Film Features Star-Crossed Skaters Docudrama Will Chronicle Life, Careers Of Gordeeva And Her Ill-Fated Husband

The tragic love of Olympic figure skaters Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov will be told in a CBS docudrama airing early next year.

Grinkov, who collapsed and died at age 28 after a heart attack in November 1995, and Gordeeva, his wife, had earned gold medals in the 1988 and 1994 Olympics and won four world skating championships.

The movie based on Gordeeva’s book “My Sergei” combines film of the couple on ice and at home with interviews and dramatic scenes with actors portraying them.

“It’s a story of great love and great sadness,” CBS Sports president Sean McManus told a news conference. He also announced that Gordeeva would have a role in CBS’ coverage of the Winter Games in Japan next February.

Gordeeva spoke briefly about her participation in the docudrama, which included filming in her native Russian city.

“In Moscow, it was very emotional… . We see all the places we’d been with Sergei,” said the skater, who is raising the couple’s young daughter.

The air date was not announced.