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Ludmila Pakhomova

Lyudmila Pakhomova
RUSMARKA-1752.jpg
Pakhomova on a 2013 Russian stamp from the "Sports Legends" series
Personal information
Full name Lyudmila Alekseyevna Pakhomova
Country represented Soviet Union
Born (1946-12-31)31 December 1946
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died 17 May 1986(1986-05-17) (aged 39)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Former partner Alexandr Gorshkov
Viktor Ryzhkin
Former coach Elena Tchaikovskaya
Stanislav Zhuk

Lyudmila Alekseyevna Pakhomova (Russian: Людмила Алексеевна Пахомова; 31 December 1946 – 17 May 1986) was an ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union. With partner Alexandr Gorshkov, she was the 1976 Olympic champion.

Pakhomova was the daughter of Alexei Pakhomov, an aviation general. She began figure skating at age seven, when her grandmother brought her to Children and Youth Sports School by the Young Pioneers Stadium. Her first ice dancing partner was the nine-years-older Viktor Ryzhkin, formerly her coach, with whom she trained at CSKA Moscow under Stanislav Zhuk. They won three Soviet national titles and placed 10th at the 1966 World Championships. They were the first Soviet ice dancers to compete at Worlds.

After her partnership with Ryzhkin ended, Pakhomova invited Alexandr Gorshkov to skate with her. He was only a couple of months older and also trained at CSKA Moscow. Since he had much less experience, some experts were skeptical of her choice. Despite the initial experience gap, Gorshkov said that Pakhomova was a strong personality who was determined they would become champions.

Pakhomova/Gorshkov began training in May 1966, under coach Elena Tchaikovskaya, and made their international debut in December of the same year. They competed for Dynamo. After teaming up, a personal relationship developed between the duo and Gorshkov proposed marriage; Pakhomova responded that they would marry only if they became World champions.


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