Tchernyshev and Lang Rise Above

On the day he became a U.S. citizen, Peter Tchernyshev’s emotions were jumbled.

“I was so happy,” Tchernyshev said, “when I saw the words on the paper that said I was now an American. Then I was reading more and it said ‘former nationality’ and ‘former citizen’ and that word ‘former,’ for a moment I felt a little sad too. But I am so proud now to be an American. This is a very great country.”

Tchernyshev became a citizen so he and his partner, Naomi Lang, a California girl by virtue of her birth in Arcata, could compete in the 2002 Olympics. Lang and Tchernyshev are the best U.S. ice dancing couple. There is not a close second right now.

The pair have fought through an emotional and painful fall season. Tchernyshev had shin splints, which forced the couple to withdraw from all their Grand Prix assignments. But the emotions of the Sept. 11 tragedy made training seem sometimes meaningless and sometimes teary and that made Tchernyshev so proud to be a U.S. citizen.

The two train in Hackensack, N.J. The balcony of Tchernyshev’s Hackensack apartment looks across the Hudson River to the spot where the World Trade Center stood. “I would stand and stare across the river and feel such pain,” Tchernyshev said. “When we would come to the rink every day, we could see where the towers stood. It hurt Naomi so much.

“I think both of us have reevaluated the values in life. We used to think we had problems every day. But our problems are so insignificant. Finally, after about three weeks, we knew we had to get back on track with our skating. We came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to skate. It was our way, we could maybe give people some little happiness.”

In the world of ice dancing, where judging is mysterious and good performances are not always rewarded, Lang and Tchernyshev have established themselves as consistent crowd pleasers.

Lang, 23, had 15 years of ballet training. She took up skating after seeing an on-ice production that included skating Smurfs, her favorite cartoon characters. Tchernyshev, 30, named after his grandfather, a four-time Russian national singles skater in the late 1930s, came to the United States in 1992.

“At that time,” Tchernyshev said, “the Soviet Union fell apart. Financing for skating was cut drastically. I needed to find a place to continue my skating career and to pursue a teaching career.”

Tchernyshev went to the Detroit Skating Club to train with Igor Shpilband and Liz Coates. About five years ago, Tchernyshev and Lang each split with other partners. Tchernyshev had seen Lang skate at the 1996 U.S. nationals when Lang was a junior. He wrote Lang a letter, asking if she would like to skate with him. “Naomi had a great look, which is really an important part of ice dancing,” Tchernyshev said. “She has great lines and great style. In ice dancing aesthetics are something you must pay attention to.”

After training in Detroit, the couple moved to Hackensack in the summer of 2000 to train with Alexander Zhulin, a two-time Olympic medalist (one bronze, one silver) with Maia Usova.

“Working with [Zhulin] has been the greatest experience,” Lang said. “He was what we needed. He put fresh breath into our skating. We are so fortunate get to work with him. He has been to the Olympics and Worlds. He knows every skater’s complications, the hard times skaters go through. He understands.”

Zhulin has a busy schedule. Besides Lang and Tchernyshev, Zhulin also coaches Jessica Joseph and Brandon Forsyth as well as his wife, Tatiana Navka and her partner, Roman Kostomarov.

Navka and Kostomarov have already qualified for the Russian Olympic team. Joseph and Forsyth are among the favorites to take the second U.S. Olympic spot.

These nationals are important to Lang and Tchernyshev. They must showcase their programs in front of judges. They must create some buzz. “We need,” Tchernyshev said, “to make sure people remember who we are. And we are ready.”