Sergei Shakhrai (Russian: Сергей Шахрай, b. June 28, 1958 in Soviet Union) was a Russian figure skater. He won the silver medal in pair skating with his partner Marina Cherkasova.
Cherkasova and Shakhrai trained in Moscow under the supervision of their coach, Stanislaw Schuck. They won the European title in 1979 and the World title in 1980, as well as the silver at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Cherkasova was only 15 years old when she competed at th...
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Sergei Shakhrai (Russian: Сергей Шахрай, b. June 28, 1958 in Soviet Union) was a Russian figure skater. He won the silver medal in pair skating with his partner Marina Cherkasova.
Cherkasova and Shakhrai trained in Moscow under the supervision of their coach, Stanislaw Schuck. They won the European title in 1979 and the World title in 1980, as well as the silver at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Cherkasova was only 15 years old when she competed at the Olympics. Shakhrai was 21.
Their main rivals included fellow Soviets Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev, whom they never defeated, Irina Vorobieva & Igor Lisovsky, Marina Pestova & Stanislav Leonovich, and Veronika Pershina & Marat Akbarov.
When the pair the first skated internationally in 1977, Shakhrai was approximately two feet taller than Cherkasova. This height difference facilitated innovation in twist and lift elements. In fact, they became the first pair to perform the split quadruple twist in 1978. Later, the judging standards were...
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