Maria Grigoryevna Isakova (; 5 July 1918 – 25 March 2011), was a World Champion speed skater. She was born in Vyatka (now Kirov),

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, and 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 ...

History

Isakova started skating at a very young age, spending many hours every day on the ice because she liked skating very much. Her speed prompted people in Vyatka to tell her to enter the Soviet Allround Championships. She hesitated but then relented to participate in the 1936 Soviet Allround Championships, pretending to be aged 17 (she was not allowed to compete at her true age of 15); she finished fifth. After the Axis invasion of the USSR in summer 1941, she worked as a librarian and assistant in a local military hospital. In the autumn of 1941, evacuees from besieged Leningrad arrived in the city of Kirov. At that time, Maria was a city council member. She settled two evacuee families in her apartment.трехкратная чемпионка мира по конькобежному спорту Мария Исакова. Радость и чистота // журнал "Мурзилка", № 11, 1982 стр.28-29 In December 1941, a ski marathon was organized in Kirov, in which 500 people participated (including Isakova). She would finally win in 1944 a silver all-round medal at the Soviet Championships; gold medals would follow the next five years. She also won the prestigious Kirov prize five times from 1938 to 1951. Isakova participated in the World Allround Championships three times, winning gold every time. This made her the first female speed skater to become World Champion three times and, since her titles were consecutive, the first female speed skater to become World Champion in three consecutive years. In the 1980s, her stories about skiing were published in the children's magazine " Murzilka". Isakova also wrote advice for children who want to become skiers - "Advice to a young skier". She died in Moscow and was buried in the Vagankovo Cemetery.Исакова Мария Григорьевна (05.07.1918 – 25.03.2011)
/ официальный интернет-сай Ваганьковского кладбища

Awards

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(April 1957). * honorary citizen of Kirov (since 1986)

Sport medals

An overview of medals won by Isakova at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:

World records

Over the course of her career, Isakova skated one

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

on the old Medeo natural icerink at

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Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the ''WR'' column lists the official world records on the dates that Isakova skated her personal records.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bijlsma, Hedman with Tom Dekkers; Arie van Erk; Gé du Maine; Hans Niezen; Nol Terwindt and Karel Verbeek. ''Schaatsseizoen '96-'97: 25e Jaargang 1996-1997, statistische terugblik''. Assen, the Netherlands: Stichting Schaatsseizoen, 1997. ISSN 0922-9582. * Eng, Trond. ''All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 - 2002''. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002. * Teigen, Magne. ''Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint''. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989. (Norwegian)

External links

Maria Isakova
''Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft e.V.'' (German Skating Association).

(in Russian)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120205184935/http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-181536-198754-94643-0-file,00.pdf Historical World Records ''International Skating Union''. * Lars Finsen and Platon Ippolitov. (2003-10-26). Retrieved on 2007-09-08. {{DEFAULTSORT:Isakova, Maria 1918 births 2011 deaths Sportspeople from Kirov, Kirov Oblast Russian female speed skaters Soviet female speed skaters World record setters in speed skating World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin 20th-century Russian sportswomen