Marina Klimova

Marina Klimova
Klimova and Ponomarenko in 1989
Personal information
Full name	Marina Vladimirovna Klimova
Country represented	Soviet Union  Unified Team
Born	(1966-07-28) 28 July 1966 (age 50) Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Former partner	Sergei Ponomarenko Oleg Volkov
Retired	1996
Medal record Figure skating Ice dancing Representing  CIS ( Unified Team) Olympic Games 1992 Albertville Ice dancing World Championships 1992 Oakland Ice dancing European Championships 1992 Lausanne Ice dancing Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1988 Calgary Ice dancing 1984 Sarajevo Ice dancing World Championships 1989 Paris Ice dancing 1990 Halifax Ice dancing 1985 Tokyo Ice dancing 1986 Geneva Ice dancing 1987 Cincinnati Ice dancing 1988 Budapest Ice dancing 1991 Munich Ice dancing European Championships 1989 Birmingham Ice dancing 1990 Leningrad Ice dancing 1991 Sofia Ice dancing 1985 Gothenburg Ice dancing 1986 Sarajevo Ice dancing 1987 Sarajevo Ice dancing 1984 Budapest Ice dancing

Marina Klimova

Medal record
Figure skating
Representing the  Soviet Union
	1988 Calgary	Ice dancing
	1984 Sarajevo	Ice dancing
Representing the  Unified Team
	1992 Albertville	Ice dancing

Marina Vladimirovna Klimova (Russian: Марина Владимировна Климова; born 28 July 1966) is a former competitive ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union and the Unified Team. With skating partner and husband Sergei Ponomarenko, she is the 1992 Olympic champion, the 1988 Olympic silver medalist, the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion, and a four-time European champion.

Klimova trained at Spartak in Moscow. Early in her career, she skated with Oleg Gennadyevich Volkov.

Klimova and Ponomarenko were fourth in their European Championships debut in 1983. Their breakthrough came the following season when they won the bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and 1984 European Championships. In 1985, they won their first World medal, silver. They were four-time consecutive World silver medalists from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, they also won the Olympic silver medal, behind Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin.

In 1989, Klimova and Ponomarenko won the first of their four consecutive European titles. They also won the 1989 World Championships and followed that up with another World gold the following year.

At the 1991 World Championships, they had a setback when they placed second to Isabelle Duchesnay & Paul Duchesnay. Four months before the Olympics, they decided to leave coach Natalia Dubova. They re-established themselves as the top ice dancers in the world by winning another 1992 European title and then capturing the 1992 Olympic title. They ended their season with their third World title. They retired from eligible skating after the World Championships and turned to professional and show skating.