Marina Zueva: teacher of champions

In the small American town of Canton, near Detroit, one of the best figure skaters lives and works. Marina Zueva - coach of the highest category, has brought up more than one generation of champions. However, the students' rewards are not the main distinguishing feature of her work. All her compositions are characterized by a high degree of artistry, individuality and beauty.

Sports career

Marina Zueva was born in 1956. Figure skating has become a part of her life in early childhood. As a skater, she conducted her professional career, performing in doubles. The partner of Zueva was Andrey Vitman. They took prizes at the championships of the USSR, fell into the national team of the country. At the world championships, figure skaters were consistently among the top ten. The coach of the athletes was the famous Elena Chaikovskaya.

In the late 70's, Marina completed her sports career. Zuyeva faced the issue of further activities. Being very versatile, creative kind, she accepts a decision unexpected for the sportswoman - she goes to GITIS. In this elite educational institution, preparing the future masters of cinema, she studied the course with the legendary Mark Zakharov. But the figure skating remained forever in the girl's heart. Marina Zueva worked in parallel as a choreographer in her native CSKA.

Coaching activities

Perhaps the most important and favorite students of the specialist are Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. In the eighties she becomes the coach of this beautiful couple. However, this was accompanied by a not very clear story.

According to the legendary coach Stanislav Zhuk, Marina Zueva and figure skater Anna Kondrashova accused him of unworthy behavior towards young athletes. The case fell into the Central Committee of the CPSU, and this was the beginning of the coach's baiting. As a result, a promising young couple Gordeeva and Grinkova was transferred from an experienced mentor to a group of Zuyeva who began her coaching work. However, Marina herself denies this fact, saying that in those years the authority of Stanislav Zhuk was too great to cause him to be persecuted.

Be that as it may, Marina Zueva got her chance and started working with young skaters. It expands the scope of the usual ideas about figure skating. In arbitrary programs, she introduces elements of circus, ballet, and other arts. The received education of the director in GITIS also helps her to find new ideas and forms. Marina Zuyeva's favorite themes have always been classical works, in which she drew inspiration for her programs.

It was to the music of the "Moonlight Sonata" that Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov won at the Olympics in Seoul in 1988. They won their second Olympic gold in 1994. After that, they went into professional figure skating, but Marina Zueva continued to cooperate with them. After the sudden death of Grinkov in 1995, Ekaterina Gordeeva continued to perform in singles for another three years. All this time the teacher was next to her beloved student.

Moving to North America

In 1991, the coaching career of Marina Zueva was at home in a deep crisis. In her native CSKA there was no work, and a highly qualified specialist was not destiny. Everything changed the job offer in North America. Marina Zueva moved to Canada, signing the first contract for a period of three years. Here she trains local couples, her son Feodor Andreev. Among her students was a Canadian single woman, Karin Kadevi.

At the beginning of the two thousandth she moved to Detroit. Together with another trainer from the former Union, Igor Shpilband, she organizes cooperation. He was responsible for the technical elements, Marina Zueva polished an arbitrary and original program, choreographed.

Giving her life to work, she treated her beloved disciples as her own children. Therefore, her stellar students worked with her for more than ten years, without thinking about the transition to other specialists. Among its pupils, two pairs should be singled out: Scott Moir and Tessa Werth and Meryl Davis and Charlie White. These two duos occupied the top steps of the podium at two Olympic Games in a row - in 2010 and 2014, alternately playing silver and gold medals.

Marina Zueva. Personal life

Sport largely replaced the legendary coach family life. Today Marina Zueva is not married. However, she has an adult son, of which she always responds with great pride. He performed in singles in figure skating, then because of injury, he stopped his career. Fedor Andreev also professionally engaged in auto racing, collecting his first car almost in his garage.

After graduating from an economic college, he received an invitation to work in a Boston financial company.

Marina Zueva and to this day continues active coaching activities, every day opening the world to new talents and inventing extraordinarily beautiful programs.