Irina Nikolayevna Yegorova (, born 8 April 1940) is a Russian

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

who competed for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. In 1964 she won the silver medal in the 500 and 1000 m events. Four years later she finished fifth in the 1000 m and ninth in the 500 m contest. Yegorova became known internationally in 1962–1963, when she skated 500 m and 1000 m in world record times, even though her records were not officially recognised. In 1963 she won a silver medal in the 500 m at the world championships and finished fourth all-around. In 1964, just a week after the Olympics, she won the 500 m at the world championships. She continued dominating sprint events at world all-around championships until 1967, when she won silver in the 500 m, but she never finished within the podium overall. Domestically she won only one title, in 1963; she finished second in 1969, but set a sprint all-around world record in late December. In 1963 Yegorova graduated from the Ivanovo Textile Institute, where she then worked until 1964. Between 1964 and 1967 she was employed at a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

nearby, and after that coached speed skating in Ivanovo and Moscow. From 1989 to 2004 she worked as a school teacher in Ivanovo, and later resumed her coaching activities. In 1995 she won the national 500 m title in the masters division. Yegorova was married, but her husband died by 2011; she has a son. Personal bests: *500 m – 45.0 (1968) * 1000 m – 1:31.2 (1970) * 1500 m – 2:24.6 (1962) * 3000 m – 5:10.8 (1969)

References

1940 births Living people Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic speed skaters for the Soviet Union Russian female speed skaters Soviet female speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Sportspeople from Ivanovo 20th-century Russian sportswomen {{Russia-speed-skating-bio-stub