ZineZone: Welcome and thanks for attending our event today. Ekaterina Gordeeva and her partner, Sergei Grinkov, came to define pairs skating, until he died in 1995 of a heart attack. She's had to carve out a new career on ice and raise their daughter on her own. We're chatting with her as she's rehearsing for her "Target Stars on Ice" show that debuts at Lake Placid this November.

SueDM says: Welcome to ZineZone, Katia! How are the rehearsals going?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: Rehearsals just started on Monday, so there's not much happening yet. We're deciding on music and working on getting ideas.

petrenkofan says: What do you have planned for this season? What shows and competitions are you going to skate in?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: There's a competition this weekend. It will be my first this season.

guest-shercind says: Will you be performing any pairs programs in SOI shows again this season? If so, with whom?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: I hope I will. We don't know yet; we're just getting ideas now.

guest-Adalee says: How did you prepare before going out on the ice every night?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: On the tour, it's an everyday routine. Once you go on the road, you get used to it. We warm up for 45 minutes, then take a rest.

guest-Elizabeth says: Ekaterina, you always seem to be in great shape. What do your off-ice workouts consist of?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: Thank you. Most of the time I'm skating 3 or 4 hours a day. Because of practice almost every day, it keeps me in shape.

guest-JenH says: What pro competitions do you plan on attending this year?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: My first competition will be the Grand Slam, which is this weekend in Toronto. It's the only one so far. Maybe some other competitions later, but I don't know yet.

guest-Nadia says: Katia, are you familiar with precision/synchronized skating? If so, do you think it has a future in skating?

Ekaterina_Gordeeva: I am familiar with it, but not very much. I haven't seen it in competition, but I have seen it in performance. It's hard to tell about its future, but it looks nice on ice!