Oksana Domnina

Oksana was born on August 17, 1984 in Kirov. When she was six her parents took her to an open rink, but only three months later she was selected to take ice skating lessons on artificial ice, and was immediately admitted into the ice dancing group. She learned the basics on her own, and after two years she was paired with Anton Rjabov. Together with her next partner, Ivan Lobanov, she placed 8th at Senior Russian Nationals and 9th at Junior Russian Nationals. But at the end of the season the couple split up: Oksana was invited to skate in Moscow by Alexei Gorshkov, while Ivan remained in Kirov where he started skating with Olga Gmyzina. Oksana's first partnership in Moscow was with Maxim Bolotin. Their first season together proved to be very successful, with a placement in the Junior Grand Prix final, and a bronze medal at the Junior Russian Nationals. But later on, a lack of understanding between the partners and the inability to reach further progress led to the couple's break-up. That's when Maxim Shabalin came into the picture. Initially they communicated only by letter, then Maxim came to Odintsovo from Togliatti, where he was skating during the previous season, "to give it a try". The decision to form the couple was made in May 2002, when the guys started skating together under the guidance of coach Alexei Gorshkov and choreographer Sergei Petukhov. This was the beginning of a very successful career that saw them crowned as winners of the 2007 Grand Prix Final and European Champions in 2008. In the summer of 2008 the skaters decided to change their coaching team, a decision that changed their life completely. Shortly after that, they moved to the US to train with Natalia Linichuk and Gennadij Karponosov. The change of coach proved to be a good decision as in 2009 they finally became World Champions in Los Angeles.