Viktor Petrenko

Viktor Petrenko was born in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, the first of two sons born to engineers Tamara and Vasyl Petrenko. They both got involved in ice skating, training and competing from a young age. His younger brother Vladimir Petrenko also became a competitive skater and the 1986 World Junior champion. The Petrenko family spoke Russian, which had become dominant in Odesa. It was also a means of inter-ethnic communication throughout the USSR. Viktor Petrenko attended a Russian-speaking school where he chose to study English as a foreign language. Because Ukrainian was not used in his family or his school, he never learned to speak the native language of his country fluently. Petrenko was often sick as a young child, and doctors suggested to his parents that they put him in a sport in order to improve his strength and stamina. When he was five years old, they took him to the local ice rink and started him in figure skating. At the age of nine, his talent was noticed by Ukrainian figure skating coach Galina Zmievskaya and she took him on as a pupil at Spartak in Odesa. == Career ==

Rising star 1984-1988 Representing the Soviet Union, Petrenko was the 1984 World Junior Champion. He won the bronze medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, and became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic medalists. His podium finish came as a surprise, because three former World Champions Brian Orser, Brian Boitano, and Alexander Fadeev were competing in this event. Capitalizing on disastrous short and long programs by Fadeev, Petrenko skated well enough at the championships to earn the bronze. He also won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships up against Orser and Boitano again. Fadeev withdrew from the event. Disappointment 1989 Expected to succeed to the position of top skater with the retirement of the Brians, Petrenko lost the Soviet Nationals to a resurgent Fadeev. At Worlds, a fall in the short program combined with a subpar long program cost him a medal. Upstart and eventual career rival Kurt Browning won a surprising victory at this event. Road to Albertville 1990-1991 Petrenko won his first two European Championships in 1990 and 1991. He was frustrated in trying to win a World title. He won the short program at both the 1990 and 1991 World Figure Skating Championships, but his mistakes in the long program dropped him to silver both times. The 1991 decision was particularly close. Petrenko skated a strong program, only stepping out of a triple loop, and omitting a planned triple axel-triple toe which he turned into a triple-double. He lost in a controversial 6-3 split by the judges. Browning completed 3 triple-triples, and edged Petrenko out of the gold because of the superior technical difficulty of his program. Olympic and World Champion 1992 After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, athletes from former Soviet states went to the Olympics together for the last time in 1992 on a Unified Team. Petrenko competed for this Unified Team. With a free skate that was ranked above American Paul Wylie's by seven of the nine judges, he won the gold medal, the first ever for a singles skater from the former Soviet Union. His skate was not his best, and some contested his win. His triple axel-triple toe in both programs gained him scores over both Wylie and European Champion Petr Barna in spite of the mistakes. A month later Petrenko went to the 1992 World Championships and won the gold medal there as well, earning two 6.0's for presentation in his free program and receiving first-place ranking from all nine judges. In doing so he finally defeated his arch rival Kurt Browning, who took silver (after placing a disappointing 6th in Albertville). Petrenko used the same free program for the 3rd straight year, with his polish and familiarity gaining high marks for the artistic strength of the program. Professional career and reinstatement Petrenko turned professional following his Olympic win, moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. Ukraine was still struggling economically and he thought he had more opportunity in the US. When the International Skating Union ruled in 1993 that professionals could return to competitive status, Petrenko returned to Odesa, Ukraine and began training for another Olympics. He defeated another returning competitor, Brian Boitano, to win Skate America with a commanding 8-triple long program. He won his third European Championships in January 1994, competing for the first time for the independent nation of Ukraine. He represented his homeland at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. It was widely expected that he, 1988 Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano, and World Champion Kurt Browning would be the main challengers for medals. However, after the short program Petrenko was in ninth place after stepping out of his triple axel and not completing the rotation on his triple lutz, and Boitano and Browning were in eighth and twelfth respectively. His strong performance in the free skate pulled him up to a fourth-place finish. ==Later life ==

After 1994, Petrenko competed as a professional. He had many successes, including winning the prestigious Challenge of Champions event three times. It is considered the top professional event. He failed to win the other major professional event, the Landover World Professional Skating Championships, and never placed higher than 3rd. In 1992, Petrenko had convinced his coach Galina Zmievskaya to take in Oksana Baiul, a 14-year-old Ukrainian orphan who was talented in skating. The coach became both her guardian and coach, having Baiul live with her. Petrenko covered Baiul's expenses. With their guidance, Baiul won the 1993 World Figure Skating Championship and the gold medal at the 1994 Olympic Games. They have coached American men's figure skater Johnny Weir since the summer of 2007. In June 2008, he was elected to the Presidium of the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation. ==Programs==