Margarita Aleksandrovna Drobiazko (Russian: Маргарита Александровна Дробязко; born 21 December 1971) is a Russian retired ice dancer. She began competing for Lithuania in 1992 when she teamed up with Povilas Vanagas. With Vanagas, she is the 2000 World bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a two-time European bronze medalist (2000, 2006), the 1999 Skate Canada champion, and competed in five Winter Olympics, finishing as high as 5th.
Margarita Drobiazko | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | Lithuania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former country(ies) represented | Russia Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1971-12-21) 21 December 1971 (age 50) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Partner | Povilas Vanagas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former partner | Oleg Granionov (RUS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former coach | Elena Maslennikova, Igor Shpilband, Rostislav Sinicyn, Elena Tchaikovskaia, Lilija Vanagiene, Anatoliy Petukhov, Betty Callaway, Tatiana Tarasova, Natalia Dubova, Natalia Linichuk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former choreographer | Elena Maslennikova, Gintaras Svistunavicius, Vasily Kleimenov, Elena Tchaikovskaia, Christopher Dean, Jayne Torvill | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Skating club | Sports School Baltu Ainiai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former training locations | Kaunas Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Began skating | 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 2002, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ISU personal best scores | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Combined total | 196.18 2006 Europeans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comp. dance | 38.34 2006 Europeans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Original dance | 59.60 2006 Worlds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Free dance | 100.89 2006 Europeans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Drobiazko began skating at age six – she became interested after seeing children learning to skate at an outdoor rink.[1] She convinced her mother, who wanted her to become a ballerina, to let her try skating.[1] At age 12, she took up ice dancing and was coached first by Natalia Linichuk and then Natalia Dubova.[1] She initially competed with Oleg Granionov for Russia.[2][3]
Drobiazko was paired with Lithuanian skater Povilas Vanagas by Tatiana Tarasova in Moscow.[1] After the breakup of the Soviet Union, they decided to represent Lithuania. Vanagas said, "It was difficult at the beginning because there was a lot of friction between Russia and Lithuania. Since Rita is Russian, it caused many problems."[1] They moved to Kaunas, Lithuania and began training with Elena Maslennikova.[1] In 1995, they began working also in England with Betty Callaway, Jayne Torvill, and Christopher Dean.[1]
In 1999, Drobiazko and Vanagas began spending time with Elena Tchaikovskaia in Moscow, while continuing to work with Maslennikova in Kaunas.[1] They were also coached by Lilija Vanagiene and Anatoliy Petukhov.[2][4] Drobiazko and Vanagas retired from competition following the 2001–2002 Olympic season, but returned to competition in 2005 to compete at their fifth Olympics.[5] In preparation for the 2005–2006 season, they worked with Maslennikova, Rostislav Sinicyn, Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva, Gintaras Svistunavicius, and David Liu, in the United States, Germany, Russia, and Lithuania.[5] Drobiazko and Vanagas became the first and only figure skaters to compete at five Olympics. They retired again in 2006 following the World Championships.
Their choreographers included Elena Maslennikova,[1][6] Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean,[1] Elena Tchaikovskaia,[1] Tatiana Pomerantseva,[4] Elena Kholina,[4] Yuri Puzakov,[4] Vasily Kleimenov,[2] and Gintaras Svistunavicius.[5][6]
Drobiazko was born in Moscow, but lived in Magadan, the Russian far north-east, until the age of six.[2] Since the Olympics require citizenship of the country represented, Drobiazko obtained Lithuanian citizenship in 1993.[7] She has been married to Vanagas since June 2000.[6][8][9]
In the summer of 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Drobiazko played a role in a ballet Swan Lake on ice with Vanagas in Sochi that was organized by the Kremlin. On August 10, Lithuania's president Gitanas Nausėda signed a decree stripping off the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas from both skaters.[10]
(with Povilas Vanagas)
Season | Original dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
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2006–present [11] |
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2005–2006 [6][11] |
Latin:
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The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
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Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt
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2002–2005 [11] |
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2001–2002 [2][11] |
Spanish:
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2000–2001 [11][12] |
Quickstep and Charleston:
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Tango medley:
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"The Thread of Ariadna"
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1999–2000 [1][11] |
Latin:
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1998–1999 [11] |
Waltz:
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1997–1998 [11] |
Jive:
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Songs from the Victorious City by Anne Dudley, Jaz Coleman
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1996–1997 [11] |
Tango:
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Jazz medley:
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1995–1996 [11] |
Paso Doble:
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1994–1995 [11] |
Quickstep:
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1993–1994 [11] |
Rhumba:
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1992–1993 [11] |
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1991–1992 [11] |
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(ice dance with Povilas Vanagas)
Results[2][6] | |||||||||||||
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International | |||||||||||||
Event | 1991–92 | 1992–93 | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 |
Winter Olympics | 16th | 12th | 8th | 5th | 7th | ||||||||
World Championships | 17th | 13th | 9th | 12th | 8th | 10th | 8th | 6th | 3rd | 5th | 4th | 4th | |
European Championships | 15th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 6th | 8th | 6th | 5th | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 3rd | |
Grand Prix Final | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | |||||||||
GP Nations/Sparkassen | 2nd | 5th | 5th | 2nd | |||||||||
GP NHK Trophy | 6th | 5th | 4th | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | ||||||
GP Skate America | 2nd | 3rd | |||||||||||
GP Skate Canada | 2nd | 8th | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
GP Troph. France/Lalique | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | |||||||||
Karl Schäfer Memorial | 1st | ||||||||||||
Nebelhorn Trophy | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | ||||||||||
Skate Israel | 1st | 1st | |||||||||||
Piruetten | 5th | ||||||||||||
Winter Universiade | 2nd | ||||||||||||
National | |||||||||||||
Lithuanian Champ. | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
Events marked GP became part of the Champions Series in 1995, renamed Grand Prix in 1998. |
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Skate Canada International champions in figure skating – Ice dance | |
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