Olympic figure skating champions Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar are one of the most unique pairs in their sport. Ideally created for each other, they spent most of their career speaking with other partners and not achieving much success with them. At some point, both were already thinking about their retirement from the sport, but everything came together perfectly and one of the best pairs in the world of figure skating was formed.
Maxim's story
Maxim Trankov was lucky to be born in a very athletic family. Both of his parents were professional athletes and longed for their son to follow their path. In 1987, a four-year-old boy was sent to the figure skating section. Maxim was engaged without much zeal, did not stand out among peers and wanted to abandon hateful training. At eight, he left the section and rested from the ice rink for a year.
However, the former coach Trankova advised the boy’s parents to give him to the pair skating group, and he began to master the wisdom of a new discipline. For two years he rode alone, until at the age of 11 he paired up with Alesya Korchagina, with whom he performed the first adult discharge.
By 2003, Maxim Trankov managed to change five partners, move to St. Petersburg, where he trained in the group of Velikov trainers. Here he more or less settled down, went to a serious level, becoming a couple with Maria Mukhortova. Oleg Velikov, coach of the 2006 Olympic champions, was preparing the guys.
However, a promising young couple after vivid performances at the junior level experienced certain problems after moving to adult figure skating, not achieving serious achievements. Particular acuity was added to the complex personal relationship between Maxim and Maria.
Tatyana
Tatyana Volosozhar’s path in figure skating was also thorny. She was born in Dnepropetrovsk in 1986. She began to practice figure skating at the age of four, however, the physical form of the girl did not suit the trainers, she was not even accepted into the sports group, and for some time she was engaged on a paid basis.
Nevertheless, soon with her results, Tanya proved her worth. From the age of 14 she trained in the pair skating group, found her first partner - Petr Kharchenko, with whom she performed at the junior level.
Having switched to adult figure skating, Tatyana changed her partner, who became Stanislav Morozov. The newly formed couple soon took on the first roles in Ukrainian pair skating, invariably winning national championships.
However, at the international level, the successes of Volosozhar and Morozov were much more modest, the best results for them were getting into the top ten at world championships and Olympics.
The crisis
Entering the world elite of figure skating with their partners, Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar often crossed each other at major international tournaments. Back in 2006, a Russian athlete discerned in that beautiful Ukrainian the very only companion with whom he would achieve harmony.
The same opinion was shared by many experts, noting that the guys are ideally suited to each other in terms of growth, choreography, sports data, act in the same rhythm.
Trankov tried through his federation to initiate negotiations on the start of cooperation with a Ukrainian girl, however, personal relations between Tatyana and Stanislav, who had been in actual marriage for several years, played their role then. Experts felt that Volosozhar did not dare to move to Russia, so as not to jeopardize his personal life, and did not even try to ask her opinions.
Meanwhile, Trankov’s affairs in his tandem went worse and worse, relations with Maria Mukhortova spoiled, there was no mutual understanding with the coach.
Reunion
The 2010 Olympics, which was attended by Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar, was the peak of the crisis for their sports career. Coach Oleg Velikov directly told Trankov that he was pulling Mukhortov down and did not correspond to his coaching ambitions. Such an instruction was not particularly encouraging for the proud athlete, and he began to think seriously about the end of his career.
Things were not much better for Tatyana Volosozhar. Stanislav Morozov, having crossed the threshold of thirty years, was going to end his active career and engage in coaching. At 24, the girl was left without a partner, with whom she spent most of her sports life, and also began to think about the future, where there was no place for figure skating.
However, everything was decided perfectly for Tatyana and Maxim. Stanislav Morozov himself proposed the cooperation of Trankov and Volosozhar and volunteered to help them in their studies. A newly formed couple with him began to train Nina Moser, and soon came help from overseas. Returning from the United States, Nikolai Morozov became responsible for staging the programs of the new duo.
Formation period
Having agreed to work together, the skaters began to think about under what flag they would appear in international tournaments. The decision was made in favor of Russia, and Tatyana began to undergo the procedure for changing citizenship. Stanislav Morozov and his former partner moved to St. Petersburg, after which collaboration began on a new project.
Skaters reunited in sports terms, but the personal life of Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar developed then in parallel directions. The Ukrainian beauty maintained relations with Morozov, and Maxim continued to meet with his regular girlfriend.
There was enough work in training, the athletes had to learn new elements, adapt to each other. Nevertheless, by October 2010 they were ready to present to the public a new duet of Russian pair skating.
Breakthrough
Maxim and Tatyana presented their first joint program in October 2010, having won the third stage of the Russian Cup. Unexpectedly for many, they immediately took a leading position in Russian pair skating, unconditionally dominating at the national level.
For several years there was a real battle between the Russian couple and the German duet Savchenko / Sholkov at the international level. At first, the more experienced skaters from Germany were stronger, but every year the Russians added in technique and brought to shine their choreography and artistry. As a result, by 2013, the advantage of the guys who won the World Cup for the first time in their careers became obvious.
2014 Olympics
Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov were considered the main favorites at the Games in Sochi. They started by helping the Russian team win gold in the team event, far surpassing their competitors in the short program.
However, the main thing for the tournament favorites was still a performance in their own individual standings. The status of the unconditional leaders of the season and the factor of native stands psychologically pressed the guys, but they skated their programs almost flawlessly, managing to become two-time Olympic champions in one week.
Wedding
After a triumphant victory in Sochi, which became the peak of a sports career for Russian skaters, Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar decided to take a short break. A pause was required in order to carry out several operations to Maxim, whose body was exhausted by the most difficult long-term loads. After this, a period of rehabilitation began, during which the guys had enough time to finally decide on their relationship.
The logical result of a long partnership on ice was the announcement of the upcoming marriage of members of the best sports figure skating duo. The wedding of Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar, held in the winter of 2015, became one of the most important social events of the season. Bridesmaids were Nastya Zadorozhnaya and Olympic champion Sochi Adelina Sotnikova.
