This Gorshok was baked not by gods. (Verner used to call Gorshkov like that - “Gorshok”, “Gorshok” in russian means “pot”)
Surname “Gorshkov” is very well-known in Soviet and World Ice-dancing. But in combination with the name “Alexei” it has appeared in russian press only since WC-2000. There, in Nice, I invited Elena Vaitsekhovskaya (russian famous journalist) to my meeting with a young Ural coach and his students – Junior World Champions Natalia Romanuta and Daniil Barantsev. Next day my colleague published her interpretation of this talk on the pages of “Sport Express”.
Since that day the remote namesake of legendary olympic champion, who got to the Nearest Moscow from Ekaterinburg, has interested and other representatives of home-mass media. Alexei Gorshkov worked with the group of dancers including russians Romanuta-Baratsev and Domnina-Bolotin, bulgarians Denkova-Staviski and some other far from being untalented students.
After Tatiana Tarasova, Natalia Dubova and Natalia Linichuk left for transoceanic countries and the “prima” of the dancing world Elena Chaikovskaya started to think about leaving the stage, too, the leader’s place was found to be vacant. That’s why an appearance of the “Ural semi-precious stone” (russian expression
), who gave Russia two Junior World champions’ couples made everyone glad. I wanted to believe that the “banner” had gone to trustworthy hands and that a new oak was growing on the Dancing’s Mentor’s Avenue. A new oak… not in a sense that its fruits could interest only pigs, but in a sense that it was green and strong.
Unfortunately, the oak proved to be a rotten one. He hurled out two talented couples. Some couples were splited up. He has loosened his work with dancers and has intensified a haggle with dancing judges. He “strangled” a bohemian nature of the choreographer Sergei Petukhov who worked with him. He was carried away by netting backstage intrigues. After his failed 2004-2005 season (when his bulgarian couple Denkova and Staviski had a failure), I had to fall thinking about the reasons of this weird behaviour and I began to search for these reasons. I had to talk with his former mentors, colleagues, his expeled and present students. And the conclusion turned out to be very sad. I can even say – more that that.
So, let me introduce to you.. Gorshkov Alexei Yurievich. Was born 30.01.1967 in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg now). Master of sports of figure skating (Ice dancing). Honoured coach of Russia. Higher education, correspondence course (Malakhovka)
Started skating very early in childhood. . As Igor Ksenofontov, the leader of the Figure Skating School of Sverdlovsk, told me, Alexei skated not very well and as for Ice dancer, he was really none. His partner – Natalia Zykova (later soloist in Holiday on Ice). The highest achievement: 10th place at the USSR championships. It is known that good coaches often come from these “middle skaters”. Alexei has a younger brother, Andrei. When they were little, their father died from a very wide-spread russian illness. Their mother – sweet kind woman – overstained herself by trying to provide for two guys. Young Alexei was forced to be occupied with arrangement of his own existence quite early, because he lived very poorly. Gorshkov worked as a second coach in Oleg Apshtein’s group till 1993. And Oleg trained Gorshkov then. There was a pretty girl Ludmila Kirillova in this group. She lived with her grandmother in a big flat and had a car with a garage near home (for those years in Sverdlovsk it was quite big capital already!) As a skater Ludmila didn’t have any chances to compete for the national team – she skated on straight legs (this hereditary defect is still noticeable with their daughter Nastia). Lusia (russian diminutive for Ludmila
) was Apshtein’s assistant. . But Alexei and Lusia liked eachother and married. They are happy and have 2 daugthers.
Some time all together they worked in a one group under the leadership of Apshtein. But then – ambitions, division of the group, sharing athletes. Apshtain took those who he considered to be the best ones, as for the others - he gave them to Oleg Mironov and Gorshkov. So, Alexei began his independent career.
That time Gorshkov and Mironov considered Olga Sharutenko and Dmitri Naumkin to be professionally unfit and no one wanted to take them. But finally young man listened to the senior’s (mostly to the choreographer Michail Danilovish Pavluchenko) opinion and took the guys. Just with Olga and Dmitri Alexei could learn coaching “handicraft”. He gave a lot to Olga and Dmitri, he teached them a lot, but he has learned a lot with them, too. Maybe, if he hadn’t this couple, skating world could never have Alexei Gorshkov as a coach.
It’s going without saying that Sharutenko and Naumkin’s Junior World title is an indisputable Gorshkov’s desert. But, after this high achievement of his students the coach has caught a keen stage of the “stardom disease” . His defects roughly came to light. It seemed that Gorshkov was substituted: he began to insult and humiliate students at the trainings, to mock at them. Maybe it was not just his guilt, but his trouble, going from the deficit of education and culture.
It was natural, that Olga and Dmitri couldn’t endure constant cadness, the reason of which was clear for them: on the horizon of the young and still poor coach appeared couple Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, who could pay him big bank-notes. As Gorshkov worked for pennies, before, having a wife and one daughter already, he switched his attention to bulgarians here and then. In less than one month till Russian nationals Gorshkov left Sharutenko and Naumkin with the choreographer and went to Sofia. Displeased with this treatment dancers left Gorshkov and retired. Alexei shifted the blame on Valentin Piseev.
When Alla Shehovtsova became at the head of the Figure Skating School in Odintsovo (a regional centre near Moscow), she invited there her group-mate and fellow-countryman. Gorshkov took there Natalia Romanuta and Daniil Barantsev, Oksana Domnina & Maxim Bolotin, Natalia Lepetukha & Sergei Mariin and some other talented couples from Ekaterinburg, he throw out “from the deck” of russian Ice dancing. Lepetukha was entrusted to Gorshkov in Moscow by Andrei Filippov before he left for Australia, but Gorshkov “dismissed” her in Odintsovo. He wanted Mariin to skate with his daughter, but Mariin refused to skate with Nastia. Gorshkov expeled him as well. Mariin who had very good chances to be in the national team, earns money in Holiday on ice now.
As soon as Natalia Romanuta and Daniil Barantsev won their second title of Junior World Champions in 2001, the coach set to disorganize and this couple. At the same time he was at variance with Maxim Bolotin, Oksana Domnina’s partner. Why? Outrages. Gorshkov (without any doubt, a very able coach) has a terrible habit to humiliate those, who depend on him. He doesn’t understand that children grow up, became adults and that he must change his tactics of treatment with them.
As the result of the scandal Maxim left Odintsovo for “Lokomotiv” and started to train with Svetlana Alekseeva and Elena Kustarova. Gorshkov made Domnina to skate with Maxim Shabalin, taken from Oleg Sudakov. As for Bolotin, Alexei Gorshkov explained his leaving by mental disease of the student.
After WC-2004 in Dortmund the next “scapegoats” of Gorshkov became.. however strange it may be.. Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski. Instead of do his best, to put in all his force, all his relations and skills to make bulgarians champions in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons and to become the youngest coach of the World, European and Olympic Champions – what the dancers reached only thanks to Gorshkov’s enormous work – dancing teacher carried over his favour to Domnina & Shabalin. And bulgarians got only insults and bad language,
which the coach was heaping on the others, before. During the European championships in 2005 in Torino Gorshkov tried to convince russian journalists that Denkova and Staviski had given themselves air, had grown impudent, that they didn’t want to train and treat to the trainings negligently. But, of course,
no one of those journalists, who was just a liiiiiiitle acquainted with Albena and Maxim,
did believe. Albena and Maxim, who had lived with Gorshkov for 8 hard years didn’t want to understand for a long time that it was their coach and choreographer who (how we would say using modern russian language) “fused” them. But their 5th place at WC in Moscow became the last drop, overfilled their patience. Two weeks later Denkova and Staviski went away. That time to nowhere.
Why?? Why Gorshkov went to loosing his “gold-bearing” couple?
You will find all the answers here.. later! 
I just have no time today to translate more, I’ll finish the article tomorrow 
Ouf. 
But.. but you see.. the article is really shocking.. when Verner sent it to me.. I didn’t want to believe it, 
but.. but.. actually, I must admit.. all he wrote was true.. Albena and Max read the article and you know and I know Albena and Max and if the article would be lying they said it immediately and .. 
and.. ok.. I don’t want to talk about it.. 
I still love Alexei Yureivich and Sergei Georgievich.. after all the years in Odintsovo, they have become very close for me.. 
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Subject: The article you all are waiting for.. 
Sun 28 May - 19:59
AND SHOCKED 
I don't know what to say really. 
It's completely shocking. 
)... The part that is most shocking was the lies Gorshkov was spreading to the press. He was their coach, he wasn't supposed to distroy their trust like that. 
Why the hell would you do that to your students? 
I bet that it's funny in a way! 
. It always makes me feel like my Russian is much worse than it probably actually is. 
:<33: 
