Kovarikova and Novotny | Golden Skate

Kovarikova and Novotny

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
IIRC, they are married.

They turned pro after winning 95 worlds.

Went to 2 Olys, finishing 4th in Albertville and 6th in Lillehammer.

Worlds: 8th in 1990, 6th in 91, took silver medal in 92, 4th in 93, 5th in 94 and took gold in 95.

Never did well at Euros, only making the podium only once: silver in 95.

They seem to have had moderate success as pros. I really can't comment on their skating as they never really moved me either one way or the other, they were "just kinda there" for me. Sorry.
 

Evdokia

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 24, 2003
I liked them for their classical elegance and grace on the ice (especially Radka Kovarikova) and I think they were just a bit unlucky for having to skate against G&G, Mishkutenok/Dmitriew and other many strong pairs at the beginning of the 90-ies (IMO pairs skating was much more interesting that time than it is currently). It's kind of wrong time, wrong place. :(
 

zilam98

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Thanks for the information, guys!

Actually, I have seen only a few of their Stars on Ice performances. The one that I really like from them is their program to the song "Still in Love with You" or something to that title. Does anyone here know whose song is that?
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think they won a World Pro title, too, but it was controversial. They had many mistakes and then she caught her skate on the rink border lights because they were skating too close to the boards. They were allowed to re-start their program and skated it cleanly to win. All the previous mistakes were ignored.
 

brenlynn

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 9, 2004
they most reccently skated in the World Team Challenge in December that aired on the Oxygen network here in the states. they represented team europe.
 

pipsqueak

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Yes, she is quite a few years younger than he, maybe more like 13-14. I think he's 40-ish now and she is in her upper 20's. They used to train at Lake Arrowhead, getting married at home (an ex-Soviet bloc country????? Does anyone remember which?) near the end of their stay there. I saw them recently on a show--(World Team Challenge?)--and they looked much more relaxed than when they left the amateur ranks. I remember thinking that I enjoyed the number more than I did their competitive skating.
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
They represented the Czech Republic. There were a couple of articles about them in skating magazines this year. I think they organize a tour in Europe.
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
K&N's country

Kovarikova (pronounced ko-var-zhi-KO-vah) and Novotny represent the Czech Republic. They were World Champions in Pairs in 1995 and then turned pro, where they did a lot of competitions (it seemed like they were at every pro competiton that had a pairs category). They skated Stars on Ice in 1997.

I wasn't aware they were still competing. That's very good to know, because I always thought they were a very good pair team, one that still kept up their technical skills even after turning pro.

Also on the subject of pairs teams that went pro, does anyone know why Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov stopped skating pairs together? I know Denis is touring with SOI, but he doesn't do very much. They were a great pairs team as pros (I don't remember them as eligibles; I was 5 when they were. They won silver at the 1992 Olys, didn't they?)
 

Grgranny

Da' Spellin' Homegirl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
As far as I know, Elena wanted to settle down, was coaching, got married and had a baby. She just didn't want to tour any more.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
According to SOI's website, Denis is not touring with SOI (at least in the US). I think his last year with US SOI was during Kristi's last year - they needed a guy to perform pairs skating with her. I loved how they skated together during the Moulin Rouge show.

Last I heard, Denis and Lu Chen have been dating and are now both coaching in New Rochelle, NY.

GrGranny's right about why they split and what Elena's been up to.

I'm glad that Denis and Elena were able to remain on good terms after their divorce and give us many years of pleasure during their years with SOI.
 
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