Lidiya Skoblikova

Lidiya Skoblikova

Lidiya Skoblikova in 1967
Personal information
Full name	Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova
Born	(1939-03-08) 8 March 1939 (age 77) Zlatoust, Soviet Union
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport	Speed skating
Club	Burevestnik Chelyabinsk, Lokomotiv Moscow
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1960 Squaw Valley 1500 m 1960 Squaw Valley 3000 m 1964 Innsbruck 500 m 1964 Innsbruck 1000 m 1964 Innsbruck 1500 m 1964 Innsbruck 3000 m World Championships 1963 Karuizawa Allround 1964 Kristinehamn Allround 1962 Imatra Allround 1959 Sverdlovsk Allround 1960 Östersund Allround 1961 Tønsberg Allround

Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova (Russian: Лидия Павловна Скобликова; born 8 March 1939) is a retired Russian speed skater and coach. Representing the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960 and 1964, she won a total of six gold medals, still a record number for a speed skater. She also won 25 gold medals at the world championships and 15 gold medals at the USSR National Championships in several distances. She was also the first athlete to earn six gold medals in the Olympic Winter Games, and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin.

Skoblikova was born in Zlatoust, Soviet Union, some 160 km west of Chelyabinsk, Ural. She trained at Burevestnik and later at Lokomotiv sports societies. In 1959, at age 19, Skoblikova qualified for the Soviet team, placing third in the national championships. She repeated that performance at the world championships, winning two distance medals as well. The next season, she seemed headed for the world title after winning the 500 m and placing 2nd in the 1500 m, but she fell in the 1000 m. By winning the 3000 m, she managed to land on the podium anyway, placing third again. A favourite for the Olympics now, she entered three events. In the first race, the 1500 m, she broke the world record, and won the gold medal. After just missing a second medal in the 1000 m (fourth), Skoblikova approached the world record in the 3000 m (missing it by just half a second), but that was enough for her second gold medal.

During the following years, Skoblikova fought with her team mates to become world champion. In 1961, she won the bronze for the third consecutive time, followed by the silver medal in 1962. In 1963, she finally managed to win the title. In Karuizawa, conditions were excellent, and Skoblikova won all four races, setting a new 1000 m world record in the process.