Ksenia Smetanenko, married name: Gonchar ( Russian: Ксения Гончар (Сметаненко), born 26 March 1979) ^[1] is a former ice dancer who competed internationally for Russia and Armenia. With Samuel Gezalian, she is the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion and competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics for Armenia. Earlier in her career, she competed for Russia with Igor Lukanin.

Career

Smetanenko originally competed for Russia. With Igor Lukanin, she placed third at the 1992 Russian National Junior Championships and tenth at the 1993 World Junior Championships for Russia. They also appeared twice at the German Championships.

In 1997, Smetanenko teamed up with Samuel Gezalian and began representing Armenia. Placing sixth at the 1997 Karl Schäfer Memorial, they qualified a spot for Armenia at the Olympics. Smetanenko/Gezalian then won gold at the 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb and placed 20th at the 1998 European Championships before competing at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where they placed 24th. They retired from competition at the end of the season.

Personal life

Smetanenko was born in Moscow. ^[2] She married former professional hockey player Sergei Gonchar now assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom she met at the 1998 Winter Olympics. ^[3] They have two daughters, Natalie and Victoria.

Competitive highlights

With Gezalian for Armenia

With Lukanin for Russia and Germany

References

• Skatabase: 1990s Olympics
• Skatabase: 1990s Europeans
• 1997 Golden Spin of Zagreb
• 1997 German Championships
• 1996 German Championships