PHOTOS: GEORGE JAVOR
Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski are looking to medal this week at the World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow.
They grew up and lived at different sides of the planet. Both switched skating disciplines at an early age. One almost left the sport, while the other’s skating partner decided to retire. A chance meeting in Israel brought them together, and both have progressed up the world ice dance ladder of success.
Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski are competing this week at the World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow. The pair has worked arduously with a tenacity and passion for more than 10 years in an attempt to create as compelling an ice dance team as the sport has ever known.
The 30-year-old, five-foot, two-inch Chait was born in Kfar Sdaba, Israel. Having moved to New Jersey a few years later, parents Boris (also chairman of the Israeli Ice Skating Federation) and Irene raised their daughter traditionally, celebrating and observing the Jewish holidays.
It was while skating in the outdoor rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City, that eight-year-old Galit knew she wanted to become a figure skater.
“When my parents recognized I wasn’t afraid to skate, lessons soon followed.”
She started skating as a single, taking group lessons at Sky Rink in Manhattan.
While training in Colorado Springs in 1990, she was dazzled by watching the World Junior Ice Dance champions Ilya Averbuch and Marina Anisina, and decided to switch disciplines. Chait noted the differences in singles involving individual aspects like long jumps and loops, versus having to adjust in tandem with a partner’s idiosyncratic moves in ice dancing.
The 29-year-old, five-foot, eight-inch Sakhnovski was born in Moscow. He was raised by parents Julian and Valentin in a traditional Jewish background. He attended skating school when he was 4 and switched to ice dancing at 8. He progressed quickly in the Russian skating program with several partners along the way. He, along with partner Ekaterina Svirina, won the World Junior Championship in 1993, and finished second in 1994.
Chait initially partnered with Russian Maxim Sevostianov. The pair finished 6th at the 1994 US Nationals and 28th at the World Championships later that year. Sevostianov, being several years older, did not want to compete anymore while
Chait still did. She travelled to the Canada Centre ice facility in Metulla, Israel, to continue training.
Sakhnovski by this time had left the Soviet skating program, and had travelled to Israel, intending to leave the sport. He happened to be in Metulla at the same time as Chait, and was asked to try out with her. He said, “We connected right at the start, and felt we could establish an ice partnership.”
Chait said she was looking for a Jewish skating partner.
“When introduced to Sergei, and we tried out on the ice, we clicked almost immediately. I knew this was meant to be.”
Initially, she was worried about not being as experienced as Sakhnovski in competitive events, and about testing his patience with her ability level at the time.
She wasn’t wrong. Sakhnovski recalled that the skating relationship started slowly but “Galit came to practice everyday with the goal of working hard and improving her skills, which she has continued to do consistently.”
There are three stages in ice dance competition: Compulsory, which lasts two minutes and involves a variety of moves and spins. All competitors skate to the same music and are judged on accuracy, placement and unison. It’s worth 20 per cent of the overall mark. Original lasts two and a half minutes and is worth 30 per cent, while the Free Dance is worth 50 per cent and is four minutes long.
The new partnership was ready for its first run at the World Championship. But with Sakhnovski having skated for Russia at the European Championship earlier in the year, they were disqualified because rules would not allow a competitor to skate for two countries in the same year.
So they started an extended period of heavy training and conditioning. Chait said she and Sakhnovski “spend an enormous amount of training in ballet, ballroom dancing, stretching and aerobic training.”
The training regime is extensive – six days a week during the season – and involves practice on ice six hours a day; practice off ice six hours a week; gym six hours per week and six hours a week in choreography.
They competed in as many International Skating Union (ISU) events as possible, finishing third at the 1997 Vienna Cup. The pair qualified and competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where they finished in 14th place, and 12th in the subsequent World Championships.
Chait recalled how exciting and happy she felt when they qualified for Nagano. “The entire Olympic experience was overwhelming, starting with the opening ceremonies, where I walked and held the Israeli flag. I was so excited and caught up in the moment, when viewing the Olympic rings for the first time at the stadium.”
Sakhnovski said the overall experience at Nagano was fun.
“Any competition, whether the Olympics or not, is helpful for us to gain experience and ultimately achieve success at the medal level.”
The pair are coached by Tatiana Tarasova and Evgeny Platov, with Tatiana Drouchinina handling ballet and stretching exercises. The team has trained in Newington, Connecticut, since 2000. Tarasova handles the pair’s choreography, while Platov is more involved with the technical aspects of their programs, and is able to show the duo on the ice the moves he wants incorporated during events.
Sakhnovski and Chait said they always observe what other dance teams are doing in practice and tournaments to keep pace and potentially improve their own performance.
They also have input into the music used in their program. Chait stated she and Sakhnovski each bring their ideas on musical scores to meetings with Tarasova, and the trio hammers out what will work best during competition. For the Music Short Program this current season, the pair skate the Quickstep and Slow Foxtrot to Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman. Their Free Skating Music selection is Toccatu and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Chait said, “The modern version of Bach works well for us, from Classical and Dramatic ends of the musical spectrum. We’ll probably widen our music focus, possibly incorporating Jewish aspects, for the 2006 Winter Olympics.”
Both have opinions on the changes in judging, after the debacle of the 2002 Winter Olympics involving Canadian skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The new system is based on cumulative points, rather than the former 6.0 standard of marks and placement. It includes the addition of new officials in the process and the way scores are tabulated and displayed. To reduce the risk of outside influence, judges names at ISU championships and Senior Grand Prix events are no longer linked to their scores.
Sakhnovski said the system of scores being posted without knowing which country’s judge was involved, needs work and tweaking to ensure that the process works as intended. Chait indicated the new system will benefit all skaters but doesn’t approve of the anonymity, in terms of not knowing which country’s judges are responsible for high or low scoring marks in an event.
Their ascension in the ice dance competition accelerated the next couple of years, and they finished fifth at the 2000 World Championships, third at the 2002 World Championships (first medal ever for Israeli figure skaters) and sixth at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2004, the pair won medals at skating events in Beijing, China, Pittsburgh and Halifax. They finished fourth at the 2005 European Figure Skating Championships in Turin this past January, despite the fact that Chait was suffering from a severe bout of the flu.
She said the Turin experience would stand them in good stead, when they have to compete on the same ice surface during next year’s Olympics.
As Jews both are very proud to participate in the Israeli Ice Championships at Metulla over the years, where they have conducted dazzling shows and exhibitions of their skating repertoire.
Sakhnovski said he was a big proponent of proper nutrition and physical conditioning.
“I eat everything, because my metabolism burns off calories quickly.”
Chait and Sakhnovski are focused on this week’s Worlds and the 2006 Winter Olympics, and will step back after to examine options as to whether to continue competing.
She would like to open a skating school or academy, and teach kids the intricacies of the sport. Both are getting an early start by teaching skating to students on weekends in New Jersey.
Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski have earned the accolades in climbing up the ice dance skating ladder, over the past decade. Their aim at the Worlds and Winter Olympics is to come away with a medal, and establish their credentials as a top ice dance team in the skating fraternity. They have established an awareness with ice skating, much like the burgeoning of ice hockey, which will help it become an important component in the Israel and Jewish sports culture.
Jack Borenstein can be emailed at j_borenstein@hotmail.com
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