Ksenia Smetanenko, married name: Gonchar (Russian: Ксения Гончар (Сметаненко), born 26 March 1979)[1] is a former ice dancer who competed internationally for Russia and Armenia. With Samuel Gezalian, she is the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion and competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics for Armenia. Earlier in her career, she competed for Russia with Igor Lukanin.

Ksenia Smetanenko
Other namesKsenia Gonchar
Xenia Smetanenko
Born (1979-03-26) 26 March 1979 (age 45)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Figure skating career
CountryArmenia
Russia
Retired1998

Career

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Smetanenko originally competed for Russia. With Igor Lukanin, she placed third at the 1992 Russian National Junior Championships and tenth at the 1993 World Junior Championships for Russia. They also appeared twice at the German Championships.

In 1997, Smetanenko teamed up with Samuel Gezalian and began representing Armenia. Placing sixth at the 1997 Karl Schäfer Memorial, they qualified a spot for Armenia at the Olympics. Smetanenko/Gezalian then won gold at the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb and placed 20th at the 1998 European Championships before competing at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where they placed 24th. They retired from competition at the end of the season.

Personal life

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Smetanenko was born in Moscow.[2] She married former professional hockey player Sergei Gonchar now assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom she met at the 1998 Winter Olympics.[3] They have two daughters, Natalie and Victoria.

Competitive highlights

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With Gezalian for Armenia

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International
Event 1997–98
Winter Olympics 24th
World Championships 27th
European Championships 20th
Golden Spin of Zagreb 1st
Karl Schäfer Memorial 6th

With Lukanin for Russia and Germany

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International
Event 1991–92 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97
World Junior Champ. 10th
National
Russian Junior Champ. 3rd
German Champ. 5th 4th

References

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  1. ^ "Ksenya Smetanenko". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  2. ^ "Our Founders". Big Dreams Children's Foundation. Archived from the original on 2014-03-11.
  3. ^ Khmylev, Olga (11 March 2013). "Checking in with one of Russia's greatest defensemen". Hooked on Hockey Magazine.