Maria Igorevna Petrova (; born 29 November 1977) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Alexei Tikhonov, she is the 2000 World champion and a two-time (1999, 2000) European champion Career Petrova was a sickly child and her doctor recommended she take up a sport; her parents got her into figure skating when she was seven. She started out in singles but always preferred pair skating and admired Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov so she made the switch to pairs at 13. She initially competed with Anton Sikharulidze with whom she is the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Champion. They split in 1996 and she teamed up with Teimuraz Pulin, winning the silver medal at the 1997 World Junior championships. Petrova teamed up with Alexei Tikhonov in the summer of 1998. Together, they won the World Championship in 2000. They placed 6th at the 2002 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 2006 Games. They won a silver medal at the 2005 Worlds, and a bronze in 2006. Petrova and Tikhonov announced they would retire after the 2006 Worlds, but at the request of the Russian Skating Federation they later agreed to remain eligible for another year. During their final season, they finished 6th at the Grand Prix Final, and withdrew from the World Championships due to injury. Petrova and Tikhonov trained in Saint Petersburg with Ludmila Velikova. After retiring from competition, they performed in ice shows, including Russian television projes. Programs With Tikhonov With Sikharulidze Competitive highlights With Alexei Tikhonov With Teimuraz Pulin With Anton Sikharulidze References External links Official website of Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov 1977 births Living people Russian female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of Russia Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Universiade medalists in figure skating Goodwill Games medalists in figure skating Season-end world number one figure skaters Universiade silver medalists for Russia Competitors at the 1997 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games