Eteri Tutberidze

Eteri Tutberidze
Tutberidze in 2010
Personal information
Native name	Этери Георгиевна Тутберидзе
Full name	Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze
Born	(1974-02-24) 24 February 1974 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Moscow, Russia
Former partner	Nikolai Apter, Alexei Kiliakov, Vyacheslav Chichekin
Former coach	Tatiana Tarasova, Gennady Akkerman, Natalia Linichuk, Elena Tchaikovskaya, Lidia Kabanova, Edouard Pliner, Evgenia Zelikova
Skating club	Sambo 70 (SDUSSHOR 37)
Began skating	c. 1978
Retired	c. 1992

Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze (Russian: Этери Георгиевна Тутберидзе; born 24 February 1974) is a Russian figure skating coach. She coaches ladies' and men's singles.

Personal life

Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze was born 24 February 1974 in Moscow. The youngest of five children, she is half-Georgian, a quarter Russian, and a quarter Armenian. Her mother was a senior engineer at the Ministry of Agricultural Construction and her father worked at the Likhachev plant's foundry and as a taxi driver.

Tutberidze studied at the Academy of Physical Education in Malakhovka and received a degree in choreography from the Institute of Contemporary Art. During her six years in the United States, she lived in Oklahoma City, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and San Antonio. Her daughter, Diana, was born on 16 January 2003 in Las Vegas.

Career

Tutberidze began skating at the age of four and a half, guided by Evgenia Zelikova and then Edouard Pliner. After sustaining a spinal fracture and growing 22 cm, she switched from singles to ice dancing. She was coached by Lidia Kabanova for two years and then joined Elena Tchaikovskaya, who paired her with Vyacheslav Chichekin. After briefly training under Natalia Linichuk, Tutberidze switched to Gennady Akkerman, her coach for the next three years. She skated with Alexei Kiliakov until he emigrated to the United States.

During the 1991–92 season, Tutberidze trained under Tatiana Tarasova before deciding to perform in ice shows. Appearing as an adagio pair skater with Nikolai Apter, she toured with Ice Capades for several years and then worked as a coach in San Antonio, Texas. After returning to Russia, she coached at a hockey rink, Serebrianyi in Zelenograd, where ice time was limited for figure skaters. She is now based at Sambo 70 (SDUSSHOR 37) in Moscow and collaborates with Sergei Dudakov. Her current students include:

• Moris Kvitelashvili
• Evgenia Medvedeva (2016 World and European champion)
• Ilya Skirda
• Polina Tsurskaya (2016 Youth Olympic and 2015-16 JGP Final champion)
• Vladislav Tarasenko

Former students:

• Kamilla Gainetdinova (as a singles skater)
• Polina Korobeynikova (as a child)
• Polina Shelepen (two-time JGP Final silver medalist) Coached from age four until July 2012.
• Elizabet Tursynbayeva, for 2012-13 season.
• Serafima Sakhanovich, for 2014-15 season. (2015 World Junior silver medalist, 2014-15 JGP Final silver medalist)
• Yulia Lipnitskaya (2014 European champion, 2014 Olympic champion in the team event) until November 2015.
• Adian Pitkeev (2014 World Junior silver medalist) until March 2016.
• Sergei Voronov, from mid-2013 until March 2016. (2014 European silver medalist, 2014–15 GP Final bronze medalist)