Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva (; born 28 May 1971) is a Russian figure skater. Together with her husband, the late Sergei Grinkov, she was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990) in pair skating. After Grinkov's death, Gordeeva continued performing as a singles skater. Early life Often called "Katia," Gordeeva was born in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia) to Elena Lvovna Gordeeva, a teletype operator for TASS, and Alexander Alexeyevich Gordeev, a dancer for the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble. Gordeeva said, "[My father] worked with me on movement very often when I was little." Gordeeva has a younger sister, Maria Alexandrovna Gordeeva (born 1975), who lives in Moscow. Pairs career Gordeeva began figure skating at age four, when she entered Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA Moscow. She wore multiple pairs of socks inside skates many sizes too big because skates small enough for her feet were unavailable in the Soviet Union. She was not a particularly strong jumper, and in August 1981, coach Vladimir Zaharov paired the 11-year-old Gordeeva with the 15-year-old Sergei Grinkov. Because Grinkov frequently missed practice, their coach eventually insisted that Gordeeva pair with someone else, but she refused. Instead, the pair changed coaches. Gordeeva and Grinkov won the 1985 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The following year they won the first of their four World Figure Skating Championships. They are one of the few pair teams to win back-to-back junior and senior world championship titles. They successfully defended their world title in 1987. In November 1987, Grinkov caught a blade on the ice during a practice session and dropped Gordeeva on her forehead. She was hospitalized for a time, but they were still able to compete in and win a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics, which began the following February in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They remain the youngest pairs team ever to win Olympic gold. After a fall in their long program, they took silver at the World Championships in 1988, but reclaimed the title in 1989 and 1990. They turned professional in the fall 1990, winning their first World Professional Championship in 1991. They also won that title in 1992 and 1994. Gordeeva and Grinkov won almost every competition they entered. In the 31 competitions whose results are known at the senior and professional levels, they finished first 24