Irina Rodnina

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.[2] 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.

In this Eastern Slavic name, the patronymic is Konstantinovna and the family name is Rodnina.
Irina Rodnina
Irina Rodnina in 2018
Personal information
Full nameIrina Konstantinovna Rodnina
Country represented Soviet Union
Born (1949-09-12) 12 September 1949
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height5' (152 cm)[1]
Former partnerAlexei Ulanov
Alexander Zaitsev
Former coachTatiana Tarasova
Stanislav Zhuk
Skating clubArmed Forces sports society
Retired1980
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Pairs' Figure skating
Olympic Games
1980 Lake Placid Pairs
1976 Innsbruck Pairs
1972 Sapporo Pairs
World Championships
1978 OttawaPairs
1977 TokyoPairs
1976 GothenburgPairs
1975 Colorado SpringsPairs
1974 MunichPairs
1973 BratislavaPairs
1972 CalgaryPairs
1971 LyonPairs
1970 LjubljanaPairs
1969 Colorado SpringsPairs
European Championships
1980 GothenburgPairs
1978 StrasbourgPairs
1977 HelsinkiPairs
1976 GenevaPairs
1975 CopenhagenPairs
1974 ZagrebPairs
1973 ColognePairs
1972 GothenburgPairs
1971 ZürichPairs
1970 LeningradPairs
1969 Garmisch-PartenkirchenPairs

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.[3] Since the sixth form of secondary school, age 13,[4] she trained at Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt.[5]

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. They 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3][6] Known for intense concentration, they finished the program in silence, earning a standing ovation and a gold medal upon completion,[7] ahead of Smirnova/Ulanov, whom they again defeated in 1974.

In 1974, Rodnina/Zaitsev left Zhuk, with whom the working relationship had become strained,[3] 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.[3] 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.[8] With her partners, she won ten World Championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1971 to 1980, along with eleven European titles, making her the most successful pair skater in history.

Political career

Rodnina became a member of the Public Chamber of Russia in 2005.[9] In the 2007 legislative election, she was elected to the State Duma as a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.[2] On 17 December 2012, Rodnina supported[10] the Dima Yakovlev Law, the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the US.

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.[3] From her second marriage with the film producer Leonid Menkovsky, Rodnina has a daughter, Alyona Minkovski, born in 1986.[3] She is currently divorced.[11] She spent a number of years living in the United States and then moved back to Russia.[11][12]

Twitter controversy

On 13 September 2013, Rodnina caused a stir when she tweeted a doctored photo of U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, with Obama's mouth full of food, with a photoshopped banana in the image's foreground.[13] She said she was practicing her right to free expression,[14] but critics claimed she was making a racist comment about the African-American president.[15][13][16][17] On 10 February 2014, Rodnina in her Twitter claimed that her account was hacked at the time of posting the offensive photograph and apologized for her handling of the affair.[18][19]

Results

With Ulanov
Event 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72
Winter Olympics1st
World Championships1st1st1st1st
European Championships5th1st1st1st1st
Soviet Championships3rd3rd1st1st
Prize of Moscow News1st2nd1st

With Zaitsev
Event 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
Winter Olympics1st1st
World Championships1st1st1st1st1st1st
European Championships1st1st1st1st1st1st1st
Soviet Championships1st1st1st1st
Prize of Moscow News1st

Other honours and awards

References
  1. "Irina Rodnina". Sports-reference. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011.
  2. Weir, Fred (5 August 2008). "Russia's other Olympic powerhouse – in parliament". The Christian Science Monitor.
  3. Pushkina, Oksana (3 October 2004). Ирина Константиновна Роднина [Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina]. peoples.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  4. Malinin, Nikolai (1 December 2006). Ирина Роднина: "Я не дачница, я москвичка" [I'm a Moscovite]. archi.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  5. скользящий путь. Kommersant (in Russian). 20 December 2004. Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  6. Srebnitskaya, Daria (10 September 2009). Роднина – это эпоха [Rodnina – is an era]. Russian News (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  7. Encyclopædia Britannica: Irina Rodnina
  8. Khavin, Boris (1979). Все об олимпийских играх [All about Olympic Games] (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 575.
  9. Weir, Fred (2 November 2005). "Putin's 'chamber': a parallel parliament?". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  10. Система анализа результатов голосований на заседаниях Государственной Думы
  11. Lepeshkova, Svetlana (25 February 2005). Я больше не хочу стремиться к вершинам. Дайте наконец пожить по-человечески [Irina Rodnina interview]. gzt.ru (in Russian). peoples.ru. Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  12. Vandenko, Andrei (16 December 2005). Иду на вы! [Irina Rodnina interview]. itogi.ru (in Russian). peoples.ru. Archived from the original on 19 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  13. Walker, Shaun. "Russian MP's Obama with banana picture sparks racism debate". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  14. "Свобода слова есть свобода! За свои комплексы сами и отвечайте!" [Freedom of speech is freedom of speech! If you have issues it's your problem!]. Twitter. 13 September 2013.
  15. Seddon, Max (10 February 2015). "Russian Olympic Champion Says Racist Obama Photo Was Work Of A Hacker When It Really Probably Wasn't". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  16. "Uproar over Russian MP Irina Rodnina's Obama banana pic". news.com.au. 15 September 2013.
  17. "Irina Rodnina, Former Russian Skater Who Lit Olympic Flame, Tweeted Racist Obama Photo". The Huffington Post. 14 September 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012.
  18. Rosenberg, Steve (11 February 2014). "Russian Olympic figure skater sorry for Obama banana tweet". BBC News.
  19. ИРИНА РОДНИНА ИЗВИНИЛАСЬ ЗА ИНЦИДЕНТ С ФОТОКОЛЛАЖЕМ СЕМЬИ БАРАКА ОБАМЫ [Irina Rodnina apology] (in Russian). Echo of Moscow.
  20. "Irina Rodnina". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

Bibliography

A. Chaikovsky (1977). Irina Rodnina. Heroes of the Olympic Games (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007.

Olympic Games
Preceded by
Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds, and Adelle Tracey		 Final Olympic torchbearer
with Vladislav Tretiak
Sochi 2014		 Succeeded by
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima
Preceded by
Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash, Nancy Greene and Wayne Gretzky		 Final Winter Olympic torchbearer
with Vladislav Tretiak
Sochi 2014		 Succeeded by
Yuna Kim
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