Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov are figure skating partners who competed together in the 2006 Winter Games.
With their years of experience, they can tell you when those skaters on your TV are doing well, even when you can’t.
"You have to have difficult entrances, intricate steps,” Gregory said of the different lifts, which, from your couch can all look magnificent. “You either have to have a difficult position in the lifts, or change position.”
Now, Gregory and Petukhov teach in West Hartford and across Connecticut, which is how they got to know one current local Olympian, Zach Donohue of Madison.
"Zach I’ve known since he was just beginning in ice dancing,” said Gregory. “It’s been really fun to watch his career.”
Donohue and partner Madison Hubbell are in medal contention after the short dance, sitting in third place.
"They have the whole package,” Gregory said. “They have wonderful twizzles, they have really beautiful lifts.”
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Donohue and Hubbell, along with the brother-sister duo with ties to Greenwich, Alex and Maia Shibutani, skate for the podium Tuesday morning in Pyeongchang.
You can find out more about learning to skate with Gregory and Petukhov both in Connecticut or New York.
