Families of skaters. Who skates or doesn't skate? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Families of skaters. Who skates or doesn't skate?

Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I know for awhile that Viktor Petrenko's daughter Viktoria trained, and she looked very meticulous in terms of technique, but I don't know whether she still skates.

How great that Klimova and Ponomarenko's son is skating. I have such an affection for them--probably my favorite ice dancers ever. And I love a lot of ice dancers!
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
I know for awhile that Viktor Petrenko's daughter Viktoria trained, and she looked very meticulous in terms of technique, but I don't know whether she still skates.

How great that Klimova and Ponomarenko's son is skating. I have such an affection for them--probably my favorite ice dancers ever. And I love a lot of ice dancers!

Viktoria plays tennis now, as does Oksana Grishuk's daughter
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Really? That's an interesting crossover. Good to hear that Viktoria is enjoying a sport she chose.
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
More known examples:

Scott Moir's brother Danny skated with his cousin (at some international junior competitions?) - This cousin and another Moir cousin became World Synchronized Champion.

Ksenia Makarova's parents were European Champions in Pairs Skating.

Andrei Bukin' son (Bestemianova/Bukin) Ivan skates at the Junior Grand Prix circuit with Alexandra Stepanova.

Nelli Zhiganshina's younger brother Ruslan skates with Victoria Sinitsina (even beat her at Cup of Russia).

(Viktoria and Joshi Helgesson)

The Gilles family (but only Piper left now?)

Michael Brezina's sister Eliska Brezinova skates now at the Junior Grand Prix.

Takahito Mura's dad Takashi competed at World level in singles and pairs - won a silver medal at the 1976 ISU Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Takahiko Kozuka's dad Tsuguhiko competed at the 1968 Olympics in singles.

Didn't realize Ruslan Zhiganshin and Nelli Zhiganshina were siblings! You learn something new every day haha.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Katia Shpilband just finished fourth at Midwestern Sectionals in Junior Ladies and will be moving on to Nationals. Her step sequences and basic skating are to die for. (DUH!)
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
The daughters of Naomi Lang, Shae Lynne Bourne, and Natalia Michkoutienok all skate. Natalia and Naomi were posting on facebook about how excited they were when their daughters landed their first axel.

Maybe one day, Natasha Hanline (Natalia's daughter) will skate with Artur Jr!
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
The daughters of Naomi Lang, Shae Lynne Bourne, and Natalia Michkoutienok all skate. Natalia and Naomi were posting on facebook about how excited they were when their daughters landed their first axel.

Shae Lynn Bourne has a daughter? I missed that. I know she has a newborn son, who did quite a brilliant job at playing an adorable little spider in the Family Show, but I wasn't aware of any other kids. But, yes, that is so sweet that the moms are so excited about their kids skating. :) Natalia (I'm assuming it's her, the username is Mishkutenok) posted a video of Natasha skating on youtube-she is adorable, as you might expect.

Maybe one day, Natasha Hanline (Natalia's daughter) will skate with Artur Jr!

:laugh: Given their age gap, I don't see that happening, even if Natasha ever decides to switch to pairs when she gets older. But, there may be hope for another "Mishkutenok & Dmitriev" team if Natalia's daughter ever skaters with Artur's youngest son, who according to Wikipedia, is around 4 or 5 years old. ;)
 
Last edited:

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
I mentioned upthread that I thought Maxim Naumov skates. He does, and he qualified for junior nationals at the Juvenile level this year. Daniel Petrenko (Vladimir's son and Viktor's nephew) qualified in novice men.
 

wishonastar

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
I find it interesting that many of the skaters with children that I been able to chat with have said they had no interest in their children getting into competitive skating. They probably remember the years and years of grueling work, the costs, and the many heartbreaks?
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
I find it interesting that many of the skaters with children that I been able to chat with have said they had no interest in their children getting into competitive skating. They probably remember the years and years of grueling work, the costs, and the many heartbreaks?

Not too mention, it is probably challenging at times to compete in the same sport where mom and/or dad excelled in. I have respect for all figure skaters, but especially for the kids and family members of famous skaters. :agree:
 

Dragonlady

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
I find it interesting that many of the skaters with children that I been able to chat with have said they had no interest in their children getting into competitive skating. They probably remember the years and years of grueling work, the costs, and the many heartbreaks?

We had neighbours who were both principal dancers with the National Ballet of Canada. I asked her once if she would want her daughter to be a dancer and she said "Oh Lord, no! It's much too difficult a life". My neighbour's daughter at one point wanted to be a dancer but her mother said she didn't see in her daughter the level of burning desire and dedication necessary to be successful but she would let her daughter make her own decision in that regard.

For children of superstars like Yagudin and Marinen, in addition to excelling in a sport with a small number of truly elite player, their parents are both Olympic and multiple World Champions. What if your child is only a pretty good skater. It's hard to follow a legendary parent in any profession - think Julian Lennon or Jacob Dylan. Bukin's son is a very successful junior ice dancer, but it's hard to follow directly in the footsteps of a parent.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
My neighbour's daughter at one point wanted to be a dancer but her mother said she didn't see in her daughter the level of burning desire and dedication necessary to be successful but she would let her daughter make her own decision in that regard.
This is more true than anything, I suspect. You look at "legacies" in any sport and it seems to be true. Michael Jordan's kids play basketball but not at the same level as dad and while they got scholarships to college (Illinois and a D2 school), they sat the bench or had spot roles and never became stars. Carl Eller's (Purple People Eaters Defense for the Vikings) son started at Northwestern on a football scholarship, but never played a snap of football and ended up graduating with honors with a Mandarin Chinese and Economics double major. You don't see the same level of drive from the second/third generation most of the time. A couple rare exceptions: Peyton and Eli Manning and Drake Dunsmore who all have that drive and determination their dads instilled in them.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Agree that if a parent was a star athlete, living up to his/her success is easier said than done for the child.
So I agree too that exceptions might be rare -- but I would not necessarily say extremely rare. I would be the first to admit that my knowledge of sports is quite limited, but off the top of my head, I can think of more exceptions (and am sure that others here can rattle off even more):

- Ken Griffey Sr. + Jr.
- Cal Ripken Sr. + Jr. + Billy Ripken
- Dale Earnhardt Sr. + Jr.
- The Howe family of hockey greats -- Gordie + two sons??
- Nastia Liukin's father was an Olympic gymnast, wasn't he?
- Tyler Phinney + his mother + his father all have been cycling Olympians for the USA. [Edited to correct the name. Thanks to ucrgirl for setting me straight. :bow:]
- An American family (the Halls?) had three generations of Olympic swimmers, I believe.

Maybe not quite analogous, but from sports journalism:
- Jim McKay + his son Sean McManus (most recently head of CBS Sports)
- Curt Gowdy Sr. + Jr. (I forget which network is Junior's home at the moment, but he is a sports producer at the highest level).
 
Last edited:

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Even in acting there aren't that many outstanding actors whos parents were great actors.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Football QB legend Joe Montana's son had some success at Notre Dame, but not enough to go anywhere.

You see a lot of family dynasties in the Iditarod but not many champion generations.
Dick Mackey and sons Rick and Lance have all won.
Mitch Seavey and Dallas Seavey both won (and Gpa Seavey helped start the iditarod and finished 2nd in the first race).
The osmars have a couple iirc.

It's interesting. Someone should do a study as to why that is.
 

ucrgirl

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
- Ken Griffey Sr. + Jr.
- Cal Ripken Sr. + Jr. + Billy Ripken
- Dale Earnhardt Sr. + Jr.
- The Howe family of hockey greats -- Gordie + two sons??
- Nastia Liukin's father was an Olympic gymnast, wasn't he?
- Davis Phinney + his mother + his father all have been cycling Olympians for the USA
- An American family (the Halls?) had three generations of Olympic swimmers, I believe.

Cycling fan nerd to the rescue! Davis Phinney is the Father and Tyler Phinney is the son.

Impressive list, though.
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003

Thanks for the link, I remember reading the article when it first came out. :) I can't imagine the kind of presure she faced, even if it was well intentioned and coming from a good place, from people to become a star figure skater like her parents. Figure skating is a hard enough sport as it is, to have the shadow of mom and/or dad's achievements in the same sport follow you is even harder. But, when your mom was a child prodigy in the sport, and when your late father, whom you strongly resemble, were perhaps the best known pairs skating team in history of the sport-that pressure must have been enormous.
Hopefully, Daria is happy with whatever she chooses to do in her life. :)
 
Top