Petrova and Tikhonov

Alexei started skating in 1976 at age 4. In 1992, he was unable to find a partner and was sent to Japan to skate with Yukiko Kawasaki (pictured right @ 1993 NHK Trophy) in a deal between the Russian and Japanese skating federations. The highlights of this pairing were a third place finish at the 1993 NHK Trophy in Japan and fifteenth at the 1994 World Championships.

In 1994, the pair split up and Alexei was invited to join Tatiana Tarasova’s Russian All-Stars ice theater. He was paired with Inna Volyanskaya and skated in productions including Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Performances were skated on 10 by 10 meter ice surfaces. Alexei has great respect for Tatiana Tarasova. He felt that when he first started with the tour he was a good technical skater, but Tarasova helped bring out his artistic potential. Although he enjoyed skating in the shows and found it a great learning experience, he found that he missed competing immensely.

94worlds-2bw.jpg (8228 bytes)Maria Petrova (picture right w/Anton Sikharulidze @ the 1994 World Championships) started skating in 1986 at age 7. Although this was considered late by some standards, Maria proved she was able to handle this responsibility and became a reliable partner.

While Alexei was on tour, Maria Petrova was having a successful partnership with Anton Sikharulidze. In 1994 and 1995, Maria and Anton won the World Junior Championships. Yet, after the 1996 season, Masha and Anton made the decision to end their partnership.

At the same time, the Russian All-Stars were starting to wind down as Tatiana Tarasova was devoting more time to training her new student, Ilia Kulik.

Ludmila Velikova arranged for Alexei to skate a tryout with Maria. It was after one month of skating, that Alexei Tikhonov all but disappeared without a word to Maria. A choice he admits was a mistake. He then returned to 97nationscupbw.jpg (7658 bytes)show skating, this time with Torvill and Dean’s tour. After realizing his mistake, he called Velikova and was turned away since Maria had teamed with Teimuraz Pulin (pictured left at 1997 Nations Cup) and was loyal to her new partner.

After the 1998 season, Alexei had a tryout with Marina Eltsova, who had decided not to continue with partner, Andrei Bushkov. Alexei debated this partnership and decided not to pursue it. After hearing that Teimuraz Pulin decided to quit skating, Alexei called Velikova immediately. He apologized for his earlier behavior and expressed his interest in skating with Maria. She left this decision to Masha who said no. She said no several times over a two week period. Eventually, Alexei’s persistence was rewarded when she agreed to skate with him.