Alexander Zhulin

Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (Russian:Александр Вячеславович Жулин​ , born 20 July 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist (1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 European champion. They also won gold medals at Skate America, NHK Trophy, Nations Cup, and Winter Universiade. They represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia.

Coach Natalia Dubova paired him with Maya Usova in 1980. In 1988, they made their first appearance at the European Championships, placing fourth. The next season, they won silver at the 1989 European Championships in Birmingham, England and silver in their World Championships debut, in Paris. The next two seasons, they took bronze at Worlds.

In the 1991–92 season, Usova/Zhulin won silver at the 1992 European Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland and then captured their first Olympic medal, bronze, at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Usova/Zhulin ended their season with silver at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California. They moved with Dubova from Moscow to Lake Placid, New York in September 1992.

In the 1992–93 season, Usova/Zhulin won the 1993 European Championships in Helsinki and the 1993 World Championships in Prague. The next season, they were third at the 1994 European Championships in Copenhagen, behind Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean and Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, they won the silver medal behind Grishuk/Platov.

Usova/Zhulin skated together professionally from 1994 to 1997. They toured with Champions on Ice and won the World Professional Championships. Zhulin then skated with former rival, Oksana Grishuk, for one year.

Zhulin with Navka/Kostomarov in 2004

After retiring, Zhulin became a skating coach and choreographer. He coached in New Jersey before moving back to Russia in 2006. He is based in Moscow and often coaches in collaboration with Oleg Volkov. Zhulin has also been involved in Russian ice shows, such as Ice Age.

Among others, Zhulin has coached:

• Tatiana Navka / Roman Kostomarov, the 2006 Olympic champions. Coached from 2000 to end of career.
• Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat, the 2011 European champions. Coached from July 2008 to April 2011.
• Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov, the 2010 World Junior champions. Coached until the end of the 2010–2011 season.
• Naomi Lang / Peter Tchernyshev, from 2000 to 2002.
• Julia Zlobina / Alexei Sitnikov, from mid-2011 to mid-2013.
• Alisa Agafonova / Alper Uçar, from December 2012 to December 2015.
• Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin, from mid-2013 to June 2016.
• Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin, from February 2012 to 2015.
• Valeria Zenkova / Valerie Sinitsin, from mid-2011 to 2014.

His current students include:

• Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev, from 25 April 2012. (2013 World bronze medalists)
• Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro
• Sara Hurtado / Kirill Khaliavin
• Viktoria Kavaliova / Yurii Bieliaiev

• ^
• Monko / Khaliavin Archived 2011-11-28 at WebCite
• Zenkova / Sinitsin Archived January 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
• Bobrova / Soloviev
• Zahorski / Guerreiro

Zhulin married Maya Usova in 1986 but the two eventually divorced. He was romantically involved with competitive rival Oksana Grishuk. In 2000, he married Tatiana Navka, with whom he has a daughter, Sasha, born in May 2000. In April 2010, Navka and Zhulin filed for divorce. A daughter, Ekaterina, was born to Zhulin and Natalia Mikhailova on 10 January 2013 in Moscow.

With Usova

Usova/Zhulin in 1994

Usova/Zhulin in 1989

With Grishuk

Amateur career

With Usova

• Soviet Union (URS): Start of career through December 1991
• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): 1992 European and World Championships
• Unified Team at the Olympics (EUN): 1992 Olympics
• Russia (RUS): 1992–93 to end of career