Pairs, Mixed

The Soviets had continued their dominance of pairs skating, now led by the tandem of Yekaterina “Kati” Gordeyeva and Sergey Grinkov, who had won the 1986-87 World Championships. But until 1988, they had yet to win the Europeans, those titled going to their teammates Yelena Valova and Oleg Vasilyev in 1985-86 and Larisa Seleznyeva and Oleg Makarov in 1987. However, only a few weeks before Calgary, Gordeyeva and Grinkov won the European title, establishing themselves as the favorites, although Valova and Vasilyev did not take part, as Valova was recovering from a foot injury that saw her hospitalized for almost a month. G&G were dominant in Calgary, winning both the short program and free skating easily, giving the Soviets their seventh consecutive gold medal in this event. Valova/Vasiliyev won silver, but the bronze was a surprise, going to the American pair of Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard. When Watson and Oppegard skated their free program, a photographer dropped his camera on the ice and crawled out to retrieve it, with Oppegard noticing him in the corner of his eye, but they continued their routine.