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| Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov Photo by Michelle Harvath |
(2/18/05) — 2005 U.S. ice dancing silver medalist Denis Petukhov is scheduled to become a United States citizen on Tuesday, Feb. 22, during a ceremony at U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Petukhov and his partner, Melissa Gregory, will then be eligible to compete in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy.
Petukhov is married to Gregory, a U.S. citizen who is a native to the Chicago land area. Gregory and Petukhov met over the Internet when both posted on a message board that they were looking for ice dance partners. Petukhov, a Russian national, traveled to the United States to meet Gregory in 2000 and never used his return flight to Russia.
Earlier today the duo won the silver medal at the 2005 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Gangneung, Korea, and they will fly to Chicago early next week for the ceremony. They are likely to be top contenders to represent the United States in the 2006 Olympics. To do so they must place in the top two or three (depending on the number of U.S. Olympic spots) at the 2006 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 7-15, 2006.
A person who obtains his or her permanent residency through marriage to a United States citizen is eligible to apply for naturalization after three years of marriage.
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