Andrei Griazev

Infobox Figure skater
title= Andrei Griazev


caption= Andrei Griazev in October 2005
country= RUS
dateofbirth= birth date and age|1985|7|26
residence= Moscow
height= 176 cm
weight=
partner=
coach= Elena Buianova, Tatiana Tarasova
formercoach= Alexei Yagudin, Alexei Mishin
choreographer=Mikhail Pochitalin
skating club= Vorobiovye Gory
retired =
combined total= 206.13
combined date= 2007 Cup of Russia
SP score= 71.00
SP date= 2005 Cup of China
FS score= 135.18
FS date= 2007 Cup of Russia

Andrei Griazev ( _ru. Андрей Грязев born July 26, 1985, in Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian figure skater. He is the 2007 Russian national champion and 2004 World Junior Champion.

Career

Griazev began skating at the age of four. At the age of 11, he moved from Perm to St. Petersburg, to train with famous coach Alexei Mishin at the Yublieney training center.

During his time training with Mishin, Griazev got the triple Axel. After several years with Mishin, Griazev placed a disappointing 14th at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 2002. After this, Mishin sent Griazev to work with Mishin's wife, Tatiana Mishina. Frustrated and disappointed, Griazev left Yublieney, went home to Perm, and did no skating at all for several months. Reportedly, his mother had contact with former training mate Alexei Yagudin, who suggested Griazev come to the United States to train with Tatiana Tarasova. Griazev did and became the 2004 World Junior Champion. That same year, he placed third at Russian senior nationals and earned a chance to compete at the European Figure Skating Championships and World Figure Skating Championships, where he placed 8th and 12th, respectively.

In 2005, Griazev suffered a back injury and had to withdraw from Skate America. He struggled at Cup of Russia, placing 7th, but then earned silver at Russian Nationals. He went again to European championships, placing an impressive 5th, and moved up a place at Worlds to 11th.

2006 proved to be a year of highs and lows. As Tarasova had returned to Russia, Griazev did also, training with both Tarasova and Elena Vodorezova. Griazev had a very disappointing performance at Skate Canada International, placing 9th out of 11 men. The very next week, however, he won the bronze medal at Cup of China, his first senior Grand Prix medal. At that competition, he was in the lead after the short program, and earned new personal best scores for his short program, long program, and overall total.

What looked like a near certainty to medal at Russian nationals faltered, when Griazev struggled badly in both programs and placed a disappointing 9th. He missed going to Europeans and the Olympics. Due to the withdrawal of other skaters, Griazev was sent to 2006 Worlds, where he had uninspiring qualifying and short programs, but performed a nearly flawless long program.

Griazev returned to Russia in March 2006 to take part in the "Italian Carnival" skating tour produced by Ilia Averbukh. He had also taken part in this tour the previous year. His touring schedule was cut short when he suffered a meniscus tear and had to leave the tour to undergo surgery.

For the 2006-2007 season, Griazev continued to struggle with consistency, as well has suffering illness at several competitions. At both the 2006 Trophee Eric Bompard and 2006 Cup of Russia, he finished 7th. He twice finished third behind Ilia Klimkin and Sergei Dobrin at two Russia Cup events going into 2007 Russian Championships.

At the 2007 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Griazev was finally able to put together two good programs. Although trailing Andrei Lutai after the short program, Griazev managed to perform a near error-free long program to win his first national title.

After that, he went to the 2007 European Figure Skating Championships, where he was unable to maintain the level of competition he showed at Nationals. Griazev finished 16th. He was not placed on the Russian team for the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships. However, he did spend spring 2007 again on Ilia Averbukh's skating tour, which traveled across Russia, as well as shows in Lithuania, Latvia and Israel. His programs on tour were to "Harlem Nocturne", by Earl Hagen, and "You can leave your hat on", by Joe Cocker.

For the current (2007-2008) season, Griazev was initially assigned to the Nebelhorn Trophy competition in Oberdstorf, Germany, but had to withdraw due to injury. On the figure skating Grand Prix series, he recently won bronze at the Cup of Russia in Moscow, and is next scheduled for the NHK Trophy in Sendai, Japan.

Programs

Competitive highlights

External links

* http://andrei-griazev.com/ (see media links)
*
* http://skate-gryazev.narod.ru

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