Evgeni Platov

Evgeni Arkadievich Platov (Ukrainian to English: Ev'heni Arkadievich Platov) (Евгений Аркадьевич Платов; born August 7, 1967; Ukrainian: Євген Аркадійович Платов) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer.

Platov was born on August 7, 1967, in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.

Platov switched from singles to ice dancing in October 1976.

Boris Rublev arranged his first partnership and then paired him with Elena Krykanova a couple of months later.

He lived in Odesa until his move to Moscow, Russian SFSR, in 1982.

He married Maria Anikanova, a Russian figure skater and later actress, but they eventually divorced.

The two were coached by Rublev in Odesa until 1982 when they moved to Moscow to train under Natalia Dubova.

With previous partner Elena Krykanova, he was a three-time World Junior champion (1984–1986).

During his career, he represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia.

Since retiring from competition, he works as a figure skating coach and choreographer.

Krykanova/Platov won three World Junior titles from 1984 to 1986.

Platov began competing on the senior level with Larisa Fedorinova in 1987.

In 1988, they won gold at the Karl Schäfer Memorial and silver at the Prize of Moscow News.

He is best known for his partnership with Oksana Grishuk from 1989 to 1998.

Their partnership ended in August 1989.

Dubova paired Platov with Oksana Grishuk in September 1989.

They trained in Moscow.

Three months later, in December 1989, they won the bronze medal at the Soviet Championships.

They were fifth in their World Championship debut in 1990.

Their first European and World medals, both bronze, came at the 1992 European Championships and 1992 World Championships.

In mid-1992, due to tensions between Grishuk and Maya Usova and their alleged love rivalry over Maya's then-husband and partner Alexander Zhulin, Dubova allegedly expelled Grishuk from her group or Grishuk chose to leave.

Dubova found a new partner for Platov (the then teenage future Olympic champion Tatiana Navka ) while Grishuk briefly searched for a new partner in Germany before returning to Moscow and her previous coach, Natalia Linichuk.

Platov decided not to follow Dubova and re-teamed with Grishuk in the fall of 1992.

During the 1992–93 season, Grishuk/Platov won European and World silver medals.

In 1993–94, they won silver at the European Championships.

With Grishuk, he is a two-time Olympic champion (1994, 1998), four-time World champion (1994–1997), and three-time European champion (1996–1998).

They won their first Olympic title at the 1994 Olympics.

They ended the season with their first World title at the 1994 World Championships.

They then left Russia and moved with Linichuk to Newark, Delaware for better training and living conditions.

Grishuk/Platov missed most of 1994–95 due to injury but returned to win the 1995 World Championships.

They had a full season in 1995–96 and won another set of European and World titles.

In 1996, Grishuk/Platov split from Linichuk and moved to Tatiana Tarasova in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Injury kept them out of competition in the first half of the 1996–97 season but they returned to win their second European and fourth World title.

In September 1997, she changed her first name to Pasha after being repeatedly confused with Oksana Baiul, but later went back to Oksana.

In 1997–98, Grishuk/Platov In 1997–98, Grishuk and Platov used Memorial Requiem by Michael Nymann for the music in their free skating program and dedicated it to the people of Sarajevo.

Writer and figure skating historian Ellyn Kestnbaum called it "an intense, relentless, abstract free dance".

They won their third European Championships.

At the event, they were slashed in a practice collision with Anjelika Krylova / Oleg Ovsiannikov but were not seriously hurt and both teams said it was an accident.

Platov settled in New Jersey in 1998.

Platov coaches at Palm Beach Ice Works, West Palm Beach, Florida.