Irina Rodnina facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Irina Rodnina
Rodnina in 2018
Member of the Russian State Duma for the Dmitrov constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 December 2007
Personal details
Political party	United Russia
Irina Rodnina Personal information Country represented  Soviet Union Born (1949-09-12) 12 September 1949 (age 74) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Height 5' (152 cm) Former partner Alexei Ulanov Alexander Zaitsev Former coach Tatiana Tarasova Stanislav Zhuk Skating club Armed Forces sports society Retired 1980 Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Pairs' Figure skating Olympic Games Gold 1972 Sapporo Pairs Gold 1976 Innsbruck Pairs Gold 1980 Lake Placid Pairs World Championships Gold 1969 Colorado Springs Pairs Gold 1970 Ljubljana Pairs Gold 1971 Lyon Pairs Gold 1972 Calgary Pairs Gold 1973 Bratislava Pairs Gold 1974 Munich Pairs Gold 1975 Colorado Springs Pairs Gold 1976 Gothenburg Pairs Gold 1977 Tokyo Pairs Gold 1978 Ottawa Pairs European Championships Gold 1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs Gold 1970 Leningrad Pairs Gold 1971 Zürich Pairs Gold 1972 Gothenburg Pairs Gold 1973 Cologne Pairs Gold 1974 Zagreb Pairs Gold 1975 Copenhagen Pairs Gold 1976 Geneva Pairs Gold 1977 Helsinki Pairs Gold 1978 Strasbourg Pairs Gold 1980 Gothenburg Pairs

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (Russian: Ирина Константиновна Роднина, IPA: [ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna]; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skater, who is the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980). She was elected to the State Duma in the 2007 legislative election as a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. As a figure skater, she initially competed with Alexei Ulanov and later teamed up with Alexander Zaitsev. She is the first pair skater to win the Olympic title with two different partners, followed only by Artur Dmitriev.

Figure skating career

In her pre-school years, Irina Rodnina suffered from pneumonia eleven times; deciding to enroll her in an activity, in 1954 her parents brought her to her first skating rink, in the Pryamikov Children Park in Moscow. Since the sixth form of secondary school, age 13, she trained at Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt.

Rodnina with Ulanov in 1970

By 1963, Rodnina had begun skating with her first partner Oleg Vlasov, coached by Sonia and Milan Valun. In 1964, her coach became Stanislav Zhuk, who paired her with Alexei Ulanov. They won four consecutive World and European titles. Rodnina/Ulanov won their first World title in 1969, ahead of Tamara Moskvina/Alexei Mishin.

Rodnina and Ulanov won their next two World titles, 1970 and 1971, ahead of silver medalists Lyudmila Smirnova/Andrei Suraikin. However, Ulanov fell in love with Smirnova, and prior to the 1972 Olympics, the couple made the decision to skate together the following season. Rodnina/Ulanov went on to compete at the 1972 Olympics where they captured the gold. They then prepared for their last competition together, the 1972 World Championships. While practicing together a day before the start of the competition, the pair had an accident on a lift and Rodnina ended up in hospital with a concussion and an intracranial hematoma. Despite the accident, they had a strong showing in the short program, receiving some 6.0s. In the long program, Rodnina became faint and dizzy but it was enough for their fourth World title. Ulanov continued his career with Smirnova, while Rodnina considered retirement.

In April 1972, her coach Stanislav Zhuk suggested she team up with the young Leningrad skater Alexander Zaitsev, who had good jumping technique and quickly learned the elements. Their music stopped during their short program at the 1973 World Championships, possibly due to a Czech worker acting in retaliation for the suppression of the Prague Spring. Known for intense concentration, they finished the program in silence, earning a standing ovation and a gold medal upon completion, ahead of Smirnova/Ulanov, whom they again defeated in 1974.

In 1974, Rodnina/Zaitsev left Zhuk, with whom the working relationship had become strained, to train with Tatiana Tarasova. They won six consecutive World titles together, as well as seven European gold medals, and won their first Olympic title together in 1976. Rodnina/Zaitsev did not compete during the 1978–79 season because she was pregnant with their son who was born on 23 February 1979. They returned in 1980 to capture their second Olympic title together and Rodnina's third. At the age of 30 years and 159 days, she became one of the oldest female figure skating Olympic champions. They then retired from competitive skating.

Throughout her career, Rodnina competed internationally for the Soviet Union and represented the Armed Forces sports society at the national level. Rodnina, along with Ulanov and her later partner Alexander Zaitsev "completely dominated international pair skating throughout the 1970s". With her partners, she won ten World Championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1971 to 1980, a record that equaled Sonia Henie's, along with eleven European titles, making her the most successful pair skater in history. She was one of the first female pair skaters to be known for her athleticism and ever-increasing dangerous tricks. She and her partners were also known for their acrobatic lifts, side-by-jumps, and for the split triple twist. In the early 1990s, she coached at the Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, California.

Political career

Rodnina became a member of the Public Chamber of Russia in 2005. In the 2007 legislative election, she was elected to the State Duma as a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. On 17 December 2012, Rodnina supported the Dima Yakovlev Law, the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the United States.

Sanctioned by the United Kingdom from 15 March 2022 in relation to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

In December 2022, the Ukrainian Parliament sanctioned Rodnina for her support of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2023, she supported Poland's decision to boycott the Olympic Games in case Russian athletes are allowed to compete, saying that it would mean "Poland gets banned for the next two Olympic cycles".

Personal life

Rodnina graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture. Her first marriage was to Alexander Zaitsev, with whom she has a son of the same name, born in 1979. From her second marriage with the film producer Leonid Menkovsky, Rodnina has a daughter, Alyona Minkovski, born in 1986. She is currently divorced. She spent a number of years living in the United States and then moved back to Russia.

Results

With Ulanov

With Zaitsev

Other honours and awards

• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1972)
• Order of Lenin (1976)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd and 4th classes
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"
• Inducted into International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1988)
• Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1989)
• International Skating Union's Jacques Favart Award
• In the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she was given the honor of being the lighter of the Olympic Cauldron along with Vladislav Tretiak

See also

In Spanish: Irina Rodniná para niños