Marina Cherkasova
| Marina Cherkasova | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Marina Evgenievna Cherkasova | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |
 Soviet Union
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| Born | November 17, 1964 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former partner |
Sergei Shakhrai Rashid Kadyrkaev |
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| Former coach | Stanislav Zhuk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| Olympic medal record | ||
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| Figure skating | ||
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1980 Lake Placid | Pairs |
Marina Evgenievna Cherkasova (Russian: Марина Евгеньевна Черкасова; born November 17, 1964 in the Soviet Union) is a Russian retired pair skater. With Sergei Shakhrai, she won the 1979 European title at the age of 14. At 15, she was the 1980 Olympic silver medalist and 1980 World champion.
Cherkasova and Shakhrai trained in Moscow with Stanislav Zhuk. 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.
Cherkasova and Shakhrai were 12 and 18 respectively when they were paired together. Initially, there was a 35 cm height difference between the pair, with Cherkasova only 138 cm tall.
Cherkasova was 12 when the pair captured the bronze at their first European Championship in 1977. Their height difference facilitated innovation in twist and lift elements; they became the first pair to perform the split quadruple twist in 1978. Later, the judging standards were changed to value physical harmony between the partners, which handicapped Cherkasova and her partner.
They won the European title in 1979. By 1980 Cherkasova had grown 20 cm. The change affected their technical elements, however, the pair managed to win silver at 1980 Europeans, silver at the 1980 Olympics, and gold at Worlds. Cherkasova was only 15 years old when she competed at the Olympics.
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Wikipedia