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I knew this would be sad, but it ended up being heartbreaking.

I’ve never been a big ice skating fan, but my dad, a WWII Marine-old field trash-West Texan cowboy, knew every move couples made on the ice to the extent he would say things like, “Damn, they messed that sal-whatever.�� Sooo, watching the Lillehammer Olympics with Dad, I fell in love with Ekaterina and Sergei like everybody else that has watched them. They were romance in action. He was tall and handsome; she was as dainty as a fairy. They were enchanting. Below is their performance.



Sergei died a year later on the ice at 28.

The book is Ekaterina remembrances of their life, growing up together as skaters in the USSR and their subsequent romance and birth of their little girl. It’s as much a vision of what it was like to live in Russia as it is a glimpse of their life together. Even after winning their first Olympic gold medal in Sarajevo in 1988 and constantly performing over the world, the two could not afford an apartment for them to move into. After complaining, Sergei got a better car.

The ended up moving to the US once their daughter was born to make some money. Ekaterina also describes the family dramas that support and drain you, little customs that her family celebrated (her father would put her medals in a champagne flute and all they family would take a sip from it hence all her ribbons are stained), as well the insane work that goes into training for the sport. She also writes about how they changed as skaters. She was dropped once and after that Sergei held her more closely through their skating which definitely changed the way I saw them skate.

Little facts pop up about other skaters as well like Katerina Witt grandstanding while Debi Thomas practiced almost guaranteeing her success, and the support of the ice skating community when Sergei died. Russians abound. No other country produces the kind of grace they show while skating.

Since this book was written, Ekaterina married Ilia Kulik, a 1988 gold medal skater, but has divorced. All I could think while reading this is how could you have a successful relationship with the reputation of what has almost become a saint hovering over it.

The co-writer does a capable job, but the depth of information and emotion comes from Ekaterina’s memories, their relationship and their friends and families. As always when I'm moved it's so much harder to write the review. It's not 4 star writing, but having seen the couple on ice it's a four star story.

It is a fairy tale romance, it simply does not have a happy ending.