# Ilia Averbukh

Ilia Izyaslavich Averbukh (Russian: Илья Изяславич Авербух, correctly spelled "Ilya"; born 18 December 1973) is a Russian ice dancer. With his then-wife Irina Lobacheva, he is the 2002 Olympic silver medalist, the 2002 World champion and the 2003 European champion.
With Marina Anissina, he is the 1990 and 1992 World Junior champion.

## Career

Averbukh started skating at the age of 5. He initially competed with Marina Anissina. They won two World Junior Championships (1990 and 1992). Averbukh teamed up with Irina Lobacheva in 1992. After the Goodwill Games in the summer of 1994 their coaches moved with many of their students to the United States to train at the University of Delaware. Lobacheva and Averbukh joined them the next year.
In September 2001, Lobacheva injured her knee in training, causing them to miss the Grand Prix season. They won the silver medal at the 2002 Olympics behind Marina Anissina / Gwendal Peizerat.
Lobacheva / Averbukh won gold at the 2002 World Championships and at the 2003 European Championships. They retired from competition at the end of the 2002–2003 season.

### Post-competitive career

Following his retirement from competitive skating, Averbukh became a producer of skating shows and tours. Among his projects are Ice Symphony/Ice Age; City Lights; Bolero (a television show pairing skaters with prima ballerinas); and Small Stories of a Big City, an ice show during the 2012 Olympics in London. In January 2013, Averbukh was named an ambassador for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Averbukh works as a choreographer. His past and current clients include:
* Yulia Lipnitskaya
* Ksenia Makarova
* Evgenia Medvedeva
* Niina Petrõkina
* Elena Radionova
* Sofia Samodurova
* Elizaveta Tuktamysheva
* Dmitri Aliev
* Mikhail Kolyada
* Maxim Kovtun
* Evgeni Semenenko
* Sergei Voronov
* Elena Ilinykh/Ruslan Zhiganshin
* Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin
* Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi

## Programs

(with Lobacheva)
| Season | Original dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
| 2002–2003 | The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II Unter Donner und Blitz by Johann Strauss II | Baby Face version by Little Richard Fever version by Elvis Presley Jumpin' Jack performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy | |
| 2001–2002 | Tanguera by M. Mores Bulerias Magna Mafa by Thomas Espanner | To Everything There is a Season Time for Peace by Rita Ronde de Vigo (Cembalo beginning and end) | |
| 2000–2001 | Foxtrot: Come into my house Quickstep: Dancing Fool | Toccata from Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 Johann Sebastian Bach | The Same Sun by Chris de Burgh Hava Nagila performed by Russian Jewish Choir |
| 1999–2000 | Ritmo de Bom Bom by Vimi Rhumba de le more | Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber Alegría (Cirque du Soleil) Release (from Afro-Celt 2) by Sinéad O'Connor | |
| 1998–1999 | Die Fledermaus The Gypsy Baron by Johann Strauss II | Diablo | Tutti Frutti by Little Richard |
| 1997–1998 | Tutti Frutti by Little Richard | Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber | |
| 1996–1997 | Argentine Tango: | The Mask | This Business of Love (from The Mask) by Domino |
| 1995–1996 | Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona | O Sole Mio Santa Lucia Tarantella | Malagueña |
| 1994–1995 | Sing, Sing, Sing | Hava Nagila | |
| 1993–1994 | Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps | Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms | |

## Results
### With Lobacheva

Results :
| International |||||||||||
| Event | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
| Olympics | | | | | 5th | | | | 2nd | |
| Worlds | 13th | 15th | 6th | 7th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 2nd |
| Europeans | | 9th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 1st |
| Grand Prix Final | | | | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | | 1st |
| GP Cup of Russia | | | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | | | 2nd | | 1st |
| GP Int. Paris/Lalique | 1st | | | | | | | 2nd | | |
| GP Nations Cup | | | 3rd | 4th | | | | | | |
| GP NHK Trophy | | 8th | | | | 2nd | 2nd | | | 1st |
| GP Skate America | | | 2nd | 2nd | | 2nd | 2nd | | | |
| GP Skate Canada | | | 4th | | 3rd | | | | | |
| Goodwill Games | 2nd | | | | 2nd | | | | | |
| National |||||||||||
| Russian Champ. | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | |

### With Anissina

Results :
| International ||||
| Event | 1989–1990 | 1990–1991 | 1991–1992 |
| World Junior Championships | 1st | 4th | 1st |

## Hall of Fame

Averbukh is Jewish and elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame's induction class of 2015.

## Other sports

Averbukh will play a role in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Bandy World Championship.

## Personal life

Lobacheva and Averbukh married in 1995. Their son, Martin, was born in 2004. They divorced in 2007.
Since December 20, 2020, he has been married to the Russian actress Elizaveta Arzamasova.
On August 14, 2021, the couple had a son.

## Politics

In February 2023, he stated that Russian athletes should boycott the Olympics if the pre-requisite for their participation is the condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In April, Averbukh was sanctioned by the Ukrainian government, with all his assets in Ukraine frozen and a 50-year ban on entering the country, due to his support for the invasion.