UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 4, Page 3
September 22, 1994
Gold medalists; World's best ice dancers arrive on campus

     The 1994 Olympic Gold Medal and World Championship figure skaters
in dance Oksana Gritschuk and Evgeny Platov have joined the star-
studded family of athletes training at the University of Delaware.
     The Russian skaters came to campus earlier this month after
completing a 59-city international tour. They now are training for the
Russian championships in January with their coach, Nataliza Linitchuk.
     Linitchuk and her husband, Grennadiy Karpanosov, 1980 Olympic
gold medalists from the Soviet Union and top-ranked coaches in ice
dancing, recently joined the coaching staff at the invitation of Ron
Ludington, director of the Ice Skating Science Development Center.
     Gritschuk, 22, and Platov, 27, have been skating together for
five years under Linitchuk's tutelage. Gritschuk began skating at the
age of 5 and was a junior champion. Platov, also a junior champion,
began skating when he was 9 years old. In 1989, the team placed fifth
in the World Championships, moving up through the ranks to become Gold
medalists at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehamer, Norway.
     Adjusting to life at the University has not been difficult, the
skaters say, although Platov's wife is still in Moscow and they also
miss their friends there.
     As Russia moves to a free economy, the skaters had experienced
some problems, such as long distances to travel for practice and
having to wait in long food lines. They say they are delighted with
the UD's facilities and now are able to focus more time on their
skating.
     The couple spends up to seven hours each day on the ice. When
asked what they did with their free time, both laughed. "Polish my new
car," Platov replied. "Shopping," said Gritschuk.
     According to Jack O'Neill, Director or recreation and
intramurals, the University's figure skating program has reached a
high plateau and is the premier coaching center for ice dancing and
figure skating.
     With the arrival of the new coaching team and their champion
skaters from Russia, the Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan, Italy and the
United States, Ludington said no other training facility can compare
with the University of Delaware Ice Skating Science Development
Center.
     Among the skaters who have come to study at Delaware are Igor
Yaroshenka and Irinia Romanova, a husband-and-wife team who won the
Gold Medal in dance at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg in August.
     Silver medalist Angelika Krylova and her new partner Oleg
Ovsyannikov have come from Russia to begin training, and Americans Ron
Kravette and Amy Webster have moved from Boston to train with the
Russian coaches.
     For further information, call the arena at 831-2868.
                                                   -Sue Swyers Moncure