Maya Usova

Maya Usova initially competed with Alexei Batalov. At the age of nine, she moved from Gorky to Moscow to train with coach Natalia Dubova.[2] Dubova paired her with Alexander Zhulin in 1980. In 1988, they made their first appearance at the European Championships, placing fourth. The next season, they won silver at the 1989 European Championships in Birmingham, England and silver in their World Championships debut, in Paris. They maintained their silver medal standing in the world with a silver at the 1990 European Figure Skating Championships, but for the first time dropped behind the Duchensays to third at the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships in Halifax.

After being third again at the 1991 European Figure Skating Championships, they looked poised for the big breakthrough, for the first time leading their teammates Klimova & Ponomarenko after the compulsories, then leading both the Duchensays and Klimova & Ponomarenko into the free dance at the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships. However the top 3 teams were so close the final finish of the free dance order would determine the final results. Maya Usova & Alexander Zhulin skated a strong free dance that seemed to ensure the title, but had drawn first in the final flight, and received a wide spread of marks from the judges. Despite receiving four first place ordinals in the free dance, a strange ordinal situation caused them to place third in the free dance and drop from first to third in the end.

In the 1991–92 season, Usova/Zhulin won silver at the 1992 European Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland and then captured their first Olympic medal, bronze, at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Usova/Zhulin ended their season with silver at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California. They seemed to be threatening for victory at the Worlds, with three first place ordinals ahead of Klimova & Ponomarenko in the original dance, but a fall in the free dance ended any hopes. They moved with Dubova from Moscow to Lake Placid, New York in September 1992.[1][3]

In the 1992–93 season, Usova/Zhulin won the 1993 European Championships in Helsinki and the 1993 World Championships in Prague. This was a commanding victory as they won all four phases of the competition at both events, and received straight first place ordinals, apart from losing two first place ordinals to the up-and-coming Russians Anjelika Krylova & Vladimir Fedorov at Worlds.

The next season, they were third at the 1994 European Championships in Copenhagen, behind Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean and Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov. They appeared to have the gold medal won as they entered the free dance tied for first with Torvill & Dean, and Grishuk & Platov were mathematically out of contention for the gold medal entering the free dance. However the free dance of Grishuk & Platov which handily won that phase changed the ordinals, and Usova & Zhulin were pushed to third in the free dance behind Torvill & Dean and dropped to third overall. They were heavily criticized for their new free program which was said by critics to lack speed and be too far a departure from their usual sensual and elegant style of dancing.

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, they won the silver medal behind Grishuk/Platov. They entered the free dance tied for first with Torvill & Dean, with Grishuk & Platov in third, but with all 3 teams in contention for the gold by winning the free dance. Despite a better overall set of ordinals in the free dance than Grishuk & Platov with three first and six seconds to five firsts, one second, and three thirds for Grishuk & Platov, they lost gold by the majority rule, Grishuk & Platov having the five first place ordinals they needed to win the free dance. After the controversial and upsetting loss Usova & Zhulin withdrew from the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, where they had planned to end their amateur career and immeidately went professional.

Usova/Zhulin skated together professionally from 1994 to 1997. They toured with Champions on Ice and won the World Professional Championships. From 1998 to 2000, Usova performed with former rival, Evgeni Platov.

From 2002 to 2004, Usova was an assistant coach to Tatiana Tarasova and Platov, working with Galit Chait / Sergei Sakhnovsky and Shizuka Arakawa. She has coached at the Igloo in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey and Odintsovo, near Moscow. She is an International Technical Specialist for Russia.[4]

Usova and Zhulin were married in 1986[3] but later divorced.[5] She is remarried to a Russian professor in medicine, Anatoly Orletsky.[6] In 2010, she gave birth to their daughter, Anastasia.

Off the ice, she has appeared in several Marlboro advertisements in Russia.

Media related to Maya Usova at Wikimedia Commons

• Care to Ice Dance? - Usova & Zhulin
• Maya Usova