Ilya Averbukh is a figure skating star, winner of many awards and titles in this sport. But even after completing a successful sports career, he found an interesting business for himself related to his main profession. Averbukh's ice shows are known and loved by millions of Russian viewers. Unfortunately, in the personal life of Ilya Izyaslavich, not everything turned out as brilliantly and smoothly. After a divorce from former ice dancing partner Irina Lobacheva, he so far decided to remarry.
Love affair at work
Ilya Averbukh was born on December 18, 1973 in Moscow. His parents had nothing to do with sports. My father is an engineer, and my mother was a music worker at school, although she had a diploma in chemistry. It was she who initiated her son's lessons in the figure skating section, since she adored this sports discipline and followed all the competitions. The coaches did not immediately see the potential in little Ilya, he was even expelled from the group a couple of times, citing the child's unpreparedness for classes. However, the persistence of Averbukh's mother bore fruit when her son was seriously taken up by coach Zhanna Gromova.
At first, the young athlete trained in single skating. But in adolescence, he grew up a lot and was unable to perform jumping elements at the same level. Ilya was offered to go to ice dancing, where figure skater Marina Anisina became his partner. Together with her, Averbukh twice became the world champion among juniors. Ilya's personal relationship with a colleague did not work out, they often quarreled, which caused joint work to suffer.
The figure skater Irina Lobacheva also belonged to the group of coach Natalia Linichuk, where Averbukh and Anisina were engaged. They knew each other for many years, were the same age. Like Ilya, at the age of 15, Irina was forced to leave solo skating due to health problems and switched to ice dancing. True, Lobacheva in life and sports had to achieve everything herself.
She was born in the near Moscow region. Irina's family lived very modestly. Her younger brother suffered from cerebral palsy, and her father at some point got tired of struggling with difficulties and left his wife and children. Lobacheva got into figure skating on the recommendation of a doctor, since she often suffered from colds. But the girl early saw in her sports career an opportunity to secure her future and help her family. Therefore, I took the situation with the transition to pair skating very painfully. In addition, at first she was unlucky with partners. Both skaters, skating with Irina, decided to end their careers. Coach Natalia Linichuk even applied to France, proposing her candidacy to Gwendal Peizerat.
And shortly before that, Lobacheva and Averbukh began to communicate and gradually grow closer. The friendship soon grew into a romance. And when the question arose about a new partner for Irina, Ilya himself offered her his candidacy. The girl hesitated for a long time, fearing to mix personal and work relationships. However, she soon succumbed to the persuasion of the coach and her young man. Therefore, instead of Lobacheva, Marina Anisina flew to France.
Family ice dancing
Having become a couple in life and on the ice, the young people decided to live together. In order not to inconvenience anyone, they rented a separate apartment. In addition, Averbukh's parents were not happy with the choice of their son. And if the father eventually established friendly relations with his daughter-in-law, then Ilya's mother, Yulia Markovna, did not change her hostile attitude towards his chosen one.
After a year of living together, Lobacheva and Averbukh decided to legalize their relationship. Among other things, they were prompted to marry by the opportunity to speak for Israel, and their official marital status helped them get citizenship faster. Registration took place on March 10, 1995 in a small registry office near Moscow. The bride and groom arrived there separately, and when they learned that they needed witnesses, they asked for a cleaner and an electrician who worked in the Wedding Palace. The couple also did not arrange celebrations on this occasion, although Irina was not at all opposed to trying on a white dress.
The couple did not immediately learn to separate sports and family life. Only 6 years later, the passions subsided a little, and Irina and Ilya tried to forget about sports differences, barely leaving the ice rink. In 1995, they left for the United States following their coaches and lived abroad until 2000. The pinnacle of the dance duo's career was the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, where the athletes won silver medals, losing only to Marina Anisina and Gwendal Peizerat. Then they won the World Championship and the next season the European Championship.
After leaving amateur sports, Averbukh organized the successful Ice Symphony project, in which figure skating stars participate. In March 2004, his wife gave him a long-awaited son, who was named Martin. Unfortunately, after the birth of the child, the marriage of Ilya and Irina did not last long.
Free man
The famous athletes announced their divorce in November 2007. Averbukh did not comment on this topic. His ex-wife was more willing to talk to journalists. She confirmed the press reports regarding her husband's adultery. Journalists claimed that the married Averbukh had an affair with one of the participants on the Ice Age project. The actress Alisa Grebenshchikova was allegedly his mistress, and after a while she gave birth to a son. Paternity was also attributed to the famous skater, since the girl broke up with her official lover even before the birth of the child.
Lobacheva did not disclose the details of her husband's betrayal. She said that she was ready to forgive Ilya, but the attempt to improve relations ended in failure. During the divorce, Averbukh left his wife and son an apartment, and also completely took over the maintenance of Martin. Over time, the former spouses managed to establish normal communication and continue to raise a common child together.
In 2009, there were rumors in the press about his affair with another participant in the ice television project - actress Valeria Lanskaya. But Averbukh did not dare to present one of his beloved to the public. His ex-wife once noticed in an interview that after a divorce from her, Ilya "is married to his job."
