Maya Valentinovna Usova , born 22 May 1964 in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

) is a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n ice dancer

Ice dancing

Ice dancing is a form of figure skating which draws from the world of ballroom dancing. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976....

. With Alexander Zhulin

Alexander Zhulin

Alexander Viacheslavovich Zhulin is a retired Russian ice dancer who represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. With Maya Usova, he is the 1993 World champion, 1994 Olympic silver medalist, and 1992 Olympic bronze medalist....

, she is the 1993 World champion

1993 World Figure Skating Championships

The 1993 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships of the 1992-1993 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from ISU Member Nations competed for the title of World Champion...

, 1994 Olympic silver medalist

Figure skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics

Referee:* Britta LindgrenAssistant Referee:* Gerhardt BubníkJudges: Wendy Utley Jan Olesinski Jarmila Portová Alfred Korytek Yang Jiasheng Margaret Ann Wier Noriko Shirota Audrey Williams Jan Hoffmann Monique Petis -Pairs:...

, 1992 Olympic bronze medalist

Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics

Referee:* Benjamin T. WrightAssistant Referee:* Monique GeorgelinJudges: Reinhard Mirmseker Mary Pearson Yang Jiasheng Monique Petis Mieko Fujimori Ingelise Blangsted Igor Prokop Vanessa Riley* Marina Sanaya Maragaret Ann Wier...

.

Career

Maya Usova initially competed with Alexei Batalov. At the age of nine, she moved from Gorky to Moscow to train with coach Natalia Dubova. Dubova paired her with Alexander Zhulin

Alexander Zhulin

Alexander Viacheslavovich Zhulin is a retired Russian ice dancer who represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. With Maya Usova, he is the 1993 World champion, 1994 Olympic silver medalist, and 1992 Olympic bronze medalist....

 in 1980. In 1988, they made their first appearance at the European Championships

1988 European Figure Skating Championships

The 1988 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Figure Skating Championships of the 1987-1988 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU Member Nations competed for the title of European Champion...

, placing 4th. The next season, they won silver at Europeans

1989 European Figure Skating Championships

The 1989 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Figure Skating Championships of the 1988-1989 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU Member Nations competed for the title of European Champion...

 and silver in their World Championships

1989 World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. This event is considered the most prestigious of the ISU Championships...

 debut. The next two seasons, they took bronze at Worlds.

In the 1991–92 season, Usova and Zhulin won silver at the European Championships

1992 European Figure Skating Championships

The 1992 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Figure Skating Championships of the 1991-1992 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU Member Nations competed for the title of European Champion...

 and then captured their first Olympic medal, bronze, at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France

Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics

Referee:* Benjamin T. WrightAssistant Referee:* Monique GeorgelinJudges: Reinhard Mirmseker Mary Pearson Yang Jiasheng Monique Petis Mieko Fujimori Ingelise Blangsted Igor Prokop Vanessa Riley* Marina Sanaya Maragaret Ann Wier...

. They ended the season by winning their second World silver medal

1992 World Figure Skating Championships

The 1992 World Figure Skating Championships took place in Oakland, California, USA.-Medalists:- Medal table :-Men:-Ladies:-Pairs:-Ice Dancing:-References:*...

. They moved with Dubova from Moscow to Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....

 in 1992.

In the 1992–93 season, Usova and Zhulin won the European

1993 European Figure Skating Championships

The 1993 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Figure Skating Championships of the 1992-1993 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU Member Nations competed for the title of European Champion...

 title and followed that up by winning the World

1993 World Figure Skating Championships

The 1993 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships of the 1992-1993 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from ISU Member Nations competed for the title of World Champion...

 title as well. The next season, they dropped to third at the European Championships

1994 European Figure Skating Championships

The 1994 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Figure Skating Championships of the 1993-1994 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU Member Nations competed for the title of European Champion...

 behind Jayne Torvill

Jayne Torvill

Jayne Torvill, OBE is a British ice dancer. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.-Early life:...

 / Christopher Dean

Christopher Dean

Christopher Colin Dean, OBE is a famous British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill...

 and Oksana Grishuk / Evgeny Platov

Evgeny Platov

Evgeny Arkadievich Platov is a Russian former ice dancer. He is best known for his partnership with Oksana Grishuk from 1989–1998...

. At the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway

Figure skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics

Referee:* Britta LindgrenAssistant Referee:* Gerhardt BubníkJudges: Wendy Utley Jan Olesinski Jarmila Portová Alfred Korytek Yang Jiasheng Margaret Ann Wier Noriko Shirota Audrey Williams Jan Hoffmann Monique Petis -Pairs:...

, they won the silver medal behind Grishuk and Platov.

Usova and Zhulin skated together professionally for four years before parting company. Usova then skated with former rival, Evgeny Platov.

From 2002 to 2004, Usova helped Tatiana Tarasova

Tatiana Tarasova

Tatiana Anatolyevna Tarasova is a Russian figure skating coach and national figure skating team adviser. Tarasova has been coach to more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in skating history. As of 2003, her students have won a total of 41 gold medals at the European and World...

 and skating partner Evgeny Platov

Evgeny Platov

Evgeny Arkadievich Platov is a Russian former ice dancer. He is best known for his partnership with Oksana Grishuk from 1989–1998...

 coach numerous skaters, including Galit Chait

Galit Chait

Galit Chait is a former Israeli ice dancer with partner Sergei Sakhnovski. They competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006.- Personal life :Chait was born in Israel and moved to New Jersey as a child with her parents...

 and Sergei Sakhnovsky and Shizuka Arakawa

Shizuka Arakawa

is a Japanese figure skater.She is the 2006 Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles and the 2004 World Champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in figure skating, after Midori Ito, who won silver...

. She coached at the Igloo in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. She currently coaches young ice dancers in Odintsovo

Odintsovo

Odintsovo is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: Town status was granted to it in 1957.-History:The village of Odintsovo was formed in the late 14th century. The famous story among the Odintsovians is about the noble named Andrey Odinets.Odintsovo is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia....

, near Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. Usova is an International Technical Specialist for Russia.

Personal life

Usova and Zhulin were married in 1986 but later divorced. She is remarried to a Russian professor in medicine, Anatoly Orletsky. In 2010, she gave birth to their daughter, Anastasia.

Off the ice, she has appeared in several Marlboro advertisements in Russia.

With Zhulin

Season	Original dance Original dance The original dance was a segment of an ice dancing competition. It was usually the second of three programs, sandwiched between the compulsory dances and the free dance. Until 1994, it was known as the original set pattern dance...	Free dance Free dance (figure skating) The free dance is a part of an ice dancing competition. It is the second part of the competition to be contested, after the short dance.-Structure and content:...	Exhibition
1997–1998			The Red Poppy The Red Poppy The Red Poppy or sometimes The Red Flower is a ballet in three acts and an apotheosis; score written by Reinhold Glière and a scenario by Mikhail Kurilko. This ballet was created in 1927 as the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme.... La Belle Dame Sans Regret by Sting Windmills of your Mind (from the Thomas Crown Affair The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film) The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"... ) A Man and A Woman Where Do I Begin (from Love Story) The Summer Knows (from Summer of '42 Summer of '42 Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,... )
1995–1996			Astor Piazzolla Prelude In C Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
1994–1995			Fantasy in D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...   Blues For Klook
1993–1994	A Day In The Life Of A Fool	Selected Melodies by Nino Rota Nino Rota Nino Rota was an Italian composer and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti...
1992–1993	Tales From The Vienna Woods	Blues For Klook by Eddy Louis	Tango Prelude in E Minor by Frederic Chopin Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano".... Autumn Leaves
1991–1992	Pizzicato Polka by Johann Strauss II Johann Strauss II Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...	Four Seasons The Four Seasons (Vivaldi) The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...   by Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...	Autumn Leaves
1990–1991	Blues For Klook by Eddy Louis	Summertime (from Porgy and Bess Porgy and Bess Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward... ) by George Gershwin George Gershwin George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...	Autumn Leaves
1989–1990		Tango
1988–1989		Mars, the Bringer of War (from The Planets The Planets The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst... ) by Gustav Holst Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....   Prelude in E minor by Frederic Chopin Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

With Platov

Season	Programs
2000–2001	Tango from The Addams Family The Addams Family The Addams Family is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. As named by Charles Addams, the Addams Family characters include Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Thing....   Desert Rose Desert Rose (Sting song) "Desert Rose" is a single by Sting from his album Brand New Day . The song peaked at #3 in Switzerland, #4 Italy, #15 in the UK Singles Chart and #17 in the US Billboard Hot 100....   by Sting  Carmen Carmen Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...   by Georges Bizet Georges Bizet Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
1999–2000	The Umbrellas of Cherbourg  by Michel Legrand Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...   Copa de la Vida/Historia de un Amor Spente Le Stelle by Emma Shapplin Emma Shapplin Emma Shapplin is a French operatic coloratura soprano.-Biography:...
1998–1999	Padam Padam by Édith Piaf Édith Piaf Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...   When You Came Into My Life Moonlight Sonata Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven) The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...   by Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

Results

(with Zhulin)

Event	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94
Winter Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...									3rd		2nd
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...						2nd	3rd	3rd	2nd	1st
European Championships European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...					4th	2nd	2nd	3rd	2nd	1st	3rd
Soviet Championships Soviet Figure Skating Championships The Soviet Figure Skating Championships were a figure skating national championship held annually to determine the national champions of the Soviet Union...	2nd		3rd	3rd	3rd	2nd	2nd	1st
Skate America Skate America Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is organized by the United States Figure Skating Association. The location changes yearly...							1st			1st
Nations Cup Bofrost Cup on Ice The Bofrost Cup on Ice was a figure skating competition held in Germany between 1986 and 2004. It was part of the Grand Prix series until 2003, when it was replaced by Cup of China. Following being booted out of the Grand Prix series, a new form of competition was introduced to the Bofrost Cup...							1st
NHK Trophy NHK Trophy The NHK Trophy is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing....						2nd		1st	1st	1st
Nebelhorn Trophy Nebelhorn Trophy The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain....			1st
Prize of Moscow News Prize of Moscow News The Prize of Moscow News , also known as the Moscow Skate, Nouvelles de Moscou, and the Moscow News Trophy, was an international, senior-level figure skating competition held in the former Soviet Union from 1966 to 1990...			4th	3rd	2nd
Winter Universiade		1st		2nd

External links

• Care to Ice Dance? - Usova & Zhulin
• Maya Usova

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