Career
She started out in singles but always preferred pair skating and admired Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov so she made the switch to pairs at 13. They split in 1996 and she teamed up with Teimuraz Pulin, winning the silver medal at the 1997 World Junior championships. Petrova teamed up with Alexei Tikhonov in the summer of 1998.
They placed 6th at the 2002 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 2006 Games.
Petrova and Tikhonov announced they would retire after the 2006 Worlds, but at the request of the Russian Skating Federation they later agreed to remain eligible for another year. Petrova and Tikhonov trained in Saint St. Petersburg with Ludmila Velikova.
After retiring from competition, they performed in ice shows, including Russian television projects. With Tikhonov
With Sikharulidze.