Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov - US Olympians

ing since they were 8 years old and since competed at the elite world, Olympic, & international level. Gregory won US National Junior title with James Shuford until they split. She was without an ice dancing partner for nearly three years and told her coach that she would quit skating and go to college if she could not find one by September 1, 2000. She met Russian ice dancer Denis Petukhov on an online skating partner search. He spoke little English and so had a friend write his messages for him. He arrived in the United States on a tourist visa on August 31, 2000 to try skating with her and several other prospective partners. After skating with Gregory first, Petukhov canceled his other tryouts and never used his return plane ticket to Russia. Their story included appearances on the Today show, Good Morning America, CBS Early Show, ABC World News, ESPN Cold Pizza, Lifetime Television Special. Featured on the front page of The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Jewish Ledger,Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, MSN.com. Gregory and Petukhov were coached by Oleg Epstein and Sandra Hess but made a change in 2003 to Nikolai Morozov and Shae-Lynn Bourne. Following the 2005-2006 season, they switched again to Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karpanosov at the University of Delaware in Newark. Gregory and Petukhov won four silver medals and two bronze medals at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Petukhov is one of the few skaters to have competed at both the European and Four Continents Championships. Petukhov choreographs the majority of his and Gregory's programs and has also choreographed programs for other skaters such as singles skaters Johnny Weir and Evgeni Plushenko. Currently they consulting, coaching and choreographing for National, World & Olympic athletes, as well as NHL players.