Elene Gedevanishvili

Elene Gedevanishvili (Georgian: ელენე გედევანიშვილი, born 7 January 1990) is a Georgian former competitive figure skater. She is a two-time (2012, 2010) European bronze medalist. In winning the medal in 2010, Gedevanishvili became the first skater from Georgia to medal at an ISU Championships.^[1] She has competed at three Winter Olympics: Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

Elene Gedevanishvili ელენე გედევანიშვილი
Gedevanishvili in March 2012
Personal information
Country represented	Georgia
Born	(1990-01-07) 7 January 1990 (age 33) Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Coach	Craig Maurizi, Igor Krokavec
Former coach	Brian Orser, Ghislain Briand, Edouard Pliner, Konstantin Kostin, Robin Wagner, Elaine Zayak, Elena Buianova, Tamara Anjaparidze, Tatiana Tarasova, Galina Zmievskaya, Roman Serov, Viktor Kudriavtsev
Former choreographer	Irina Yaroshenko-Romanova, David Wilson, Elena Blagova, Nikolai Morozov
Skating club	Dinamo Tbilisi
Training locations	Hackensack, New Jersey
Former training locations	Toronto Boxborough, Massachusetts Wayne, New Jersey Moscow
Began skating	1993
Retired	2016?
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	165.93 2012 Europeans
Short program	61.92 2010 Winter Olympics
Free skate	108.79 2012 Europeans
Medal record Figure skating: Ladies' singles Representing  Georgia European Championships 2010 Tallinn Ladies' singles 2012 Sheffield Ladies' singles

Personal life

Elene Gedevanishvili was born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR.^[2] She is the elder sister of Dmitri Gedevanishvili, a competitive alpine skier.^[3] She graduated from Plymouth State University in Spring 2019 with Bachelor of science in Psychology of Exercise.^[4]

Gedevanishvili now works as an ice skating instructor at Cutting Edge Ice Academy, an ice hockey training facility in Elmwood Park, NJ.

Career

Early years

As a child, Gedevanishvili lived and trained in Georgia and went to training camps in Moscow, Russia. At the age of nine, she and her mother settled in Moscow and at age eleven, she began working with Elena Buianova (Vodorezova).^[3] She trained at CSKA Moscow with Buianova and Tatiana Tarasova. At the 2005–06 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Estonia, she became the first Georgian skater to win a Junior Grand Prix event.

Senior debut

Gedevanishvili made her senior international debut at the 2006 European Championships where she finished 5th. Her second senior competition was the 2006 Winter Olympics. She was 6th in the short program and finished 10th overall. She ended the season at the 2006 World Championships, placing 14th.

In October 2006, Gedevanishvili was forced to leave Russia after the Russian authorities revoked her mother's visa on a technicality.^[5] Her mother was given ten days to leave the country so Buianova recommended that the skater train in Tallinn, Estonia with Anna Levandi (Kondrashova) for her first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2006 Cup of China, which was to take place in three weeks.^[5] Shortly thereafter, Gedevanishvili contracted a case of whooping cough that went undiagnosed for several months.^[3] She withdrew from both of her Grand Prix events. In December 2006,^[3] she moved to Wayne, New Jersey to train with coach Galina Zmievskaya, former coach of Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul. She left Zmievskaya in April 2007 due to a personality conflict.

Gedevanishvili was awarded the Order of Honor by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for her achievements as an athlete and in recognition of her treatment in Russia.^[3] She moved to Hackensack, New Jersey to train with coaches Roman Serov and Viktor Kudriavtsev at the Ice House. In 2009, she changed coaches to Robin Wagner.^[6][7] She also occasionally worked with Roman Serov on her jumps and 1982 World Champion Elaine Zayak.^[7] Gedevanishvili can perform the Biellmann spin with a foot change.

2009–present

In 2009, Gedevanishvili finished 25th at Europeans, the lowest result at the event in her career, but then achieved a career-best result at the World Championships where she finished 10th. Her Worlds placement qualified her for her second Olympics.

Gedevanishvili became the first skater representing Georgia to medal at an ISU Championships when she won the bronze medal at the 2010 European Championships.^[1] She then competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics, placing 9th in the short program, 17th in the free skate, and 14th overall. At the final event of the season, the 2010 World Championships, she finished 18th.

In the 2010–11 season, Gedevanishvili finished 8th at the 2011 European Championships. She was able to repeat her career-best 10th-place finish at the World Championships. In July 2011, Gedevanishvili switched coaches to Brian Orser in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[8] On 28 January 2012, she won her second European bronze medal at the 2012 European Championships. She was 10th at the 2012 World Championships.

In the 2012–13 season, Gedevanishvili was 14th at European Championships. At the 2013 World Championships, she missed an opportunity to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics by finishing 29th, the lowest Worlds placement of her career. In the summer of 2013, Gedevanishvili moved from Toronto to Boxborough, Massachusetts in order to be closer to her family.^[9] Konstantin Kostin and Edouard Pliner became her coaches.^[9]

In September 2013, Gedevanishvili placed 6th at the Nebelhorn Trophy, the last Olympic qualifying event. As a result of her placement, Georgia received one of the six ladies' spots available to countries not having qualified at 2013 Worlds. Gedevanishvili switched coaches back to Brian Orser and Ghislain Briand after the Grand Prix series. Gedevanishvili placed 10th at European Championships and 19th at the 2014 Winter Olympics.^[4]

For the 2014-15 season, Gedevanishvili was assigned to the 2014 Skate America.^[10]

Currently, Gedevanishvili is a skating technique instructor for ice hockey players at Cutting Edge Ice Academy in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.^[11]

Programs

 

Gedevanishvili at the 2010 European Championships exhibition gala.

 

Gedevanishvili with the other medalists at the 2010 European Championships.

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2015-2016 ^[12]^[13]	Papa, Can You Hear Me? (from Yentl) by Michel Legrand performed by Barbra Streisand	Carmen by Georges Bizet
2014–2015 ^[2]^[14]	Papa, Can You Hear Me? (from Yentl) by Michel Legrand performed by Barbra Streisand Méditation (from Thaïs) by Jules Massenet	Carmen by Georges Bizet Burlesque: Tough Lover Express Show Me How You Burlesque
2013–2014 ^[15]	Romance (from The Blizzard) by Georgy Sviridov	Giselle by Adolphe Adam
2012–2013 ^[16]	Schindler's List by John Williams	Don Quixote by Ludwig Minkus	...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears
2011–2012 ^[17]	Tango Jalousie by Jacob Gade	Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Unusual Way by Nicole Kidman
2010–2011 ^[18]	Cell Block Tango (from Chicago (2002 film))	Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
2009–2010 ^[19]^[20]	Fever by Davenport	Carmen by Georges Bizet	I Wanna Be Loved By You by Marilyn Monroe
2008–2009 ^[21]	Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb	Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by Santa Esmeralda Besame Mucho by Perez Prado Historia de un amor by Perez Prado
2007–2008 ^[22]	Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb	Pretty Story by Francis Lai	Malaguena by Ernesto Lecuona
2006–2007 ^[23]	Two Guitars by Paul Mauriat	Flamenco Fantasia
2005–2006 ^[24]	Granada	Armenian Rhapsody by Ara Gevorgyan
2004–2005 ^[25]	The Mexican Hat Dance	Ballet égyptien by Alexandre Luigini
2003–2004 ^[26]	The Mexican Hat Dance	Ballet égyptien by Alexandre Luigini

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series (began in the 2014–15 season); JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International^[27]
Event	01–02	02–03	03–04	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16
Olympics					10th				14th				19th
Worlds					14th	17th	20th	10th	18th	10th	10th	29th		22nd
Europeans					5th	8th	7th	25th	3rd	8th	3rd	14th	10th	23rd
GP France								7th	7th
GP Cup of China						WD
GP NHK Trophy							8th			6th	5th	6th	9th	10th
GP Skate America							6th		6th	7th	7th		9th	7th
GP Skate Canada												5th			WD
Nebelhorn Trophy											2nd		6th
Finlandia Trophy								4th
Karl Schäfer					4th	1st
NRW Trophy								1st
Lombardia Trophy															8th
International: Junior^[27]
Junior Worlds			12th	5th				6th
JGP Final					7th
JGP Croatia			7th
JGP Estonia					1st
JGP France				17th
JGP Slovakia					3rd
JGP Ukraine				6th
EYOF				7th
Haabersti Cup				3rd
National^[27]
Georgian Champ.	4th	1st	1st J.
Team events
Japan Open												3rd T (5th P)
J. = Junior level; WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result; Medals awarded for team result only.

References

1. . International Skating Union. 23 January 2010. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
2. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014.
3. Flade, Tatjana (1 April 2007). "Georgian Figure Skater has High Hopes for 2007–08". Golden Skate. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
4. . Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
5. Mchedlishvili, Nona (20 October 2006). "Georgia: Russia's Crackdown Sends Olympian Packing". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. from the original on 29 June 2011.
6. Iorfida, Chris (24 February 2010). "Rochette 3rd behind Kim, Asada". CBC Sports. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
7. Herrmann, Suzanne (4 September 2009). "Elene Gedevanishvili – Elene at a Glance". AbsoluteSkating. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
8. Brodie, Rob (7 November 2012). "Elene Gedevanishvili Feeling the Music". IFS Magazine.
9. Rutherford, Lynn; Kany, Klaus-Reinhold (22 July 2013). "'Gladiator' Manella ousts 'Zorro' Messing in Aston". IceNetwork.
10. (PDF). July 18, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-22.
11. "Staff". Cutting Edge Ice Academy. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
12. [Lombardia Trophy 2015. Competition date 19 September 2015. Senior Ladies SP] (Steaming) (in Italian). Sesto, Italy: idealweb.tv. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
13. [Lombardia Trophy 2015. Competition date 20 September 2015. Senior Ladies FS] (Steaming) (in Italian). Sesto, Italy: idealweb.tv. 20 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
14. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015.
15. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014.
16. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 June 2013.
17. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012.
18. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.
19. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010.
20. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009.
21. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009.
22. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008.
23. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007.
24. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 July 2006.
25. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 19 May 2005.
26. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2004.
27. "Competition Results: Elene GEDEVANISHVILI". International Skating Union.

External links

  Media related to Elene Gedevanishvili at Wikimedia Commons

• Elene Gedevanishvili at the International Skating Union