The long-awaited Winter Olympics have begun.
Before the game started, the contestants' immortal appearance first brushed a wave of screens.
The most eye-catching is the figure skating group, one by one ice muscles and jade bones, like a frightening, anyone who looks at it will have to be crazy!
At this time, two figure skaters from the former Soviet Union, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, are repeatedly mentioned.
(For ease of reading, hereinafter referred to as Katia and Sergei.) ）
They are the "dream combination" of figure skating and are called by the audience as the best partner in the ice rink "skate as one".
I still remember the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, where Katia and Sergei danced together and wowed the audience.
Dreamlike double rotation, romantic to the point of not knowing what night it is.
Just a minute into the opening, Sergei unleashed another big move: lifting!
I saw him lift Katia above his head like a stream of water, and slide her in a perfect semicircle on the ice with one hand.
The beauty was breathtaking, and after holding her breath for a moment, the applause of the audience was thunderous.
At the end, the movements are elegant and smooth, and in one breath, like the end of a grand ball, both happy and unwilling.
If there really is a fairy in this world, it must be Katia and Sergei.
Coincidentally, on February 4, the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics, it happened to be Sergei's birthday.
Every year at this time, Katia offers him blessings.
In the blink of an eye, Sergei, who fell into the arms of her lover, had been out of this world for 27 years.
But at any time, they are called "poignant couples in the sports world". Every time you tell their story, you can't help but cry...
01
Katia and Sergei's acquaintance process is not romantic, more like a "meeting of the frustrated" to be precise.
Fast forward to 1981, she was 10 years old and he was 14 years old.
From the age of 4, Katia spent most of her time on the ice, practicing figure skating with her sister.
She worked hard, but she didn't qualify to be a good single skater – because she was so petite.
The smallest shoes are more than a pair of socks, and the most fatal thing is that the jumping power is insufficient.
Therefore, the coach decided to let her move to the pair skating event.
Perhaps by fate, Sergei was also judged by the coach to be unsuitable for solo skating, and even faced the risk of being expelled.
Fortunately, a young coach came forward to save and let the two people who were "out" recombine into partners.
The initial collaboration did not go well, Sergei only wanted to slide alone, and had little interest in training.
In 1983, when the two played for the first time in the Japan Youth Championship, the results were not ideal, and they only finished fifth.
The results were frustrating, but looking back years later, Katia felt "regret is also full of joy."
During those days in Japan, Sergei took good care of her like a big brother and took her on a tour.
Perhaps the trip brought them closer together, and after returning home, the two obviously became tacit when they trained.
Occasionally, when the training is wrong, Sergei, as a big brother, will take the initiative to call for rest, not angry or scolding.
When I played again, the coordination miraculously improved.
In 1985, Katia and Sergei traveled to the United States to compete in the Junior World Championships, winning the championship with great momentum.
Immediately after, the national championships, the Canadian Cup, the World Championships, they jointly won many first places.
02
Reluctantly, the partners who are reluctant to combine gradually become intimate and intimate friends.
Although the two have never shown their hearts, the signs of their hearts have long been hidden in various details.
On her 14th birthday, Katia invited Sergei to her birthday party for the first time.
He arrived as promised, shyly handing over a puppy doll.
She loved it and happily named the puppy.
For many years thereafter, the doll was properly placed at the head of the bed to accompany Katia to sleep.
When they went to compete abroad, everyone else was lying in the hotel, and the two of them secretly met at Disney.
During the play, he always approached her unconsciously, and his eyes rarely left her.
It was then that Katia realized that "there may be more than friendship between us."
In this way, the young girls had their own hearts, fought with all their might, and were invincible.
In 1987, Katia and Sergei successfully defended their world titles and became popular Olympic champions.
Since both names started with G, many people began to affectionately call them "G&G Combination".
However, just on the eve of the Winter Olympics, an accident occurred.
During a training session, Sergei failed to catch Katia, who was thrown into the air, because her skates were stuck.
She fell heavily on the ice, causing a concussion and having to be hospitalized to recuperate.
Blame him? nature.
But it is more fear, afraid that they will not be able to stand on the long-awaited Olympic stage.
But when she saw Sergei outside the ward, the anger dissipated instantly: "I've never seen him feel so guilty." ”
For a while, Sergei almost never left the ward, and every day he was trapped in deep self-blame, and the whole person was depressed.
Luckily, Katia healed quickly, and they eventually made it to the Winter Olympics.
In 1988, on a plane to the Calgary Winter Olympics, Sergei held Katia's hand tightly: "Don't be afraid, I'm here." ”
With his encouragement, her dangling heart also slowly settled.
The first time they stepped on the Olympic stage, the two did not shy away from the stage, spinning, jumping and lifting as usual.
The duo contributed a great performance and won the crown.
03
Once two people whose souls meet, the spark will not disappear, but will only become bigger and bigger.
After the Olympics, Katia's old injury on her foot recurred and she was unable to go to the ice rink.
For a long time, she could only watch Sergei practicing on the side, three points of jealousy and seven points of envy.
Once, seeing Katia's pitiful look, Sergei couldn't help but ask her, "Do you want to come together?" ”
After receiving an affirmative answer, he picked her up and glide freely on the ice.
At that moment, the training ground was empty, quiet enough to hear each other's heartbeats.
The two eyes looked at each other, as if they were full of stars, shining brightly.
In the blink of an eye, in early 1989, Sergei had planned early on a vacation with friends.
Before leaving, Katia gave him a bottle of wine, leaving a light kiss on his cheek.
On the way, he thought about the kiss he had just kissed, and finally decided to cross the snow and turn back to find Katia.
After meeting again, the teenager finally plucked up the courage and asked the words in his heart: "How about we kiss?" ”
"Sigh", Cupid's arrow shot out, and love began.
Since then, the two people have opened the "public-funded love" mode.
On the field, their tacit understanding is not reduced, the movements are getting smoother and smoother, and the cheers are getting higher and higher.
Privately, like most couples, they date, hug, kiss, occasionally argue and reconcile quickly.
Every time you look into the future, you can find each other's figure.
It turns out that happiness is to find the right person and walk into every tomorrow with great anticipation.
In 1990, due to changes in body shape, weight, etc., coupled with countless injuries accumulated from long-term training, Katia and Sergei decided to suspend the figure skating competition.
The following year, during the warm spring season, the two got married.
Looking back at the videotape of that year again, the pixels are extremely low, but they still can't hide the sweetness.
Eyes full of each other, the air is full of the smell of love for you.
A year after the marriage, Katia gave birth to her daughter, Daria, a family of three.
The couple trained and toured with their daughter, fantasizing about how she would grow up and creating a unique room for her.
Do happy things with lovers, and don't change them.
04
At the same time, after recuperation, the injuries of the two were basically recovered.
After careful consideration, they decided to return to the international arena and compete in the Olympic Games.
So there was the perfect performance mentioned at the beginning.
Every time she competed, she looked at Sergei with such a smile: "I'm ready to fly with you." ”
After defending his Olympic title, G&G became more and more courageous and won the World Championship at the end of the year.
But no one expected that it would be a song.
On November 20, 1995, Sergei suddenly collapsed during training.
Three minutes later, he lost his heartbeat and left this world forever, at the age of 28.
The report shows that Sergei died of a heart attack due to severe blockages in the coronary arteries.
After Sergei left, Katia's world nearly collapsed, and the damage was devastating.
Obviously, his shadow was everywhere, but he left forever.
"He still has his favorite books on the shelves, a phone card with his name on it lying quietly on the kitchen cabinet, and his clothes neatly arranged in the closet."
She still vividly remembers the temperature of each hug and the heartbeat of each kiss.
When she woke up in the morning, she would subconsciously breathe in the breath he had left on the quilt.
After a while, I realized that "he has died", and sadness filled my body.
As soon as she saw Sergei's picture, she sobbed irrepressibly.
Sometimes she complained that God was unfair, and sometimes she felt that she did not deserve such happiness.
Three months later, with the encouragement of her friends, Katia returned to the ice rink.
She skated alone to commemorate Sergei, and several times she was so upset that she stopped sobbing.
In the process, her hands kept looking for another pair of hands, and everyone present was heartbroken to see it.
He had lifted her up countless times, as naturally as he had raised his own hand.
But that was all there was to it, and this time, the hands could no longer lift her out of her grief.
The deceased cannot be traced, and those who remain must continue to live.
She no longer always mentioned his name, and only on birthdays and festival days did she dare to miss him for a while every year.
For more than two decades, Katia has changed its centuries and become a new home, but she still has the habit of sliding on the ice.
"Only when I skate can I feel Sergei still around me."
She will continue to slide.
Image Source/Network
Written and edited by Lin Zhiling
Responsible Editor/ Honey
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