Anton Sikharulidze

Anton Tarielyevich Sikharulidze (Georgian: ანტონ ტარიელის ძე სიხარულიძე; Антон Тариэльевич Сихарулидзе, born 25 October 1976) is a Georgian-Russian former pair skater.

Anton Sikharulidze was born on 25 October 1976 in Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, to a Russian mother and Georgian father.

His sister, Marina, is an economist, and his brother, Alexander, is a businessman.

Sikharulidze asked his parents for skates after seeing a neighbor's boy with a pair.

At the age of 15, he considered leaving the sport, feeling it was taking up a lot of his time and limiting his personal life, but his father encouraged him to persevere.

Sikharulidze took up pair skating at age 15 when asked by a coach.

They trained under Ludmila Velikova and Nikolai Velikov at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Peterburg, Russia, despite the deteriorating and crowded facilities of the 1990s.

His first partner was Maria Petrova, with whom he became the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Champion.

With Maria Petrova, he became the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Champion and placed as high as sixth at the senior Worlds in 1995.

In late 1995, Elena Berezhnaya and Oleg Shliakhov of Latvia began training at the same rink, under coach Tamara Moskvina.

Sikharulidze developed a friendship with Berezhnaya and Shliakhov began to perceive him as his rival.

At the end of 1995, Shliakhov demanded that he and Berezhnaya train in Riga, Latvia for three weeks in preparation for the European Championships.

Sikharulidze urged her to stay in Saint Petersburg but she believed she could manage a few weeks.

He began competing with Berezhnaya in 1996 after helping her recover from an accident with her previous partner.

Within two years of the accident, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had established themselves as one of the best pair teams in the world.

During their competitive career, they were coached by Tamara Moskvina at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Their Olympic gold medals are shared with Canadian pair Jamie Salé and David Pelletier.

In September 2021 Netflix premiered docuseries Bad Sport that includes an episode ("Gold War") detailing the events of the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal.

Sikharulidze appeared only in archival footage and did not participate in the documentary, though his former partner Berezhnaya did.

Their last competition together was the European Championships at the end of January 1996.

Sikharulidze and Petrova then parted ways due to a coaching disagreement.

He wanted to work with Moskvina while Petrova preferred to remain with their old coaches.

Berezhnaya was seriously injured when Shliakhov's blade sliced into her skull while the pair were practicing a side-by-side camel spin in Riga on 9 January 1996.

Two surgical operations were performed to remove bone fragments from her brain.

The accident caused partial paralysis on her right side, and doctors were unsure if she would walk again.

She also briefly lost the ability to speak.

During her hospitalization, Sikharulidze heard of the news, and traveled to Latvia to be with her, joining Moskvina.

Berezhnaya was surprised and overjoyed to see him, but unable to speak or move.

Shliakhov also arrived at the hospital with flowers but Berezhnaya did not wish to see him again.

Her mother, Sikharulidze, and Moskvina took her back to Saint Petersburg, Russia where she could begin her rehabilitation.

She was grateful for his support, saying she was "skinny, shaved, half-alive, almost a skeleton, and Anton so tenderly cared about me. Perhaps it was his belief in me that helped me recover so quickly."

Berezhnaya wished to return to the ice and doctors agreed that physical exercise would be therapeutic.

On 15 March 1996, only two months after the accident, she began skating carefully with Sikharulidze's help and Moskvina observing.

Berezhnaya said, "I didn't have any false dreams about the future. All I thought about was those first steps."

Moskvina felt the pair looked promising, "They're a natural pair. They've got it – something magical."

With Berezhnaya's condition improving, the two began to consider the possibility of a competitive career together.

She had made a nearly full recovery, although her speech remained slurred requiring speech therapy.

Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze made their competitive debut in November 1996 at the Trophée Lalique, winning bronze.

In December, they placed fifth at Cup of Russia, and then captured the silver medal at the Russian Nationals, earning them a berth to the European Championships.

With Elena Berezhnaya, he is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion.