Young Russian Pair Hopes for 2007 Podiums

Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov

July 16, 2006
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan 

After the 2006 Olympic Games, Russia's top two pairs teams retired from competition. That leaves the field open for some of the country's younger teams to come forward and continue Russia's rich tradition of pairs skating. One of the teams vying for the podium in future years will be that of Maria Mukhortova, a 20-year-old from St. Petersburg, and her partner, 22-year-old Maxim Trankov.

The duo teamed up in 2003 after Mukhortova split with former partner Pavel Lebedev, with whom she had twice finished fourth at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. Trankov had been skating with Natalia Shestakova. "We decided to change partners because there wasn't a good connection between our previous partners," Trankov stated. "Maria is a beautiful girl and a beautiful skater. She makes good jumps and throws. I like skating with her and we look great together." "Maxim is a good jumper," Mukhortova said. "His skating is very beautiful and he makes me feel safe in the lifts."

The new pair quickly moved on to the podium at Junior Worlds, winning a bronze medal in 2004 and the gold in 2005. They also took gold at the 2003 Czech Skate and Gdansk Cup, 2004 Junior Grand Prixs in China and Germany, and the 2004-05 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. This season, the couple finished 12th at the World Championships, third at Russian Nationals, fourth at the Cup of Russia and seventh at Skate Canada, their first major senior international. "Our goal was to just skate good programs this year and show all we can do," Trankov said. "We want to have the judges and people like us."

Trankov began skating at the age of nine. "My parents wanted to keep me busy and there was an ice rink close to our home," he recalled. "My parents weren't skaters, but they were sportsmen. My father was a horse rider and my mother was in athletics. She was a runner and did the 400 meter hurdles." He began his pairs career when he was eleven. "I was tall and my jumps were not so good when I was young," he said. "In pairs skating, boys and girls show more choreography and interpretation as a couple. It's not just about jumping."

Mukhortova first took to the ice when she was seven. "My mother liked skating and she brought me to the ice rink," she said. "She wasn't a skater. She was a runner. When I was 13, I decided I liked pairs skating and moved to St. Petersburg to train. It's not so boring as skating singles. I like to do the throws very much."

The pair is coached by Nikolai Velikov and Ludmila Velikova. They train on ice for two and a half hours a day five days a week on ice and another two and a half hours off ice in St. Petersburg. On Saturdays, they reduce their training to an hour on ice and an hour off ice.

Last season, they did a throw triple loop and throw triple salchow in their programs. They also did side-by-side triple salchows. "I like jumps now and can do all of them," Trankov said. "I even do triple axel in practice." For next season, they plan to upgrade their triple twist to a split triple twist and add some new lifts.

Last year, both of their programs were new, a change from previous seasons where they only had one new program. "If we like the music very much, we will hold it for a year," Trankov said. They are using "Russian Fantasy" for their short program and Sergei Rachmaninov's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" for the long. "I found the free program music," said Trankov. "I had a dream for a long time that I wanted to skate to it. We couldn't find music for a long time, but Maria had used this music before and she liked it, so we made the program. It's romantic and classical, beautiful music. That's our style."

"Maria likes nice, pretty and original music," he continued. "For our short program, we wanted to do something different from other couples. It's sweet and nice." Off ice, Mukhortova listens to Russian pop music, something nice and smooth like Sarah Brightman. Trankov likes American, French and Russian hip-hop and rap music.

Mukhortova's off ice interests include shopping, dancing, reading and listening to music. She collects pink bears and angels, while he collects pigs. Trankov likes skateboarding, reading and computers. They have their own web page in Russian. He also likes to play other sports like soccer, basketball, and volleyball. He also likes painting.

Mukhortova has finished high school and is taking a break from studies, while Trankov is taking classes at a sports college. He plans to be a choreographer. Mukhortova said, "I just want to be a housewife with a good life." The couple plans to skate for at least the next two Olympic seasons. "We would like to skate as long as Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov," Trankov said.