Tatiana Totmianina

Tatiana Totmianina, sickly as a child,[2] was introduced to skating at the age of four by her mother, a recreational skater.[3][1] She skated at the Perm sports palace and began to take lessons.[2]

By the age of 14, Totmianina was invited to train in Saint Petersburg.[4] In 1995 at the Russian Nationals, she met Maxim Marinin. He had switched to pair skating in 1993 but was without a partner at the time.[5] They began skating together in 1996. Early in their career together, they were coached by Natalia Pavlova in Saint Petersburg, with choreography by Svetlana Korol.[6]

Totmianina/Marinin made consistent progress on the world scene through the late 1990s. In 1998, the pair asked Tamara Moskvina to coach them but she was unable to take on more students and suggested Oleg Vasiliev, 1984 Olympic pairs champion.[7] He declined due to lack of ice and connections but he accepted in 2001 when Moskvina again directed them to him.[7] Totmianina/Marinin left Pavlova just prior to the 2001 European Championships; they moved to Chicago, Illinois in the United States to train under Vasiliev.[8][5][4] They trained at the Oakton Ice Arena in Park Ridge, Illinois.[9]

Totmianina/Marinin won their first major title at the 2002 European Championships. They finished 4th at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Twice in a row, they finished second at the World Championships to their Chinese rivals Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo, before finally winning gold in 2004. The day after winning their first World title, Totmianina suffered a dislocated shoulder in practice.[10] They were unable to perform in the exhibition.

On 23 October 2004, during the free skate at the 2004 Skate America in Pittsburgh, Marinin lost his balance while attempting an axel lasso lift and Totmianina slammed into the ice head first.[11][12][13] She sustained a concussion and spent the night in a local hospital.[14] On 25 October, Totmianina said that, although she felt pain, she had no memory of the accident and was not afraid to return to the ice.[15] She recovered from her injuries rapidly and was able to return to the ice within days. Although Totmianina did not blame him, the accident weighed heavily on Marinin and when the pair returned to training, he was unable to lift her due to panic.[4] He began seeing a sport psychologist who helped him overcome it.[16]

Totmianina and Marinin perform a twist lift at Russian Nationals in January 2005

Totmianina/Marinin returned to competition two months later in January 2005, winning gold at the Russian Nationals and then the European Championships.[17] In March, they competed at the World Championships, held in Moscow, Russia. They won their second consecutive World title easily, with a total score 10 points higher than the second-place finishers.

Totmianina/Marinin dominated world competition from that point onward. In December 2005, Totmianina was hospitalized with a gall bladder problem.[18] They won their fifth consecutive European Championship the following month in January 2006. With Shen/Zhao recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, Totmianina/Marinin were the clear favorites for Olympic gold in Turin, Italy. They won the short program on 11 February and then the long program on 13 February, capturing the 2006 Olympic pair skating title.

Totmianina/Marinin did not compete at the World Championships in March 2006. They later announced their retirement from competition. The pair toured with the Champions on Ice show, with other notable skaters including Michelle Kwan, Evgeni Plushenko, and Viktor Petrenko, among others.

Totmianina has appeared in several seasons of the Russian show Ice Age, as a skater or judge. She also continues to skate with Marinin in Russian ice shows, alongside other famous skaters including her fiancé, Yagudin.[19][20]