How our sport gains from the Soviet fall
Mark Dupin
7th August 1993

Sergei Shakhrai coaches figure skating at the Canterbury Olympic Ice Rink. Twice champion of the Soviet Union and world champion in 1980, Shakhrai came to Australia in January 1992 with the Moscow Ballet's Moscow on Ice show. He said he would like to stay, and by February he had a position at Canterbury.

"We grabbed him," said rink manager Bob Roberts. "This guy could get a job anywhere in the world."

Shakhrai coaches top Australian pair Stephen and Danielle Carr, who improved their world ranking from 12th to 10th at the last world championships.

"Winter sports aren't as popular here as in my country," Shakhrai said. "Not so many people come and learn to skate. We have no big choices."

Russian skaters practised twice a day, six days a week. The most dedicated young Australian skaters cannot give that much commitment to their sport.