Biography
Alexander Zhulin is a Soviet and Russian figure skater, bronze and silver medalist of the Olympic Games, European and world champion in pair skating. Leaving big sport in the mid-90s allowed the athlete to pursue a coaching career.
Alexander Zhulin
The lack of Olympic gold, as Alexander later recalled, made him “hungry” for the international victories of his students. The pair of Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov made the coach’s dream come true at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.
Alexander Zhulin: Connection with Grischuk is the mistake of my life!
There is an interesting intrigue in the popular TV show “Stars on Ice”: one of its participants, the talented coach Alexander Zhulin, competes with both his students and his wife at the same time. After all, he raised a couple of current Olympic champions - Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov. And besides, he is married to Tatyana. Now Zhulin gets “sixes” for his stylish performances in tandem with Ingeborga Dapkunaite.
Basharov calls this project “Stars in Hell”
— Alexander, do you somehow prepare Ingeborg before performances?
- Everything is like in sports. I say what is usually said to athletes. For example: don’t chat in vain, don’t pay attention to anyone. I have noticed many times: if you start watching the performances of other couples, you waste energy, and then you don’t have enough of it for yourself. But I’ll tell you, Ingeborg is a very strong person, with a strong psyche! She would make a great athlete. It’s easy to do lifts with Ingeborga: she’s very brave. And her weight is correct: she weighs even less than my partner Maya Usova weighed.
— Did you say any “magic words” to your wife Tatyana Navka at the Turin Olympics before going on the ice?
— A strong athlete never stands in front of a coach and asks what he should do. He himself knows how to tune in. I sometimes tried to remind: “Tanya, you won’t forget, you need this...” She: “Sash, move away, please.” - "Fine".
During training, she heard me perfectly. But when the competition is on, I can no longer help. I just go out in a black coat and stand beautifully.
— I know that on a similar project of the Rossiya channel, the artists once gathered and began to complain: the athletes were generally stunned, they demanded the impossible from us, and even got angry.
“Nastya Grebenkina, my student, told me about this, who, by the way, performed very well together with the talented guy Sergei Lazarev. We had a similar situation on Channel One. At first everyone skated more or less calmly, but somewhere in the middle of the project the situation began to heat up. After all, in every pair there is an athlete who has achieved a lot, with a champion’s character. And at some point, real sports passion awakens in him. And, naturally, it goes to our artists: we take their skins off them. It’s not for nothing that Marat Basharov has already dubbed this show “Stars in Hell.”
But Ingeborga and I try not to make such mistakes. You need to be more relaxed about the process. According to the Chinese system. And then everything will work out on its own.
I understand perfectly well: with an experienced coach, an athlete improves every week, but from an artist, by definition, rapid progress cannot be achieved. That’s why Inga and I think about grades fourth. We just try to make numbers that we ourselves enjoy skating and that the public likes. Although it’s nice to get all the “sixes”, so what.
— Oksana Pushkina told one journalist that Alexei Yagudin is paid the most on this project. Isn't it offensive?
— I have no idea how much Yagudin is paid. What difference does it make to me? I don't look into someone else's plate. If I agreed to this project, then everything suited me.
— Gluk'Oza left the project due to an unexpected pregnancy. But I heard that figure skaters sometimes continue to perform while pregnant. Masha Butyrskaya is a recent example.
— If an athlete rides before 2-3 months, nothing bad will happen. The child will be more tempered, with a good vestibular apparatus. But Gluck'Oza is not a professional figure skater. It might fall, you never know...
My daughter's idol is Maria Sharapova
— Now your whole family is in Moscow. Do you watch Stars on Ice on TV on the weekends?
- Certainly. With my daughter and wife. We really like it.
— And who is little Sashenka Zhulina rooting for?
- For both dad and mom. She first asked me: “Dad, why don’t you take mom as your partner?” Now he evaluates us individually. The last time she said that Basharov was somehow unsteady on his feet. And looking at Ingeborga, she asked: “Is she a figure skater?” For Inga and me, this is great praise.
Sasha, by the way, is a very athletic girl. At six and a half years old, she is engaged in figure skating and plays tennis: Maria Sharapova is her idol. When Sashenka saw her mother’s hand cut at the European Championships, she declared: “I will never be a figure skater.” But then I started skating again.
— Are you going to raise your daughter to be a champion?
- How will it go? Championship is a difficult matter. And it largely depends on character. If my daughter plays tennis well, but at some point says, “Well, I lost the competition - what’s the big deal,” if she doesn’t have some kind of passion, I’ll actually be very surprised. Because our mother is a gambler. And dad too. But we won’t do anything special. If he shows character, he will play. No - he will succeed in something else.
— You are in excellent physical shape. And you can’t say that you left for coaching a long time ago.
— In America, I constantly go to the gym and swim. I play football, golf, tennis. I like sport very much. In addition, I spend a lot of time on the ice with my skaters. So the form maintains itself. And during the “Stars on Ice” project, I immediately lost four kilograms.
In addition to the project, I train six hours a day! The Russian couple Mikhailova - Sergeev, the Armenian couple - Grebenkina and Azroyan, and several more couples came to me. I can say I’m in a state of shock, because every day I have to physically exert myself, plus my brains have to work for my students... But it’s okay, I love difficulties. The show will end in December and then all evenings will be free.
— Will you stay in Moscow or go to the States again?
“I’ll be here for at least two years, and then we’ll see.”
My wife's victory is my victory!
— Alexander, I have to ask you a very difficult question. Oksana Grischuk, who together with Pyotr Krasilov won a similar project, flew to Moscow and began calling Moscow publications and offering scandalous interviews. In them, she spoke in detail about how you confessed your love to her, gave her an engagement ring... And all supposedly so that she would leave the sport and the Olympic “gold” would go to you and Maya Usova.
- I haven’t seen her interview... The big mistake of my life was getting involved with this woman. If a person who won two Olympic medals is still talking about Zhulin, great, let him continue. I will not speak badly about those with whom I had some kind of relationship. Either good or nothing.
— Why do you think, after 8, 10, 12 years, Oksana Grischuk still continues to scold Tarasova, Platov and Zhulin?
- Well, I can’t answer you that she’s a fool.
— Figure skating fans are very upset that Tatyana Navka, in the prime of her life, is leaving the sport. Why not win a couple more gold medals?
- It makes no sense. If a person is an Olympic champion, he has already achieved everything. I simply cannot tell you what kind of energy and psychological expenditure it takes to win the Olympics! I can’t imagine what else in life this can be compared to. After all, Tatiana was already at her fourth Olympics. No normal person in their right mind can stand this. And she also has a family, a child... Tatyana leaves so that this blossoming can be preserved for some time. He will ride with Romka Kostomarov in professional shows. I am so proud and happy for them! Such athletes are very rare. They are what make a coach great. For a very long time, my pride was hurt by second place at the Olympic Games, which I considered a defeat. But my wife’s victory became my victory too. I would never want to be at the Olympics again as Tanya’s coach. This can only be experienced once in a lifetime.
— Have you and Tatyana thought about getting Sashenka a brother or sister?
“Let him and Roman ride around a little more.” Then it will be possible to deal with this issue.
PRIVATE BUSSINESS
Alexander ZHULIN - European champion, world champion, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Albertville, silver medalist of the Olympic Games in Lillehammer.
Coach of Turin 2006 Olympic champions Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Vyacheslavovich Zhulin was born in Korolev, former Kaliningrad, on July 20, 1963. He grew up in a prosperous family, where peace and harmony always reigned. Parents raised two children - the eldest Sasha and his younger brother Alexei. The future Olympic medalist was brought to the skating rink by a caring grandmother, whose goal was to improve the health of her beloved grandson. The coaches immediately took notice of the 5-year-old boy, confidently skating, jumping without fear and easily gliding across the ice. He approached his classes responsibly, without missing a single one: Sasha’s grandmother oversaw this.
Alexander Zhulin and Maya Usova in their youth
At the age of 9, the Moscow biography of Alexander Zhulin began: the young athlete was sent to the capital, where he diligently practiced figure skating at a higher level. The training took place at the Young Pioneers stadium.
After 2 years, figure skater Zhulin finally moves from Kaliningrad to the capital, where he lives and trains in a special boarding school for young athletes. Famous Russian coaches were involved in his preparation. Since the 4th grade, Sasha has been actively participating in competitions and championships. Until the age of 17, Alexander Zhulin competed as a singles skater.
Young figure skater: the childhood of athlete Alexander Zhulin
Sasha Zhulin grew up in a family where an atmosphere of tenderness and love reigned.
When the boy was five years old, his grandmother took him to the skating rink so that his beloved grandson could improve his health and develop well. Here, experienced trainers quickly drew attention to the little skater. The kid confidently stood on skates, jumped and easily slid across the ice, without missing training sessions. At the age of 9, the boy goes to practice figure skating in Moscow. Sasha begins training at the Young Pioneers stadium. Now it is a school for figure skaters - “Tchaikovsky’s Skate”. Later, Sasha Zhulin studies and trains at a sports boarding school, practicing single skating. He is trained by famous coaches: master of sports Anastasia Nikolaevna Kazakova, and later he trains with honored coach Natalya Dubova.
Already in the fourth grade, Alexander Zhulin participates in sports competitions and major championships. Until the age of seventeen, Zhulin competes in figure skating as a single skater.
Figure skating
At the age of 17, Alexander Zhulin’s sports career takes on a new direction: the young skater moves on to pairs performances. Maya Usova becomes his partner on the ice. Soon the couple demonstrates brilliant success, quickly winning first places in all-Union and international competitions.
Alexander Zhulin and Maya Usova on the ice
For 10 years, the pair of Zhulin and Usova held the lead in the top three sports medalists, often defeating eminent champions of Russia and the world in pair figure skating. 1994 brought the skaters a silver medal at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. This award became the main, but final achievement of the couple. After the Olympics, Zhulin and Usova left big sports, putting an end to their careers.
For 4 years in a row they have been participating in ice shows in the USA and Russia. In the late 90s, Alexander Zhulin finally switched to coaching. His first couple of students were Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov. Young figure skaters under the leadership of Alexander Zhulin win the Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Speech by Alexander Zhulin and Maya Usova
For the next 3 years, the coach prepares the next pair of skaters for future competitions. This time they are French athletes Nathalie Pechalat and Fabien Bourzu. And here the coach achieves a remarkable result: Natalie and Fabien win the European Championship in 2011.
After another victory, coach Alexander Zhulin, who has won Olympic victories, continues to prepare other talented skaters for competitions. Among them are Grebenkina and Azroyan, Khait and Sakhnovsky, Mikhailova and Sergeev, singles athletes Abt and Suguri.
Alexander Zhulin and his students
Today, the coach continues to prepare Russian athletes to participate in international competitions and the Olympic Games. At the end of 2016, he prepared the pair Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, who competed at the World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, to take to the ice at the European Championship.
star fever
In the USA, Oksana was surrounded by numerous fans and influential patrons, she had celebrity status. But she was simply annoyed by the fame of her compatriot and colleague Oksana Baiul, the 1994 Olympic champion in single skating, who went professional after the Olympics. Her popularity far eclipsed Grischuk's fame in the United States.
And Oksana started acting weird. To begin with, I changed my name to Pasha. Then she cut her hair and dyed it blonde like Marilyn Monroe. But America did not accept the impostor. Pasha didn’t want to give up, she rushed about in search of a way out, tried to act in films and conquer Hollywood, attended acting courses, but no luck. She failed to become her own in America.
However, it was possible to win a second Olympic gold in Nagano, Japan, under the guidance of another coach - Tatyana Tarasova. Oksana Grischuk and Evgeny Platov became champions. The 1998 Olympics, according to the memoirs of Evgeny Platov, resembled a nightmare: terrible tension, failures in training, a tense situation. After the Olympics, the skaters no longer had anything in common. There was nothing to regret, and the duet ceased to exist.
Ice shows
The biography of Alexander Zhulin is not only about brilliant results in figure skating. He becomes a participant in popular ice television shows, as well as a coach and director of the famous Ice Dancing School, which is based in the Olimpiysky sports complex.
In 2007-2009, coach Zhulin’s team of figure skaters met with Ilya Averbukh’s wards at an ice show. In 2010, in the new television show “Ice and Fire,” Alexander Zhulin acted as a creative director of original numbers.
Coach Alexander Zhulin
The man not only trains figure skaters and show business stars who take part in television projects, but also willingly becomes a participant in ice shows. In the 2000s, viewers could watch his brilliant performances as part of the “Stars on Ice” project together with Ingeborga Dapkunaite. The athlete’s next performance took place in the program “Ice Age: Professional Cup.”
In 2012, Alexander Vyacheslavovich prepared a new team, which consisted of show business stars and figure skaters, to perform on the updated Ice Age project.
Alexander Zhulin and Ingeborga Dapkunaite on the project “Stars on Ice”
In 2013, fans of Zhulin’s sports talent saw their favorite in a completely different capacity – as a singer. Alexander became a participant in the show “Two Stars” on Channel One and sang with Polina Gagarina. The composition “Tequila Love” performed by the stars evoked a storm of positive emotions among listeners and jury members.
In the same year, Alexander Zhulin, together with Polina Gagarina, visited the humorous project “Evening Urgant”, where the couple shared their emotions from participating in the show “Two Stars” and demonstrated an excellent sense of humor.
Alexander Zhulin and Polina Gagarina in the show “Two Stars”
At the beginning of 2020, Alexander Zhulin reminded himself: he became a guest on the program “Alone with Everyone,” telling the audience and Yulia Menshova many unknown details of his biography and personal life.
Career
At the age of 17, Sasha began to master a new discipline for himself - pair skating. Maya Usova became Zhulin’s partner.
Alexander and Maya were true professionals, they immediately found a common language and worked together. The results were not long in coming - the couple almost immediately began to take prizes. Soon victories came not only in all-Union tournaments, but also in international ones.
Maya Usova and Alexander Zhulin
For ten years, Zhulin and Usova held the bar as one of the best figure skating pairs, often defeating the honored champions of this discipline.
1994 became incredibly successful for Alexander and Usova. The skaters took silver at the Olympics, which took place in the small Norwegian town of Lillehammer. This award became the main, but, unfortunately, the last trophy for Zhulin and Usova. After the Olympic Games, the guys announced that they were leaving big sports.
Interesting! After finishing their careers, Sasha and Maya regularly appeared at the skating rink as part of various shows, not only in their homeland, but also abroad, in particular in America
.
However, the life and biography of Alexander Zhulin consists not only of personal achievements on the ice. The athlete managed to realize himself as a mentor for younger skaters. A photo of the coach and his players can be seen below.
In the late 90s, Zhulin devoted himself entirely to coaching. The first couple that Alexander undertook to train were Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov. Under the tutelage of an eminent mentor, the skaters managed to win gold at the Olympics in Turin.
Alexander Zhulin with Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov
Fabien Bourzat and Nathalie Pechalat
There were other guys among Alexander’s wards. The greatest successes were achieved by the pairs of Sergeev and Mikhailova, Sakhnovsky and Khait, Azroyan and Grebenkina.
Zhulin and his students
Zhulin is the director and coach of the Ice Dance School located in Olimpiysky. He successfully prepares show business stars for competitions held as part of Russian ice shows.
Interesting! In 2013 Zhulin tried himself as a singer. Thus, he participated in the “Two Stars” project, where, together with Polina Gagarina, he sang the song “Tequila Love”. The pair of vocalists with their performance evoked extremely positive emotions among the jury and television viewers.
Personal life
The first serious romance in the life of the famous figure skater happened with a colleague. In May 1986, partners Zhulin and Usova became a family. This marriage lasted until the early 1990s and remained in the past long before their dancing couple broke up.
Alexander Zhulin and Maya Usova
Rumor has it that in the 1990s, Alexander Zhulin had an affair with his young colleague Oksana Grischuk, who, according to yellow publications, was crazy about the skater. What added piquancy to the situation was the fact that at that time Zhulin was still married to Maya Usova. Later, when Oksana Grischuk began giving interviews with details of their relationship, Alexander Zhulin called the novel a big mistake.
In 1994, Alexander Zhulin began training figure skaters Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov. At this time, an affair broke out with a young ward. Zhulin was 30 years old at that time, and Navka was only 18. This passion led to the final break with his first wife Maya.
Alexander Zhulin and Oksana Grischuk
In 2000, Tatyana Navka and Alexander Zhulin got married. That same year they became parents: their daughter Sasha was born. The family lived in New Jersey, where Zhulin worked as a coach until 2006. Then the couple returned to Moscow, where they lived together for another 4 years. In 2010, they announced their separation.
There were different opinions about their high-profile divorce. Some say that the reason for the breakup was Navka’s affair with actor Marat Basharov, others talk about Alexander’s own infidelity. Be that as it may, the couple announced their separation after 14 years of civil marriage.
Alexander Zhulin and Tatyana Navka
2 years later, the former spouses met on ice: as part of the TV show “Ice Age. Professional Cup" Zhulin and Navka performed as a pair. They performed a sensual genre dance of farewell, and the romance “Thank you for everything, good friend” was played as musical accompaniment. Before going to the skating rink, Alexander Zhulin admitted to the audience with a trembling voice that Tatyana remains a close person to him. The nostalgic number that followed was called romantic and not fake in the press.
Alexander Zhulin and Natalya Mikhailova
In 2011, Alexander Zhulin’s personal life took a new turn: the famous coach began to live openly with his third chosen one, Natalya Mikhailova, also a figure skater. The romance between them began 3 years earlier, when the man was still in his second marriage. But even then the athlete realized that Natalya was exactly the person with whom he wanted to live his whole life.
At the beginning of 2013, they had a daughter, Katya. Zhulin introduced the children, and now the eldest daughter Alexandra and the youngest daughter Ekaterina are friends. The girl reacted with understanding to the changes in her father’s personal life. Despite her young age, the youngest Katya is already a professional golfer. The girl attends classes with a personal trainer 3 times a week.
Alexander Zhulin and daughter Sasha
In August 2020, Tatyana Navka married Dmitry Peskov. Journalists asked Zhulin if he was going to a wedding. He replied that he was happy for his ex-wife, but he would not be able to attend the wedding, because he would have preparations at that time, “and it is not customary for ex-husbands to attend the weddings of ex-wives.”
Zhulin was in no hurry to propose to his common-law wife Natalya, and only in mid-2020 did the couple get married. Photos from the ceremony appeared on the coach’s Instagram page.
Wedding of Alexander Zhulin and Natalia Mikhailova
The woman took her husband's surname. In an interview, Alexander noted that his wife supported him in everything; Zhulin never heard words of reproach or criticism from her.
For whom and how did it work out?
Oksana Grischuk lives in Los Angeles, is unmarried, has a daughter and continues to dream of happiness. He is engaged in coaching activities. And then at the World Championship among professionals the pair Grischuk - Zhulin took only third place, after which they stopped skating. There is only one reason: Grischuk doesn’t know how to lose. However, they continued to meet, and things were heading towards marriage. But again, no luck.
After this, Pasha had a serious relationship with a wealthy American businessman, began to live with him, and even got engaged. It didn’t happen until the wedding, the ring had to be returned. Then there was another boyfriend.
Maya Usova became Tatyana Tarasova’s assistant, with her all the time. Dreams of a child.
Alexander Zhulin works as a coach, became the husband of figure skater Tatyana Navka, and they had a daughter.
Alexander Zhulin now
The famous athlete is rightly called the sex symbol of Russian figure skating: he is not only a living legend of the sport, but also continues to be in excellent sports shape, delighting fans with his talent and skill.
Coach Alexander Zhulin
In September 2020, an episode of Lera Kudryavtseva’s program “Secret for a Million” was released on TV screens, where Alexander answered 9 tricky questions from the TV presenter. He told the story of love and separation from his first wife, Maya Usova, and told why he had not proposed to his third chosen one, Natalya, for 11 years.
At the end of 2018 in Moscow, Alexander is holding a casting for the 2nd season of the ice dancing show “Ice Age - 2”. Within a month, the main ideologist and trainer of the project is ready to teach everyone who wants to professionally perform various pirouettes on ice. Irina Slutskaya helps Zhulin in his work. Alexander’s first experience of hosting his own show was back in 2014, in the wake of the Olympics.
Alexander Zhulin on the project “Secret to a Million”
The man continues his coaching activities. He created his own Figure Skating Academy, where children of all age groups train, from 3-year-olds to juniors. In February 2019, a new intake of children is taking place in the 3-7 year old group.
Personal life of the champion
It so happened that, fortunately, Maya Usova never had any serious injuries. Yes, bruises, contusions. Therefore, the figure skater almost did not turn to sports doctors. But it turned out that it was among the doctors that her destiny lay.
Maya’s second husband was Anatoly Orletsky, a surgeon. They met when, in 2005, Usova’s shoulder began to bother her greatly and she sought professional help. The acquaintance turned out to be fateful and soon Maya married Anatoly.
Usova really wanted to become a mother and was worried that she might miss her chance. However, fate turned out to be favorable to the figure skater and in 2010 Maya gave birth to a daughter, Anastasia.
Today the couple live in Moscow. Usova became a certified technical specialist in figure skating and works at the ISU. Sometimes flies to the USA. She says that if it weren’t for her husband, she would have returned to America.
The figure skater does not like social networks and does not maintain public pages. He gives interviews very rarely.
Participation in television projects
In addition to the main coaching work and management of the ice dance school, based in the Olimpiysky sports complex. Alexander Vyacheslavovich appears on television. Shows with his participation instantly win the love of the audience, becoming popular.
Projects of the first channel:
- “Stars on Ice” - 2006;
- “Ice Age” and “Ice Age 2” - 2007-2008;
- “Ice Age: Global Warming” - 2009;
- “Ice and Fire” - 2010;
- “Ice Age: Professional Cup” - 2012;
- “Ice Age 4 and 5” – 2013-2014.
Important! In these projects, Zhulin acted as a coach and skater. In the show “Two Stars” Alexander appeared before the audience in a completely new capacity. Having performed the composition “Tequila - Love” with Polina Gagarina.
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Publication from Alexander Zhulin (@aleksandr_zhulin) February 6, 2020 at 1:01 PST
