Alexander Gazsi
Alexander Gazsi (born 6 October 1984) is a German ice dancer. With partner Nelli Zhiganshina, he is a six-time German national champion (2007, 2011–2015) and has won twelve international medals. They have placed as high as 6th at the European Championships and 10th at the World Championships.[1]
Alexander Gazsi | |
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Zhiganshina/Gazsi during the free dance at the 2007 German Championships | |
Personal information | |
Country represented | Germany |
Born | Chemnitz, East Germany | 6 October 1984
Residence | Oberstdorf, Germany |
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) |
Partner | Nelli Zhiganshina |
Former partner | Sandra Gissmann, Mandy Kästner, Julia Novikov |
Coach | Rostislav Sinicyn, Martin Skotnicky |
Former coach | Alexander Zhulin, Oleg Volkov, Elena Kustarova, Svetlana Alexeeva |
Choreographer | Stéphane Lambiel |
Former choreographer | Ilia Averbukh, Maxim Staviski, Rostislav Sinicyn, Elena Kustarova, Natalia Ulianova |
Skating club | SC Berlin |
Training locations | Oberstdorf |
Former training locations | Moscow |
Began skating | 1988 |
Retired | 2015 |
ISU personal best scores | |
Combined total | 154.27 2013 Worlds |
Short dance | 62.27 2014 World |
Free dance | 93.68 2013 Worlds |
Personal life
Alexander Gazsi was born on 6 October 1984 in Chemnitz, East Germany.[2] His mother is a German from Kazakhstan[3] and his father is Hungarian.[4] He is in the sports division of the German army.[5][6]
Career
Early years
Gazsi began skating in 1988 at the age of four. The kids in his kindergarten class in East Germany were tested in various sports and he was chosen for the first one tested, figure skating.[5] He switched from singles to ice dancing at age seven.[5]
Early in his career, Gazsi skated with Mandy Kästner and Julia Novikov. By 2003, he was competing with Sandra Gissmann. They appeared four times on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and placed 17th at the 2004 World Junior Championships.
Partnership with Nelli Zhiganshina
2005–2010
In June 2005, Gazsi had a successful tryout with Nelli Zhiganshina in Moscow.[4] At the start of their partnership, they trained mainly in Moscow with coaches Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alexeeva and, during summers, in Berlin and Chemnitz due to Gazsi's army service.[5] They later changed coaches to Alexander Zhulin and Oleg Volkov, also in Moscow.
Zhiganshina/Gazsi won bronze at their first German Championships in 2006, their only competition of the season. The next season they won their first national title, placed 16th at the 2007 Europeans and 18th at Worlds.
During the 2007–08 season, they made their debut on the Grand Prix circuit, placing 7th at Skate Canada and 8th at Cup of Russia. They won silver at German Nationals and again finished 18th at Worlds.
During the 2008–09 season, Zhiganshina/Gazsi did not compete on the Grand Prix circuit. Zhiganshina continued to visit Germany on a three-month tourist visa because the low income from the sport meant she did not qualify for residency and Germany did not have as high caliber ice dancers as Moscow to train alongside.[3] Although favored to win 2009 German Nationals,[3] they placed second and missed the European and World teams. They considered leaving competition to focus on show skating and worked with circus acrobats in Moscow but decided to continue their competitive career and moved to Oberstdorf, Germany in spring 2009 to work with coaches Rostislav Sinicyn and Martin Skotnicky.[6] During the 2009–10 season, they placed third at German Nationals and were not sent to the European or World Championships. They were not eligible for the 2010 Winter Olympics due to Zhiganshina not having German citizenship.
2010–present
During the 2010–11 season, Zhiganshina/Gazsi again received no Grand Prix invitations but won three medals at senior B events. They won their second national title and were selected to compete at the European Championships for the first time in three years. At Europeans, they were 8th in the short dance,[7] then edged past Nóra Hoffmann / Maxim Zavozin by 0.39 points into 7th place overall after the free dance. This was the first top-ten result for German ice dancers since 2003 (Kati Winkler / Rene Lohse).[8] The result gave Germany two berths to the 2012 European ice dancing event.[9] Zhiganshina/Gazsi finished 11th at the 2011 World Championships, earning invitations to two Grand Prix events the following season.
In preparation for the 2011–12 season, Zhiganshina/Gazsi went to Sofia, Bulgaria, to work with choreographer Maxim Staviski, with whom they also worked in previous years.[10] They began their season at the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy where they won the silver medal.[11][12] After placing fourth at both of their Grand Prix events, the 2011 Skate America and 2011 NHK Trophy, the duo finished eighth at the 2012 European Championships and eleventh at the 2012 World Championships.
In 2012–13, Zhiganshina/Gazsi placed a career-best sixth at the 2013 European Championships and tenth at the 2013 World Championships. As a result of their Worlds placement, Germany qualified two spots in ice dancing at the 2014 Olympics.
In 2013–14, Zhiganshina/Gazsi won their fifth national title and were selected to represent Germany at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Germany assigned them to the team event short dance, where they placed sixth; Germany, however, did not qualify for the free dance. Zhiganshina/Gazsi finished 11th in the separate ice dancing event.[13]
Programs
With Zhiganshina
Season | Short dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
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2014–2015 [14][2] |
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Fredrik Rydman's Swan Lake Reloaded[15]
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2013–2014 [16][17] |
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|
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2012–2013 [18][19] |
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"Two from the Grave":
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2011–2012 [20] |
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2010–2011 [21] |
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Original dance | |||
2009–2010 | |||
2007–2008 [22] |
Ukrainian dance:
|
|
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2006–2007 [23] |
|
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With Gissmann
Season | Original dance | Free dance |
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2004–2005 [24] |
|
Queen:
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2003–2004 [25] |
|
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Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series (began in the 2014–15 season); JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Zhiganshina
International[1] | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 |
Olympics | 11th | |||||||||
Worlds | 18th | 18th | 11th | 11th | 10th | 11th | WD | |||
Europeans | 16th | 7th | 8th | 6th | 7th | 7th | ||||
GP Bompard | 4th | |||||||||
GP Cup of Russia | 8th | 5th | ||||||||
GP NHK Trophy | 4th | 4th | ||||||||
GP Skate America | 4th | 5th | ||||||||
GP Skate Canada | 7th | 6th | 5th | |||||||
CS Finlandia | 2nd | |||||||||
CS Nebelhorn | 4th | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | ||||||
Golden Spin | 5th | 1st | ||||||||
NRW Trophy | 2nd | |||||||||
Nepela Trophy | 1st | 6th | 3rd | 1st | 5th | |||||
Pavel Roman | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | ||||||
Volvo Open | 2nd | |||||||||
National[1] | ||||||||||
German Champ. | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
Team events | ||||||||||
Olympics | 8th | |||||||||
TBD = Assigned |
With Gissmann
International[24] | ||
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Event | 2003–04 | 2004–05 |
Junior Worlds | 17th | |
JGP China | 6th | |
JGP Japan | 6th | |
JGP Romania | 7th | |
JGP Slovakia | 5th | |
National[24] | ||
German Champ. | 2nd J. | |
J. = Junior level |
References
- "Competition Results: Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI". International Skating Union.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
- Mai, Marina (15 December 2008). ""Wir passen zueinander wie zwei Puzzleteile"" [We fit together like two pieces of a puzzle] (in German). Die Tageszeitung. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012.
- "Eine eiskalte Karriere" [An ice-cold career]. Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung (in German). 11 November 2007.
- Mittan, Barry (17 December 2007). "German Dancers Make Good Start". SkateToday.
- Flade, Tatjana (14 August 2011). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi turn disappointment into strength". GoldenSkate.
- Flade, Tatjana (26 January 2011). "Pechalat and Bourzat grab lead in the Short Dance". GoldenSkate.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- Flade, Tatjana (29 January 2011). "Pechalat and Bourzat dance to first European title". GoldenSkate.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- "Hecken von Rang neun enttäuscht". SID Newsticker (in German). 28 January 2011. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012.
- Gerontiev, Yavor (13 June 2011). "Двойка от Германия иска на олимпиада с Максим" [Pair from Germany consults Maxim] (in Bulgarian). 24 Chasa. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012.
- Flade, Tatjana (22 September 2011). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi dance to lead at Nebelhorn". GoldenSkate. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- Flade, Tatjana (24 September 2011). "Hubbell and Donohue capture gold at Nebelhorn Trophy". GoldenSkate. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- "Alexander GAZSI". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014.
- Flade, Tatjana (16 August 2014). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi dance into new directions". Golden Skate.
- Music composed by Salem Al Fakir, Moneybrother, Lune, Adiam Dymott, PH3 and Skizz, Mario Perez Amigo, and Simsoak."Fredrik Rydman´s Swan Lake Reloaded". Bandcamp. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014.
- Flade, Tatjana (25 July 2013). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi looking to entertain again". Golden Skate.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013.
- Flade, Tatjana (8 July 2012). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi prepare to up the ante". Golden Skate.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008.
- "Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007.
- "Sandra GISSMANN / Alexander GAZSI: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 October 2005.
- "Sandra GISSMANN / Alexander GAZSI: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2004.
External links
- Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi at the International Skating Union
- Sandra Gissmann / Alexander Gazsi at the International Skating Union
- Alexander Gazsi at the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (in German)
- Alexander Gazsi at the International Olympic Committee
- Alexander Gazsi at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)