Irina Rodnina. Biography

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina was born in Moscow in 1949. Today she is known as an invincible figure skater, as a 10-time world champion, as an athlete who was honored to light the Olympic flame in 2014. Such a rich and successful career began unexpectedly for Irina Rodnina, and skating itself was not her own initiative. It all happened thanks to her mother: Irina was a very sickly child, and her mother, who worked as a nurse, came up with a great way to temper her daughter - at the age of five she took her to the rink. From that moment on, a huge love for sports arose.

The first peak of figure skater Rodnina is an honorable third place in the 63rd year at the All-Union competitions (youth). The coach paired Irina with Alexei Ulanov. The hard training and exactingness of Stanislav Zhuk led the young skaters to success - in 1969 they became the leaders of the world championship. But not everything is as smooth as it might seem - disagreements are growing in the pair due to the different level of athletes. In addition, a few days before the 72nd World Cup, Irina Rodnina receives a serious head injury, but even a concussion did not prevent the skater from performing brilliantly.

In 1973, the coach finds Irina a new partner - Alexander Zaitsev. This tandem is becoming more than successful - a series of significant victories ensues, first under the leadership of Zhuk, and then - Tatiana Tarasova, the new coach of the couple. Over time, Zaitsev becomes the first husband of the skater and the father of her son Alexander. As time has shown, the couple was not destined to be together, and later Irina marries businessman Leonid Minkovsky for the second time. The second marriage gave the athlete another reason for pride - her daughter Alena.

Even after the end of her career, Irina Rodnina remains in the spotlight - she tries herself as a teacher, coach, entrepreneur and even a journalist. Today the figure skater is a well-known public and political figure.

Photo by Irina Rodnina

Video. Irina Rodnina

Video: Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev. 1976 year. Olympic Games.

Video: Irina Rodnina in the program "Incredible Love Stories"

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina(b. September 12, 1949, Moscow) - Soviet figure skater, three-time Olympic champion, ten-time world champion, Russian public and statesman, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation V and VI from the United Russia party, member of the State Duma committee for the Commonwealth of Independent States and relations with compatriots. Member of the General Council of the United Russia party.

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina
the USSR
Date of Birth 12 September 1949
Place of birth Moscow, USSR

Irina Rodnina's sporting achievements

In childhood Irina Rodnina she had pneumonia eleven times, so her parents (father is a military man, an officer, originally from Vologda, mother is a nurse) brought her in 1954 to a skating rink, to the Pryamikov Park of Culture. Then, having passed the competition, Irina gets into the section of CSKA figure skaters (1958). Since 1962, her coaches were the Czechs Sonya and Milan Valun, who worked under a contract with CSKA, together with Oleg Vlasov, Rodnina took third place in the all-Union youth competitions in 1963.

Irina Rodnina's sports career under the leadership of S. A. Zhuk

Since 1964 - S.A. Zhuk became the coach, Rodnin together with A. Ulanov. In December 1966 they made their debut at the first international tournament - "Moscow Skates", and already in the next 1967/68 season the pair became one of the leaders of figure skating in the USSR, in December they won the Moscow Skates tournament, in January 1968 they took third place in the USSR championship (the first short program - to the Moldovan melody "Skylark"), after which the couple enters the national team. At the first European Championships after the short program - the third, but the free program was unsuccessful (5th place). S. A. Zhuk complicates the program more and more, having included in it for the first time in the history of pair skating a double axel parallel jump and a combination of jumps. At the Moscow Skates tournament, the pair is the second, and at the USSR Championship in January 1969, in the sharpest struggle, takes the third place. The pair arrives at the 1969 European Championship without a coach (S.A. Zhuk was banned from leaving), but makes a sensation, and despite the 2nd place in the compulsory program, where the pair lost to L. Belousova - O. Protopopov, in the end it takes first place thanks to more complex elements and a high rate of performance of the free program, and the first place was given by 8 judges out of 9. I. Rodnina receives the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

At the 1969 World Cup, a couple Rodnina - Ulanov win already for a clear advantage, having won both types of competitions, having received all the first places from the judges. However, the next year, 1970, at the USSR Championship in Kiev, Rodnina - Ulanov They skate the compulsory program extremely unsuccessfully, with two gross errors, taking only 8th place in this form. Nevertheless, after a clean free program, they won (Belousova - Protopopov, who went first, but ended up being only 4, subsequently announced a conspiracy). Rodnina- Ulanov continued to win all the competitions in which they participated, however, by 1972, the rivalry with the second Soviet pair L. Smirnova - A. Suraikin became more and more acute. At the 72 Olympics in the short program, Ulanov, instead of the obligatory double salchow, made a single, in an arbitrary Rodnina made a mistake on a cascade of jumps, as a result they were ahead of Smirnov - Suraikin only by two votes of the judges. For victory at the Olympics-72 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The day before the 1972 World Cup, during training, Irina fell from support, was admitted to the hospital with a concussion and intracranial hematoma. The couple skated the short program cleanly, having received marks up to 6.0, in the free program Irina felt bad, completed the program in a semi-faint state. After the World Cup, the couple breaks up (Ulanov, being married to Smirnova, paired with her). Rodnina seriously thought about leaving the big sport, watched the USSR Championship in April 1972 from the stands.

With a new partner
From April 1972 C. A. Zhuk suggested Rodnina to pair up with the young Leningrad figure skater Alexander Zaitsev. In September 1972, a new pair of I. Rodnina - A. Zaitsev performed for the first time at demonstration performances in Zaporozhye.

Zaitsev, who possessed good jumping technique, very quickly mastered all the complex elements. Mutual understanding, consistency in the new pair is noticeably higher than in the previous one, which was immediately noted by the judges - at the 1973 European Championship in Cologne, Rodnina - Zaitsev not only beat Smirnova - Ulanov with the unanimous opinion of all 9 judges, but also received 12 ratings 6.0 out of 18 possible.
At the 1973 World Championships in Bratislava (Czechoslovakia), an incident occurs that went down in the history of figure skating. There was a short circuit in the radio room, the soundtrack was turned off during an arbitrary program by Rodnina - Zaitsev (later it turned out that the closure was deliberately organized by a Czech employee, who thus tried to take revenge on the USSR for the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968). Coach S. A. Zhuk from behind the side indicated to continue the program and the couple skated without music, to the applause of the audience. Referee Karl Enderlin, noting the couple's "will to win", nevertheless instructed to lower the marks in connection with skating without music (the couple, of course, refused to perform the program at the end of the competition), which is why not a single mark was given 6.0 did not have. At the World Championships on March 5, 1974, in the tempo short program to music by J. Frenkel “The Chase”, Irina makes a mistake, justifying herself at a press conference for criticizing journalists. In the free program, on March 7, an uncertain performance followed again (after which Rodnina said: "It was just bad"), the audience met the marks with disappointment, and the Soviet judge V. Piseev gave 6.0.

In 1974 she graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture.

Under the leadership of T.A. Tarasova
By 1974, the relationship between the couple and the coach had become complicated. The reasons are sometimes indicated the most opposite: Rodnina, in particular, said that she had become more independent and "tired of the Beetle's behavior." And since October 1974, the skaters, on their own initiative, go over to the young coach - T.A. Tarasova, who treated the students on an equal footing, rather as a partner in a common cause. In addition, Tarasova tried to bring more artistic expression to skating, already in the first season of 1974/75 staging a short program to the music of A. Mazhukov.
At the 1975 World Championships, during the warm-up before the free program, Rodnina faced U. Kagelmann, in the free program the pair decided to give up one support, nevertheless, the judges again unanimously gave the pair 1st place, with scores up to 6.0. In 1975, Rodnina became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The wedding of Rodnina and Zaitsev (1975) was widely celebrated, TV USA came to the shooting. Before the Olympics-76 A. Zaitsev “overtrained”, the excitement also affected, and after a cleanly executed short program, several mistakes were made in the free program (including Zaitsev touched with his hand when landing from a double axel), but the triple flip was perfectly performed. All judges gave first places, 10 marks of 5.9 and 8 - 5.8 (some spectators booed marks). Both programs were performed with gypsy and Moldovan melodies. At the 1977 World Championships, the short program (set to music by V. Solovyov-Sedoy for the film "The First Glove") and the free program were purely performed. The Soviet judge V. Piseev was the only one to give a score of 6.0, after which the referee S. Bianchetti initiated the removal of all Soviet judges for a whole season (1977/78).

In the 1977/78 free program, Tarasova included two lifts with a change of hand, a butterfly jump performed by partners holding hands, a descent with a coup from a support, and other original elements. The couple missed the 1978/79 season due to the birth of their son Alexander on February 23, 1979. The missed 1979 World Cup was won by Babilonia - Gardner (USA) with an advantage of 2 votes, after which the Americans staged a campaign of pressure on Rodnina - Zaitsev, accusing them of prohibited elements, up to demands to hold a press conference with repentance.
Indeed, only from the judge from Germany E. Bayer Tarasov and the students learned about the changes in the ISU Rules, but managed to remake the program, removing several elements (for example, support). As a result, 30-year-old Rodnina (paired with Zaitsev) won a historic third victory at the 1980 Olympics, performing both programs absolutely cleanly (in the free program, including a double axel jump and a triple twist). Rodnina's tears went down in history during the awards ceremony.

Coaching work. Social activity
After the end of her amateur career, Rodnina worked at the Central Committee of the Komsomol, then as a senior coach (for example, a pair of V. Pershina - M. Akbarov) in the Dynamo society, and taught at the Institute of Physical Education. In 1990-2002 she lived in the United States, worked as a coach at the International Figure Skating Center (in Lake Arrowhead, near Los Angeles). In 1995, her students R. Kovarzhikova - R. Novotny became world champions (Rodnina was awarded the honorary citizenship of the Czech Republic), helped to prepare Michelle Kwan and Angela Nikodinov.

Since 2005 I. Rodnina conducts an author's program on Radio Russia - "Stadium". Author of the book "Rough Ice" (1978).
In 2006 she was a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Negatively assesses the new judging system.
On June 28, 2005, her signature appeared under a letter in support of the sentence to the former Yukos executives. On September 11, 2009, Rodnina denied signing a letter in support of the conviction of Mikhail Khodorkovsky
He is a member of the Presidium of the All-Russian public organization "League of the Health of the Nation". He is the chairman of the central council of the All-Russian public organization “All-Russian voluntary society“ Sports Russia ””.

Political and state activities
I. K. Rodnina twice, in the 2003 elections and the 2004 by-elections, she nominated herself for the State Duma of the Russian Federation, but was defeated.

In December 2007, Rodnina was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the V convocation on the list of "United Russia" from the Omsk region.
In the Duma, she took the post of deputy chairman of the education committee. In December 2011, Rodnina was re-elected, becoming a deputy of the State Duma of the VI convocation on the list of United Russia from the Omsk region. In the State Duma of the VI convocation, he is a member of the committee on the affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States and relations with compatriots, and is a member of the United Russia faction.
He is a member of the Council for Physical Culture and Sports under the President of the Russian Federation.
In "United Russia" Rodnina leads the intra-party projects "Yard Trainer", "School Sports" and "Russia: We Must Live Long."

Scandals related to
In January 2013, the comment drew a wide response Rodnina on the opposition action against the so-called "Dima Yakovlev's law", the participants of which carried through the city portraits of the deputies who supported the law, which were then thrown into the trash can. Rodnina expressed her disappointment that her photograph "was not carried by a bright personality" experience ", but as they say in Moscow: an aunt from the queue."
In September 2013, it became known that Rodnina posted a photo collage on her Twitter account, in which black Barack Obama and his wife are depicted in front of a banana, regarded by a part of society as racist. In response to criticism, Rodnina referred to freedom of speech and noted that her "rating went up", but after a while she removed the collage.

Sports achievements (with A. Ulanov)
Event 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72
Winter Olympics 1
World Championships 1 1 1 1
European Championships 5 1 1 1 1
USSR Championships 3 3 1 1
Tournament for the prizes of the newspaper "Moscow News" 1 2 1

(with A. Zaitsev)
Event 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
Winter Olympics 1 1
World Championships 1 1 1 1 1 1
European Championships 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
USSR Championships 1 1 1 1
Tournament for the prizes of the newspaper "Moscow News" 1

Eventually Rodnina became the most successful figure skater in the history of pair skating: three-time Olympic champion, ten-time (1969-1978) world champion, eleven-time (1969-1978, 1980) European champion and six-time (1970-1971, 1973-1975, 1977) champion of the USSR, in 1969 -80 without losing a single competition in which she and her partners participated. Such a long streak of victories in all competitions can be explained by at least one example: in one of the most intense programs in the history of figure skating - the free season 1974/75, the pair Rodnina-Zaitsev performed over 30 elements, a number of which were ahead of the development of pair skating for many years, including 6 difficult lifts (in one, the partner's descent went through a coup, when entering the other, several jumps of the partner followed holding the partner's hands, the third consisted of three revolutions on one arm), in addition to them, 4 more supports were made without lifting over the partner's head, 4 cascades (one of four jumps, one with a unique axel with landing on the same leg, another one consisted of a complex double axel and through a triple double salchow), a difficult approach to the todes back out was carried out from a spiral, after which the partner changed her leg, in a pair rotation, the partner lifted the partner twice in the air so that she changed her leg 2 times, as well as two twists - a triple lutz and an axel in two and a half turnover. In addition, there are many connecting "elements between the elements" - original spirals, steps, etc. The program was executed at great speed, and extremely synchronously. All this boggled the imagination of the judges, who unanimously gave the couple first place, and the absolute nine first places out of nine possible couples received both for short and free programs during 1973-80.

Awards
She was awarded the Order of Lenin (1976), two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (including 1972), the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (1999), the Order for Merit to the Fatherland, IV degree (2009) and the bronze Olympic order. Twice laureate of the Olympia National Award for Public Recognition of the Achievements of Russian Women in 2002 and 2003 Laureate of the "Russian of the Year" award (2005) in the "Triumphant" nomination.

Family
First husband - sports partner Alexander Zaitsev
Son - Alexander Zaitsev (born February 23, 1979), took up pottery.
The second husband is a businessman, film producer Leonid Minkovsky.
Daughter - Alena Minkovskaya (born 1986) - lives in Washington, hosts her own program "The Alyona Show" on the Russian English-language TV channel "RT"; ...
Currently not married.

Literature
Irina Rodnina... [Photo essay]. - M .: Physical culture and sport, 1977 .-- 48 p. - (Heroes of the Olympic Games).
Irina Rodnina... Not smooth ice. - M .: Pravda, 1978 .-- 64 p. - (Library Fire).
Rodnina I.K., Zaitsev A.G. Olympic orbit. - M .: Physical culture and sport, 1984 .-- 302 p. - (Hearts devoted to sports).
Irina Rodnina... Tear of a Champion. - M .: Vremya, 2013 .-- 480 p. - (Dialog).

(born in 1949)

Irina Rodnina is rightfully called one of the best athletes of the twentieth century. She managed to make her sport - figure skating - one of the most popular and significant. But Rodnina became famous also because she managed to show extraordinary endurance and will to win. These qualities were revealed in her early enough.

Irina Rodnina was born on September 12, 1949 in Moscow in the family of a career soldier. The Snow Maiden put on her first skates at the age of three or four, and when she grew up a little, her parents assigned her to the famous figure skating school, which was located in the children's park in the Dzerzhinsky district of Moscow. Most of the Soviet figure skating masters of the fifties began their sports career there. Then, from the children's figure skating school, Irina moved to the CSKA figure skaters section, having withstood a serious competition.

In 1962, at the invitation of the Soviet Sports Committee, the Czechoslovak coaches came to the club - the spouses Sonya and Milan Valun. Rodnina, paired with Oleg Vlasov, began to train under their leadership, and in 1963 their sports pair took third place in the all-Union youth competitions. At thirteen and a half years old, the girl received the first sports category. However, the Czechoslovak coaches soon left, and Irina was left on her own. Fortunately, Stanislav Zhuk, newly appointed senior coach of CSKA figure skaters, noticed her. He took her to him and picked up the first adult partner - Alexei Ulanov. They were a beautiful, memorable couple: a small, well-built Rodnina and a prominent, tall Ulanov. They first appeared in 1967 at demonstration performances. Stanislav Zhuk gradually accustomed the judges to their existence, and two years later the first victory came.

In 1969, Rodnina and Ulanov became world and European champions for the first time. And they won the European Championship without a coach! Since that memorable year, Rodnina has not missed a single European and World Championship. And she always won. Until 1972 with Ulanov.

A decisive role in their victories was played by Rodnina's sporting character, her charm, her ability to deal with the vicissitudes of fate. Perhaps the most characteristic was the episode that took place immediately after the victory at the Olympic Games in Sapporo, when Irina, along with Ulanov, went to her last world championship.

Before performing at the World Championships in 1972, Alexei Ulanov warned Rodnina that next year he would compete with a new partner - the Leningrad figure skater Lyudmila Smirnova, who skated in tandem with Andrei Suraikin. Ulanov and Smirnova were going to get married and make a new sports couple.

Later Rodnina recalled: “I had no“ female ”offense. Lesha has always been for me only a sportsmate, a partner. We had a lofty goal, and for some reason I was sure that together with Lesha we would achieve it, that our sports union is inviolable. It turned out that he thinks quite differently. So is it worth continuing? "

Rodnina really then seriously thought about leaving the big sport, there were also rumors that she would go in for single skating. However, for some time they still continued to perform with Ulanov, having achieved victory at the Olympic Games in Sapporo, where Smirnova and Suraikin won silver, and at the World Championships in Calgary, where Irina and Alexei performed together for the last time.

What to do? Leave performances? Finish college and go to coaching? If you go out on the ice, then with whom? Who can you guess as a reliable partner?

Rodnina unexpectedly chooses as partners not an experienced skater, but a little-known Alexander Zaitsev, who had behind him only a few starts of local, so to speak, significance. But Irina and her coach noted the main thing - Zaitsev has character.

The summer and autumn of 1972 were extraordinary - continuous training. They didn't leave - they crawled off the ice. It is after these trainings that Zaitsev will say: “In principle, I don’t see anything wrong with such huge loads. Fear and shyness appear in those who do not prepare themselves for difficult work in advance. And in the middle of winter, it's hard to master a solid amount of ice training. In my opinion, you have to gradually tune in to great work all the time. Irina and I know what awaits us tomorrow. And clarity of purpose gives a lot. "

Rodnina became for Zaitsev both a tireless partner and a caring sister at the same time. She gave no respite to him or herself. Before Zaitsev was a sample of the Great Sportswoman. And they overcame all the barriers. The new pair dug deeper and brought out new figure skating treasures in front of amazed spectators.

With the help of Alexander Zaitsev, Rodnina won another, very important victory for herself - a moral one. Their duet won gold over and over again, while Smirnova and Ulanov most often came out second. And the sympathy of the audience was invariably on the side of Irina and Alexander. Especially after, in 1973, athletes managed to withstand a difficult test.

Here is what they wrote about their performance at the World Championships in Bratislava:

“Rodnina and Zaitsev got off to an excellent start with their very complex free program. This was their first joint performance at the world championships, and both skaters, as well as their coach Stanislav Zhuk, were very worried before the start. Despite this, every movement of Irina and Alexander testified to confidence, to excellent knowledge of the subject. And just at that moment, when the couple approached the middle, extremely emotional, saturated with complex elements part of the program, the music suddenly disappeared (later it turned out that there was a short circuit in the radio room). The dead silence in the hall can deafen anyone. Moreover, a skater, for whom music is not just a part of his sports program, it is a part of himself, a part of his life on the ice in front of many thousands of people. And now there is no music, and it is not clear what to do next ...

Rodnina and Zaitsev did not stop for a moment ... The audience was at first perplexed. Then they began to applaud.

The applause turned into a standing ovation. And she has already replaced the music. The most complex cascades of supports, rapid steps, jumps, spins pass to an ovation. And when the athletes finished their performance, the stopwatch of the ice palace showed that Rodnina and Zaitsev met exactly - even without music - in the time allotted to them. The ratings were extremely high. "

The senior referee of the competition then spoke about the champions: "This bright demonstration of the will to win was an example for all skaters ..."

Rodnina was the closest student of the Beetle. Once she looked at the world through his eyes. Having matured, sometimes I fought with him - for him. For the best against the worst. He was always frank with her - as much as he could be. And then one day he confessed to her that with Ulanov, with Zaitsev, whether she was a student for him - a stage passed ...

Young coach Tatyana Tarasova found out that Rodnina and Zaitsev were leaving Zhuk - and not to someone, but want to ask her - unexpectedly. Her father, the famous hockey strategist, Anatoly Vladimirovich Tarasov, called her. He said: "There is no life without risk, but it will be bad for you if you dishonor your surname."

Sports life demanded new proof of rightness. And together with the new coach, Rodnina and Zaitsev found them, adding lyricism and subtlety to new and new programs, complicating them with new leaps, new colorful details. Again it was difficult. And again there was a search.

“Ira, of course,” recalls Zaitsev, “tuned me in to the Olympic mood. She could talk about the Sapporo Olympics for hours. And she kept repeating: "The Olympics are not for you the championship of the world or Europe. You yourself will understand when you come to Innsbruck ..." Ira gained experience in Sapporo not easily. There was no pure skating there. And it is no coincidence. She then, how to put it more precisely, laid out everything on the shelves. What did you do, what did you say, what did you think about? Where did your strength go in vain, where did you lose on the fact that you were distracted, was upset in vain? Of course, someone else's experience is good, but your own is a hundred times more necessary. I say this now with full responsibility, after all the main Olympic events for us ...

When we passed the equator of our program, we suddenly felt that there was not enough breath. Innsbruck is generally not a highland village. Half a kilometer above sea level - the ceiling is completely invisible under normal conditions. But to these five hundred meters above sea level, we must also add the Olympic intensity of the competition, which takes so much oxygen. "A little more, a little more." We didn't need words. A glance is enough. I saw that it was difficult for my wife. She must have noticed the tiredness on my face. But we believed in each other and knew that everyone would fight to the end. When we stopped, when the music stopped, we already knew that we had won, but for a few more seconds we remained on the ice ... Then we did not watch the others perform. Only the distant rumble of the hall was heard from time to time into the backstage labyrinths of the Palace. And it was an accompaniment to those few words that we said to each other when we became Olympic champions ... "

After two years, they became husband and wife. In honor of the newlyweds, the orchestra played "Kalinka" at the wedding. No one needed to decipher the meaning of this symbolic gift. And soon Irina gave birth to a son.

After the birth of Sasha, Irina had to start all over again for the third time, to restore her sports form, synchronization of movements, high pace and unique style. Rodnina's last performance took place in 1980, then she became a ten-time world champion and a three-time Olympic champion, setting a kind of record.

Reporters mercilessly replicated Rodnina's smile, her radiant eyes and tears of joy. She was always outwardly open, could not and did not want to hide her feelings; if she decided something, she always went to the end.

Leaving the big sport, Rodnina could not find herself for a long time. She tried to work as a coach, confirming her diploma of higher education, then as a senior teacher at the Institute of Physical Education. But all these years she did not have a feeling of stability, all the time something was missing.

Their son did not repeat the path of his parents, Alexander Zaitsev Jr. chose another career, began to play hockey. Rodnina's family life was not very successful in the future. She broke up with her husband. He went to work in Turkey.

At thirty-five, she falls in love and decides to start a new family. As Irina herself recalls, it was an amazingly beautiful and short period in her life. She had to change a lot then: her work, and the country, and even herself. It was her husband who suggested that Rodnina try to work in another country, and she easily succumbed to persuasion, because in the depths of her soul she always felt like a gambling person.

Rodnina left for the USA and began to work as a coach. Of course, it was not easy: it was necessary to get used to the new way of life, to establish connections, to learn the language. Soon she was again left alone with two children, and she had a chance to try the fate of a single mother.

Rodnina's main place of work was the International Figure Skating Center in Lake Arrow, near Los Angeles (USA), where children from all over the world came. The famous athlete managed to survive, she even became the owner of a small skating rink. But the homesickness did not go away.

Rodnina visited Moscow more than once, but then returned back to the United States. But in recent years, she increasingly thought about returning to her homeland forever. She dreamed of organizing Rodnina's school here. The famous athlete was supported by the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov. On his initiative, the construction of a sports center for Irina Rodnina began on the Derbenevskaya embankment in Moscow.

Homeland for the famous skater was not a simple sound. Let's hope that as a coach-organizer, Rodnina will achieve the same success that she achieved as a figure skater.

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Biography, life story of Rodnina Irina Konstantinovna

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina was born in 1949 on the 12th of September in Moscow in the family of a mother - a doctor and father - a career military man.

First steps on ice

Irina put on her first snow maiden skates when she was three or four years old, and when she grew up a little, her parents sent the girl to a figure skating school. This school was located in a children's park in the Dzerzhinsky district of Moscow. From this children's school, Rodnina entered the CSKA figure skating section through a competition. She eventually graduated from a sports school and the order of the State Central Institute of Physical Education in 1974.

Back in 1962, Irina and Oleg Vlasov were already coached by the spouses Milan and Sonya Valun, who came to the USSR from Czechoslovakia. The couple took third place in 1963 at the all-Union youth competitions. Rodnina already at the age of thirteen had the first sports category. The Czechoslovak coaches soon left for their homeland and the famous figure skating coach Stanislav Alekseevich Zhuk began to work with the young figure skater.

Led by Beetle

Irina Rodnina made her debut at the European Championship at the age of 19 with Alexei Ulanov in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and they became champions completely unexpectedly for everyone. The sports press began to call them worthy successors of Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova, famous Olympic champions.

Already in 1969, Irina Rodnina won her first world title. Together with Ulanov, she won Olympic gold in Sapporo in 1972.

For the first time, Irina performed with Alexander Zaitsev in a pair at the World Championships in 1973. They then had to skate for several minutes without musical accompaniment, but they did not interrupt the performance of their program and triumphantly finished it to the incessant applause of the audience.

Subsequent victories

The constant creative search of this couple led to the creation of a most beautiful and complex program, performed to the well-known world-wide Russian melody "Kalinka". She became a kind of trademark of the Rodnin-Zaitsev couple. In 1975, the marriage of Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina and Alexander Viktorovich Zaitsev was registered. In Innsbruck at the 1976 Olympic Games, Irina Rodnina became a two-time Olympic champion, now paired with Alexander, and in 1978 she received the title of world champion for the tenth time.

CONTINUED BELOW

In 1979, Rodnina had a son and Irina had to miss the pre-Olympic season. She became, however, not only the winner of the European Championship in 1980, but also won her third Olympic gold medal at the Lake Placid Winter Games.

Transition to coaching

Irina Rodnina in 1981, together with Alexander Zaitsev, moved to professional sports. They performed on a tour of the USSR and the world.

Rodnina worked, leaving her own sports career, first at the Central Committee of the Komsomol, then became a senior coach at the Dynamo sports club. Irina Konstantinovna taught for some time at the Institute of Physical Education.

Irina Konstantinovna divorced Zaitsev in 1985 and married film producer Leonid Minkovsky again. They had a daughter, Alena. After that, the family soon moved to the United States.

In the period 1990-1999, Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina lived and worked in the USA, in Lake Arrowhead, as a coach at the International Figure Skating Center.

Her pupils - Rene Novotny and Radka Kovarzhikova, a Czech couple - became world champions in 1995. Irina Konstantinovna was then presented with a personal certificate from Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic. She also received the status of an honorary citizen of the Czech Republic.

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In 1999, Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina divorced Minkovsky and returned to Moscow.

In 2007, Rodnina was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. She passed on the list of the ruling United Russia party from the Omsk region. In the Duma, she took the position of deputy chairman of the Education Committee.

Irina Konstantinovna became a member of the Council for Sports and Physical Education under the President of the Russian Federation, the chairman of the Central Council of "Sports Russia" (All-Russian Voluntary Society), the president of the Academy of (public) sports achievements "Slava", the head of the project for the construction of her own ice center. Rodnina is an active participant and even one of the initiators of the World Sport against International Terrorism forum.

As an athlete who has not lost in her entire career in any tournament, Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Irina Rodnina was born in Moscow on September 12, 1949. As a child, she was not in good health and was constantly ill with pneumonia. To improve her health, the parents sent the girl to a figure skating school. The 14-year-old Irina and her then partner Oleg Vlasov achieved their first success in 1963. The promising couple won the bronze medal of the All-Union youth competitions.

Soon after that, Rodnina's classes began in the group of the famous coach Stanislav Alekseevich Zhuk. Then she had a new partner - Alexey Ulanov. The athletes won their first outstanding victory at the 1969 European Championship, followed by the gold medal of the world championship. Following the first successes came uninterrupted victories by Rodnina and Ulanov in all competitions in which the couple took part, including the 1972 Olympic Games in Sapporo. On the eve of the final Olympic season of the world championship, the figure skater was seriously injured. At first, she even wanted to end her sports career. In addition, Irina was left without a partner: Alexey Ulanov decided to perform in tandem with his wife, Lyudmila Smirnova.

When the athlete's health returned to normal, Stanislav Zhuk invited a new partner for her. It was a young but very talented figure skater Alexander Zaitsev, distinguished by excellent technique. The partners quickly found a common language both on the ice and in everyday life. At the 1973 European Championships, they confidently bypassed Lyudmila Smirnova and Alexei Ulanov, taking the highest step of the podium.

In 1974, Rodnina and Zaitsev decided to part ways with their coach. Perhaps this happened because Zhuk was distinguished by an authoritarian style of working with athletes, and Irina Konstantinovna, being a born leader herself, could not come to terms with this. Soon the couple started working with the then novice coach Tatyana Tarasova. Tatyana Anatolyevna was distinguished by democratic communication with students. In addition, she paid increased attention to the artistic side of skating. Under her leadership, athletes won a number of brilliant victories at all major starts, including two Olympics - in 1976 in Innsbruck and in 1980 in Lake Placid. Thus, Irina Rodnina achieved the cherished goal, repeating the achievement of her idol - the Norwegian figure skater Sonya Henie - and, just like her, becoming a three-time Olympic champion.

In 1981, Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev completed their sports careers. Irina Konstantinovna switched to coaching. From 1990 to 2002, she lived and worked in the United States. Rodnina achieved the highest result with a couple from Czechoslovakia Radka Kovarzhikova and Rene Novotny, who became world champions in 1995. Returning to her homeland, Irina Konstantinovna took up politics.

Personal life

The personal life of a brilliant athlete was not as successful as a sports career. In 1975, Irina Rodnina was married to her partner Alexander Zaitsev. At first, the couple were happy. In 1979, they had a child - a son, Alexander. But in 1985, to the surprise and chagrin of figure skating fans, the seemingly prosperous family broke up.

The second husband of Irina Konstantinovna was the producer Leonid Minkovsky. In 1986, their daughter, Alena, was born. However, a year after moving to America, Minkovsky left his family. Today, the famous athlete sees her personal happiness in her children and her only granddaughter, Sonechka.