News/Features:
The latest on Tatiana and Maxim
Tatiana
enjoys rewards
of winning Olympic Gold
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Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin
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May
18, 2006
Tatiana
is enjoying her new freedom from daily training as
she and her partner, Maxim Marinin thrill the crowds
as the Champions On Ice Tour makes its was across
the country. We caught up with Tatiana recently and
she catches you up with what is going on in her life.
How
is the tour?
Great, the crowds have been great, and we’re
having a good time, relaxing and entertaining them.
On
a personal side, are you married?
No.
Do
you plan to be married soon?
No.
I
understand chocolate is one of your greatest loves.
Yes, yes, I love chocolate, but Russian chocolate.
It is different from other chocolate, not so sweet.
When I go home to Russia, I buy lots of chocolate.
My mom sends me some on tour.
What
other surprises do you get from your mom?
She also sends me Russian magazines. I love fashion
magazines.
You
will soon have a break in the tour. What are your
plans?
I will go home to Russia for 8 to 9 days. I’ll
spend time with my mom, of course, and with friends.
I also have to get my skating dressed fixed. It has
a hole in it that has to be repaired.
What
was it like for your mom when you won the Gold medal?
Was she in Tornio?
No, she was not able to attend, but I called her right
after we won, and she was crying all the time. I,
myself, still can’t believe it. I have the medal,
but I still can’t believe it. It seems like a
dream.
How
much pressure were you under heading into the Olympics?
There was a lot of pressure. Other than winning the
World Championships in Moscow the only thing that
mattered was winning Olympics gold medal. Everybody
was saying we were going to win, but in skating you
never know. Something can happen that can change everything.
For three weeks before the Olympics I didn’t
listen to any news about the Olympics or read anything.
I just wanted to focus on my skating.
When
you got back to Russia after winning gold, what was
it like?
It was very exciting. We got to meet President Putin,
which is every little boy and girl’s dream in
Russia. I was standing right beside him, and I was
thinking, “He’s not real. That isn’t
happening, it’s all a dream.” A day later,
March 8, was Woman’s Day in Russia, and President
Putin gave all of us expensive jewelry.
What
kind of car do you drive?
In the U.S., I drove a Mercedes, but I recently sold
it because in the fall I will return to Russia for
a while. In Russia, I have a BMW. I love cars.
What
are your favorite cities?
In Europe, I love St. Petersburg and Paris. In the
United States, New York and San Francisco. I love
the crazy city life.
What
movies do you like?
I want to see “Mission Impossible 3”, but
I haven’t been able to yet. I can’t wait
to see “The Da Vinci Code”.
What
is life like for you today?
The Champions On Ice show is fun, and I am enjoying
it very much. Finally, I can relax and enjoy myself.
On our off days, I can sleep in as late as I like.
There’s no more sleep, train, sleep, train, the
way my life was before.
Where
do you live in the United State?
In Chicago. I like it there. The weather is much the
same as Russia.
What
do you look forward to?
Spending time with my mom. I know how much time she
has sacrificed for me. She brought me to St. Petersburg
10 years ago and left her daughter behind. My mom
did everything for me. I knew I had to give her back
something special, and that was an Olympic Gold Medal.
Do
you have a question for Tatiana? Send it to jimfair@charter.net.
Totmianina
& Marinin
half
way to Olympic gold
February
11, 2006
Tatiana
Totmianina and Maxim Marinin lead after the short
program at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
The two-time world champions Tatiana and Maxim skated in perfect unison. They were so good the crowd was hushed for much of the performance, the near silence broken only by the sound of their blades majestically cutting through the ice.
They scored 68.64 points in their performance to Snowstorm by Sergei Svirdov. They were just 1.48 points short of tying their all-time high (70.12) set last year at the World Championships.
Tatiana and Max have almost a four point lead over second place Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China and countrymen Maria Petrova and Aleksei Tikhonov.
Tatiana and Maxim easily were the class of the event. They earned the highest totals for both technique and components.
This is the pairs' second Olympics and their final final amateur competition of their dominating career. They are unbeaten in over a year. They finished fourth in the 2002 Olympics.
The free skate is Monday night, when "Tot and Max" could become the 12th straight Russian or Soviet pair to win this Olympic title.
"Unbeatable, I would like to believe they're unbeatable," coach Oleg Vasiliev said. "But figure skating depends on many things -- ice, judges, political situations."
Tatiana and Maxim nailed flawless side-by side triple toe loops, and they finished with a superb string of combination spins.
"I think it was the best performance of our short program this season," Tatiana said.
And they didn't succumb to the pressure of keeping their nation's golden streak going.
"I feel the atmosphere inside the ice rink was going up, so it was like a stone fell off my shoulders when we finished," Marinin said. "It was just more concentration on the skating. Maybe that looks like I am really nervous, but it is not that."
Olympic pairs required elements
The required elements in the Olympic pairs short program under the new judging system. The technical specialist identifies the elements the skater is performing and the level of difficulty of the element. The judges give the grades of execution for each element.
Technical Elements
Double Twist
Individual spin combination
Individual jumps
Hand to hip overhead lift
Forward inside death spiral
Step Sequence
Pair spin combination
Double or triple throw
Program Components (based on value from 0 to 10 in increments of .25. A score of 8.0 is considered very good
Skating Skills
Transitions
Performance/Execution
Choreography/Composition
Interpretation of the music
Total Score
In the short program, Tatiana and Maxim, scored 35.93 for technical elements and 32.71 for program components for a total short program score of 68.64 points.
Totmianina & Marinin
have eyes on golden finale
February 10, 2006
From wire reports
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin have declared this season their last as an amateur. The Olympics, they have announced, is their last competition and they are are looking forward to making their finale a winning one.
Winners of the last two world and last five European championships, Tatiana and Max are favored to win the pairs title. The pairs event begins Saturday with the short program. The pairs final is Monday.
In the team's first practice in Turin on Friday, the Russians were cautious in their training and made a few errors, with Totmianina faltering on triple salchow jumps. The two had arrived early Thursday from St. Petersburg.
"It was normal for this situation. There were a couple mistakes, but better to have them now," said Oleg Vasiliev, their coach. "It was not so bad."
Vasiliev won the 1984 gold medal in pairs with Elena Valova. Russians or Soviets have won the gold medal in every Olympics since 1964. That streak includes the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics when a duplicate gold medal was awarded to Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the aftermath of a judging scandal. Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were the Russian gold medalists.
Since then a new scoring system replaced the old format, and Tatiana and Maxim have won titles under both systems.
Various misfortunes also have taken their toll on Tatiana.
She had a horrifying fall from a lift in October 2004 at Skate America in Pittsburgh that left her unconscious. She spent two days in a hospital.
In December, she was again hospitalized with a stomach ailment. The pair still won the European title for the fifth time last month.
"She is doing better. She is not taking any more medications," Vasiliev said. "She is still on a diet, but not such a strict diet as it used to be."
She lost a noticeable amount of weight following the pairs' victory at the Grand Prix final in Tokyo in December and before the European championships in mid-January.
"She can eat more things. But she has to take care of things like spicy, fried food," Vasiliev said.
Tatiana said after her victory in Lyon, France that she may be thinner, but, "I still have energy to skate."
Totmianina & Marinin
win 5th straight Europeans
January 18, 2006
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their fifth straight European Championships at Lyon, France.
"With each year, it has become more and more difficult to repeat the success," Max said. "To win the fifth consecutive title is something special.”
The favorites for the Olympic gold medal next month at Turin, Italy, skated a virtually flawless program to the movie soundtrack of "Romeo and Juliet."
They won the short and earned a total of 195.87 points in the new scoring system. That is only 2.62 points off their personal best set last year at the World Championships.
Considering Tatiana is still battling intestinal problems, the pairs team dominated the competition. They had to withdraw from the Russian championships last month.
“There was a chance that we wouldn’t be here, but even if I was almost dying, we wanted to come and to fight for the gold,” Tatiana said.
"After my illness I couldn't skate 100 percent yet," Tatiana said. "On the podium I was thinking,’ Thank God I am here again.' "
Max doubled the first element, the Salchow, they both landed the side-by-side triple toeloop-double toeloop combination. They followed that with a wonderful throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow. Their lifts and spins were nicely done.
“It’s difficult to stay focused each time and to go out there and do it each time. We skated confidently, but not as powerful as we used to skate.”
“We had a little mistake, but it’s better we did it here then later. Overall it was a good competition for us. I’m looking forward to the Olympic Games. We still have two and a half weeks,” Tatiana said.
Totmianina & Marinin win
short at Europeans
January 17, 2006
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin led after the short program at the European Championships at Lyon, France and only need to win the free skate to capture a fifth straight pairs title.
They led countrymen Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov and Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szalkowy of Germany.
Totmianina overcame gall bladder problems that resulted in a trip to the hospital in December. "I am still on the diet for the first time in my life and it is not very comfortable," she said.
Totmianina's weight loss has required Marinin to alter his throws and lifts. So far, the adjustments are working. "Sometimes it looks good but you are not feeling comfortable inside," Totmianina said. "But if it looks good, it means it is good."
Totmianina and Marinin, the reigning World and European Champions, delivered an elegant and steady performance to “The Snowstorm” by Georgi Sviridov.
They nailed the side-by-side triple toe loop, a triple throw loop and a forward inside death spiral with a change of hold that was graded a level four by the technical panel.
Totmianina/Marinin received 68.04 points. “In general, I feel more comfortable on the ice, especially compared to the trouble we experienced last season. It made us stronger. We enjoy what we’re doing on the ice. As it’s being our last season, we skate as freely as we can”, Marinin said. “Today we did well."
Totmianina & Marinin
withdraw from Nationals
December 28, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin withdrew from the Russian Nationals this week at Kazan, Russia. They were still named to the Russian National team that will compete in the European Championships in Lyon, France.
Barring injury or illness they will likely represent their country in the Turin Olympics.
Tatiana complained of pain in her side, at the Nationals. Doctors described it as gall bladder problems.
The pair on the three previous National championships.
The pairs, winners of nine straight competitions, will compete in the Olympics scheduled in Torino, Italy. The pairs competition is scheduled Feb. 11 and 13.
Totmianina & Marinin
win GP Final, win streak is 9
December 17, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin were the class of their field in the ISU Grand Prix Final in Tokyo.
The Russian pairs have been dominating since their last defeat, nine competitions ago, in the Grand Prix Final.
They are favored to win the Olympic gold medal in Torino, Italy in February.
Their free skate today to "Romeo and Juliet," included two triple jumps, high throws and death spirals from interesting entry positions.
Tatiana was pleased with their performance but cautioned the meat of the competitive lies ahead. "You could say it was our best performance of the season," Tatiana said. "But the season is not over yet."
Tatiana and Max outscored Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China, 193.60 versus 186.12. Tatiana and Max outscored Zhang and Zhang 126.68 – 124.36 in the free skate.
“I heard the marks of the others, especially of the Chinese couple, and I knew we couldn't make any mistakes," Tatiana said.
Tatiana and Max won the short program. The starting order was in reverse of the Grand Prix standings and they skated last.
Their performance to “The Snow Storm” by Georgei Sviridov was exceptional. They had a terrific throw triple loop, a double twist and landed side by side triple toeloops.
The trip from Russia to Tokyo did take a toll on the team. ”It was difficult. We’ve been only once to Japan, in 2002 (World Championships), and it was hard back then. But we knew how it feels. We just tried not to push too hard today. And it was the best performance of the season.”
Max, with a smile, said simply, “Another short program is done.”
Totmianina & Marinin
solid Gold at Cup of Russia
November 26, 2005
World pairs champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin continued their dominating run with a win at Cup of Russia.
Tatiana and Maxim swept their Grand Prix events and will be the No. 1 seed when the Grand Prix Final is held Dec. 16-18 at Tokyo, Japan.
They recorded a personal best in the free skate to Romeo and Juliet and performed by Edvin Marton. The 133.30 points eclipsed their previous best by 4.93 points.
Their program was highlighted by a triple twist that was high and strong and Tatiana’s landings on Maxim’s throws were light and clean.
Their high marks were exceptional. The only flaw that could be judged was being out of synch on a series of combination spins. Regardless, their program was good enough to distance themselves by almost 16 points over teammates Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov.
Tatiana and Maxim built a seven-point lead in the short program, skated to Snowstorm by Sergei Svirdov.
The short program was highlighted by an elegant throw triple loop, a double twist, and a side-by-side combination spin and solid death spiral.
Max doubled his toeloop but was unconcerned since it was still early in the season.
“Nothing special happened with my toeloop, it just turned out to be a double instead of a triple”, Max said. “It’s not yet the time to be a 100 percent in shape. It’s better that mistakes happen now than later.”
Tatiana and Max win gold in Paris
November 18, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their seventh straight competition at Eric Trophee Bompard in Paris, France.
Tatiana and Max were in mid-season form as they completed a side by side triple Salchow, a triple toeloop-double toeloop combination, a throw triple loop, a triple twist and produced good, solid lifts.
They skated to “Romeo and Juliet” by Edvin Marton.
The only flaw came when Tatiana stumbled out of the throw triple Salchow.
The two-time World Champions’ overall score of 186.90 points was below their overall best (198.99) but they came within three and half points of setting a new short program standard.
“I was very tired, because it was so late. It was physically and emotionally hard to skate”, Tatiana said of the throw salchow.
“For the first time in competition it was good. It’s always hard to start into the season. You always have to start from zero when you step off the podium”, Max said.
Tatiana and Max stood in their customary first place after the short program, scoring 66.50 points. Their element score was 35.10 and components were 31.40.
They skated to the Russian “The Snow Storm”, landing a side-by-side triple toeloop. Their throw triple loop appeared effortless and a double twist was strong.
The pair produced strong spins and a death spiral that was graded a level four.
“It was the first competition of the season for us, and it was a nice performance. We’re happy to be on the ice”, Tatiana said.
“The first competition is always very important. It’s going to be better and better”, Max said.
“We did a nice job tonight,” Tatiana said of the short program, as she smiled. “It is our first competition this year, and for a first time we skatedwell.”
“Hopefully it is going to be better and better,” Max said.
September 20, 2005
Tatiana and Max to perform exhibition
Tatiana Totamania and Maxim Marinin will perform in an exhibition at the Japan International Challenge.
The invitational is scheduled October 1 in Tokyo.
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| Tatiana and Max are featured on the cover of the August issue of Blades On Ice magazine. |
Tatiana & Max
help "Skate for Hope"
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Skate for Hope, a premier figure skating event benefiting breast cancer research, was honored to have Tatiana Totmiamina & Max Marinin join the cast of the 2005 production. Their elegant and moving performance brought the crowd to its feet.Tatiana and Max's appearance elevated the show to the highest standard and generated great community interest.Their participation helped to raise $25,000 for breast cancer research for which the Skate for Hope is deeply grateful.
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Tatiana & Max
on 'Today' show
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| Tatiana and Max chat with Al Roker from "The Today" show and skate at Rockefeller Center./Photos by AKIKO TAMURA |
World pairs champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin appeared
on the Today Show Wednesday morning, April 6 in New York.
Tatiana and Maxim won their second straight World Championship recently
and are now touring with Champions On Ice.
Totmianina & Marinin
win Gold in Moscow
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Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin/ Photo by Alexander Demianchuk
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Totmianina & Marinin repeat as Champions
March 16, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin have won their second straight World Championship at Moscow.
The gold medal capped a remarkable comeback. The victory came just five months after Totmianina fell on her head at Skate America in Pittsburgh. She was unconscious for several minutes.
The crowd favorites skated a near-perfect romantic program to Rimsky-Korsakov’s ballet "Scheherezade".
They both appeared more overwhelmed than triumphant at the end of their program. The raised their hands to their faces and took several seconds before acknowledging the cheers.
The Russians personal best scores, under the new Code of Points system, for total (198.49), short program (70.12) and free skate (128.37). They were over 10 points better than fellow countrymen Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov.
Controversy filled the morning practice session when China’s Hao Zhang collided with Totmianina.
"I was standing still with my back to the Chinese guy when suddenly I was thrown 180 degrees in the air and fell to the ice," said Totmianina. Wednesday’s incident left Totmianina shaken. "I don't know if it (collision) was premeditated, I hope not, but I must say when I hit the ice it was very painful. It was not a pleasant feeling."
Hao and Dan Zhang finished third. Hao he sent apologies to Totmianina, claiming it was an unintentional.
Oleg Vasilyev, Totmianina’s coach, disagreed.
"I can't say for sure that they did it on purpose but the Chinese pair was very aggressive throughout the practice skate," Vasilyev, the 1984 Olympic pairs champion, told Reuters. "I think they specifically targeted Tatiana because of her head injury, trying to intimidate her. It wasn't very sportsmanlike on their part."
Tatiana & Max in first after short at World Championships
March 15, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin skated to the lead in the Pairs competition at the 2005 World Championships being held in their home town of Moscow, Russia.
Russia''s Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov are in second while Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao of China are in third.
Performing to ”Ave Maria”, Totmianin and Marinin performed asolid program that included a beautiful throw triple loop, side by side triple toeloop and level-three spins and spirals.
The reigning World Champions were awarded 70.12 points (37.44 element score/32.68 program component score), setting a new personal best for themselves.
”We are happy with the way we skated today. It was not perfect, but it was good. We made a small mistake on the side by side spin, because we have recently upgraded this element and did not have enough time to practice it. And if you do not have enough practice, you sometimes simply forgot what is coming up next”, Marinin explained.
“We feel more comfortable this season, more relaxed. Before, we felt we had to prove that we could beat the Chinese pair (Shen/Zhao) and now we can simply show our best skating”, he continued.
Tatiana & Max appear
on "Oprah" show
Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show Wednesday, Feb. 23. The segment was called "Extreme Miracles ... Caught on Tape.
Tatiana & Max on Ellen DeGeneres show
Tatiana and Max had a blast when they appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Here's what they had to say:
"I was so nervous to be on the show. I had never done anything like this in the U.S. and I was afraid my English wouldn't be very good. But Ellen was so nice and friendly. She was trying to calm me down in the make-up room!" -- Tatiana
"It was great to be a part of that show. Ellen is really funny!" -- Max
Tatiana and Max win Gold
at European Championships
January 27, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their fourth straight gold medals at the European Championships at Turin, Italy.
It was anything but a routine competition for Totmianina and Marinin.
The pairs team had a dangerous fall to the ice three months earlier at Skate America when the couple fell on an Axel Lasso lift. Midway through the European finals they performed the one-armed lift with no problem, much to the delight of the breathless crowd. Marinin put down Totmianina gently on the ice.
“The Russian Nationals helped us a lot to come back mentally”, Marinin explained. “Here we had to improve our performance a little bit. The first competition after the injury (fall) was the most important one. Here, we were less nervous.”
Skating first in the final warmup group for the free skate, Totmianina and Marinin skated an error-free long program to “Sheherazade” by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov. They performed side by side triple Salchow, side by side triple toeloop-double toeloop combination, triple twist, triple throw lop and Salchow. They never lost speed and unison during the program.
“It’s the best feeling. We are very happy to be here and for me it is wonderful skating again at a high level after the accident”, Totmianina said.
Totmianina and Marinin swept the short and freeskate. They won the short skating to “Ave Maria” and were solid with a throw triple loop, side by side triple toeloop and a stunning side by side combination spin.
The European championships are the first major meet using the sport's new scoring format, brought in after the pairs judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Totmianina and Marinin recorded their highest marks in the short with 69.70 and eclipsed their personal best overall with a total of 196.28.
Tatiana & Max win third Russian title
January 8, 2005
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their third straight Russian National Championships in St. Petersburg.
They will try for their fourth straight European Championship when they compete Jan. 25-29 at Torino, Italy.
Tatiana and Maxim, the 2004 World Champions, won the short and freeskate in such dominating style they received all 5.9s in both programs for presentation. They received five 5.9s in technical merit to their “Ave Maria” music and reeled off another three 5.9s in there freeskate to Sheherzade by N. Rimski-Korsakov.
Tatiana and Max will appear on TV talk show
Tatiana Totmiamina and Maxim Marinin will appear December 3 on the Ellen
DeGeneres show.
Totmiamina and Marinin will be on the show that will also feature
actress Julia Louis Dreyfyss ("Seinfeld"} and actor William H. Macy ("The
Wool Cap"}.
To find out when the show will air within the United States go to:
http://ellen.warnerbros.com/showinfo/whenitson.html
Tatiana and Max skate exhibition
November 28, 2004
Tatiana & Max made their first public appearance since their accident at Skate America in an exhibition of their short program at Cup of Russia.
Tatiana 's mom is came from St. Petersburg to see her. This was the first time her mom had seen her since she watched the fall live on Russian TV.
"I am so happy to be back on the ice. I wish to compete here but I know that is not possible. I can't wait to skate again and show the people that I am okay and ready to come back to competition, " Tatiana said.
Tatiana Totmianina
injured in scary fall
Plunge came during long program
at Skate America in Pittsburgh
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| Tatiana fell during a overhead lift comparable to the one shown above. |
October 24, 2004
World champion pairs skater Tatiana Totmianina sustained a concussion but no broken bones in a fall during the free skating program at Skate America, the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted the head of Russia's figure skating federation as saying Sunday.
"Tatiana has nothing broken, nothing cracked," federation president Valentin Piseev was quoted as saying.
Doctors at the hospital where she was taken in Pittsburgh, Pa., determined that she has a concussion and she also has some bruises around her eyes, he said according to the report.
Piseev was quoted as saying she likely would be taken to Chicago, where the pair trains, for further treatment.
The pair's coach, Oleg Vasiliev, "said that in the hospitals in Chicago there are Russian-speaking doctors who can examine the skater in detail," Piseev was quoted as saying.
Tatiana was released from the Pittsburgh hospital Sunday afternon. She will be resting for one week, and doctors advised her not to read or watch television. She will be assessed by her doctor in Chicago in one week.
Speaking to reporters from a wheelchair at Mercy Hospital on Sunday, Totmianina said she has little memory of anything that happened Saturday, including her accident.
She sported a bruise on her right eye, but joked with journalists about the move that led to her injury.
"Actually, it wasn't something unusual ... but it wasn't successful," she said. "How it happened, I don't remember. ... Yesterday, I don't remember almost anything."
Tatiana & Max will withdraw from Cup of China and Cup of Russia.
The fall, headfirst onto the ice during the free skate, was so terrifying it ended the Skate America competition Saturday night at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Mellon Arena.
Maxim Marinin, 27, had his partner in a fully extended overhead lift when he hit an apparent rut in the ice that threw him off balance and caused him to accidentally throw Totmianina overhead and onto the ice.
Totmianina, 23, lay motionless for several minutes before being placed on a stretcher and taken to the arena’s medical room.
Once stabilized, Totmianina was rushed to Mercy Hospital’s severe trauma unit.
Liz DeSevo, the pairs agent for MCE, saw the fall and said it was one of the worst she’s ever witnessed.
DeSevo said as bad as the fall was, Totmianina was listed in “good condition” according to Mercy Hospital spokeswoman Beth Lawry. Totmianina received a concussion and possible broken ribs, according to Desevo.
“Tatiana is being admitted overnight for observation,” DeSevo said.
Lawry said Totmianina had “the appropriate testing done and she is resting. She was awake and oriented.”
No other details were given.
Totmianina and Marinin appeared on their way to winning the pairs competition at Skate America, the first ISU Grand Prix event of the season.
They were performing an Axel lasso lift when the accident happened.
According to reports by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Dejan Kovacevic at the competition, Marinin, who stands 6 feet 2, lifted Totmianina, who is almost a foot shorter, with one hand high over his head while skating at close to top speed.
Then, Marinin apparently lost his balance and, as a result, flung Totmianina forward. The right side of her face hit the ice first -- with great force -- and she slid backward a few feet before Marinin rushed toward her.
For 15 seconds, there was only silence, and no one came to the ice to help despite a shout from the audience to do so, according to Kovacevic. Then, the pair's coach, Oleg Vasiliev, and another official went to the ice. A paramedic reached the rink about three minutes later.
Skaters and photographers who were close to the stretcher said that they believed Totmianina retained consciousness even while still on the ice.
A crew of city of Pittsburgh paramedics entered the building roughly 12 minutes after the accident. An ambulance did not enter until another eight minutes had passed, Kovacevic reported.
Brian Chiera, assistant general manager at Mellon Arena, told Kovacevic that organizers had an ambulance waiting outside the building. He said that the city paramedics who attended to Totmianina had left the ambulance to take care of her and that other drivers were summoned with a 911 call to bring the ambulance inside.
In the moments after the accident, the public address announcer appealed to the crowd to remain quiet and calm, and the audience mostly obliged. The announcer then declared that the final scores of the pairs event and its victory ceremony would be delayed until the exhibition that closes Skate America at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov of Russia skated just before Totmianina and Marinin, and they stumbled at what appeared to be the same part of the ice surface. A large rut was evident there an hour after the accident, even though the ice had been resurfaced by the Zambonis.
Tatiana & Maxim win first World title!
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their first World Championship by holding off the Chinese pair of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao in the pairs final at Dortmund, Germany, Wednesday.
Totmianina and Marinin received a 6.0 for presentation and their two solid programs in the short and long proved why it takes two well-executed programs to win Gold.
Totmianina and Marinin skated an outstanding performance to Marton’s “Art of Ice”.
“We are so happy to have won our first World title,” Totmianina said. “It was altogether a very tough competition. The level was very high. It was very hard for us to skate after we heard that (Qing) Pang and (Jian) Tong had received such high marks. We assumed they skated clean, and we knew we couldn’t afford any mistake.”
The Russians didn't succumb to the pressure and collected the first World Gold for their country since Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov won gold in 2000.
“At the beginning, we smiled at each other and communicated with our eyes. Then we focused on ourselves. It was our lucky day, we used our chance,” Marinin said.
Totmianina and Marinin already have two Silver Medals in their previous World Championships.
Tatiana & Maxim take lead at Worlds
March 22, 2004
Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin of Russia captured the lead in the pairs short program Monday at the World Championships in Dortmund, Germany. Evgeni Plushenko won his qualifying round.
Performing to “Variations on a Theme of Paganini” by Sergei Rachmaninov, the two-time World Silver Medalists skated well to a program that featured a throw triple loop, a side by side triple toeloop, a double twist and a one-armed lift. The couple received marks ranging from 5.7 to 5.9 for required elements and from 5.8 to one 6.0 for presentation.
“I don’t really know where I am and what time it is. We just arrived two days ago, and we aren’t over the jet lag yet, Totmianina said. “Usually we skate in the first group in the warm up. Today, I think it helped us to skate late, because we were able to sleep during the day." They were the last to skate.
The 6.0 was the first of their career. “This is our first 6.0 ever! It’s wonderful. I always dreamed about getting a 6.0 before the new judging system will be adopted,” Totmianina said.
Their teammates Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov are in second place. China's Qing Pang & JianTong are in third at their first World Championship and the defending champions Xue Shen & Hongbo of China are in fourth place.
Tatiana & Maxim win Gold at Europeans
February 4, 2004
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their third straight European Figure Skating Championships at Budapest, Hungary.
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| Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin |
Totmianina and Marinin, skating to “Art On Ice” by Hungarian musician Edwin Marton gave Russia its ninth straight European pair championship, and it was the 37th time in 40 years a Russian or Soviet pair has won.
It was the second time Totmianina and Marinin skated to “Art On Ice”. Injuries have prevented the pair from maximum training, and they haven’t had the opportunity to perform the program as frequently as they would have liked.
“It was a great pleasure to skate the new program. It's more demanding emotionally and the opposite of our former (The Cotton Club) program,” Totmianina said. “The Cotton Club” featured a light-hearted skating program.
They had four 5.9s for presentation and their technical marks ranged from 5.5-5.9.
Totmianina was nursing a knee injury that forced them to downgrade a triple jump to a double but some innovative positions in lifts highlighted their program. They completed a triple-double toe loop combination, a triple twist, a throw triple loop and Salchow as well as two one-armed Lasso lifts.
“In spite of Tatiana's injury we showed a very good program,” Marinin said.
Totmianina and Marinin led after the short program. They were impressive in their program skated to “Variations on a Theme of Paganini” by Sergei Rakhmaninov.
Totmianina was pleased with their performance.
“I think we skated one of our best short programs this season. We felt good out there. When the competition starts, I’m totally focused on it and so I almost forgot about the pain in my (left) knee. But of course, I still feel it. It’s sometimes even worse than at Russian Nationals. There was no time for rest after Russian Nationals. I had some treatment for the knee, but it didn’t really help,” Totmianina said.
January 10, 2004
Tatiana and Max win Gold
at Russian Championships
Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin won the pairs competition at the Russian National Championships held this weekend in Moscow.
December 13, 2003
Tatiana and Max win Silver
at Grand Prix Final
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin finished second in the Grand Prix Final at Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Totmianina and Marinin were the defending Grand Prix Champions coming
into the finals. They were second after the short program and could not overtake China’s Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao in the free skate.
Totmianina and Marinin seemed to slow down at the end of the program, a
possible effect of the altitude of Colorado Springs at 6,600 feet above sea level. Marinin had trouble on the second part of their jump combination. They both completed the triple toe, but he only managed a single on the second jump, which was a planned double toe.
Their short program technical score, under the new scoring system, was 33.32 – over three points less than their best (36.80) recorded earlier in
the series.
Totmianina and Marinin won Cup of Russia and Skate Canada and were second in Trophee Lalique among their Grand Prix events this season.
The World Silver Medalists will begin preparing for the meat of their amateur competition with the Russian Nationals scheduled within three weeks (January 8-11) followed by the European Championships in February and World Championships in March.
Nov. 15, 2003
Totmianina & Marinin win Silver
at Trophee Lalique
Tatiana Totmianina & Marinin won the Silver Medal Saturday night in Paris
at Trophee Lalique.
The World Silver Medalists ran into trouble at the beginning of their "Cotton Club" program when they both fell on the side by side triple Salchows. They slipped to second place after leading after the short program.
"I think this was the worst we've ever skated", Marinin commented. He had been sick prior to this event. "I had fever and I couldn't skate at all for three days. So we had only three days left for our preparation, and it wasn't enough."
Trophee Lalique was a scoring event for Totmianina & Marinin.
Totmianina & Marinin
win Gold at Skate Canada
Oct. 31, 2003
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin skated a superb free skate to their signature program, "The Cotton Club", to win Skate Canada at Mississauga, Ontario.
Totmianina and Marinin trailed Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China by about a point and a half after the short program but won the free skate by three and a half points. The combined total (194.02-191.80) gave Totmianina and Marinin the victory.
The celebration will be two-fold for Totmianina who celebrates her 22nd birthday on November 2.
Totmianina and Marinin hit their opening side by side triple Salchow, followed by a triple twist and a throw triple loop. Their performance also featured a throw triple Salchow and two one-armed lifts as well as a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination.
"The first competition for us was hard, but we skated well for that. It wasn’t perfect yet", Marinin said. "We are working on a new free program, but it’s still secret and we’ll skate it at Russian Nationals for the first time."
Totmianina and Marinin are the defending Grand Prix Final champions. They won all four Grand Prix events last season. This is a non-scoring event for Totmianina and Marinin.
The new judging system created by the ISU and used during Grand Prix events is proving to be an exciting alternative this season.
Short Program
World Silver medalists Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin are in second place after the short programsat Skate Canada in Mississauga, Ontario.
Totmianina and Marinin, also the defending Grand Prix champions, are in one of the closest competitions so far under the new judging system. They are only 1 1/2 points behind China’s Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (68.76 to 67.24).
"We’re happy with our performance tonight," Marinin said. "We don’t feel like we skated our one hundred percent. We feel good and will be ready for tomorrow." The pairs free skate will decide the championship Friday night.
