Georgia announced Friday the hiring of Oleksii Koltakov and Marissa King as assistant coaches, just over a week after the hiring of co-head coaches Cécile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts.
Both Koltakov and King, who are married, both spent the past two seasons at Nebraska while Koltakov also worked with Roberts at Alabama prior to that. The Ukraine native is a strong technical vault and floor coach, according to Roberts, and was named WCGA Co-Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2023. At Alabama, he helped the team to the 2021 SEC championship title, 2022 SEC runner-up, and 2022 NCAA finals. As a gymnast, he competed for Ukraine at the 2009 European Championships and 2011 World Championships.
“I worked with Oleksii when I coached at the University of Alabama, the year we won SECs, and we worked very well together,” Roberts said. “He’s a brilliant technician. When we departed Alabama, I had a feeling that wasn’t the last time we would work together, but I didn’t know it would be in such an amazing context as this.”
King, who competed in college for Florida from 2010 to 2013, represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. While in Gainesville, she won the 2011 NCAA vault title, earned 11 All-America honors, and led the Gators to three SEC titles and the national title in 2013. As a coach, King spent time as a volunteer assistant and assistant coach at Nebraska.
“Marissa is super passionate about what she does,” Roberts said. “Her enthusiasm is contagious, and even rubs off on me. We’ll lean on her this season for choreography and getting the team ready for beam and floor. She’s the pump-up person the team wanted.”
Considering “what the team wanted” was important to Roberts when it came to hiring his assistants. He recognized that the makeup of the team was down to more than just him or Canqueteau-Landi. Koltakov’s technical abilities and King’s energy fit the bill.
“Marissa and Oleksii are the perfect coaches to round out this staff,” Roberts said. “They are great people, excellent technicians, and passionate about helping their athletes be the best they can be in all spheres of life… With this staff and current team of amazing athletes, I am very confident that we have the building blocks for some tremendous growth in the coming years.”
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Article by Elizabeth Grimsley
