Editing Elena Berezhnaya (section)

== Partnership with Anton Sikharulidze ==
Berezhnaya wished to return to the ice and doctors agreed that physical exercise would be therapeutic.<ref name=comeback/> On 15 March 1996, only two months after the accident, she began skating carefully with Sikharulidze's help and Moskvina observing.<ref name=miracle/><ref name=comeback/> Berezhnaya said, "I didn't have any false dreams about the future. All I thought about was those first steps."<ref name=miracle/> Moskvina felt the pair looked promising, "They're a natural pair. They've got it – something magical."<ref name=miracle/>

With Berezhnaya's condition improving, the two began to consider the possibility of a competitive career together. She had made a nearly full recovery, although her speech remained slurred requiring speech therapy.<ref name=comeback/> As of 2010, only a minor speech problem remained.<ref name=20oct2010/> She returned to competition in November 1996, skating with Sikharulidze at [[1996 Trophée Lalique|Trophée Lalique]] where the pair won bronze.<ref name=96tlpoi/> In December, they placed fifth at [[1996 Cup of Russia|Cup of Russia]], and then captured the silver medal at the [[Russian Figure Skating Championships|Russian Nationals]], earning them a berth to the European Championships. In January 1997 in [[Paris]], Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze made the podium at their first [[1997 European Figure Skating Championships|Europeans]] together, obtaining the bronze medal.<ref name=comeback/><ref name=97ec/> At the [[1997 World Figure Skating Championships|1997 World Championships]] in March, their short program placed them provisionally in third, with two judges giving them first-place votes.<ref name=comeback/> However, the pair placed 12th in the long program and dropped to 9th overall.