I Clubs I
_
___Ice Dancing :
Albena Denkova__
BUL
__
Date of birth:
03.12.1974





Place of Birth:
Sofia
Height:
165 cm
Home town:
Sofia
Profession:
Skater
Hobbies:
Music, fashion, painting
Start sk. / Club:
1982 / Sports Club Slavia, Sofia
Former Partners:
Hristo Nikolov

___Ice Dancing :
Maxim Staviysky__
BUL
__
Date of birth:
16.11.1977
Place of Birth:
Rostov -na - Don, Russia
Height:
173 cm
Home town:
Sofia
Profession:
Skater
Hobbies:
Cars, drawing
Start sk. / Club:
1981 / Sports Club Slavia, Sofia
Former Partners:
Anastassia Belova (RUS)

Coach:
Alexei Gorshkov
Choreographer:
Sergei Petukhov
Former coach:
_
Practice low season:
26 h / week at Sofia (BUL) and Moscow (RUS)
Practice high season:
28 h / week at Sofia (BUL) and Moscow (RUS)

Music Short Program / Original Dance
March for the Turkish Ceremonies by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Dance of the Witches by Henry Purcell

Music Free Skating / Free Dance
Afrah Baladi by Mostafa Sax

1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Olympic games
18
7
World Champ.
19
17
11
10
5
European Champ.
17
16
9
8
6
Four Continents
World Juniors
9(1)
National Champ.
1.S
1.S
1.S
1.S
1.S
S=Senior; J=Junior; N=Novices

International
Competition
Year
Place
International
Competition
Year
Place
Finlandia Trophy, Helsinki
1999
1
Skate Israel, Metulls
2000
2
Golden Spin, Zagreb
1999
2
Trophee lalique, Paris
2001
4
Cup of Russia, St. Petersburg
2000
5
NHK-Trophy, Kumamto
2001
3
Finlandia Trophy, Helsinki
2000
1
Finlandia Trophy, Helsinki
2001
1

(1): Albena DENKOVA / Hristo NIKOLOV (BUL),
(2): Anastassia BELOVA / Maxim STAVIYSKY (RUS),

Denkova / Staviysky teamed up in 1996, when Albena`s partner Hristo Nikolov retired. They are the first Bulgarian ice dancers to be placed in the top ten at Europeans. Denkova was a gymnast before switching to skating. She is an economist but is focusing on skating right now. Staviysky is originally from Russia and also skated in a Russian ice ballet. Meanwhile, he received Bulgarian citizenship. The team moved to Russia in September 2000 to train in Odinstvo, near Moscow. They weren`t able to compete at Europeans and World Championships in 2000: Staviysky fell sick with pneumonia just before Europeans. Denkova was seriously injured when she collided with US ice dancer Peter Tchernyshev during the last practice session before the Free Dance at Worlds. Denkova wasn`t even able to walk for three months.

The last season 2001/2002 was the most successful for the Bulgarian ice dancing couple. Their rankings – 5th place at the World Champs, 6th place at The European Champs and 7th place at the Olympics prove that they are already among the world elite in this sport.


_