Anton Sikharulidze got into figure skating by accident – he just wanted the same skates as the neighbor’s boy. So he had two-lane skates, fastened with straps to the boots, and the first lesson was held at the yard skating rink. Then it was impossible to imagine that the boy making the first uncertain steps on the ice, will grow Olympic champion and holder of other high titles, whose success on the ice will be proud of the whole country.
Anton was born in Leningrad on October 25, 1976. Having started figure skating at an early age, he grew up in sports, believing that in this regard he was very lucky - the sport brought up character in him, taught him discipline, and eventually led to heights that he did not dare to dream about. In the difficult teenage years, when every young person is faced with a choice of life path, Anton could well quit this traumatic sport, the future in which was very vague. But the athlete’s father insisted on continuing training, citing as an example the great Soviet skaters who went forward, to their dreams no matter what.
On the way to great victories and glory, in addition to daily difficulties, which have long become familiar, Anton was waiting for another test. In early 1996, the skater, due to disagreements in the choice of a coach, parted with his partner Maria Petrova, with whom he twice won gold medals at junior world championships. At the same time, his rival figure skater
Elena Berezhnaya She was seriously injured – her partner Oleg Shlyakhov accidentally hit her on the head with a skate. Sikharulidze volunteered to help the girl undergo rehabilitation and return to the ice. The decision was risky for the career of an athlete – Berezhnaya could not fully recover from the injury, but thanks to the efforts of doctors and thanks to the support of Anton, the figure skater was able to return to shape and a year later the pair Sikharulidze-Berezhnaya won bronze at the European championship in Paris.
At the Olympics in Nagano, the pair became the second, then there were two consecutive gold at the world championship, and in 2000 – gold in Europe, when suddenly a scandal broke out – Elena’s doping test gave a positive result, and athletes were deprived of championship awards, disqualified for three months, and thereby deprived of the opportunity to perform at the world championship.
The final chord in the sports career of Siharulide was the Olympics in Salk Lake City, where he and Elena won the gold. This victory attracted the attention of the whole world also because a scandal broke out at the Games because of the controversial judging of the skaters’ performances. As a result, the second Olympic gold awards were received by the Canadian couple Jami Sale – David Pelletier, and Anton treated the incident with his own humor. He saw only positive moments in it, because thanks to this scandal, he not only twice stood on the pedestal of honor, receiving Olympic medals, but also became known to the whole world.
At the end of his career, Sikharulidze continued to perform in ice shows, first in America, then in Russia. In addition, at home, Anton Tarielevich also engaged in politics - he joined the pariah "United Russia", was a deputy of the State Duma, where he headed the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports.
The short marriage of the athlete with Yana Lebedeva, which lasted from 2011 to 2013, ended in divorce. In March 2014, Anton and his new girlfriend had a son, George.