Early Career
Alexander Smirnov began skating at the age of 3½. His first coach was Larisa Yakovleva. At the age of 16, Smirnov moved from Tver to St. Petersburg and switched to pair skating. He trained with Nikolai Velikov and former pair skater Lyudmila Smirnova. He skated with her daughter for a while, but they never competed. At the age of 20, he teamed up with singles skater, Alexandra Danilova, who was 14 years old. They only competed together twice in local competitions in Russia where they placed third and eighth. He then partnered with another singles skater, Ekaterina Vasilieva. With Vasilieva they were the 2006 Russian Junior Champions and 6th at the 2006 World Junior Championships. The couple broke up after one season together.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Smirnov (figure Skater)
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“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
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