Personal life

Born to Irina Cherniaeva, a former pair skater who placed sixth at the 1972 Winter Olympics, and Vyacheslav Anisin, a World and European champion in ice hockey, Anissina had a comfortable childhood. She is of Ukrainian descent on her mother's side. Her brother is Mikhail Anisin, also a hockey player.

Anissina became a French citizen in 1994. On 23 February 2008, she married Russian actor Nikita Djigurda in Moscow after the two met when they were partnered on a celebrity ice dancing television show. They have two children The family currently lives in Moscow. Anissina spends time in France and works with young ice dancers.

Career

Early years

Born into an ice skating family, Anissina began skating at the age of four. By age nine she was determined to become a champion. Her mother, having been injured in pair skating, discouraged her from following in her footsteps so the young skater went into ice dancing.

Early in her career, Anissina competed with Sergei Sakhnovski, representing the Soviet Union. Following that partnership, she teamed up with Ilia Averbukh. They represented the Soviet Union and, after that country's dissolution, Russia. They were the 1990 and 1992 World Junior Champions. Their partnership ended at the end of the 1991-92 season; Averbukh decided to leave Anissina to skate with Irina Lobacheva with whom he had fallen in love.

Anissina trained for several months without a partner at the same rink as the new duo. She received little help from the Russian federation in her search for a new partner. She and her mother studied videotapes of international competitions and selected Gwendal Peizerat and Victor Kraatz. Anissina sent letters to both but the one to Kraatz did not reach him. Peizerat did not respond immediately but when his partnership with Marina Morel fell apart, he contacted Anissina.

Partnership with Peizerat

Anissina arrived in Lyon, France, in February 1993, declaring her goal of becoming World and Olympic champion. She wanted to bring Peizerat back to Russia with her but his family was opposed.

Anissina settled in France and began learning the language but experienced homesickness. She focused intensely on skating and insisted her partner, who was dividing his time between skating and his education, be equally focused on their career. Their first year together produced many quarrels and they came close to splitting up. Their coach Muriel Boucher-Zazoui, however, immediately felt it was a promising partnership, saying "They are like fire and ice".

Anissina and Peizerat were selected for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer but her French citizenship was granted a few weeks too late. The Olympics, unlike most skating competitions, require both partners to be citizens of the country they are representing.

Anissina and Peizerat won the 1998 Olympic bronze medal and 1998 and 1999 World silver medals behind Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov. The Russians retired due to injury and Anissina and Peizerat then developed a rivalry with the Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio.

The French won the 2000 European and World Championships. In 2001, Anissina and Peizerat won European and World silver behind the Italians but surged past them in 2002 to reclaim their European title and become the Olympic Champions.

At the 2002 Olympics, they led after the compulsory dances and the original dance. Their free dance, Liberty, mixed music with sections from the famed freedom speech by Martin Luther King Jr.; a 5-4 split of the judges' panel had them in first place in this segment ahead of Lobecheva and Averbukh, and they became the first French ice dancers to win the Olympic gold medal.

After the Olympics, Anissina and Peizerat retired from competition but continued skating together for many years in shows around the world. During their career, they represented the club Lyon TSC. Their signature move was Anissina lifting Peizerat off the ice, switching the traditional gender roles in lifts.

Anissina coached for several years in Marseille at S.O.G.M.A. 13. She has also done some choreography for other skaters. In 2013, she said she hoped to qualify for the 2014 Sochi Olympics with Peizerat.

Programs

With Peizerat

Season	Original dance	Free dance	Exhibition
1993-1994	Quizás, Quizás, Quizás	Borrasca	J'en ai Marre Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
1994-1995	Sing, Sing, Sing	Tango	Still Loving You J'en ai Marre
1995-1996	Ay Mi Sombrero	Latin mix	Kozachok
1996-1997	Docteur Petiot (1990 film)	Ahla Leila	Kozachok I'm Sorry
1997-1998	Snatch and Grab It	Romeo and Juliet The Montagues and the Capulets Death of Juliet	Time To Say Goodbye
1998-1999	Waltz from Masquerade Waltz from My Sweet and Tender Beast	The Man in the Iron Mask Heart of a King Surrounded	Time To Say Goodbye
1999-2000	Black Machine Feeling the Passion Tres Deseos Black Machine Nostalgia de Palmeras Tres Deseos	Carmina Burana O Fortuna imperatrix munda Fortune plango vulnera	Danse mon Esmeralda
2000-2001	More Dancing Fool Mr Pinstripe Suit More	Beethoven's Last Night Overture Ode to Joy Dreams of Candlelight Beethoven	Susanna
2001-2002	Malagua Tango de Guell Malagua	Non Merci Canone Inverso Non Merci	Susanna

With Averbukh

Season	Original dance	Free dance	Exhibition
1991-1992		The Barber of Seville	Hernando's Hideaway

Results

With Peizerat for France

Results
International
Event	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02
Winter Olympics					3rd				1st
World Champ.	10th	6th	4th	5th	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd
European Champ.	12th	5th	4th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st	2nd	1st
GP (CS) Final				3rd	3rd	2nd	1st		2nd
	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st
Nations Cup		1st			2nd
NHK Trophy	5th	3rd	1st	2nd		1st	1st	1st	1st
Skate Canada			2nd	2nd				1st
Skate America		2nd				1st
Ondrej Nepela	1st
Piruetten	5th
National
French Champ.	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st

With Averbukh for Russia and the Soviet Union

International
Event	1989-90	1990-91	1991-92
World Junior Championships	1st	4th	1st

[ Source: Wikipedia ]