They were soulmates on and off the ice. Young soulmates: she 24 and he 28, the day of that fateful November 20, 1995 practice when his heart stopped beating.

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At first Sergei's death seemed to take the heart out of Katia, and their daughter, Daria, who has her father's smile. However, Katia has found she still has her heart.

"God decided Sergei has to go, so this is my life, and this is my future," Gordeeva said.

February 27, 1996: Katia skated at the Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut, in a special tribute to her husband, "Celebration of a Life". She skated sans partner but not alone to the poignant melancholia of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Her hand reached for his, her slender body veiled in diaphanous white and gray, arced to the shape of a ghostly companion. One realized she was still half of a pair.