Irina Rodnina

Irina Rodnina
Irina Rodnina in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1949-09-12) 12 September 1949 (age 67) Moscow, 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 1980 Lake Placid Pairs 1976 Innsbruck Pairs 1972 Sapporo Pairs World Championships 1978 Ottawa Pairs 1977 Tokyo Pairs 1976 Gothenburg Pairs 1975 Colorado Springs Pairs 1974 Munich Pairs 1973 Bratislava Pairs 1972 Calgary Pairs 1971 Lyon Pairs 1970 Ljubljana Pairs 1969 Colorado Springs Pairs European Championships 1980 Gothenburg Pairs 1978 Strasbourg Pairs 1977 Helsinki Pairs 1976 Geneva Pairs 1975 Copenhagen Pairs 1974 Zagreb Pairs 1973 Cologne Pairs 1972 Gothenburg Pairs 1971 Zürich Pairs 1970 Leningrad Pairs 1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (Russian: Ирина Константиновна Роднина; IPA: [ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna], born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and 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.

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.

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. 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.