Melissa Gregory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Melissa Gregory
Gregory & Petukhov at the 2004 Four Continents Championships
Personal Info
Country: Flag of the United States United States
Date of birth: May 22, 1981 (1981-05-22) (age 27)
Residence: Newark, Delaware
Height: 164 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Partner: Denis Petukhov
Former Partner: James Shuford
Coach: Priscilla Hill
Former Coach: Natalia Linichuk,
Gennadi Karpanosov,
Nikolai Morozov,
Shae-Lynn Bourne
Skating Club: SC of New York
ISU Personal Best Scores
Ice Dance Total: 183.97 2005 4CC
Comp. Dance: 38.02 2005 4CC
Original Dance: 55.61 2006 Skate America
Free Dance: 92.74 2003 Skate America

Melissa Gregory (born May 22, 1981) is an American ice dancer. With partner and husband Denis Petukhov, she is the 2004-2007 U.S. silver medalist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Gregory was born in Highland Park, Illinois to a Catholic father, Joseph, and a Jewish mother, Dale.[1] [2] She has one older brother, Michael. She first skated at age seven. She previously competed on the junior level with James Shuford.[3]


Gregory was without an ice dancing partner for nearly three years and told her coach that she would quit skating and go to college if she could not find one by September 1, 2000.[4] She met Russian ice dancer Denis Petukhov on an online skating partner search (he spoke little English and so had a friend write his messages for him) and he came to the United States on a tourist visa on August 31, 2000 to try skating with her and several other prospective partners. After skating with Gregory first, Petukhov canceled his other tryouts and never used his return plane ticket to Russia.[5]


Gregory and Petukhov were married in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 2, 2001. The next month they flew to Kirov, Russia so that Petukhov's family could celebrate their marriage as well.[6] Together, they have won four silver medals and two bronze medals at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics.[7]


Gregory and Petukhov both suffered injuries in a fall during the warmup before the free dance at 2007 Skate Canada International on November 4, 2007. Petukhov lost his footing while practicing a one-handed rotational lift and dropped Gregory onto the ice, injuring her ribs and hip and skidding into the boards himself, hurting his own knee and neck. Gregory was taken to a hospital following the fall but released that night. [8] They were then forced to withdraw from competition for the rest of the season while they healed from their injuries.[9]

[edit] Coaching changes

Gregory and Petukhov were originally coached by Oleg Epstein and Sandra Hess but made a change in 2003 to Nikolai Morozov and Shae-Lynn Bourne.[10] Following the 2005/2006 season, they switched again to Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karpanosov[11] at the University of Delaware in Newark. On September 7, 2007, they announced another coaching change, this time to Priscilla Hill at The Pond Ice Arena, also in Newark.[12]

[edit] Competitive highlights

(with Petukhov)

Event 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008
Winter Olympic Games 14th
World Championships 12th 11th 9th 10th
Four Continents Championships 6th 4th 2nd
U.S. Championships 3rd 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd
Grand Prix Final 6th
Skate Canada International 8th 3rd WD
Skate America 5th 5th 2nd
Cup of Russia 4th
Trophée Eric Bompard 4th
NHK Trophy 4th 3rd
Cup of China 4th
Nebelhorn Trophy 2nd
  • WD = Withdrew



(with Shuford)

Event 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999
World Junior Championships 10th
U.S. Championships 8th J. 4th J. 1st J.
Junior Grand Prix, China 2nd
  • J = Junior level

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site, February 23, 2005: "Denis Petukhov Becomes a United States Citizen"
  2. ^ icenetwork.com, December 19, 2007: "Gregory & Petukhov Combine Holiday Traditions"
  3. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site: Athlete Bio
  4. ^ Skating Magazine, January 2006: "Team Destiny: Gregory, Petukhov Cherishing Life On, Off Ice"
  5. ^ WNBC.com, January 2006: "Figure Skating: Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov"
  6. ^ About.com: Marriage "Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov"
  7. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site: Athlete Bio
  8. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site, November 5, 2007: "Melissa Gregory Expected to Make Full Recovery after Fall during Warm-up at Skate Canada"
  9. ^ U.S. Figure Skating Official Site, January 11, 2008: "Ice Dancing Team Gregory and Petukhov Withdraw from 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships"
  10. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site, April 24, 2003: "Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov Switch Coaches"
  11. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site, May 31, 2006: "Ice Dancers Gregory and Petukhov Announce Coaching Change"
  12. ^ US Figure Skating Official Site, September 7, 2007: "Gregory and Petukhov Change Coaches"

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Languages