Maria Igorevna Petrova (Russian: Мария Игоревна Петрова; born 29 November 1977) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Alexei Tikhonov, she is the 2000 World champion and a two-time (1999, 2000) European champion

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Maria Petrova
Petrova and Tikhonov perform a pair spiral at the 2005 Russian Nationals
Full name	Maria Igorevna Petrova
Born	(1977-11-29) 29 November 1977 (age 46) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Russia
Partner	Alexei Tikhonov
Skating club	Yubileyny Sport Club
Began skating	1982
Medal record Representing  Russia Pairs' Figure skating World Championships 2000 Nice Pairs 2005 Moscow Pairs 2003 Washington, D.C. Pairs 2006 Calgary Pairs European Championships 1999 Prague Pairs 2000 Vienna Pairs 2004 Budapest Pairs 2007 Warsaw Pairs 2002 Lausanne Pairs 2003 Malmö Pairs 2005 Turin Pairs 2006 Lyon Pairs Grand Prix Final 2004-05 Beijing Pairs 1998-99 Saint Petersburg Pairs 2002-03 Saint Petersburg Pairs 2003-04 Colorado Springs Pairs Winter Universiade 1997 Muju Pairs World Junior Championships 1994 Colorado Springs Pairs 1995 Budapest Pairs 1993 Seoul Pairs 1997 Seoul Pairs

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Petrova was a sickly child and her doctor recommended she take up a sport; her parents got her into figure skating when she was seven.^[1] 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.^[1]

She initially competed with Anton Sikharulidze with whom she is the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Champion.^[2] 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.^[3][4] Together, they won the World Championship in 2000. They placed 6th at the 2002 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 2006 Games. They won a silver medal at the 2005 Worlds, and a bronze in 2006.

After making the decision to retire following the 2006 Worlds, Petrova and Tikhonov eventually consented to compete one more year at the Russian Skating Federation's request. During their final season, they finished 6th at the Grand Prix Final, and withdrew from the World Championships due to injury.

Petrova and Tikhonov trained in Saint Petersburg with Ludmila Velikova.^[1] After retiring from competition, they performed in ice shows, including Russian television project Ice Age.^[5]

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