Transcripts

1998 Winter Olympics - CBS profile

Tamara Moskvina: I always tell my boy skaters the girl partner is like a crystal vase. You have to treat her very nicely. If the crystal vase is broken it's nearly impossible to put it back together.

CBS (Anthony Mason): Elena Berezhnaya has always seemed more fragile than most. Growing up as a small girl in a smaller town in Russia's deep south, she was raised by her mother who got by on a meager salary. But it was evident at an early age that Elena had a talent. She was an extraordinary skater. And in 1990 Tatiana Berezhnaya sent her only daughter to Moscow to train under the country's skating elite. Coaches soon paired her with a tall rugged Latvian named Oleg Shliakhov, who had already been through six partners in four years.

Oleg Shliakhov: It was clear we made a good pair and would at least win a medal at the World Championships.

CBS: Worried they would be overshadowed in the competitive Moscow school, Elena and Oleg moved to Riga, Latvia, Shliakhov's hometown.

Elena: I was reassuring myself that I had to do this. I had to skate for the sake of my mom. I was skating to make my mom happy.

CBS: Elena and Oleg made many Latvians happy when they finished a very promising eighth at the Lillehammer Olympics. They seemed a pair for the future. But their success was hiding a disturbing secret. Oleg's insatiable drive for perfection on the ice was suffocating Elena.

Elena: He would say in practice, "Do it again. Do it again." And I did it until I was completely crushed. He did it very rudely and others started to notice.

CBS: Any mistake on Elena's part set off a burning rage inside Oleg. He began hitting Elena.

Elena: He said that nobody would believe me if I ever told anyone about it. And he was starting to hit me very often in practice.

Oleg: I can only answer in one way. What happened between us is strictly our own business.

CBS: Petrified, Elena kept quiet about the abuse she was receiving at the hands or her partner.

Elena: My mom didn't know anything about the things that happened to me in Riga. I didn't tell her anything. I know her health is pretty bad and I didn't want to make it worse. I knew that she would watch me skate on TV and that it gave her strength. She was the only reason for me to continue.

CBS: Hoping to tame Oleg's temper and keep the pair from falling apart, the Latvian federation sent Oleg and Elena to St. Petersburg in Russia at the end of 1995 to train with the legendary pairs coach, Tamara Moskvina.

Tamara: Well, as usual, when they come to a new coach he behave nice. But then he started to behave as usual. He could kick her. He could shout at her. He hit, even hit after for no reason. To hit the girl which was much weaker than him, much younger than him and I was shocked.

CBS: Another skater in St. Petersburg, Anton Sikharulidze saw what was happening.

Anton Sikharulidze: My first reaction was Oleg should be sent back to Riga. You could see that this was no way to skate, no way to treat a lady. He wasn't taking any advice. He wouldn't listen to anyone.

CBS: Anton befriended Elena and the two began spending time together off the ice. Their budding relationship made Oleg seethe.

Tamara: He was angry, he was desperately not happy with her. And then I asked him, "What is the matter? Why are you so angry with her? Why are you behaving so not properly?" And he confessed that he is afraid of Anton. "Why? Why are you afraid of him?" And he showed to me, "You don't know? I tell you they are in love."

CBS: Scared that Anton was going to steal his partner away, Oleg took Elena with him back to Latvia.

Elena: How did it happen that we left without Tamara? Without our choreographer? Without anybody? And then I was told when I got to Latvia, don't even dream about leaving this place again.

CBS: In January of 1996, Elena and Oleg were in this arena (ice rink is shown) without a coach practicing their side-by-side camel spins. The pair were spinning dangerously close together when disaster struck. Oleg's blade accidentally hit Elena's head, piercing her skull.

Elena: In the ambulance, when they asked my name and address, I couldn't say anything. I couldn't talk.

CBS: Oleg's blade had opened a two-inch gash in Elena's head. Her speech impaired, Elena underwent serious brain surgery.

Oleg: Why was she the one who was hurt? And why was it me who did it? Why was all this happening? I just don't understand. It's very difficult to think about.

CBS: Oleg visited the hospital every day to see Elena who had great difficulty speaking. What she wanted to say was that her partnership with Oleg was over.

Elena: I didn't want to stay in Riga and be a slave. I think even without the accident I would have told Oleg that we were through. I would've rather quit skating altogether than stay there.

CBS: Unbeknownst to Elena or Oleg, Anton slipped into Riga to see his fallen friend.

Elena: Yeah, I was really surprised to see him in the hospital.

Anton: When I saw her, I had to give her a fake smile (he makes a cute smile). I couldn't show how shocked I was by her appearance.

CBS: Anton moved Elena to this hotel across from across the street from the Riga railroad station.

Anton: I knew we had to go back to St. Petersburg. In order to stop us, he had to kill me.

CBS: The next evening, Anton took Elena to the station. They hurried to catch the 7:45 overnight train to St. Petersburg. What they didn't know was that Oleg Shliakhov was on his way. Racing to catch Elena before the train departed with his skating career, Oleg frantically searched track one for his partner. Another train was pulling away on track two. On it were Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. Oleg Shliakhov had been searching the wrong train.

Elena: When the train started moving, I took a deep breath. It was so great.

CBS: The train pulled into St. Petersburg the next morning. Elena Berezhnaya was free.

Tamara: I went to the railway station and she was very weak, but she was very happy.

CBS: Elena was like Moskvina's broken crystal vase and putting her back together seemed an impossible task.

Tamara: We were so afraid because this was brain damage. We didn't speak about skating at all. The question was health and life.

CBS: Elena began speech therapy and then slowly started skating.

Elena: I wanted to skate so much and especially with Anton.

CBS: Within a year, she was skating competitively. There were scary moments. (a fall from their "split lift" is shown at an event in Russia). But the fragile young Berezhnaya not only overcame that fall, she conquered her fears. And remarkably just last month, Elena and Anton won their first European Championship.

Tamara: I really admire the ladies. Very deep in her heart she must be extremely brave.

CBS: Elena and Anton are no longer romantically involved, but the dramatic events of the past two years means they will always have a special relationship. And you might be surprised to learn who will be cheering for them this week. Oleg Shliakhov, who is in Chicago looking for his ninth partner.

Oleg: I will root very hard for Elena because I know what that gold medal will mean. I'll be very, very happy if she can stand on top of that podium. I know how hard was the path we began together. It's just that she has chosen to take that path alone.

CBS: She took that path with a hand from Anton Sikharulidze and with him, the 20-year-old woman whose career seemed finished twenty months ago is now the favorite for Olympic gold.