved his life.
brought figure skating to the peak of popularity in Russia
After finishing his career, Gorshkov worked as a coach from 1977 to 1992, after which he decided to try himself as a sports official and transferred to the International Relations Department of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
She was a member of the executive committee of the PRC, then vice-president of the Moscow Figure Skating Federation, and in 2010 became the head of the Russian Figure Skating Federation.
As president, there has been a boom in the development of women’s single skating, with Russian athletes successfully performing at three Olympics in Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing.
In Sochi 2014, figure skaters brought Russia three gold medals: Adelina Sotnikova in women’s singles, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Maxaim Trankov became champions in doubles and won the national team team tournament. Also, in the doubles competition, Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov won silver, and in ice dancing Elena Ilyinykh and Nikita Katsalapov won bronze.
In Pyeongchang 2018, domestic skaters won one gold and two silvers. Alina Zagitova won the first women’s singles, Evgenia Medvedeva took the second, silver medal in the national team team tournament.
In Beijing 2022, the Russian team showed the best result in terms of six medals under Gorshkov.
Athletes who won the team tournament; in women’s singles gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova, silver – Alexandra Trusova; silver and bronze in pair skating were taken by Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov and Anastasia Mishina / Alexander Gallyamov, respectively; Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov took second place in ice dancing.
After Gorshkov’s death, either Alexander Kogan, the general director of the federation, or Anton Sikharulidze, Vladimir Gribanov, Vera Bogush, Irina Raber or Sergei Kononykhin, the vice-presidents of the federation, will serve as acting presidents. FFKKR.
The new chairman will be elected at the next meeting of the FFKKR conference.
Source: Gazeta
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.