Nelli Zhiganshina

Nelli Zhiganshina

Zhiganshina and Gazsi during the free dance at the 2007 German Championships
Personal information
Full name	Nelli Nailevna Zhiganshina
Alternative names	Nelli Schiganschina
Country represented	Germany
Former country(ies) represented	Russia
Born	March 31, 1987 (1987-03-31) (age 24)
Residence	Oberstdorf
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Partner	Alexander Gazsi
Former partner	Denis Bazdyrev (RUS)
Coach	Rostislav Sinicyn Martin Skotnicky
Former coach	Alexander Zhulin Oleg Volkov Elena Kustarova Svetlana Alexeeva
Choreographer	Maxim Staviski Rostislav Sinicyn
Former choreographer	Elena Kustarova Natalia Ulianova
Skating club	EC Oberstdorf
Current training locations	Oberstdorf
Former training locations	Moscow
Began skating	1990
World standing	21 (As of 17 June 2011 (2011 -06-17)[update])[1]
Season's bests	16 (2010–2011)[2]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	140.69 2011 Europeans
Short dance:	57.82 2011 Europeans
Free dance	82.87 2011 Europeans

Nelli Nailevna Zhiganshina (Russian: Нелли Наильевна Жиганшина; born March 31, 1987 in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian ice dancer who currently competes for Germany with Alexander Gazsi. They are two-time (2007, 2011) German national champions.

Career

Zhiganshina began skating in 1990 at the age of three. She took up ice dancing at 12.^[3] Zhiganshina competed with Denis Bazdyrev for Russia until 2004. In 2005, she teamed up with Alexander Gazsi to compete for Germany; they trained mainly in Moscow, Russia, with coaches Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alexeeva and, during summers, in Berlin and Chemnitz due to Gazsi's military service.^[3] They later changed coaches to Alexander Zhulin and Oleg Volkov, also in Moscow.

Zhiganshina and Gazsi won bronze at their first German Championships in 2006, their only competition of the season. The next season they won their first national title, placed 16th at the 2007 Europeans and 18th at Worlds.

During the 2007-08 season, they made their debut on the Grand Prix circuit, placing 7th at Skate Canada and 8th at Cup of Russia. They won silver at German Nationals and again finished 18th at Worlds.

During the 2008-09 season, Zhiganshina and Gazsi did not compete on the Grand Prix circuit. Zhiganshina continued to visit Germany on a three-month tourist visa because the low income from the sport meant she did not qualify for residency and Germany did not have as high caliber ice dancers as Moscow to train alongside.^[4] Although favored to win 2009 German Nationals,^[4] they placed second and missed the European and World teams. They considered leaving competition to focus on show skating and worked with circus acrobats in Moscow but decided to continue their competitive career and moved to Oberstdorf, Germany in spring 2009 to work with coaches Rostislav Sinicyn and Martin Skotnicky.^[5] During the 2009-10 season, they placed third at German Nationals and were not sent to the European or World Championships. They were not eligible for the 2010 Winter Olympics due to Zhiganshina not having German citizenship.

During the 2010-11 season, Zhiganshina and Gazsi again received no Grand Prix invitations but won three medals at senior B events. They won their second national title and were selected to compete at the European Championships for the first time in three years. At Europeans, they were 8th in the short dance,^[6] then edged past Nora Hoffmann and Maxim Zavozin by 0.39 points into 7th place overall after the free dance. This was the first top-ten result for German ice dancers since 2003 (Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse).^[7] The result gave Germany two berths to the 2012 European ice dancing event.^[8] Zhiganshina and Gazsi finished 11th at the 2011 World Championships, earning invitations to two Grand Prix events the following season.

In preparation for the 2011–2012 season, Zhiganshina and Gazsi went to Sofia, Bulgaria, to work with choreographer Maxim Staviski, with whom they also worked in previous years.^[9] They began the season at 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy where they won the silver medal.^[10][11] They are assigned to 2011 Skate America and 2011 NHK Trophy as their Grand Prix events.

Personal life

Zhiganshina is pursuing German citizenship and has passed a citizenship test in 2011.^[5] Her brother, Ruslan Zhiganshin, is also a competitive ice dancer, representing Russia.^[12] Their mother, who was born in Kazakhstan of German descent,^[4] was a children's skating coach.^[3]

Programs

(with Gazsi)

Season	Short dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2011–2012	Desperados from Once Upon a Time in Mexico Mambo:	Romeo + Juliet by Craig Armstrong
2010–2011	Unknown from Cirque du Soleil by unknown	Liebesträume by Franz Liszt The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
	Original dance
2009–2010
2007–2008	Ukrainian dance: Black Eyebrows and Hazel Eyes Marusia performed by Joseph Kobzon	La Boheme performed by Charles Aznavour

Competitive highlights

(with Gazsi)

Event	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12
World Championships		18th	18th			11th
European Championships		16th				7th
German Championships	3rd	1st	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st
Cup of Russia			8th
NHK Trophy							4th
Skate America							4th
Skate Canada			7th
Golden Spin of Zagreb			5th
Nebelhorn Trophy						4th	2nd
NRW Trophy						2nd
Ondrej Nepela Memorial				1st	6th	3rd	1st
Pavel Roman Memorial				1st	3rd	1st

References

1. ^ "ISU World Standings for Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance : Ice Dance". International Skating Union. June 17, 2011. http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsdance.htm. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
2. ^ "ISU Judging System - Season Bests Total Scores 2010/2011 : Ice Dance". International Skating Union. April 30, 2011. http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/sb2010-11/sbtsdto.htm. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Mittan, Barry (December 17, 2007). "German Dancers Make Good Start". SkateToday. http://www.skatetoday.com/2007/12/17/german-dancers-make-good-start/. Retrieved August 8, 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Mai, Marina (December 15, 2008). ""Wir passen zueinander wie zwei Puzzleteile" [We fit together like two pieces of a puzzle]" (in German). Die Tageszeitung. http://www.taz.de/regional/nord/hamburg/artikel/?dig=2008%2F12%2F15%2Fa0175&cHash=f6364b092f. Retrieved September 8, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Flade, Tatjana (August 14, 2011). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi turn disappointment into strength". GoldenSkate. http://www.goldenskate.com/2011/08/zhiganshina-and-gazsi-turn-disappointment-into-strength/. Retrieved August 21, 2010. 
6. ^ Flade, Tatiana (January 26, 2011). "Pechalat and Bourzat grab lead in the Short Dance". GoldenSkate.com. http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/euros_sd.shtml. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
7. ^ Flade, Tatiana (January 29, 2011). "Pechalat and Bourzat dance to first European title". GoldenSkate.com. http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/euros_fd.shtml. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
8. ^ "Hecken von Rang neun enttäuscht". SID Newsticker. January 28, 2011. http://www.zeit.de/sport-newsticker/2011/1/28/264312xml/komplettansicht. Retrieved September 8, 2011. 
9. ^ Gerontiev, Yavor (June 13, 2011). "Двойка от Германия иска на олимпиада с Максим [Pair from Germany consults Maxim]" (in Bulgarian). 24 Chasa. http://www.24chasa.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=926123. Retrieved June 15, 2011. 
10. ^ Flade, Tatjana (September 22, 2011). "Zhiganshina and Gazsi dance to lead at Nebelhorn". GoldenSkate. http://www.goldenskate.com/2011/09/zhiganshina-and-gazsi-dance-to-lead-at-nebelhorn/. Retrieved September 22, 2011. 
11. ^ Flade, Tatjana (September 24, 2011). "Hubbell and Donohue capture gold at Nebelhorn Trophy". GoldenSkate. http://www.goldenskate.com/2011/09/hubbell-and-donohue-capture-gold-at-nebelhorn-trophy/. Retrieved September 24, 2011. 
12. ^ Nelli Zhiganshina & Alexander Gazsi at the International Skating Union

External links

• Nelli Zhiganshina & Alexander Gazsi at the International Skating Union

Persondata
Name	Zhiganshina, Nelli
Alternative names	Zhiganshina, Nailya
Short description	Russian-German ice dancer
Date of birth	March 31, 1987
Place of birth	Moscow, Russia
Date of death
Place of death