Dancer number one – Newspaper Kommersant No. 214 (7415) dated 11/18/2022

In the 77th year, Alexander Gorshkov died suddenly. In the 1970s, together with Lyudmila Pakhomova, he turned ice dancing from an almost marginal genre into a genre that enjoys tremendous popularity, won the first Olympic gold in it and many more prestigious awards, and for the last 12 years he headed the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR). ), earning a reputation as one of its most deserving leaders.

The fame in the USSR of these two athletes, who made up the main dance duet, was quite comparable with the fame of the coolest sports stars like Lev Yashin, Valery Brumel, Yuri Vlasov, Valery Kharlamov, Vladislav Tretiak. Figure skating quickly turned into a real cult for a giant country, and Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov had a very special status in it.

More, of course, as is often the case with paired species, attracted the attention of the partner. But it seemed that he was not as bright, catchy as Pakhomova, but rather a restrained and strict partner, whose path to fame and special status was difficult and paradoxical, possessed incredible magnetism.

It was, apparently, a classic insight, a flash of providence. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why in 1966 both coach Elena Chaikovskaya and her student Lyudmila Pakhomova suddenly decided that a strong figure skater who had already won three USSR championships with Viktor Ryzhkin needed to skate with Alexander Gorshkov, who had recently been in the group for lagging behind and basically nothing stood out. But they turned out to be right.

Distinguished by incredible performance, ready to train even at night, Gorshkov soon rode on the same level as Pakhomova.

At the level that allowed Tchaikovsky to carry out her bold experiments, which dramatically increased the rating of their discipline.

When the very young Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov found each other, ice dancing was, strictly speaking, a marginal genre for figure skating. To the public, it seemed too boring and simple compared to the competitions of singles and singles, as well as sports couples: no jumps, no acrobats, but only, perhaps, elegant, but rather tedious and monotonous sliding around the rink. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had the same opinion. He was in no hurry to include dancing in the program of the Olympics.

These three people – Elena Chaikovskaya and Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov, who embodied her ideas – changed everything radically.

Instead of dry and academic, so as not to fake, programs, they presented tempo programs, “plotted”, integrating such complex elements into them that the hotbeds and single skaters finally stopped looking down on the dancers. Some of their programs, such as “Kumparsita”, are still hits for those who love figure skating.

It was a real sports revolution. And it is believed that largely due to the appearance of Pakhomova and Gorshkov, who constantly raised the bar of complexity and sophistication, winning tournament after tournament (their track record includes six gold medals at the World and European Championships), the IOC nevertheless decided to add dancing to the Olympic program , appointing a debut for 1976 and knowing, of course, who should win in Austrian Innsbruck, but not knowing what feat the strongest Soviet dancer would have to perform for this victory.

In the pre-Olympic season, Alexander Gorshkov, who was returning home from the next “golden” European Championship, burst his pulmonary artery. He was in critical condition. The loss of blood amounted to about two liters, and the volume of the lungs after an emergency operation decreased by almost half. There was no question of an early rehabilitation, but after a couple of weeks Gorshkov flew to the world championship in the USA, where he again became ill. Doctors did not rule out that the Olympics would have to be forgotten.

Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov, who was not broken by a health problem, still performed at it. And this performance ended with an insanely beautiful free program under Paul Mauriat and an amazing step sequence in its final, which was previously unimaginable in figure skating – well, skaters don’t tap dance. This track, which made the hall stand on its feet, after the dances managed to survive a dozen more technical revolutions, even today looks like a “cosmic”, unearthly masterpiece.

Soon after the Austrian Olympics, Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov, partners not only on ice for many years, said goodbye to competitions in order to build a family life, but did not leave figure skating.

Pakhomova successfully worked as a coach and would certainly have done something undeniably outstanding in this role, if not for a disease of the lymphatic system: she died at the age of 39.

Gorshkov successfully worked as a functionary in various domestic and international positions. And in 2010 he was elected president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation. He headed the FFKKR after the Vancouver Olympics, at which a seemingly incredible disaster happened to domestic skaters: they did not take a single gold, and in the singles competition they played the role of extras. Alexander Gorshkov passed away after the memories of the failures of 2010 began to look like a nightmare that had nothing to do with reality: Russian figure skating is again firmly at the top of the world hierarchy, and women’s skating is at such a height that competitors can’t see under the clouds. He left under the chorus of approximately the same ratings from friends, colleagues, and other sports leaders. They said that figure skating, which had never completely lost its gigantic internal reserves, was hindered mainly by constant squabbles, scandals, intrigues and undercover games, needed a president like Gorshkov, and a businesslike, and, perhaps, more more importantly, humane, kind, non-conflict and restrained, as in those years when with Pakhomova he drove the audience of the ice palaces crazy.

Alexey Dospekhov