Natalia Mishkutenok

Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Competitor for the Unified Team
Gold	1992 Albertville	Pairs
Competitor for  Russia
Silver	1994 Lillehammer	Pairs

Natalia Mishkutenok

Personal information
Full name	Natalia Yevgenievna Mishkutenok
Alternative names	Natalia Mishkutionok, Mishkutienok
Country represented	Russia
Former country(ies) represented	Soviet Union
Born	July 14, 1970 (1970-07-14) (age 41) Minsk, Belarus SSR
Height	5'3" (159 cm)
Former partner	Artur Dmitriev
Coach	Tamara Moskvina
Skating club	Yubileyny Sport Club
Retired	1994
Medal record Competitor for  Unified Team Pairs' Figure skating Olympic Games Gold 1992 Albertville Pairs Competitor for  Soviet Union World Championships Gold 1992 Oakland Pairs Gold 1991 Munich Pairs Bronze 1990 Halifax Pairs European Championships Gold 1992 Lausanne Pairs Gold 1991 Sofia Pairs Bronze 1990 Leningrad Pairs Bronze 1989 Birmingham Pairs

Natalia Yevgenievna Mishkutenok (Russian: Наталья Евгеньевна Мишкутёнок, born July 14, 1970 in Minsk, Belarus) is a retired Russian pair skater who now works as a coach. With former partner Artur Dmitriev, she is the 1992 Olympic Champion.

Biography

Mishkutenok competed for the Soviet Union, Russia, and the Unified Team. She trained in St. Petersburg with renowned Russian pairs coach Tamara Moskvina. She skated with partner Artur Dmitriev from 1987 to 1994; together, they won the 1991 and 1992 World and European Championships, and Olympic gold in 1992. They performed to Franz Liszt's Liebestraum (Dream of Love), which became one of the most noted programs of their career and earned them four perfect 6.0 marks at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, CA. They turned professional shortly after that championship.

Mishkutenok and Dmitriev chose to reinstate as amateurs after the ban against such actions was lifted. They attempted to defend their Olympic title in the 1994 Winter Olympics, where they delivered two strong programs. Their free skate to Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto earned a standing ovation and is considered one of their finest performances. The judges awarded the gold medal to Mishkutenok and Dmitriev's good friends and fellow countrymen Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov ("G & G").

This team was famous for their speed, power, intricate choreography, and flexibility. They regularly received standing ovations from audiences worldwide after their soulful and technically difficult performances. One hallmark of Mishkutenok and Dmitriev's style was their creative spins, especially one in which Mishkutenok would do a split and point her head down, with an arm around Dmitriev's calf so that they were both vertical and aligned; this signature move, called "Natasha's spin" was incorporated into virtually every one of their programs. Another signature move was a backwards inside death spiral in which Mishkutenok bent backwards, holding her foot behind and above her head while Dmitriev also held her raised skate blade and her free hand.

Mishkutenok and Dmitriev competed before, during, and after the breakup of the Soviet Union, which put them in the extraordinary position of competing for the Soviet Union, the "Unified Team" (a team made up of athletes from the nation states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union), and Russia all within a four year period.

Mishkutenok and Dmitriev amicably parted soon after the 1994 Olympics. Dmitriev went on to skate with Oksana Kazakova and won the gold at the 1998 Olympics. Mishkutenok settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1995 and moved to Texas in 2003.^[1] She was formerly married to American hockey player Craig Shephard, with whom she skated professionally on occasion during the late 90s. She divorced Shepherd and remarried Alan Hainline. They had a daughter, Natasha Aleena Mishkutionok Hainline on January 16, 2006.^[1] Mishkutenok is currently coaching pairs and singles skaters in Hurst, Texas. One of her students is the U.S. men's 2009 novice silver medalist Stevan Evans.

Programs

Season	Short program	Long program	Exhibition
1993–1994	Don Quixote by Ludwig Minkus Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninov	Piano Concerto #2 ("The Symphony of Emotions") by Sergei Rachmaninov	Flute Dance Nostalgia
1990–1992	Don Quixote by Ludwig Minkus The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns	Liebestraum by Franz Liszt	Somewhere in Your Heart by Frank Sinatra War Drums Peasant Dance
1988–1990	Let's Dance Together	Collection of Jewish folk music	Piano Piece ("The Death Spiral") Peasant Dance Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninov War drums

Competitive highlights

(with Artur Dmitriev)

Event	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94
Winter Olympic Games					1st		2nd
World Championships			3rd	1st	1st
European Championships	4th	3rd	3rd	1st	1st		3rd
Russian Championships							2nd
Soviet Championships	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd
Skate America		1st	1st
Nations Cup				1st
Trophée Lalique					1st		1st
NHK Trophy				3rd
Prize of Moscow News		1st
Winter Universiade		1st

• 1st, 1994 Goodwill Games, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• 1st, 1993 Piruetten, Hamar, Norway
• 3rd, 1992 World Professional Championships, Landover, Maryland
• 3rd, 1992 World Challenge of Champions, Los Angeles, California
• 1st, 1992 US Open Pro, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 2nd, 1990 Goodwill Games, Seattle, Washington

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rutherford, Lynn; Leamy, Liz (January 21, 2008). "Past, present and parents at U.S. Champs". IceNetwork. http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080121&content_id=41116&vkey=ice_news. Retrieved June 23, 2011. 

External links

• Pairs on Ice - Natalia Mishkutionok & Artur Dmitriev
• [1]

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Persondata
Name	Mishkutenok, Natalia
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 14, 1970
Place of birth	Minsk, Belarus SSR
Date of death
Place of death