International Figure Skating – September-October 2019

46 IFSMAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2019

CHAMPIONING

ATHLETE HEALTH

Transitions

R

achael Flatt, the 2010 U.S. champion, had two reasons
to celebrate in June: she and her boyfriend, Eric
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the 27-year-old.

A

fter living and working in the

U.S. for almost two decades,

Rafael Arutyunyan became a

U.S. citizen on July 23.

“I heard the words “land of

opportunity — it worked for me,”

the 62-year-old said.

Originally from Tbilisi, Georgia,

Arutyunyan initially moved to

Armenia to study. He began his

coaching career in Yerevan in 1976.

F

ollowing a proposal during a vacation in May, Russia’s Mikhail

Kolyada, 24, wed former pairs skater Daria Beklemisheva, 22,

on July 19 in St. Petersburg.

SURPRISE WEDDING NEW STATUS

TW

ITT

ER