Denis Petrov

Denis Petrov
Petrov at the Chen Lu International Skating Club
Personal information
Full name	Denis Alekseyevich Petrov
Country represented	Unified Team  CIS  Soviet Union
Born	(1968-03-03) March 3, 1968 (age 49) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Former partner	Elena Bechke
Former coach	Tamara Moskvina
Former choreographer	Alexander Matveev Valeri Pecherski
Former skating club	Profsoyuz Leningrad
Retired	1992
Medal record Figure skating: Pairs Representing  CIS ( Unified Team) Winter Olympics 1992 Albertville Pairs European Championships 1992 Lausanne Pairs Representing  Soviet Union World Championships 1989 Paris Pairs European Championships 1991 Sofia Pairs

Denis Alekseyevich Petrov (Russian: Денис Алексеевич Петров; born March 3, 1968) is a Russian former pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Unified Team. With partner Elena Bechke, he is the 1992 Olympic silver medalist, the 1989 World bronze medalist, a two-time European silver medalist (1991–92), 1992 Soviet national champion.

Petrov began skating with Elena Bechke, two years his senior, in 1987. They trained with Tamara Moskvina at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg. They won their first international title at the 1988 Grand Prix International de Paris, although they missed the 1988 Olympic team as they finished fourth at the Soviet Figure Skating Championships. Their first appearance at the Worlds was at the 1989 World Championships. Again, Bechke/Petrov had finished fourth and initially did not qualify for the Soviet Worlds team, but they won a skate-off to replace an injured team. They captured the bronze medal at their first Worlds showing, but they again placed fourth at the Soviet Nationals in 1990, missing the World Championships. In 1991, they placed third at the Nationals and fourth at the Worlds. In 1992, they won the Soviet Nationals over the teams of Evgenia Shishkova / Vadim Naumov and Marina Eltsova / Andrei Bushkov (Bechke/Petrov's training partners and chief rivals, Natalia Mishkutenok / Artur Dmitriev, missed the Nationals but qualified for the Olympics as they were the reigning World Champions). Bechke/Petrov also won silver medals at the 1991 and 1992 European Championships, and the silver medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics behind Mishkutenok/Dmitriev. Their choreographer was Alexander Matveev. They retired from amateur competition after the 1992 Worlds.