Oleg OVSYANNIKOV

As a four-year-old, Oleg Ovsyannikov fell ill with pneumonia and after his recovery, doctors recommended to his parents that he enroll in some kind of sport, preferably in a fresh air environment. Initially a singles skater, Ovsyannikov switched to ice dance at the age of 10. He was first partnered with Maria Orlova, and they won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Junior Championships. He later formed a partnership with Yelena Kustarova and they won bronze medals at the 1992 Grand Prix International de Paris and the 1993 Nations Cup.

In mid-94, Ovsyannikov teamed up with Anzhelika Krylova and together they became one of the top ice dance couples in the late 1990s, overshadowed only by Pasha Grishchuk and Yevgeny Platov. Krylova/Ovsyannikov won Olympic silver in 1998 (behind Grishchuk and Platov), were World Champions in 1998 and 1999 (Grishchuk and Platov were absent), European Champions in 1999, won silvers at the 1996 and 1997 World and 1996-98 European Championships (behind Grishchuk and Platov) and a bronze at the 1995 European Championships.

Ovsyannikov and Krylova were planning to compete also in 2000 and had prepared programs and costumes, however, doctors advised Krylova to retire due to a risk of paralysis stemming from her back problem. So they turned to the much less demanding and more remunerative professional skating. They won the 2001 World Professional Championships together, but the continuing back problems forced Krylova to retire from sports soon after that, and Ovsyannikov also decided to retire. After his retirement from sports, Ovsyannikov worked as a figure skating coach. He coached in Newark, Delaware and Austria, but in 2007 was named head coach of the Russian national synchronized skating team and moved back to Russia.