Getting Their Start

Melissa Gregory was born on May 22, 1981, in Highland Park, Illinois. Three years earlier, Denis Petukhov was born in Kirov, Russia on October 6, 1978.

Who knew that they would so much as cross paths during their lifetime? They have done much more than that, as they are now partners both on the ice and for life. Melissa first skated at age seven in the Chicagoland area, while Denis first hit the ice at the age of eight. Melissa began as a singles skater, skating at the Skokie Valley Figure Skating Club in suburban Chicago. When asked one day if she wanted to go to Nationals at the age of ten, she was shocked. At the time she was a singles skater at the juvenile level and had never even thought about the possibility of getting to the Nationals any time soon. This coach told her that all she needed to do was begin ice dancing, and despite her apprehension when it came to skating with a boy, she made the switch and teamed up with James Shuford. Melissa and James steadily rose through the ranks and reached the top step of the podium at the junior level at the U.S. Nationals by 1998. However, James wanted to go back to school and that left Melissa without a partner. Meanwhile, in Russia, Denis was ice dancing with Oksana Potdykova. They were also successful; medalling twice at the World Junior Championships in 1997 and 1998 and reaching as high as third at the senior level of Russian Nationals. But, Oksana wanted to pursue other avenues and Denis was left without a partner.

Finding Each Other >>