Alexander Smirnov

Alexander Viktorovich Smirnov (; born 11 October 1984) is a Russian retired pair skater. Smirnov teamed up with Yuko Kavaguti in May 2006. They are two-time European champions (2010, 2015), two-time World bronze medalists (2009, 2010), two-time ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalists (11–12 and 15–16), and three-time Russian national champions (2008–2010). In 2015, they became the first pair in history to complete two quadruple throw jumps in one program and the first to land a quadruple throw loop.

Early career Alexander Smirnov began skating at the age of 3½. His first coach was Larisa Yakovleva. At the age of 16, Smirnov moved from Tver to St. Petersburg and switched to pair skating. He trained with Nikolai Velikov and former pair skater Lyudmila Smirnova. He skated with her daughter for a while, but they never competed. At the age of 20, he teamed up with singles skater, Alexandra Danilova, who was 14 years old. They only competed together twice in local competitions in Russia where they placed third and eighth. He then partnered with another singles skater, Ekaterina Vasilieva. With Vasilieva they were the 2006 Russian Junior Champions and 6th at the 2006 World Junior Championships. The couple broke up after one season together.

Partnership with Kavaguti

In May 2006,

Kavaguti/Smirnov competed in their first Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. They were 3rd after the short program with a season's best score of 74.16, only 2.5 points behind the 1st place team of Shen/Zhao. During the warm-up the pair was told by their coach not to attempt the quad throw. The first throw was a triple salchow; Kavaguti put her hand down and stumbled coming out of the jump. Smirnov stepped out of the double Axel and because there was no speed to complete the second Axel, the pair didn't complete the sequence. Kavaguti fell on the final throw dislocating her shoulder. The pair continued but failed to achieve full levels on many of the elements. Although they were in 1st place, there were still three pairs left to skate. They placed 4th overall. They were the highest placing Russian pair skaters.

The 2010 World championships were held in Torino, Italy. Much like the World Championships in 2009, they were second after the short program and after a fall they dropped to third in the free skate; less than a point out of 2nd place. This was their second consecutive world bronze medal.

2010–11 season

In April 2010, Kavaguti had surgery on her shoulder. They took silver at the 2014 NHK Trophy and finished sixth at the Grand Prix Final. The Best in the Sport of St. Petersburg (February 2010) Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2009)

Personal life Smirnov was born in Tver, Russia.