Career

He trained at VSS Trud in Moscow. Kovalev is pronounced, "ko-va-lyov."

However, Kovalev"s short and free programs were filled with mistakes and the audience was displeased when the results were announced that he had placed ahead of such skaters as Toller Cranston and January Hoffmann. While Kovalev entered the 1980 season as a top contender for the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics title, he was clearly poorly trained, overweight and uninspired.

As a result, his jumps had become too inconsistent.

Once in Lake Placid, skating officials and news reporters took note of the fact that Kovalev, perhaps unmotivated and skeptical of his chances, missed most of the practice sessions. When he did show up, he was even unable to complete basic jumps.

The Soviet officials soon withdrew him from the competition after placing 5th in compulsory figures. Kovalev retired from competitive skating, and began his career as a skating coach.

Kovalev, along with his chief student, Kira Ivanova, were both considered high risks for defecting to the West.

Kovalev also coached Natalia Lebedeva and Maria Butyrskaya, when her first coach, Sergei Volkov, died of cancer.

Achievements

• He is an Olympic silver medalist and 2-time World champion. Kovalev went on to win the gold at the World Championships in 1977 and 1979, and he was also the winner of the European Championships in 1975. After observing his practices, an American reporter asked Kovalev at the pre-competition press conference, "Aside from the fact that you are the best-looking male skater in the competition, do you think you have what it takes to win here?", Kovalev burst out of the conference, never to be seen in public again as a competitor.