12 Famous Ice Skating Couples of all Time

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About Ice skating couples, some are only on the ice (as a professional team), and some are off the ice. We all love the smooth and surprising spins, moves, and landing of the skaters. But it gets more interesting to watch them when they are couples in real life as it gives the viewers a different feel.

So with that in mind, have you ever wondered who the top famous ice skating couples are in the world?

2020 Winter Youth Olympic, Search Graph of Jamie Rae Salé and David Jacques Pelletier (Source: Wikipedia)

In this article, we’ll be talking about the top famous ice skating couples and their love life with their significant other.

Stay with us till the end because some of the couples’ love stories mentioned below are magical, just like in the movies.

12 Famous Ice Skating Couples of all Time

Rank Name of the couples Country
1. Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim USA
2. Madison Chock and Evan Bates USA
3. Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland England
4. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue USA
5. Anna Cappellini and Ondrej Hotarek Italy
6. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov Russia
7. Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac France
8. Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer Austria
9. Ludmila Belousiova and Oleg Protopopov Russia
10. Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov Russia
11. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo China
12. Jamie Salé and David Pelletier Canada

12. Jamie Salé and David Pelletier

Canadian skaters Jamie Rae Salé and David Jacques Pelletier began their partnership in 1998 after skating with multiple different partners. Moreover, they won numerous prestigious titles and gold medals in World, Four Continents, and Canadian Championships.

However, their one gold at the Winter Olympic Games 2002 was awarded after resolving a judgment scandal.

To clarify, the scandal involved a French judge who changed her vote to a Russian pair in order to gain gold in another category.  This scandal led to changes in the way competitions are judged now. 

Although the former couples have called it a split, their legacy still remains.

Jamie Rae Salé and David Jacques Pelletier have the most searched peaked graphs with high reach and constant fluctuation; these skaters seem quite popular. 

Search Graph Jamie Rae Salé and David Jacques Pelletier (Source: trends.google.com)
Search Graph Jamie Rae Salé and David Jacques Pelletier (Source: trends.google.com)

11. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo

These two were the first Chinese pair to win a medal at an international skating event and the World Figure Skating Championships.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo Olympics 2010.
Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo Olympics 2010. (Source: Wikimedia)

Moreover, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won their first Chinese championship in 1992 and went on to win gold at three different World Championships (2001, 2002, and 2006).

But, most importantly, the couples became their nation’s heroes after winning a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Hence, ranking 11th in the list of top famous ice skating couples list. 

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo hiked in the search graph in 2021 and were not as largely searched after that.

10. Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov

The Russian skaters Ekaterina Gordeeva and her partner/husband, Sergei
Grinkov is the 10th-ranking famous ice skating couple in today’s listing.

Besides, the pair began skating together in 1981, when Gordeeva was 11 and Grinkov was 14. After 10 years of companionship, they got married to each other.

They won World Figure Skating Championship gold medals four times (between 1985 and 1990), taking gold twice at the Winter Olympics (1988 and 1994).

Similarly, in the early 90s, they began touring with “Stars on Ice.” Unfortunately, while practicing for an upcoming “Stars on Ice” tour on November 20, 1995, Grinkov collapsed and died of a heart attack. 

These stars on the ice were highly searched in 2021 by the people, though, in 2022, till now, it’s not as highly popular.

9. Ludmila Belousiova and Oleg Protopopov

Oleg Protopopov and his wife Ludmila Belousiova are Russian pair skaters competing in international ice-skating tournaments. They are also the winners of the Olympic and World champion titles in the mid to late 1960s.

Furthermore, the couple won silvers at the World Championships in 1962. Let alone; they were the first pair from Russia or the Soviet Union to bag the medal there since 1908.

Likewise, the pair won a gold medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics and declared the beginning of the 40-year domination of Soviet/Russian skaters in gold medals.

They received their first World and European gold medals in 1965. Moreover, the couple claimed a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics, at the age of 32 and 35 years old, being one of the most aged skaters there. 

8. Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer

Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer are Austrian international pair skaters. The pair began their pair skating in 2013. 

The pair is a five-time Austrian national champion (2014 to 2016, 2018, 2020) and also represented their country at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.

Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer (Source: Instagram)
Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer (Source: Instagram)

Besides, in an interview with Skate Guard, Ziegler said that her day completes with a pizza for the evening and watching movies with Kiefer.

7. Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac

Like other pair skaters on the list, this French pair also skated with other partners before finding each other in 2014. This turned out to be fruitful for their personal lives as well, with the two of them becoming a couple.

And by the end of 2015, the duo got married. However, in an interview with Golden Skate, they both revealed that they never wanted to date their partner on the ice.

Also, Lauriault said that she had a barrier to overcome at the beginning, where love proved to be stronger.

6. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov are Russian pair skaters and three-time World medalists. Moreover, the pair is also a two-time European champion (2017, 2018),

The Russian couple began skating together back in 2012, and then after their professional relationship began soon, their personal relationship also started. In an interview with Golden Skate, Tarasova said it was sometimes hard to separate their work and private lives.

this couple is being highly searched and still gets searched by an ample amount of people.

5. Anna Cappellini and Ondrej Hotarek

Compared to other skating couples, Anna Cappellini and Ondrej Hotarek‘s relationship isn’t a typical one.

In other words, the pair are both ice skaters from Italy but with completely different partners. Ondrej skates with partner Valentina Marchei, while Anna skates with Luca Lanotte.

To clarify, Ondrej and Valentina will be performing in figure skating pairs while Anna and Luca will compete in ice dancing.

Moreover, the couple married in 2015 and preferred not to work together. In a video for the Olympics, Anna said that they never had to work together because the few experiences they’ve had weren’t really plain sailing.

Besides, she thinks that the right balance is that they both do their own thing. Similarly, Ondrej said that it is best if they do other things together rather than skating.

4. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue

Ranked fourth on the famous ice skating couples list we have, Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue. Even though they are no longer together, they are still worth mentioning. 

Not to forget, they dated for two and a half years despite not liking one another as partners on the ice. The pair decided to call it a split right before the preparation for the 2018 Winter Games.

In an interview with Team USA, Donohue explained that to work harder
and do all of these things right, they realized that to date and be with each other
24/7 with their particular personalities was explosive.

Similarly, Hubbel said that upon asking each other what was more important, their on-ice partnership or off-ice relationship, both very clearly said the on-ice partnership is No. 1.

3. Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland

The third-ranking British pair Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland are a couple who have been on and off the ice both. They have been skating together since 2005 A.D.

Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland.
Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland. (Source: Facebook)

According to Shape, Nick said their relationship has helped the couple focus on their goals as competitors. 

Likewise, Nick said that they started dating after the pair began skating together. He further said that this worked really well since both had the same goals and aspirations.” 

an unbeatable couple works hard to do good, and statics shows get searched by people more orphan.

They are the ice angels with popular search graphs and an unforgettable expression on people.

2. Madison Chock and Evan Bates

Madison Chock and Evan Bates are among those couple ice-skaters who have been together for years. Moreover, the pair grew up skating together as kids on a small skate scene in Michigan.

As magical as it sounds, Evan actually took out Madison on their first date for her 16th birthday. The duo was not a couple on or off the ice at the beginning of their careers. But, both of them skated with other partners before too.

In an interview with NBC, Bates shared that he thinks the Olympics will be meaningful for both of them since they will compete as a couple.” I think the experience will be a lot more personal together, being a couple outside the ice,” he said.

1. Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim

Ranked number one in the top famous ice skating couples listings are Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim. 

Moreover, according to NBC, the pair is considered to be the first married U.S. couple to go to the Olympic games in many years.

Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim. (Source: Facebook)

As told in an interview with Cosmopolitan, the pair first met after Chris’s mom asked Alexa to skate with him. After Alexa turned the offer down, she later changed her mind after seeing him at competitions.

Most importantly, the pair’s skating game only improved after becoming a couple. During an interview with Chris, he said that the difference between them and other teams is that they can make people feel something when they skate.

Furthermore, Chris said that they’d been told a lot of different times that people felt the emotions they were trying to portray when skating together. Therefore, Chris thinks that it is their biggest asset.

Comparatively, this couple is searched by people the previous year more than this year.

Conclusion

From all the above-mentioned ice skating couples, which couple gives you the most tingles?

Not all had happy endings. Some ended in tragedy, whereas some ended in happiness. So, after reading their story, I hope we learned something.

For more articles like these, do visit us again.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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