Alexander Zhulin

Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (born 20 July 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor.

Coach Natalia Dubova paired him with Maya Usova in 1980.

In 1988, they made their first appearance at the European Championships, placing fourth.

The next season, they won silver at the 1989 European Championships in Birmingham, England and silver in their World Championships debut, in Paris.

The next two seasons, they took bronze at Worlds.

At the 1991 World Championships in Munich, Germany, they were very close to winning.

They led after both the compulsory dances and original dance (although finishing 2nd in the original dance portion), and in the free dance received 4 1st place ordinals from the 9 judges.

Nonetheless, a strange ordinal situation led to them finishing only 3rd in the free dance and dropping to 3rd overall behind the Duchensays and Klimova and Ponomarenko.

They later described their 1991 free dance as "being about Paganini and his muse".

Zhulin wore brown tights and a loose beige shirt.

Kestnbaum also reported that they skated their program with "intense emotion" and created "an overall aura of Romanticism and uncanniness", using little runs and turns on their toepicks, knee slides, and "sensuous flowing and intertwining movements" that were enhanced by their billowing costumes.

Kestnbaum also reported that as a "flamboyant performer", Zhulin displayed his partner as much as he displayed himself.

In the 1991–92 season, Usova/Zhulin won silver at the 1992 European Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland and then captured their first Olympic medal, bronze, at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

Usova and Zhulin's free skate during the 1991–1992 season, set to music from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, centered on the theme of statues coming to life, was full of images of symmetry, parallelism, and equality.

Figure skating writer Ellyn Kestnbaum described their program in this way: "It is not about sexual difference, but it does convey sexual attraction. These are passionate, eroticized statues, and the skaters' gazes are focused centripetally into the relationship, at each other's bodies and into each other's eyes".

Usova/Zhulin ended their season with silver at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California.

They moved with Dubova from Moscow to Lake Placid, New York in September 1992.

In the 1992–93 season, Usova/Zhulin won the 1993 European Championships in Helsinki and the 1993 World Championships in Prague.

With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist (1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 European champion.

They also won gold medals at Skate America, NHK Trophy, Nations Cup, and Winter Universiade.

They represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia.

The next season, they were third at the 1994 European Championships in Copenhagen, behind Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean and Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov.

They had been sitting in 1st place and seemingly ensured the title as Grishuk & Platov were mathematically out of gold medal contention, after Torvill & Dean were placed behind them in the free dance 5 judges to 4.

However Grishuk & Platov won the free dance and changed the ordinals between Usova & Zhulin, and Torvill & Dean, dropping Usova & Zhulin to a 3rd-place finish.

This loss seemed to indicate a loss of their #1 Russian status and instilled fear in their chances for the Olympic Gold medal.

Their new free program to a collection of Nina Rota tunes also received negative reviews from fans and judges alike as it was a sharp departure from their previous work, and many critics felt it did not suit their sensual and elegant style.

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, they won the silver medal behind Grishuk/Platov.

They tied for 1st place with Grishuk & Platov in the compulsory dances, and went into the free dance tied for overall 1st with Torvill & Dean who won the original dance, setting up an intense 3-way battle for gold.

Unlike the Europeans all 3 teams in position to win gold simply by winning the free dance.

In the free dance they received 3 1st place ordinals and 6 2nd place ordinals, but lost the gold to Grishuk & Platov who received 5 1st place ordinals, 1 2nd place ordinal, and 3 3rd place ordinals, losing the free dance and gold based on the majority rule, despite having no judges place them 3rd and a lower total of ordinals than Grishuk & Platov.

Had 1 of 3 judges changed their mark by .1 Usova & Zhulin would have won the gold.

Upset about the controversial Olympic loss, Usova & Zhulin withdrew from the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, which they had intended to be their final competitive event.

Usova and Zhulin were known for excelling technically and artistically and according to writer Ellyn Kestnbaum, "leaned toward drama and passion".

Usova/Zhulin skated together professionally from 1994 to 1997.

They toured with Champions on Ice and won the World Professional Championships.

Zhulin then skated with former rival, Oksana Grishuk, for one year.

His former partner, Maya Usova, would compete for many years with former rival, Evgeni Platov.

After retiring, Zhulin became a skating coach and choreographer.

He coached in New Jersey before moving back to Russia in 2006.

He is based in Moscow and often coaches in collaboration with Oleg Volkov.