Marina Klimova

Marina Klimova
Klimova & Ponomarenko in 1989
Personal information
Full name	Marina Vladimirovna Klimova
Country represented	Soviet Union  Unified Team
Born	(1966-07-28) 28 July 1966 Sverdlovsk
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Former partner	Sergei Ponomarenko Oleg Volkov
Retired	1996
Medal record Figure skating Ice dancing Competitor for  Unified Team Olympic Games Gold 1992 Albertville Ice dancing Competitor for Soviet Union Olympic Games Silver 1988 Calgary Ice dancing Bronze 1984 Sarajevo Ice dancing World Championships Gold 1992 Oakland Ice dancing Silver 1991 Munich Ice dancing Gold 1990 Halifax Ice dancing Gold 1989 Paris Ice dancing Silver 1988 Budapest Ice dancing Silver 1987 Cincinnati Ice dancing Silver 1986 Geneva Ice dancing Silver 1985 Tokyo Ice dancing European Championships Gold 1992 Lausanne Ice dancing Gold 1991 Sofia Ice dancing Gold 1990 Leningrad Ice dancing Gold 1989 Birmingham Ice dancing Gold 1989 Birmingham Ice dancing Silver 1987 Sarajevo Ice dancing Silver 1986 Sarajevo Ice dancing Silver 1985 Gothenburg Ice dancing Bronze 1984 Budapest Ice dancing

Marina Klimova

Medal record
Figure skating
Competitor for the Soviet Union
Silver	1988 Calgary	Ice dancing
Bronze	1984 Sarajevo	Ice dancing
Competitor for the Unified Team
Gold	1992 Albertville	Ice dancing

Marina Vladimirovna Klimova (Russian: Марина Владимировна Климова; born 28 July 1966 in Sverdlovsk, RSFSR) is an ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union and the Unified team. With skating partner and husband Sergei Ponomarenko, she is the 1992 Olympic champion, 1988 Olympic silver medalist, 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, three-time World champion, and four-time European champion.

Career

Klimova trained at Spartak in Moscow. Early in her career, she skated with Oleg Gennadyevich Volkov.

Klimova and Ponomarenko were fourth in their European Championships debut in 1983. Their breakthrough came the following season when they won the bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and 1984 European Championships. In 1985, they won their first World medal, silver. They were four-time consecutive World silver medalists from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, they also won the Olympic silver medal, behind Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin.

In 1989, Klimova and Ponomarenko won the first of their four consecutive European titles. They also won the 1989 World Championships and followed that up with another World gold the following year.

At the 1991 World Championships, they had a setback when they placed second to Isabelle Duchesnay & Paul Duchesnay. Four months before the Olympics, they decided to leave coach Natalia Dubova. They re-established themselves as the top ice dancers in the world by winning another 1992 European title and then capturing the 1992 Olympic title. They ended their season with their third World title. They retired from eligible skating after the World Championships and turned to professional and show skating.

In addition to winning three World Championships and four European Championships, Klimova and Ponomarenko are the only figure skaters in any discipline to have won Olympic medals in three different colors. They won the bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics, the silver medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics for the Soviet Union and the gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics for the Unified Team.

Klimova and Ponomarenko were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. They coach young figure skaters at Sharks Ice in San Jose, California.

Personal life

Klimova and Ponomarenko married in September 1984 and have two sons, Tim Ponomarenko born in 1998 and Anthony Ponomarenko in 2001. Anthony is also an ice dancer. They now reside in the United States in Morgan Hill, California.

Programs

(With Ponomarenko)

Season	Original set pattern / Original dance	Free dance	Exhibition
1992–1996			Evergreen by Luther Vandross Gone with the Wind by Max Steiner Summertime from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin Romeo and Juliet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Clowns March to Sousa The Brides from Dracula (1992 film) by Wojciech Kilar Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia by Aram Khachaturian Masquerade Waltz by Aram Khachaturian Song of India Symphony No. 5 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
1991–1992		Air from Suite No.3 by Johann Sebastian Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach, Leopold Stokowski	E lucevan le stelle from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
1990–1991		Lawrence of Arabia by Maurice Jarre
1989–1990		My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe
1988–1989		Mack the Knife by Kurt Weill
1987–1988		Yesterday I Want to Hold Your Hand Let It Be Get Back Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by The Beatles	La cumparsita by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
1986–1987		Hungarian Rhapsody by Franz Liszt
1985–1986
1984–1985
1983–1984		The Circus Princess by Emmerich Kálmán
1982–1983

Results

(ice dance with Sergei Ponomarenko)

International
Event	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
Olympics			3rd				2nd				1st
Worlds			4th	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	1st
Europeans		4th	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd		1st	1st	1st	1st
Goodwill Games										1st
Fujifilm Trophy							1st
Moscow News				1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st
Nebelhorn		1st	1st
Golden Spin	2nd
Int. St. Gervais		1st	1st
National
Soviet Champ.				1st	1st			1st	1st

Professional career

Event	1994–1995	1995–1996
World Pro. Championships	2nd	2nd

External links

• Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko Official Website