Alexander Zhulin

Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (Russian: Александр Вячеславович Жулин​ , born July 20, 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist (1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 European champion. They also won gold medals at Skate America, NHK Trophy, Nations Cup, and Winter Universiade. They represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia.

Alexander Zhulin
Zhulin in 2010
Personal information
Full nameAlexander Viacheslavovich Zhulin
Alternative namesAleksandr Zhulin
Sasha Zhulin
Country representedRussia
Former country(ies) representedUnified Team
Soviet Union
Born (1963-07-20) July 20, 1963
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
ResidenceMoscow
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Former partnerMaya Usova
Oksana Grishuk
Former coachNatalia Dubova
Former choreographerGiuseppe Arena[1]
Skating clubProfsoyuz Moskva / Spartak Moskva
Retired1994
Medal record
Figure skating: Ice dancing
Representing  Russia
Winter Olympics
1994 LillehammerIce dancing
World Championships
1993 PragueIce dancing
European Championships
1994 CopenhagenIce dancing
1993 HelsinkiIce dancing
Representing  Unified Team and  CIS
Winter Olympics
1992 AlbertvilleIce dancing
World Championships
1992 OaklandIce dancing
European Championships
1992 LausanneIce dancing
Representing  Soviet Union
World Championships
1991 MunichIce dancing
1990 HalifaxIce dancing
1989 ParisIce dancing
European Championships
1991 SofiaIce dancing
1990 LeningradIce dancing
1989 BirminghamIce dancing

Competitive career

Coach Natalia Dubova paired him with Maya Usova in 1980. In 1988, they made their first appearance at the European Championships, placing fourth. The next season, they won silver at the 1989 European Championships in Birmingham, England and silver in their World Championships debut, in Paris. The next two seasons, they took bronze at Worlds.

At the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships they were very close to winning. They led after both the compulsory dances and original dance (although finishing 2nd in the original dance portion), and in the free dance received 4 1st place ordinals from the 9 judges. Nonetheless a strange ordinal situation led to them finishing only 3rd in the free dance and dropping to 3rd overall behind the Duchensays and Klimova and Ponomarenko.

In the 1991–92 season, Usova/Zhulin won silver at the 1992 European Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland and then captured their first Olympic medal, bronze, at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Usova/Zhulin ended their season with silver at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California. They moved with Dubova from Moscow to Lake Placid, New York in September 1992.[1][2]

In the 1992–93 season, Usova/Zhulin won the 1993 European Championships in Helsinki and the 1993 World Championships in Prague.

The next season, they were third at the 1994 European Championships in Copenhagen, behind Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean and Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov. They had been sitting in 1st place and seemingly ensured the title as Grishuk & Platov were mathematically out of gold medal contention, after Torvill & Dean were placed behind them in the free dance 5 judges to 4. However Grishuk & Platov won the free dance and changed the ordinals between Usova & Zhulin, and Torvill & Dean, dropping Usova & Zhulin to a 3rd-place finish. This loss seemed to indicate a loss of their #1 Russian status and instilled fear in their chances for the Olympic Gold medal. Their new free program to a collection of Nina Rota tunes also received negative reviews from fans and judges alike as it was a sharp departure from their previous work, and many critics felt it did not suit their sensual and elegant style.

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, they won the silver medal behind Grishuk/Platov. They tied for 1st place with Grishuk & Platov in the compulsory dances, and went into the free dance tied for overall 1st with Torvill & Dean who won the original dance, setting up an intense 3-way battle for gold. Unlike the Europeans all 3 teams in position to win gold simply by winning the free dance. In the free dance they received 3 1st place ordinals and 6 2nd place ordinals, but lost the gold to Grishuk & Platov who received 5 1st place ordinals, 1 2nd place ordinal, and 3 3rd place ordinals, losing the free dance and gold based on the majority rule, despite having no judges place them 3rd and a lower total of ordinals than Grishuk & Platov. Had 1 of 3 judges changed their mark by .1 Usova & Zhulin would have won the gold. Upset about the controversial Olympic loss, Usova & Zhulin withdrew from the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, which they had intended to be their final amateur event.

Usova/Zhulin skated together professionally from 1994 to 1997. They toured with Champions on Ice and won the World Professional Championships. Zhulin then skated with former rival, Oksana Grishuk, for one year. His former partner, Maya Usova, would compete for many years as a professional with former rival, Evgeni Platov.

Further career
Zhulin with Navka/Kostomarov in 2004

After retiring, Zhulin became a skating coach and choreographer. He coached in New Jersey[3] before moving back to Russia in 2006.[4] He is based in Moscow and often coaches in collaboration with Oleg Volkov.[5] Zhulin has also been involved in Russian ice shows, such as Ice Age.[6]

Among others, Zhulin has coached:

His current students include:

Personal life

Zhulin married Maya Usova in 1986[2] but the two eventually divorced.[30] He was romantically involved with competitive rival Oksana Grishuk.[31][32] In 2000, he married Tatiana Navka, with whom he has a daughter, Sasha, born in May 2000.[7]

Zhulin became an American citizen in 2006.[33] In April 2010, he and Navka filed for divorce.[5][34] He married Natalia Mikhailova in August 2018.[35] Their daughter, Ekaterina, was born on 10 January 2013 in Moscow.[36][37]

Programs

With Usova
Usova/Zhulin in 1994
Usova/Zhulin in 1989
Season Original dance Free dance[38] Exhibition[39]
1993–94
  • A Day In The Life Of A Fool
  • Ausencias
    by Ástor Piazzolla
1992–93
  • Blues For Klook
    by Eddy Louis
  • Ausencias
  • Autumn Leaves
1991–92
  • A Paris
1990–91
  • Autumn Leaves
1989–90
  • Adios Nonino
  • Oblivion
  • Duo de Amor
    by Ástor Piazzolla
1988–89
  • A Paris
1987–88
  • Indian Temple dance
Post-1994[39]
  • La Belle Dame Sans Regret
    by Sting
  • L'Oiseau
    (from Cirque du Soleil)
  • The Hunchback
  • Duo de Amor
  • Milonga Loca
  • Oblivion
    by Ástor Piazzolla
  • Blues For Klook

With Grishuk
Season Programs
1998–99
  • Enigma

Amateur career

With Usova

International
Event 82–83 83–84 84–85 85–86 86–87 87–88 88–89 89–90 90–91 91–92 92–93 93–94
Olympics3rd2nd
Worlds2nd3rd3rd2nd1st
Europeans4th2nd2nd3rd2nd1st3rd
Skate America1st1st
Nations Cup1st
NHK Trophy2nd1st1st1st
Moscow News6th4th3rd2nd
Goodwill Games2nd
Nebelhorn1st
St. Gervais1st
St. Ivel / Electric1st1st
Universiade1st2nd
National
Soviet Champ.2nd5th3rd3rd3rd3rd2nd1st
Spartakiada1st
USSR Cup3rd
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References
  1. Reiter, Susan (1 March 1995). "Ice dancing: a dance form frozen in place by hostile rules". Dance Magazine. The Free Library. (FindArticles)
  2. Hersh, Phil (22 February 1994). "Love Triangle (plus 1) Tops Torvill And Dean". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  3. Mittan, Barry (15 December 2001). "Lang and Tchernyshev Look Forward to Olympic Year". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008.
  4. "Interview with Alexander Zhulin. May 2007 in Moscow". figureskating-online. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  5. Vaytsekhovskaya, Elena (20 August 2012). Александр ЖУЛИН: "ТРЕНЕРСКУЮ ЧЕСТНОСТЬ СПОРТСМЕНЫ ЧУЮТ НЮХОМ" [Alexander Zhulin: Athletes sense the coach's honesty] (in Russian). Sport Express.
  6. Ermolina, Olga (4 May 2012). Соперники оторвались от нас в космос. Moskovskiye Novosti (in Russian). Archived from the original on 5 May 2012.
  7. "Tatiana NAVKA / Roman KOSTOMAROV: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 July 2006.
  8. Péchalat / Bourzat
  9. Peret, Paul (4 July 2011). "Nathalie Péchalat, Fabian Bourzat and Florent Amodio Leave Russia". IFS Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  10. Фигуристы Ильиных/Кацалапов ушли к Морозову под нажимом ФФККР - Жулин [Zhulin: Skaters Ilinykh / Katsalapov switched to Morozov under pressure from the FFKKR] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  11. "Julia ZLOBINA / Alexei SITNIKOV: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012.
  12. "Alexandra NAZAROVA / Maxim NIKITIN". International Skating Union.
  13. Samokhvalov, Anatoliy (29 June 2016). "Украинская пара фигуристов Назарова/Никитин перешла от тренера Жулина к Шпильбанду" [Ukrainian figure skating duo Nazarova/Nikitin changes coaches from Zhulin to Shpilband]. rsport.ru (in Russian).
  14. Фигуристы Монько/Халявин перешли тренироваться в группу Жулина-Волкова [Figure skaters Monko/Khalivin switched to Zhulin and Volkov's group]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 18 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  15. Monko / Khaliavin Archived 2011-11-28 at WebCite
  16. Zahorski / Guerreiro
  19. "Valeria ZENKOVA / Valerie SINITSIN: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012.
  20. Zenkova / Sinitsin Archived January 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  21. Bobrova / Soloviev
  22. Vladimirova, Alexandra (25 April 2012). Фигуристы Боброва и Соловьев хотят поменять стиль катания - Жулин [Figure skaters Bobrova and Soloviev want to change their style of skating, says Zhulin]. rsport.ru / RIA Novosti (in Russian).
  23. Vladimirova, Alexandra (25 April 2012). Фигурист Дмитрий Соловьев: у Жулина начали учиться кататься с нуля [Figure skater Soloviev: We're learning to skate from scratch under Zhulin]. rsport.ru (in Russian).
  24. Hurtado / Khaliavin
  26. Sinitsina / Katsalapov
  28. Kavaliova / Bieliaiev
  29. Stavitskaia / Bagin
  30. "Aleksandr Zhulin". Sports-reference. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05.
  31. Brennan, Christine (1998). Edge of Glory. Scribner. pp. 220–221. ISBN 0-684-84128-2.
  32. Smith, Beverley (1994). Figure Skating: A Celebration. McClellan & Stewart. pp. 204. ISBN 0-7710-2819-9.
  33. "Александр Жулин. История моей любви". 7days.ru (in Russian). April 2010.
  34. Sukhova, Elena (16 April 2010). Татьяна Навка: "Жулин поступил не по-мужски" [Tatiana Navka interview]. 7dn.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  35. "Александр Жулин женился в третий раз" [Alexander Zhulin has gotten married a third time]. Hello! (Russia) (in Russian). 13 August 2018.
  36. Kriuchkova, Galina (18 February 2013). Александр Жулин стал отцом во второй раз [Alexander Zhulin a father for the second time]. starhit.ru (in Russian).
  37. У Александра Жулина родилась дочь [A daughter born to Alexander Zhulin] (in Russian). dni.ru. 18 February 2013.
  38. "Skate Music List". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02.
  39. "World Professional Figure Skating Championships – Landover, MD". Golden Skate.

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