Post by Angela on Jul 15, 2006 22:44:57 GMT -5
Evgeny Alekseievich Potemerenko was born July 27, 1982, in Murmansk, USSR. The son of ballet stars Aleksei Kristianovich Potemerenko and Anna Timcek, Evgeny was given by Anna to Aleksei, who was at the time engaged to another woman. Anna was filled with regret, but she was unable to care for the infant. Niether parent was a legend because they were so young, but it was a dream of Aleksei's to dance Giselle as Albrecht, the Hamlet of ballets. Unfortunately, his political outspokenness prevented him from achieving that dream. He did have a few lead roles, but most of his roles were the supporting roles. Still he earned the Bolshoi's respect for his determination.
Evgeny grew up in quiet misery with his mentally-challenged mother, Maria. His father always protected him though, and showered him with much love and affection, making up for his mother's contempt. Evgeny's sister, Nadyezhda, was born in 1989. In 1991 she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Evgeny and his family moved to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) in 1990. He went there to train with legendary coach Ivan Shotsky, a 5-time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist from the 1960s. Since he started coaching he coached four World and Olympic Champions and twelve World and Olympic Medalists. Known for his abusive training methods, Shotsky, who also coached World Junior Champion Aleksei Ugarov and later junior medalist Danil Andropov, molested Evgeny from ages 9 to 11, and raped him when he was 11. Horrified and ashamed, Evgeny never spoke of the incident to anyone until 2002.
Evgeny continued training with him for six months after the rape. Finally, Aleksei came to pick Zhenya up from practice early one day, and saw Ivan slap Zhenya so hard he fell to the floor. Aleksei took action right away, hurrying to his side and carrying him out of the rink. The next day he arranged for Zhenya to train with another legendary coach, Natalya Romanova, a two-time Olympic Pairs Champion. Evgeny would remain with her from then on.
Soon after his arrival in St. Petersburg, his father reunited with Anna, who was now married and had another son, Danil. Aleksei and Anna had an affair that lasted until Anna's murder in 2000.
As he grew up, Evgeny became good friends with Ekaterina Valerova, a figure skater who was born into the rich, lavish, dangerous world of the Russian mafia. Brought up to flaunt how wealthy she was, she never cared that Evgeny was so poor he could not afford to eat three meals a day, had to wear old, faded clothes that never fit him right, and had to work in a flower shop as an assistant to pay for various things his family was unable to afford. When he was fourteen, he asked young Katya out on a date. They dated occasionally, nothing remotely serious, for the next two years. Of course Evgeny was experimenting with other ladies, and met a gorgeous seductress named Aleksandra Morozova. Shura, as she was called, was the daughter of the governor of St. Petersburg. She loved being rich, but when she dated Zhenya, she always took him to the most expensive places, wanted expensive gifts, and made Zhenya pay for them. Evgeny saved up money for an entire year to buy a sterling silver ring with a blue stone in the shape of a heart, it was the most he could afford for her, and gave it to her after he lost his virginity to her. She threw it in his face, exclaiming that the next time she saw a ring from him, it should be 24k gold with at least two diamonds, or nothing at all. Leaving Zhenya heartbroken, she broke up with him that night.
In a few months, Zhenya started dating Katya again. Katya didn't care that he was poor. She loved him for who he was, and it showed when she asked that they go to the cheapest places, so Zhenya could afford to pay their way. She offered to pay her own way, but the chivalrous Zhenya denied her that, saying that since he was the man, he should pay.
When he was seventeen, Evgeny was offered a chance to meet Katya's parents. They arranged a ride to take him to meet them for tea. The limo had tinted windows he could barely see out of, and all Evgeny had to wear to this tea was a simple black sweater and kakhi pants, both faded and had a few threads dangling from them. Upon arriving at their destination, the driver let Evgeny out and he found he was standing in the richest part of the city, in front of the Russian Tea Room, the most expensive restaurant in the city. Katya was outside in a chiffon dress. She paid the limo driver to get Zhenya a fancy jacket to wear inside, so he'd look like he at least sort of fit in.
Once inside, Evgeny found he was not only meeting Katya's parents, but an entire group of adult men and women, at least twenty or so guests. Katya casually introduced him to everyone, various friends and family members, then they sat down to eat. Katya gave Zhenya suggestions on what to order, while paying attention to what everyone else was getting. Halfway through the meal, Katya took Zhenya's hand and placed it under the table. Into his hand she shoved a fistful of money, and gave him a look that signaled him not to ask. He took the money and put it in his pocket, and the meal continued. Sure enough, the check came, and Katya's father suggested they let Zhenya pay. He took out the money Katya had given him, and it was just enough, plus enough left over for a tip. The guests were rather disappointed that Zhenya was able to pay, as were Katya's parents; they wanted to see him forced to do dishes to pay off the meal, as they felt it would put him in his place, so to speak. But just the same their mission was successful. Zhenya convinced himself that he could never be with Katya because of his financial situation, even though she didn't care. Humiliated, Zhenya went home, and thought about breaking it off with her, simply for her own financial good.
Meanwhile, Katya's parents had decided that Zhenya was not right for Katya either, and insisted she start seeing another man. This man, Igor Vassilov, was also mafia-born, and he abused Katya physically and verbally. He did not have sexual relations with her before Zhenya did though. Zhenya and Katya continued to see each other in secret for some time, and finally made love one night. A month later, Katya found out she was pregnant.
Since her fiance hadn't touched her, she was terrified what might happen to her if he found out she cheated on him. Zhenya and Katya thought for some time, and finally Zhenya lied and said he raped her. Her parents of course sought vengeance, and had Zhenya taken to prison to be interrogated. They were supposed to release him after three days without a confession, but they did not keep their word and he stayed in prison for two and a half weeks, enduring tortures of all types, before his coach used her connections to arrange his release. That night, he was on board a plane, with Nadyezhda, Natalya, and her son Mikhail, to fly to America, where he would be safe until the mess was cleared up. Zhenya, to protect Katya, did not want his name cleared, nor did he want a trial. His parents could not afford to come with him, so they had no choice but to let them go alone.
Because he was accused of a crime, Zhenya could no longer return to Russia without being imprisoned. So he had no choice but to stay in America when his father was in the hospital after having his third heart attack. When he died a few days later, Zhenya was heartbroken. The memories and regret of never telling him about the rape haunted him, and he did something no ordinary Orthodox would do: attempt suicide.
Of course he survived, and to his great surprise, Katya returned to him in October of 2001. She claimed she was still pregnant, but what she did not tell Zhenya (or anyone except her parents) was that she had given birth prematurely to their son, Miroslav, in July. She kept the secret from her husband and everyone else because of the fear that something would happen to either of them if it was found out. Katya claimed to her husband when she visited Zhenya that she was visiting a girlfriend who lived in the area. But she really stayed with Zhenya. When her husband found out, he went there personally to get her back. When she refused to go with him, they fought and she fell down the stairs. She died the next day from internal bleeding, and her husband was taken to prison.
Heartbroken, Zhenya wasn't sure how he'd survive. But his world would crash on him yet again, when Nadya passed away due to complications from lung surgery on December 16th, 2001. It took him months to get over it. He did become active in cystic fibrosis charities though, and even arranged a special show for her with all the skaters from the town participating, and Celine Dion was a guest perfomer, and Denzel Washington was host. The show raised over a million dollars for the 65 Roses Foundation.
In 2002, Danil Andropov moved to Pittsburgh. When the two friends reunited, once more, memories of the rape haunted Zhenya's mind. Finally he confessed all to Danil's new coach, Parker Janson, who was determined to put Shotsky in jail after Zhenya told his story. The case was held up for some time, until 2003.
Meanwhile, Zhenya was dating again, various ladies at first, including Japanese Champion Hanako Karamoto. He also had a serious relationship with Raven Gibson, whose initial plan was not dissimilar to Shura's. Fortunately during his burnout he realized that she was just using him for fame, and broke it off with her. Unfortunately she did not tell him that she was pregnant with their son, Konstantin. He would not find out until summer of 2004. Since discovering his existence, he's tried to spend as much time with the boy as he can.
In early 2003, Zhenya was going through a rough patch in his life, experiencing a terrible case of burnout and exhaustion. After a long court battle, Ivan Shotsky was imprisoned, and Zhenya went into therapy to overcome all the horrors of his life. He started getting his life settled for the first time in years, even deciding to retire after the 05-06 season to choreograph and study at the seminary to become an Orthodox priest.
Evgeny had grown up with a heart condition, something that, while serious, never became a real problem until 2005. He went to the hospital, spending many weeks there while the doctors did many tests to see what was wrong. When it was discovered that he had supraventricular tachycardia, a disease of the heart that caused it irregular heartbeats and pain in the chest. While in the hospital, he met his nurse, Irina Maximovna Kuznetsova, and the two started dating after his discharge. Irina knew things about Zhenya that few others did. Finally, she revealed to him that she was, in fact, Katya. Katya faked her death to throw the mafia off their trail, and changed her identity to protect herself, Zhenya, and their son. In no time, Zhenya proposed to her and they married in April this year.
Because of his condition worsening, he has decided to keep his promise and retire from elegible skating, electing to coach and carry on Nataly Ivanovna Romanova's work, as she will be retiring from coaching in 2007 and is not accepting anymore new students. Evgeny, on the other hand, is able to teach skaters of all disciplines.
