Alexander Zhulin - biography, personal life, photo, figure skating. Alexander Zhulin: wife, personal life Coach Zhulin figure skating

I grew up in an atmosphere of love and harmony. My parents adore me and each other. In a couple of years, mom and dad will celebrate their golden wedding. God bless them. And now the father can throw out the phrase: “Oh, what legs our mother has!” Just a girl!” And I see that this is not feigned, but said with sincere admiration. Of course, my mother has shortcomings, such as absent-mindedness, but my father always says: “When you love, the little things go away, but the main thing remains.” It is important that both at fifty and at sixty the eye burns.

Observing the relationship between my parents, I became convinced: love is the most important thing in the relationship between a man and a woman, and everything else will follow.

I can't wait for my golden wedding. The union with Tanya Navka provided the only chance to celebrate the half-century anniversary of family life - at ninety years old. It’s not a fact that I would have made it, but now there’s no point in hoping. Our marriage seems to have broken down. Everything collapsed overnight: bam - and it was as if nothing had happened.

I found myself in a rented apartment. On Ilyich Square. She wasn’t terrible - just alien, small, her walls seemed to be trying to crush me...

You can’t erase fourteen years from your life... I constantly thought about Tanya, tried to understand when we became strangers.

How did it happen that my loving, patient, young wife and student turned into an adult, independent, strong woman who doesn't need me...

I knew that in our group of skaters, coached by Natalya Ilyinichna Dubova, there was a modest good girl- Tanya Navka. She was paired with Samvel Gezalyan. Such guys skate, well, okay. I have my own life, which my wife and partner Maya Usova and I have completely concentrated on sports victories.

In 1993, the World Championships were held in Prague, where Maya and I took first place. Towards the end there was a disco for all participants. I arrived and saw a girl wearing a funny cap on the dance floor. She lit it up so hard that I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Who is she?! What kind of beauty?

I took a closer look - it’s Tanya! Wow, I think, what a shy girl is doing! Perhaps it was my imagination, but then I thought that she was dancing especially for me. So sexy, defiantly frank, incredibly beautiful. Then he threw away these thoughts: “It seemed. She’s the one who’s trying for Lesha.” Urmanov was after Tanya then.

From Prague I went on a four-month tour of the American Tom Collins, the organizer of performances of world champions and the Olympic Games. I saw Tanya again in the summer at a training camp in the French town of Pralognan. Our group began preparing for the Olympics. I looked at Tanya and couldn’t believe my eyes. She blossomed and became incredibly beautiful. So I would look and look, all thoughts are about her. “I got it! - Think. “Only this was not enough!” After all, the Olympic Games are ahead, there can be no talk of any romances if you are aiming for victory.

Training began, during which there was no time to indulge in love dreams.

But there was also a dining room where the skaters gathered. And Tanya’s place must be exactly opposite mine. By chance, not by chance - I don’t know, but it just happened.

I’m somehow sitting, eating and trying to feel with my feet the slippers that I kicked off under the table. No slippers! God knows what! Where could they have gone?! I looked at Tanya, and she was watching my futile efforts and smiling. I smiled back.

So, with these slippers, a silent flirtation began between us. Now every lunch and dinner we smiled at each other and exchanged glances. And I was looking for slippers again, as if accidentally touching her feet under the table...

From the outside, it probably looked funny, maybe even stupid. But every day I waited for this moment to see Tanya and look into her eyes again. He came up with any excuses to stay close.

When we all sat down as a group to watch a movie, I tried to take a seat next to Tanya and froze with happiness, feeling her warmth.

Maya probably noticed the glances that Tanya and I exchanged. But to be honest, I had no time for that anymore...

Maya was my first woman. And everything happened when I turned nineteen. Now Zhulin is called a sex symbol. And in my youth, relationships with the opposite sex were difficult for me.

I grew up very shy, I couldn’t bring myself to approach the girl I liked and start a conversation. At the age of seventeen, the coach put me in a pair, and my friends began to tease me: “Well, Sashka, now you can legally grab girls’ asses!” At first I didn’t even dare to utter a word in Maya’s presence, I immediately blushed deeply - I was very late in this sense. But skating in pairs brings us closer together. Gradually I gained the gift of speech and began to show signs of attention to my partner.

When it all started, I really loved Maya. We were close for seven years. I only blame myself for the breakdown of the relationship. Sports and the struggle for results complicate the family situation. Life on the nerves, at the limit of moral and physical capabilities when the pulse is over two hundred, it doesn’t lead to any good.

If you work like hell, there is no time for love. In addition, the youthful maximalism of both prevented us from hearing each other. I thought I was right, Maya did not give in. Now I am firmly convinced that in a “man-woman” pair, the winner is the one who knows how to play “giveaway”. In married life there is no place for sports records to prove which of the two is stronger. A married couple in which the struggle “who is more important” has begun is doomed. And vice versa, the reward awaits the one who manages to yield in time.

I didn’t need to make excuses to Maya for the light flirting that happened between me and Tanya, because nothing serious had happened yet. By that time, my wife and I were already communicating “with difficulty.”

The crisis that has befallen our family life, manifested itself, among other things, in the game of silence. But by the angry looks and sudden movements I understood Maya - she felt that something was happening to me.

Then we all flew to Lake Placid to train, and Tanya and Samvel went to the Skate America tournament. I watched her performance on TV and thought: “Dear Mom! What am I doing here? I need to see her soon!”

There were five months left before the Olympics, it was necessary to mobilize forces, and I, having fallen in love with Tanya, risked ruining my sports career and losing everything. But she hooked me so strongly that I could no longer stop. When Tanya and Gezalyan returned to Lake Placid, we were placed in the same house. In their free time, the skaters gathered in the spacious living room, played cards, and watched TV.

Tanya was constantly nearby, and sparks flew between us so much that it was not far from a real fire. It broke out at Samvel’s birthday.

Our entire group gathered to congratulate the birthday boy. We sat and drank, as usual. I became brave and, taking advantage of the fact that Tanya went out alone onto the balcony, I followed her and kissed her. Quite innocently - on the cheek. Just know: what if he gets offended? But Tanya didn’t even think of being offended. And then I started kissing her for real...

Who would doubt it - we were caught right away! The girl, who witnessed the scene on the balcony, immediately told everything to Maya and Samvel. A terrible scandal broke out. Usova and Gezalyan called Tanya and me “on the carpet”:

How could you afford this?!

Shame on you!

Tanya sat with her eyes downcast and was silent, then I, having made up my mind, blurted out:

I love her! And for a long time already!

Although, perhaps, he himself did not fully believe in it, because he did not really know Tanya yet, he had never even had a heart-to-heart talk with her.

When our coach Natalya Ilyinichna Dubova and her husband Semyon Viktorovich found out about this situation, I heard from him: “That’s it, you lost the Olympics, asshole.”

I don’t know how this wave covered me. Maybe he sat out in godforsaken Lake Placid? There was not enough warmth in the family - so love happened to me?

I understood everything with my mind, but I couldn’t think about anything except Tanya.

I don’t need any victories, give me my beloved, I want to live happily!

The training went awry, despite the fact that the four of us - Tanya and Samvel and I and Maya - decided to live separately. They settled in one house, we lived in another. But we still trained on the same ice. Tanya wrote me notes and put them in my shoes in the locker room: “Where will we meet?” I hid the answer in her sneakers or shoes.

I took every opportunity to sneak out of the house and see Tanya. I started working out intensely. He said: “I need to pump up my oblique abdominal muscles,” and went to the gym.

Tanya also came there.

Further more. I began to take Tanya by car into the forest. We stopped under the cover of a green canopy and kissed, kissed... Between kisses we talked about ourselves, since we knew nothing about each other. If I had publicly declared my love, I had to understand what kind of person Tanya was. Then we started renting hotel rooms, and hid the car in the distance so that our friends wouldn’t catch us.

And on the ice, instead of training, continuous staring games began. Natalya Ilyinichna, observing all this, decided to send Tanya and Samvel to train in Moscow at the Lokomotiv stadium. But this harsh measure changed little. Every Friday after training, I boarded a plane and flew from America to Moscow, and back on Sunday, missing the first training session on Monday.

Natalya Ilyinichna could only shrug: there is no law for fools. You can’t chain me to a battery!

Somehow Maya and I made it to the European Championships, where we took third place, but before that we were world champions! I received a blow that shook me up and forced me to really get involved in my work. I stopped flying to Moscow, Maya and I worked our butts off and got into good shape a month before the Olympics. After the compulsory program, we were in the lead, but in the end we took only second place, losing one vote to the pair Oksana Grischuk - Evgeniy Platov.

Even before Tanya appeared, I had a close relationship with Oksana. But it all ended quickly because Grischuk allowed herself to commit actions for which, in my opinion, there is no and cannot be justification.

She did not disdain any means to get what she was striving for. This is, of course, unacceptable. But she achieved her goal - she won the Olympic Games.

Tanya and I had already lived together for six or seven years when I made a mistake - I got involved with Oksana again. Navka was then training with Natalya Vladimirovna Linichuk, who paired her with Roman Kostomarov, while I was unemployed. Ex-wife Maya Usova said firmly: “I won’t ride with you anymore.” And she paired up with Zhenya Platov. He left Oksana Grischuk, with whom he endlessly quarreled.

I lost my entire business - I didn’t train, I didn’t go on tours, which bring figure skaters their main income.

Tanya worked hard in training, got tired, came home and literally fell. But I was kicking ass and, as a man accustomed to earning money and working, I felt extremely uncomfortable. He spent his time playing golf and tennis, in short, messing around. I tried to work as a coach, but Natalya Linichuk immediately stopped this attempt. But first she called me to the skating rink: “Come, help.”

I came, but the very next day I heard: “You know, Sasha, it took me too long to build my reputation as a coach, I don’t need you here.”

To some extent, I understood Linichuk. It is difficult for two coaches to get along on the same ice.

All I could do was languish from idleness.

And then a thought came to mind: why not pair up with Oksana Grischuk? I shared this idea with Tanya. She, as an intelligent woman with phenomenal intuition, was against it. They say correctly: don’t wake up the trouble while it’s quiet. But, alas, I did not listen to her opinion. And it was difficult for me at that time to refuse a promising job.

Despite Tanya’s protests, I called Oksana: “What if we get together?”

She agreed, and we began to prepare for the World Professional Championship.

At first, the relationship with Grischuk was purely partnership, but soon the old things came back to mind. I admit, I gave up. At some point, it seemed that Tanya didn’t really need me - she was at the skating rink from morning to evening, getting so exhausted that in the evening she fell into bed and instantly fell asleep.

She has no strength to talk or watch a movie. I felt lonely and went to Oksana.

“You are making the biggest mistake in your life,” Tanya said goodbye.

Five days apart was enough for me to understand that she was right. Finding myself under the same roof with Oksana, I felt that this was not my person at all.

And Tanya, she really loved me. While we were apart, I lost a lot of weight and literally fell off my face from worry. I realized that she needed me. It’s just that women, apparently, are much more responsible and cannot just neglect work in order to prove the sincerity of their feelings. Tormented by remorse, I called my wife:

I really need to see you.

Come.

Arrived, fell at his feet:

If you can, forgive me.

And Tanya forgave.

And I swore that the topic of Oksana Grischuk was closed once and for all.

Soon, Natalya Vladimirovna suddenly decided that Navka was not suitable for Roman Kostomarov as a partner, and instilled this idea in Roma, forcing her to pass her off as her own.

Tanya and I will no longer ride together,” Kostomarov repeated, like zombies.

What are you doing? - I tried to convince him. - You are an unusually beautiful couple. You will be champions!

No, I won’t ride with Navka.

Linichuk acted out a scene with her hands raised to the sky. “How could he do this to you, Tanya!” - she exclaimed and drank Valocordin.

It’s hard to say why Natalya Vladimirovna did this. Perhaps she firmly believed that Anya Semenovich was more promising and artistic. Maybe, seeing how Tanya and I have rallied lately, I was afraid that the student would not devote herself to work to the fullest, or else she would even decide to give birth.

As a result, we were both left without work and decided: since this is the case, why not really think about children. We moved to New York, bought a luxurious town house on the Hudson overlooking the Twin Towers on credit, and lived happily.

At that time I was quite a wealthy person: having invested money in stock market shares, which were growing by leaps and bounds, I received a stable, solid profit.

As if by magic, Tanya immediately became pregnant. We got a coaching job, teaching American children how to skate. Tanya was on skates almost until she gave birth. We might not have to work, but that’s probably how all athletes are built - they don’t know how to sit idle.

We lived these nine months very happily. There was no result-oriented figure skating, there was no hassle and overload. We loved each other and enjoyed every day.

I still remember life in America as a wonderful fairy-tale dream. In the States there are many opportunities to enjoy life with maximum comfort. Three hours into the flight - and you're in Miami on the ocean, you want to take a ride on alpine skiing- welcome to Lake Placid. New York has many museums, theaters and concert halls.

At first, Tanya tried to cook, but after trying her cooking, I, like an experienced trainer, began to retrain her, and then completely took over these responsibilities. It's a pleasure to cook in America - the freshest meat, seafood, herbs, vegetables. A little imagination - and the culinary masterpiece is ready. We had a hearty breakfast, worked all day, and in the evening we sat down at a beautifully set table, had dinner and talked. Measured family life. But there is no point in looking to the side, because in this America both women and men are scary as hell.

But four months later, pregnancy united us so much that I already dreamed of seeing my daughter born. In addition, the Russian doctor who examined Tanya advised: “Come, you won’t regret it.”

It was some kind of alien sensation. With my own hands I cut the umbilical cord connecting the tiny purple creature to its mother. I remember Tanya’s teeth were chattering heavily, apparently the anesthesia was wearing off... They sprayed water on Sashenka, she began to cry. And I solemnly handed it to my wife. This event is such an event that no Olympics can compare!

A couple of days later I brought my wife and daughter home, and the three of us began to live together. One morning we woke up, lay in bed and admired the Hudson stretching outside the huge bedroom windows - incredible beauty.

“How happy I am! - says Tanya. - If only Roma would have called and said: “I was such a fool!”

We followed the events in figure skating and therefore knew that Kostomarov and Anya had an unsuccessful season. And imagine, as soon as Tanya was dreaming about a call from her ex-partner - and a day later Roman called!

San, hello!

Hello! What do you want to say?

San, I'm such a fool! I sat down here, put on the tape, watched how Tanya and I skated and how we skated with Anya, it cannot be compared.

I want to ride with Tanya and have you be our coach. Sorry, it didn't turn out well then, but it wasn't my decision. I realized everything, as long as you say, I will work as long.

Now I’ll pass the phone to Tanya, tell her about it yourself.

Tanya listened.

I’m not ready to answer yet, Roma. After all, Sasha had just been born.

And I did not have an unambiguous attitude towards this proposal:

Think carefully, don't rush. We live so well. The stress and hassle will begin again. Do you need it?

I don’t know myself,” Tanya sighed.

Several more days passed. I watched my wife - she had a concentrated and slightly sad face. She became more and more silent; it was clear that Tanya was thinking intensely about something. And I realized that I simply had to tell her: “You know, a child is a child, but you won’t be able to forgive yourself for not returning to big-time sports. You’ll bite your elbows if you don’t end up on the next Olympic ice.”

Tanya looked into my eyes, and I realized that I had hit the mark. We decided to return.

“Come,” they told Roma.

Then they called the President of the Figure Skating Federation Valentin Nikolaevich Piseev.

Have you gone wild, or what?! - he growled into the phone.

There is a couple: Semenovich-Kostomarov. No! Don't want!

Then Tanya answered the phone:

Valentin Nikolaevich, I have never let you down and will not let you down. Everything will be fine.

Okay, work, we’ll see,” Piseev muttered and hung up.

It seems that he didn’t give the go-ahead, but he didn’t forbid it either.

And Tanya and Roma went out onto the ice. By that time I was training a very good American couple, Naomi Lang - Pyotr Chernyshev. Against their background, Tanya at first looked like a “bomb carrier” - after giving birth, she weighed more than sixty kilograms, and her usual weight was fifty-two!

So what do you say? - my wife came up to me at the first training session.

Don't know. It's going to be hard for you.

Who said it would be easy? - Tanya exclaimed. - Don’t rush, you’ll see in a couple of months. We'll tear everyone apart!

Roma also didn’t think of backing down, he’s a golden man in this sense: if he takes the tug, he’ll pull. And Tanya knew Kostomarov’s character: if she promised to lose weight, she would do it. It was incredibly hard for her: two workouts a day, sleepless nights with a small child, a strict diet, but she survived.

From this moment, seven difficult but happy years of my life are counted. coaching career. It is a great pleasure to coach people who know what they want.

Our trio worked accurately and selflessly. Tanya liked to first disassemble the program in theory and then test it. Roma, on the contrary, believed that you should skate right away, correcting mistakes as you go. Both have characters - God forbid, and sometimes I had to be a buffer. But even if the guys quarreled, after a minute they would hold hands and continue skating, even without saying a word. I tried to ensure that none of them became arrogant, feeling their superiority. He used both the carrot and the stick. It was psychologically more difficult for Roma to train in America: he found himself here completely alone, without a family. That's why I took his side more often. This brought Tanya to tears more than once.

What are you doing?! - she didn’t understand. - Is Roma more valuable to you than me?

“Be patient, it’s necessary,” I reassured. - If I spoil Roma, he will lose interest in work and in the end we will see cool Navka and no Kostomarov.

It was difficult for Tanya, but she accepted my position. Hand on heart, I will say that Tatyana was the core of our trinity. She always felt like it was not enough, she wanted something bigger and better. She moved us forward and forward.

As a result, the Navka-Kostomarov couple began to win European and World Championships. The highest achievement was the Olympic Games, which we won after a hard struggle. In Turin, no one wanted the Russians to get a third gold medal in figure skating. After the obligatory dance, we were only second. But then a “rockfall” began - all the couples fell.

And mine stood. And they survived!

Of course, it is difficult to train a wife. But there are also advantages to such a tandem. We could discuss the program at home, find correct solution. By nature I am explosive and stubborn. “Only this music will be on the program and no other,” he stubbornly refused to budge. Tanya had an amazing ability to calm me down. He pats me on the head, purrs like a cat, and I’ve already calmed down. Over time, I even learned to apologize if I felt I was wrong.

Just before the Olympics, there were more conflicts in the team; it felt like the goal was closer than ever, and nerves were strained to the limit. I lost the Olympics at one time and realized that it was not the end of the world, life goes on. Therefore, during the training process, I never tired of repeating to Tanya: “Even if you don’t win, nothing bad will happen.

You have me and Sasha, this is the most important thing in life.” Gave her compensation. But if at first she perceived these words adequately, then with the approach of the Olympics they began to seem to her absolute nonsense. Tanya only wanted victory. And she achieved it.

Our relationship has changed. There were more conflicts. Tanya was now Olympic champion, and her voice sounded more and more confident and firm. Sashenka grew up, and it turned out that my wife and I had different views on raising a child. Tanya believed that her daughter needed to be taught discipline, but I am still sure: the main thing that children need is love.

I began to give in in many ways in order to avoid quarrels, but Tanya did not seem to notice my steps forward.

It was the winning of the Olympics that became the starting point when Tanya internally decided that she was no longer a girl, not my student, but an adult thirty-year-old woman with her own understanding of life. I continued to train Tanya, but her opinion now sounded the same as mine. Now I understand everything, but then I missed the moment of Tanya’s transformation from my little angel into a strong woman, the moment that coincided with the appearance of the “Ice Age” in our lives.

Ilya Averbukh made Tanya an offer to participate in the project together with Marat Basharov. Good money, reliable contract. We began to think.

How do you imagine this? - I was perplexed. - Will you go to Russia for four months, and Sashenka and I will stay in America?

At one time, we decided that loving people should not be separated for more than two weeks.

“You’ll fly to Moscow,” Tanya suggested, but I didn’t really like this idea.

And then another call from Ilya, who this time made an offer to me - to ride with Ingeborga Dapkunaite.

I took this opportunity as a gift from heaven. Not only was Ingeborga my favorite actress, but we also had the opportunity to move to Russia with the whole family. The task became simpler; we had to decide which school to send Sasha to and where we should live.

Soon, the winners of the Turin Olympics were invited to the Kremlin for a government awards ceremony and a meeting with the president.

Tanya approached Putin and said that she had nowhere to live in Moscow. Navka and Kostomarov were immediately given very good apartments. So the housing issue was resolved. Tanya and Sashenka left for Moscow first, but I waited until mid-August to receive American citizenship and only after that I stepped onto the “star ice.”

At first, the project seemed like some kind of farce to me. Incompetent actors tried to portray something, paired with professionals who did their best to cover up their technical shortcomings. But then the actors got comfortable on the ice, and Tanya and Marat and I and Ingeborg became the clear leaders. A rivalry even began between Tanya and me: who is cooler. We were no longer on the same team, everyone spoke for themselves.

Domestic difficulties also did not simplify family life. No matter how cynical it sounds, an eighty-meter apartment in the center of Moscow cannot be compared with a four-hundred-meter house in New York with a garage, a swimming pool, billiards... Besides the three of us, my beloved and respected mother-in-law, Raisa Anatolyevna, was always present in the apartment. She helped Sasha and me. Tanya’s sister also came to visit.

After the expanses of America, I very soon wanted to lock myself in the bedroom to be alone, and not participate in endless disputes about what music to listen to, what channel to watch and who should sit where. Tanya became very close to her mother and sister. This is probably natural after fourteen years of forced separation. They sat and discussed something of their own.

And I felt more and more... unnecessary.

And further. Once in Moscow, Tanya realized that all the doors were open to her, and next to her was me, a person who was restricting freedom of movement. Because it was good for me anyway, because my favorite fairy tale is “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” by Pushkin. If the old woman had been content with the title of noblewoman, she and her grandfather might still be living happily in a beautiful house with a swimming pool and a jacuzzi. But she wanted to become the mistress of the sea, and that’s when it backfired on both of them.

When Tanya, Kostomarov, and I won the Olympic Games, I experienced an absolute buzz for two days, and then thoughts began to swirl in my head: “We need to do something urgently, we can’t stop!” Man, apparently, is designed this way; he needs more and more victories and achievements.

But I told myself: “Stop! Think, look around.” And upon reflection, I realized that this is an endless process and if you don’t stop your own perfectionism in time, it will not give you the opportunity to enjoy life. First, you will buy a yacht, which you will soon be disappointed in, because its displacement will not be forty, like your friend’s, but only thirty tons. Then you'll go crazy when you find out that your neighbor's private jet has fourteen seats, but your Jet has only eight. You will build a castle, sit down to rest and understand that if you don’t start building another one now, emptiness will come. And so you seem to be in business, with a phone in each hand, so as to be constantly in touch, not to miss out on benefits...

This kind of life is not for me. For what? So that everything will be fine in old age? But old age comes and you realize: everything is bad, because apart from the material benefits knocked out of life, you have nothing.

There was too much show business around us. We tried to be on time everywhere. We only met at home, already at night, in the semi-darkness, falling off our feet from fatigue. After the first week of working in Ice Age, I realized that I didn’t see the child at all, because I left when my daughter was still sleeping, and returned when she had already fallen asleep. Tanya and I began to have different interests and even secrets from each other.

What kind of music are you using for your next number? - asked Tanya.

But I won’t tell you!

It would seem that it was said as a joke, but the aftertaste remained: we are not together.

Somehow, imperceptibly, but quickly, the “ice age” spread to our relationships. I watched my wife and saw that the resulting alienation did not bother her, but even suited her. She breathes deeply in Moscow, literally basking in new limitless opportunities to express herself. Life consisted of running around and suitcases, you always had to run or fly somewhere. But as a result, Tanya was recognized as one of the most beautiful and most successful women Russia. I guess I didn't fall behind either...

I tried to talk to my wife:

Don't you think there's ice in our relationship?

And what do you want?

Hurrying to the next event, she gave up. - We've been together for fourteen years. This is fine. A man and a woman cannot live their whole lives as one day.

But we must strive for this.

What are you doing for this? Surprise me with something!

And she was right in her own way. And I reduced that conversation to the usual bickering: “And you?” - "Why me?"

At this time I had a new student - a capable figure skater Natasha Mikhailova. I couldn’t help but notice that she was a beautiful, bright girl with a stunning figure and a sense of humor.

But despite all this, I didn’t even turn an eye to the side; the main thing was still the family, in which I was increasingly showered with reproaches: I didn’t move the table, I didn’t hammer in a nail. But the fact is that I have always been like this, and I had never picked up a hammer to hammer a nail before. We somehow adapted to each other, did not notice shortcomings, loved for the good. And now they suddenly stopped doing it. Probably, Tanya, feeling like a strong, self-sufficient woman, decided that she didn’t have to adapt, she didn’t have to put up with other people’s shortcomings, but live the way she wanted.

Among other things, the moment came like in the movie “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears.” My wife started earning more. This wouldn’t have bothered me if I hadn’t felt Tanya’s disdain for me. Although, perhaps she will say that I made it all up...

And then this article came out...

I came to training and saw that the girl students were pulling newspapers from each other’s hands. He asked: “What do they write?”

They did not notice how I approached and were terribly embarrassed. I don’t know myself: why did I take this newspaper? I glanced across the page and immediately came across the screaming headline “Navka’s secret date.” The journalist wrote that my wife, having hidden her Lexus in a secluded dead end near Mosfilm, was waiting for some man. "Who could it be? - the author of the article wondered. - Husband? But no!”

From a dashingly written note, I learned that, having waited for a stranger, the famous figure skater flew through the streets of Moscow at the speed of a bullet, breaking the rules, trying to get rid of the pursuit of the paparazzi.

And only after making sure that it would be impossible to tear herself away from the reporter’s car, she dropped off the “mysterious passenger.” It turned out to be Marat Basharov.

I never trusted the yellow press. But this time the paparazzi didn’t lie. Literally every paragraph of the article was confirmed by photographs that left no doubt: Tanya really met Marat. She met in secret, clearly not wanting anyone to know about it.

I silently returned the newspaper to the girls - they watched with bated breath the expression on my face. Forcing himself to smile, he said: “They write beautifully. And people believe... That's it, stop being distracted! Get to work!

I watched how the students performed the given elements on the ice, but I could not concentrate on the work.

The note, damn it, couldn't get out of my head. I began to think: what day could this have been? And where was I then? How did a stranger appear in Tanya’s life? Are you no longer interested in me? Is it serious or did you just want new experiences? I tried to reassure myself: stop making things up out of nowhere! But it didn't work out very well.

I couldn’t resist, on the way home I stopped at a kiosk and bought a newspaper. In the evening I showed it to Tanya.

Don't you think that your couple with Marat is becoming notorious?

Are you jealous? Try giving Ingeborg a ride after training sometime, and fame will find you too.

We laughed together at Tanya's joke. But a worm of doubt settled in the soul, male pride was hurt and the flywheel was launched.

The newspaper article was just a pretext. You could, of course, forget and move on. But I took advantage and was the first to take a step towards everything collapsing. Yes, I'm pretty sure I was the first...

I have long noticed that Natasha Mikhailova looks at me with loving eyes. But I never made it clear, either by word or gesture, that I guessed about her feelings and, even more so, was ready to reciprocate. And here, after this whole story... I stopped being indifferent. And Natasha decided: “I don’t know how to live without you, Alexander Vyacheslavovich,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

I started dating Natasha.

And he felt great, he loved, no matter how blasphemous it sounds, two people at once - his wife and his student. Natasha gave me what Tanya did not want to give or could no longer give - passion, admiration, care, genuine interest in my life.

I don’t know if Tanya read the text message on my phone or if someone she knew opened her eyes, but she found out about it. I told my wife there was nothing to worry about. I never even thought about leaving my family.

Almost the next day I heard Tanya talking on the phone. Asked:

Who are you talking to?

With a friend.

I took her mobile phone to find out who the last call was from, and saw the name: Marat. Another time I noticed Tanya furtively writing a text message. Fueled by suspicion, I grabbed my phone. “Darling, I miss you, I miss you...” Something like that.

My friends advised me to send such text messages to everyone I know so that you would be jealous,” Tanya forestalled my outburst of anger.

Well, thank God,” I tried to smile.

From then on, I began to obsessively follow all of Tanya’s conversations and correspondence. I found a message addressed to Basharov: “I beg you, just don’t be jealous of me.”

Liza Basharova added fuel to the fire by sending three messages one after another: “Open your eyes! My husband and your wife are dating!”

The next day I couldn’t stand it, I dialed Basharov’s number:

Marat, I don’t know whether there is something between you or not, but I’m telling you: leave my wife alone! Don't go!

Yes, Sasha, there is, and for a long time. Let's meet and discuss.

I have nothing to discuss with you!

I hung up and sent a follow-up text message: “No matter what, I will fight for my wife.”

Walking nervously around the room, he forced himself to calm down, sat down in a chair and began to wait for Tanya for a serious conversation.

It was very short. Making sure that I knew everything, my wife said: “I’ve stopped loving you, Sasha. That's what's scary..."

It was a backhand blow. I soon left and rented an apartment. I couldn’t think about anything, one thought was spinning in my head - to return my wife. I didn’t know how I could tell Natasha that it was all over. After all, during the time that we met, I became very attached to her. Why did I get attached - I fell in love with her. But I couldn’t imagine my life without Sasha and Tanya. Having learned about my wife’s betrayal, I realized that I was losing what was most precious to me, and I was ready to give up Natasha just to save my family. Although I didn’t understand at all how I could not see Natasha. I went to see my wife:

Let's forget everything.

No, it’s better to wish each other happiness, because now you have your own life, I have mine.

“We are making a terrible mistake,” I persisted.

What about Sashka?

Don’t point at your daughter, remember that you have a mistress.

You can not do it this way! Do you want me to give up everything? Let's get married! - I suggested in a fit of despair.

No, said Tanya. - This should have been done earlier. I don't need anything from you now.

I felt like I was an annoying burr trying to cling to her hem. Absolutely crushed, I left the apartment, which until recently had been our common home...

Two years have passed since then. I'm fine now, but the first six months were very difficult.

I was losing my family, and it seemed like the ground was slipping from under my feet. I felt pathetic, funny, ridiculous. I had rarely seen my daughter before, but I could at least kiss her as she slept and inhale the wonderful, delicate smell of children. Now, yearning for Sasha, on sleepless nights I moaned, gritting my teeth, from the inability to hug her, press her to my chest. I drank Corvalol in liters, went to church and to a psychoanalyst.

“Listen to your heart and don’t make hasty decisions,” the priest told me.

I was advised to renounce everything for a while and wait for what will happen, where my heart, soul, and love will take me. How long did I have to sit on the shore waiting? I did not know. It would be nice to ask Lao Tzu, but he is already dead...

A crazy situation arose: on the one hand, I fell in love with Natasha, and on the other, a jealous wife. Strange as it may sound, Natasha helped me then. I am incredibly grateful to her for being there all this time.

“I think I’m dying,” I told her. - I can’t live without my wife, without my family.

Sasha, everything will be fine with you,” Natasha reassured. - You'll see, everything will work out.

She really didn’t think about herself then, didn’t know whether I would return to Tanya or stay with her.

Natasha nursed me, sincerely wanting to help me find myself again. She treated with love. As soon as Natasha hugged me, the pain went away. I smiled when I woke up next to her, and there was no need for medication. But as soon as we parted, the longing for my family twisted me with renewed vigor.

Later I analyzed: what made me so painfully experience the break with Tanya - love or a feeling of injured male pride? I came to the conclusion that, most likely, it was the latter. Gradually, the meaning of Tanya’s words came to me when she said that she had her own life. She didn't care about me anymore. I turned into her past.

It was painful to come to our apartment to see Sasha. My daughter quickly understood the situation, became friends with Natasha and began to come to visit us herself.

She went on vacation with Tanya and Marat. In this sense, Tanya behaves ideally; she is in favor of Sasha and I dating with both hands. And thanks to Tanya’s efforts, my image in my daughter’s eyes is impeccable.

At first Sashenka asked:

Dad, when are you coming home?

“I love mom, I adore you,” I answered. - Life is a complicated thing, sometimes it doesn’t work out the way we want. But because my mother and I are apart, you receive no less love, and, in my opinion, even more.

Last summer I vacationed in Italy. With Natasha. Everything was fine, but after about two weeks melancholy came over me. Wrote to Tanya: “How are you? How are you and Sasha?” Tanya answered. And suddenly I receive a text message from her: “I think you were the best in my life.”

I realized that not everything was going smoothly between Tanya and Marat, and I began to rush around again: what if I managed to get my family back? But what about Natasha?

She immediately sensed the change in my mood. She said decisively and firmly: “You need to go to Tanya. I’ll feel bad, but you have to sort yourself out and decide who you want to be with.”

I called my wife and suggested we try to live together. She agreed.

I spent three days at home with my family and realized that it wouldn’t work out. The amount of mutual grievances and unwillingness to hear each other outweighed good intentions. We have become different. Something could have been changed in the first six months, but we were too late. Moscow show business and the yellow press buried our family.

The bright, amazing chapter “Navka-Zhulin” in my life is over. I will remember her all my life. But there will be no continuation. Now I'm starting to write a new chapter.

IN last season“Ice Age” they told me that I would work with Tanya and Marat. I couldn’t imagine how it was possible to put numbers on my wife and her lover. “Well, wait, now I’ll instruct you!” - I thought. But then professionalism and natural gentleness took their toll. I came to the ice and was once again convinced that Marat is an amazing actor, and Tanya is an outstanding figure skater. And it turned out to be several wonderful numbers that I can be proud of.

Now Natasha Mikhailova is next to me. She is an intelligent woman and forgave me for what I made her go through when my life with Tanya was falling apart.

Now the pain is gone, I feel free again strong man. It is quite possible that I will start my own theatrical ice show. If they had told me earlier that I would decide to do this, I would not have believed it. I never counted on my business skills and organizational abilities. He gave the lead in business matters to Tanya. And now it turns out that I was not a mistake either. And all thanks to Natasha, next to whom I opened up in a new way. With a pure heart I can admit: I love Natasha. It's nice and easy with her. I don’t need to solve some super-global problems or ensure the highest standard of living in order to prove to my beloved that I am worthy of her. Natasha accepts me for who I am. And it’s damn nice for a man to be himself.

Name: Alexander Zhulin

Age: 54 years old

Place of Birth: Kaliningrad

Height: 176 cm

Weight: 72 kg

Activity: figure skater, coach

Family status: married

Zhulin Alexander - biography

Figure skater and coach who achieved the same high results, when he himself went on the ice and when he was replaced by talented students. Alexander Vyacheslavovich managed to win over the voting public and gain the favor of the judges.

Childhood, family

Sasha was born to prosperous parents in Kaliningrad in care and love. The boy’s grandmother became the discoverer of Alexander’s talent. The woman took care of her grandson’s health; she brought Sasha to the skating rink for the first time. From the age of five, coaches noticed in him the beginnings of a biography of a wonderful skater. Under the guidance of his dearest mentor, the boy began to take his studies responsibly. The future sports star came to all training sessions. Four years later, parents began to select a school for their child in the capital. At first I trained at a specialized stadium Young Pioneers.

Anastasia Kazakova revealed the boy’s talent; fourth-grader Sasha Zhulin was invited to compete in figure skating. This was already a different level, and the future famous athlete began training with Natalia Dubova. At first, Alexander performed in single skating.

The beginning of Zhulin's sports career

At the age of 17, Zhulin switched to figure skating pair skating. Maya Usova skated with him. The skaters met the expectations of everyone: the coach, their own and their parents. Young athletes have repeatedly become winners of competitions at various levels. The couple skated for ten years, confidently holding on to the very top bar of the sports Olympus. The guys completed their joint performance after the Lillehammer Olympics, the athletes won silver and decided to retire from the sport.

Alexander Zhulin - Coaching

Alexander managed to identify future Olympians in advance, and then thoroughly prepare them. Zhulin's coaching instincts are excellent. The figure skater’s popularity has increased not only due to his stellar biography as an athlete. Zhulin took the most important step in his life: he did not go into the shadows, giving up his personal career in figure skating. He actively participates in the most exciting television ice shows.

Speeches by Alexander Zhulin

It is remarkable that Zhulin still demonstrates excellent athletic form. The “Stars on Ice” project brought together the most stellar film, pop, and ballet artists. Zhulin gets difficult partners who require great patience from him. Her partner’s stardom does not prevent the coach from betting winning numbers. And he is not afraid to show his other talents. Alexander managed to win fans also in vocal art.

Zhulin Alexander - biography of personal life

The first time Alexander Zhulin fell in love with his partner. For four years, the couple Zhilin and Usova lived in an official marriage and worked together. Alexander started an affair with Oksana Grischuk on the side. The girl behaved badly when she began to highlight the details of her love affair with the famous figure skater. The athlete’s biography was not affected, since the dominant position is played by merits in sports, and not in the personal field of the Olympian.

With whom he already has a 5-year-old daughter. The famous figure skater prefers to hide his personal life, wives and children, although many fans are interested in the details of his biography.

Like most accomplished skaters, little Sasha has been skating since childhood. At the stadium, the boy felt confident, jumped deftly and easily slid across the ice, thanks to which the coaches noticed him. Later, Alexander was sent to a sports boarding school, where he continued his studies.

Zhulin's significant results appeared in pair skating with Maya Usova. For 10 years they did not leave the pedestal and beat the most famous skaters. The Lilyhammer Olympics brought them a silver medal, but after that they left big sport and focused on participating in ice shows.

yandex_ad_1 Having switched to coaching, Zhulin began to show no less significant results. His students, Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov won gold medal at the Olympics in Turin.

And the French couple, Nathalie Pechalat and Fabiana Bourzou, won the European Championship in 2011.

The talented coach still has many famous students in his arsenal, such as:

Grebenkina and Arzoyan;

Hite and Sosnowski;

Mikhailov and Sergeeva;

singles athletes Abt and Suguri.

Life on the Screen

While in the position of head of the Ice Dance School, Alexander demonstrated his sportsmanship paired with Ingeborge Dapkunaite in 2006, in the project of the first channel “Ice Age”. Then millions of television viewers watched with bated breath the struggle of two teams of eminent coaches Zhulin and Ilya Averbukh, where the professionalism of the athletes was assessed by Tatyana Tarasova herself.

Later, one could enjoy the man’s singing vocals; in the show “Two Stars,” the skater, together with Polina Gagarina, performed the hit “Tequila Love,” which greatly pleased his fans.

Outside the rink

It so happened that the personal life of Alexander Zhulin and sports biography have always been inextricably linked. His first wife was his ice partner Maya Usova. However, this marriage was short-lived and did not produce common children. According to the woman’s recollections, her husband was quite aggressive in everyday life and did not try to remain faithful at all.

First there was a relationship with Oksana Grischuk, also a figure skater, then with the well-known Tatyana Navka, as a result the latter won.

At that time, Zhulin’s young ward was 18, and he was already 30, but love knows no bounds and in 2000 the young people registered their marriage. And soon the wife gave the man a daughter, who was named Sasha in honor of her father. For some time the couple lived in the USA, where Alexander carried out coaching work.

After returning to Moscow, there was a breakdown in their relationship; they were no longer one. The news of the star couple's divorce shocked numerous fans and created a lot of hype. There were rumors that Marat Basharov, with whom Navka was having an affair, was to blame for everything. Some talked about the man's infidelity, but, despite everything, the beautiful couple broke up.

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Interestingly, 2 years later, Tatyana and Alexander met again on the ice. This happened in the project “Ice Age. Professional Cup”, where they performed a dance, which was later called a farewell dance, to the song “Thank you for everything, good friend.” Zhulin himself admitted that he suffered the divorce from Navka quite hard.

New round

In August 2018, Alexander Zhulin officially registered his relationship with Natalya Mikhailova. In the television project “Secret for a Million” with Lera Kudryavtseva, a rather secretive man lifted the veil of his personal life, told some facts from his biography, and talked about his wives and children.

The third wife of the honored coach, of course, is also a figure skater Natalya Mikhailova. Her classes at the Olimpiysky sports complex in school age took place under the leadership of Zhulin. As the girl recalls, she already fell in love with her future husband.

The first spark ran through the project “Glacial Initiation”, in which, ironically, they performed in pairs.

Their relationship began long before Zhulin’s divorce from Navka, one can only guess that perhaps this romance became the reason for the collapse of the family. Although Alexander himself claims that there was no longer a place for him in Tatiana’s life. In 2013, the man finally divorced and began to live openly with Natasha. I would like to note that the girl’s parents opposed their daughter’s relationship, because she was only 20, and the famous figure skater was already 43.

In the same year, the couple had a daughter, Ekaterina, now the girl is 5 years old. She does gymnastics, sometimes goes to the skating rink with her mother, but gives preference to vocal singing. It should be noted that they have a warm relationship with their half-sister Alexandra.

To questions about why Zhulin delayed the wedding for so long, the man answered that stupid prejudices were to blame. He was afraid that along with the stamp in the passport, what would change in their relationship. Although many say that the reason for the hasty registration was Natalia’s second pregnancy.

However, the man did not confirm this information, although he repeatedly noted that he dreams of a son.

The marriage registration took place on August 11, 2018 at the Kutuzovsky registry office in Moscow. This became known from Zhulin’s Instagram, where he posted a photo of his wife with a ring on her ring finger.

Alexander Vyacheslavovich Zhulin was born in Kaliningrad on July 20, 1963. He grew up in a prosperous family, where peace and harmony always reigned. To the skating rink of the future Olympic medalist brought by a caring grandmother, whose goal was to improve the health of her beloved grandson. The coaches immediately noticed the five-year-old boy, confidently skating, jumping without fear and easily gliding across the ice. Special attention. The boy approached his classes very responsibly, without missing a single one: Sasha’s grandmother strictly monitored this.

At the age of nine, the Moscow biography of Alexander Zhulin began: the young athlete was sent to the capital, where he diligently practiced figure skating for more than high level. The training took place at the Young Pioneers stadium.

In two years young figure skater Zhulin finally moves from Kaliningrad to the capital, where he lives and trains in a special boarding school for young athletes. Famous Russian coaches were involved in his preparation. Since the fourth grade, Sasha has been actively participating in competitions and championships. Until the age of seventeen, Alexander Zhulin competed as a singles skater.

Figure skating

At the age of seventeen, the sports biography of Alexander Zhulin takes a new direction: the young skater moves on to pairs performances. Maya Usova becomes his partner on the ice. Soon the couple demonstrates brilliant success, quickly winning first places in all-Union and international competitions.

For ten years, the pair Zhulin and Usova held the lead in the top three sports medalists, often defeating eminent champions of Russia and the world in pair figure skating. 1994 brought the skaters a silver medal at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. This award became the main, but the last achievement of the skaters. After the Olympics, Zhulin and Usova left big sport, putting an end to his career.

For four years in a row they have been participating in various ice shows in the USA and Russia. But in the late nineties, Alexander Zhulin finally switched to coaching. His first couple of students were Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov. Young figure skaters under the leadership of Alexander Zhulin win the Olympics in Turin, Italy.

For the next three years, the coach thoroughly prepares the next pair of skaters for future competitions. This time they are French athletes Nathalie Pechalat and Fabien Bourzu. And here the coach achieves a remarkable result: Natalie and Fabien win the European Championship in 2011.

After another victory, coach Alexander Zhulin, who accounted for Olympic victories, continues to prepare other talented skaters for competitions, the best among whom are Grebenkina and Azroyan, Khait and Sakhnovsky, Mikhailova and Sergeev, single skaters Abt and Suguri.

Ice shows

The biography of Alexander Zhulin is not only about brilliant results in figure skating. He is an active participant in popular ice television shows, as well as a coach and director of the famous Ice Dancing School, which is based in the Olimpiysky sports complex.

In 2007-2009, coach Zhulin’s team of figure skaters met at an ice show with the team of Ilya Averbukh. In 2010, in the new television show “Ice and Fire,” Alexander Zhulin acted as a creative director of original numbers.

The figure skater not only trains figure skaters and show business stars who take part in television projects, he himself willingly becomes a participant in ice shows. In the 2000s, viewers could watch his brilliant performances as part of the “Stars on Ice” project together with Ingeborga Dapkunaite.

In 2012, Alexander Vyacheslavovich was preparing to perform on the updated project “Ice Age” new team, which consisted of famous stars show business and figure skaters.

In 2013, fans sports talent Zhulin saw their favorite in a completely different capacity - as a singer. Alexander Zhulin became a participant in the “Two Stars” show on Channel One and sang with Polina Gagarina. The composition “Tequila Love” performed by the stars evoked a storm of positive emotions among listeners and jury members.

In the same year, Alexander Zhulin, together with Polina Gagarina, visited the humorous project “Evening Urgant”, where the couple shared their emotions from participating in the show “Two Stars” and demonstrated an excellent sense of humor.

Alexander Zhulin now

At the beginning of 2016, Alexander Zhulin reminded himself: he became a guest of the program “Alone with Everyone,” telling the audience and Yulia Menshova many unknown details your biography and personal life.

Today the famous trainer continues to prepare Russian athletes to participate in international competitions and the Olympic Games. At the end of 2016, he prepared the pair of Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, who competed at the World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, to take to the ice at the European Championship.

The famous athlete is rightly called the sex symbol of Russian figure skating: even now, at the age of 54, he is not only a living legend of the sport, but also continues to be in excellent sports uniform, delighting everyone with his talent and skill.

Personal life

The first serious romance in the life of the famous figure skater began symbolically. In May 1986, partners Zhulin and Usova became a family. Unfortunately, this marriage lasted until the early 1990s and remained in the past long before their dancing couple broke up.

Rumor has it that in the 90s, Alexander Zhulin had an affair with a young colleague Oksana Grischuk, who, according to yellow publications, was crazy about the skater. What added piquancy to the situation was the fact that at that time Zhulin was still married to Maya Usova. Later, when Oksana Grischuk began giving interviews with details of their relationship, Alexander Zhulin called their romance a big mistake.

In 1994, Alexander Zhulin began training figure skaters Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov. At this time, an affair broke out with a young ward. Zhulin was 30 at the time, and Navka was only 18. This passion led to the final break with his first wife Maya.

In 2000, Tatyana Navka and Alexander Zhulin got married. That same year they became parents: their daughter Sasha was born. The family lived in New Jersey, where Zhulin worked as a coach until 2006. Then the couple returned to Moscow, where they lived together for another four years. In 2010, they announced their separation.

There were different opinions about their high-profile divorce. Some say that the reason for the breakup was Navka’s affair with actor Marat Basharov, others talk about Alexander’s own infidelity. Be that as it may, the couple announced their separation after 14 years of actual marriage.

Two years later, the former spouses met on ice: as part of the TV show “Ice Age. Professional Cup" Zhulin and Navka performed as a pair. They performed a heartfelt genre dance of farewell, and the romance “Thank you for everything, good friend” was played as musical accompaniment. Before going to the skating rink, Alexander Zhulin admitted to the audience with a trembling voice that Tatyana remains a close person to him. The nostalgic number that followed was called romantic and not fake in the press.

In 2011, Alexander Zhulin’s personal life took a new turn: the famous figure skater married Natalya Mikhailova. At the beginning of 2013, they had a daughter, Katya. Zhulin introduced the children, and now the eldest daughter Alexandra and the youngest daughter Ekaterina are friends. The girl reacted with great understanding to the changes in her father’s personal life.

In August 2015, Tatyana Navka married Dmitry Peskov. Journalists asked Zhulin if he was going to a wedding. He replied that he was very happy for his ex-wife, but he would not be able to attend the wedding, because he would have preparations at that time, “and it’s not customary ex-husbands attend the weddings of ex-wives.”

MOSCOW, July 20 – RIA Novosti. The famous figure skater Alexander Zhulin celebrates his anniversary on Saturday, July 20.

Soviet and Russian figure skater, Honored Master of Sports in Figure Skating, Honored Trainer of Russia Alexander Vyacheslavovich Zhulin was born on July 20, 1963 in Kaliningrad (now Korolev, Moscow region).

Zhulin began figure skating at the age of five. He studied at a boarding school for several years sports school. Starting from the fourth grade, he took part in competitions and championships in single figure skating.

In 1980, coach Natalya Dubova paired Zhulin with Maya Usova. In 1983, the skaters came third in the USSR Cup, and in 1984 they won silver medals at the USSR Championship.

In 1985, Usova and Zhulin became winners of the Nebelhorn Trophy, an international tournament held by the German Figure Skating Federation in Oberstdorf. In 1989, the couple won second place at the European Championships in Birmingham and were second at the World Championships in Paris. In 1990, the athletes became silver medalists at the European Championships and bronze medalists at the World Championships. In 1991, the skaters took bronze at the World and European Championships and excelled at the USSR Championships.

At the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville, Zhulin and Usova won bronze medals, after which they wanted to end their amateur careers. However, the coach persuaded them to stay until the next Olympics, which was to take place not in four years, as usual, but in two - due to the decision to hold winter Games not in the same year as the Summer Olympics.

In 1992, the couple moved to the USA to train. Next year became the duo's finest hour: they won the European and World Championships. In 1994, at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer they came second, losing gold medals to Oksana Grischuk and Evgeniy Platov, and at the European Championship they came third, behind Grischuk and Platov, as well as the British Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean.

In 1994, the skaters moved to professional sports and began to participate in various shows. The partners’ work together continued for another four years, and after the couple’s breakup, the skater began working with Oksana Grischuk.

After retiring from sports, Zhulin began coaching activities. In the USA, he prepared Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, Alexander Abt, Christine Fraser and Igor Lukanin, who competed for the Azerbaijani team, and other successful skaters for competitions. Returning to Russia in 2006, Zhulin worked with Arkady Sergeev and Natalya Mikhailova, as well as with Japanese Fumie Suguri. Led the duo Tatyana Navka/Roman Kostomarov to victory at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin. The dance couple Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov, led by Zhulin, won medals in 2010.

French athletes Fabian Bourzat and Nathalie Pechalat's collaboration with Alexander Zhulin brought the title of European champions in 2011.

From the 2011/12 season until the spring of 2013, Zhulin worked with the duo Yulia Zlobina/Alexei Sitnikov, representing Azerbaijan. In February 2012, Ksenia Monko/Kirill Khalyavin joined Zhulin’s group, and in April Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitry Soloviev.

Besides coaching work with world-class athletes, Zhulin participates in various television projects dedicated to figure skating. In 2006, he was a participant in Channel One’s weekly TV show “Stars on Ice,” performing together with actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite, and from 2007 to 2010 he coached participants in the television projects “Ice Age” and “Ice and Fire.”

Alexander Zhulin is an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Honored Trainer of Russia. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation for high sports achivments awarded the Order of Friendship (2007).

Zhulin was married twice. He entered into his first marriage with Maya Usova in 1986. In 2000, the athlete married figure skater Tatyana Navka. That same year, the couple had a daughter, Alexandra. In 2010, their marriage broke up.

On January 10, 2013, Alexander Zhulin had a second daughter from his common-law wife, figure skater Natalya Mikhailova.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources