The directors and screenwriters of the new season of the ice show on Channel One decided for a while to abandon the participation of theater and film actors, singers and comedians. They called only world-famous figure skaters. Never before have they suddenly competed with a friend: ice dancers, couples, male and female singles.
Russian team
In the show “Ice Age. Professional Cup”the Russian national team includes ten athletes who have long been recognized and loved by the viewers of the First Channel.
Alexey Yagudin was born on March 18, 1980 in Leningrad. In the fall of 1984, his mother brought him to the rink for the first time. Alexey felt the taste of victory at the age of 16, when he won the world junior championship. Having barely finished school, Yagudin takes part in his first Olympic Games, where he closes the top five best figure skaters on the planet. The peak of Alexei Yagudin's sports career is the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City (2002). By the end of his amateur career, the athlete became a 3-time European champion, a 4-time world champion and an Olympic champion.
Irina Slutskaya first skated at the age of four. In 1996, the 17-year-old figure skater became the absolute winner of the European Championship. A year later, her free program was named the best at the World Championships. When Irina was 19 years old, she finished fifth at the Nagano Olympics. Constantly winning world-class competitions, Slutskaya dreamed of an Olympic podium. The dream came true in 2002 when the athlete won the silver medal in Salt Lake City. In addition, Irina Slutskaya is a 7-time European champion, a 2-time world champion. After completing her sports career, she took place as an actress and TV presenter.
Maria Petrova and Alexey Tikhonov wanted to skate together since 1996, but they managed to realize their dream only two years later. And even though they have never climbed the Olympic podium, the audience knows and loves them as participants in several seasons of ice shows at the First, as well as 2-time European champions and world champions in pair skating.
Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov are a brilliant couple who have become the best three times at the European Championships, twice at the World Championships. At the 2006 Turin Olympics, these ice dancers won the gold medal.
Tatiana Tarasova, Elena Chaikovskaya, Viktor Petrenko, Igor Shpilband, Oleg Vasiliev are invited to the jury of the new season of the ice show
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin have been performing in pairs since May 2002. They became 2-time European champions in ice dancing, world champions, climbed to the third step of the podium at the Olympic Games in Vancouver (2010). In the same 2010, this dance couple ended their sports career.
Interesting and effective compositions are staged for the participants by Ilya Averbukh and Alexander Zhulin
Tatyana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin are known all over the world as Olympic champions in pair skating, 2-time world champions, 5-time European champions. In the fall of 2004, while performing at the stage of the Skate America Grand Prix series, Tatiana received a serious head injury, but after many months of recovery she again took to the ice with her partner. The couple managed to prove that they are the best at the 2006 Turin Olympics, after which they ended their amateur career.
World team
10 figure skaters agreed to participate in the project and skate for the world team. Moreover, two couples are well known to the viewers of Channel One from previous seasons of the ice show.
Albena Denkova and Maksim Stavisky have repeatedly won prizes at European championships, twice won gold at world championships. This dance couple played for the Bulgarian team.
Margarita Drobyazko and Povilas Vanagas are a Lithuanian dance couple who, in the early 2000s, repeatedly climbed the podium at competitions of various levels, including the European and World Championships.
The world team also includes the Swiss Stephane Lambiel - 2-time world champion, Olympic silver medal winner, his compatriot European champion Sarah Mayer, as well as two couples. A couple from Great Britain, Fiona Zaldua and Dmitry Sukhanov, are prize-winners of professional figure skating championships. Elena Leonova and Andrey Khvalko, who twice became world champions, represent the USA in the show.
