Nelli Zhiganshina
| Nelli Zhiganshina | |
|---|---|
Zhiganshina/Gazsi during the free dance at the 2007 German Championships
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| Personal information | |
| Full name | Nelli Nailevna Zhiganshina |
| Alternative names | Nelli Schiganschina |
| Country represented | Germany |
| Former country(ies) represented | Russia |
| Born |
31 March 1987 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Residence | Oberstdorf |
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Partner | Alexander Gazsi |
| Former partner | Denis Bazdirev (RUS) |
| Coach | Rostislav Sinicyn, Martin Skotnicky |
| Former coach | Alexander Zhulin, Oleg Volkov, Elena Kustarova, Svetlana Alexeeva |
| Choreographer | Stéphane Lambiel |
| Former choreographer | Ilia Averbukh, Maxim Staviski, Rostislav Sinicyn, Elena Kustarova, Natalia Ulianova |
| Skating club | EC Oberstdorf |
| Training locations | Oberstdorf |
| Former training locations | Moscow |
| Began skating | 1990 |
| ISU personal best scores | |
| Combined total | 154.27 2013 Worlds |
| Short dance | 62.27 2014 World |
| Free dance | 93.68 2013 Worlds |
Nelli Nailevna Zhiganshina (Russian: Нелли Наильевна Жиганшина; born 31 March 1987) is a Russian-born German ice dancer. With Alexander Gazsi, she is a six-time German national champion (2007, 2011–2015) and has won twelve international medals. They have placed as high as 6th at the European Championships and 10th at the World Championships.
Nelli Zhiganshina was born on 31 March 1987 in Moscow. She is the elder sister of Ruslan Zhiganshin, who is a competitive ice dancer for Russia. Their mother is a children's skating coach.
Zhiganshina passed a German citizenship test in 2011 and filed documents to renounce her Russian citizenship, as required by Germany. In November 2013, it was announced that she had been released by Russia, allowing her to take German citizenship.
Zhiganshina began skating in 1990 at the age of three. She took up ice dancing at 12. Zhiganshina competed with Denis Bazdirev for Russia until the end of 2004, appearing four times on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series.
In June 2005, Zhiganshina had a tryout with Alexander Gazsi in Moscow and agreed to skate with him for Germany. At the start of their partnership, they trained mainly in Moscow with coaches Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alexeeva and, during summers, in Berlin and Chemnitz due to Gazsi's army service. They later changed coaches to Alexander Zhulin and Oleg Volkov, also in Moscow.
Zhiganshina/Gazsi won bronze at their first German Championships in 2006, their only competition of the season. The next season they won their first national title, placed 16th at the 2007 Europeans and 18th at Worlds.
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