Ekaterina is often called "Katia" by friends and fans alike. There are alternate spellings of her name, which are primarily seen in older articles, such as "Yekaterina", "Katya" and "Gordeyeva". While all are correct under the transcription rules used to translate Russian names into English, Katia has consistently chosen to use "Ekaterina", "Katia" and "Gordeeva" for many years. In other languages, you may see a variety of spellings (e.g. Katja in German).

She was born in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Moscow, Russia) to Alexsander Alexeyevich Gordeev and Elena Levovna Gordeeva. The elder of two daughters, she has a sister named Maria Alexandrovna Gordeeva, who is four years younger. Katia began skating at the age of four, in skates many sizes too big, because skates the right size for her tiny feet were unavailable in the USSR (at her adult height, Katia stands only a petite 5'2" tall). Her father wanted her to be a dancer, but she wanted to skate, and did everything in her power to make her dream happen.

At a time in Soviet Union history when athletic children were identified, sent to special schools, and given rigorous training in their sport, she was chosen to train as a figure skater. She was not a particularly strong jumper, and at age ten she was paired with fourteen-year-old Sergei Grinkov at the Central Red Army Club (CSKA) in Moscow. The pair is often referred to simply as 'G&G". They won the 1985 World Junior Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado and in 1986 burst into the world skating spotlight when they won the first of their four World Figure Skating Championships. They became repeat World champions the following year and then won gold at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After a fall in their long program, they took silver at the World Championships in 1988, but they reclaimed that title in 1989 and successfully defended it again in 1990. They turned professional in the fall of 1990, and won their first World Professional Championship in 1991. They went on to win that title two more times (in 1992 & 1994).

G&G won virtually every competition they entered. In the 31 competitions they completed at the Senior and professional levels, they finished first an impressive 24 times. After winning their first World Championship in 1986, they never finished lower than second place, and rarely took home anything but gold. They are one of the few pair teams in history to successfully complete a quadruple twist lift in international competition - at 1987 World Championships. They also completed the difficult maneuver at the 1987 European Championships, but due to a problem with Sergei's boot strap and a misunderstanding about the rules, they were disqualified from that event.

By 1989, the skating partnership had blossomed into romance and Katia married Sergei Grinkov in April 1991 (the state wedding was on April 20, the church wedding was on April 28). The following season was the first year G&G toured with Stars on Ice. They skated throughout the United States and Canada with the show which ran from November 1991 through April 1992. Then, on September 11, 1992 Katia gave birth to their daughter, Daria Sergeevna Grinkova (nicknamed 'Dasha'), born in Morristown, New Jersey. Shortly after Daria's birth, Katia was back on the ice training for the new season of Stars on Ice, which debuted that November. During that year, fans were thrilled to learn that Gordeeva & Grinkov would return to the ranks of eligible skating to compete in the next Olympics.

In 1994, Gordeeva & Grinkov captured their second Olympic gold medal in Lillehammer, Oppland, Norway. After these Olympics, they returned to professional skating and moved to Simsbury, Connecticut. During the 1994-95 season, they toured, yet again, with Stars on Ice, this time as headliners. That year, Katia Gordeeva was named one of the '50 Most Beautiful People' by People Magazine. However, tragedy struck on November 20, 1995, when her husband, Sergei Grinkov, collapsed and died at age 28 from a massive heart attack at Lake Placid, New York while they were rehersing for opening night of the upcoming 1995-96 "Stars on Ice" tour.

In February of 1996, Gordeeva returned to the ice, this time as a solo performer. Her first solo performance was a tribute to her late husband skated to the 'Adagietto' section of Gustav Mahler's 'Symphony No.5.' The number was publically performed only twice, first at a preview performance at the Minto Skating Club in Ontario, Canada, and then on February 27, 1996, in a televised tribute to Sergei, called "Celebration of a Life" in which numerous skating luminaries took part. Katia has said that she felt as if she skated with Sergei that night, that she was "double strong" because she felt him with her. At the end of the performance, she fought back her tears, as the audience cried right along with her. The same year, with the aid of author E. M. Swift, she told her story in a book titled My Sergei : A Love Story. In February of 1998, the CBS television network aired a docudrama based on the book. She published a second book in April, 1998, titled A Letter for Daria.

Her solo skating career has blossomed. She competed sucessfully in professional competitions for several years, and has appeared in numerous exhibitions. She also toured for many years with Stars on Ice and continues to perform at venues all over the world. She has also signed numerous endorsement contracts. She lent her name to two different perfumes ("Katia" and "Katia Sport"), both of which were sold through Target Stores. She and Daria appeared in the 1997 Holiday movie "Snowden on Ice" and Katia appeared in the 1998 sequel "Snowden's Raggedy Ann and Andy Holiday Show". She has represented Target and Rolex and also appeared with Daria in a Milk Mustache ad. In 2001, she was the subject of a Lennox figurine called "Katia's Celebration of Life", which depicts her performing a layback spin in the final moments of the tribute she skated for Sergei.

While Katia has, from time to time, found ways to utilize her superb pairs skating skills in exhibition performances, she has, for all intents and purposes, remained a singles skater. She continues to be a crowd favorite, with her beautiful line and graceful edges and mega-watt smile. She has a natural ability to captivate the audience. In 2003, she appeared on the ice for the first time with another member of the Grinkov family, her daughter, Daria Grinkova. The pair charmed audiences with a duet during a Mother's Day special and have taken the ice together several times since then, in both Russia and the United States.

On June 15, 2001, Katia gave birth to her second daughter, Elizaveta Ilyinichna Kulik (nicknamed 'Liza' (pronounced LEE-za)), whose father is 1998 Winter Olympics men's gold medallist Ilia Kulik. The couple married in a private ceremony in San Francisco on June 10, 2002. They currently reside in Avon, Connecticut and train at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, Connecticut. Katia returned to the ice after Liza's birth, and she continues to delight and charm audiences around the world. In addition to her skating, she has ventured into the arenas of coaching and choreography. She has said that she can see a time when she will no longer perform, but her fans can only hope that time is still far in the future.