Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina ( rus, Ирина Константиновна Роднина, p=ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

, who is the only

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

to win 10 successive

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

(1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980). She was elected to the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

in the 2007 legislative election as a member of President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

party. As a figure skater, she initially competed with Alexei Ulanov and later teamed up with Alexander Zaitsev. She is the first pair skater to win the Olympic title with two different partners, followed only by Artur Dmitriev.

Early life and family

Rodnina was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

on 12 September 1949. Her father was

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

officer Konstantin (Nikolaevich) Rodnin, from a village named Yaminovo on the outskirts of

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

. Her mother was

Ukrainian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Important Jewish religious and cultural move ...

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

Yulia (Yakovlevna) Rodnina. Her parents met each other during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and both took part in the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

against the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

as the war came to a close. She has an older sister, Valentina, who works as an engineer. As a young child, Rodnina was often sick, suffering from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

eleven times. On the advice of her doctor to give Rodnina additional exercise and outdoor time, and in 1954 took her to an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

for the first time at Pryamikov Children Park of Moscow.

Figure skating career

Since the sixth form of secondary school, age 13, she trained at Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt. By 1963, Rodnina had begun skating with her first partner Oleg Vlasov, coached by Sonia and Milan Valun. In 1964, her coach became

Stanislav Zhuk Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk (, ; 25 January 1935 – 1 November 1998) was a pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Nina Zhuk, Nina, he won three silver medals at the European Figure Skating Championships and finished sixth at ...

, who paired her with Alexei Ulanov. Rodnina/Ulanov won their first World title in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, ahead of Tamara Moskvina/ Alexei Mishin. They won four consecutive World titles. Rodnina and Ulanov won their next two World titles,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, ahead of silver medalists Lyudmila Smirnova/ Andrei Suraikin. However, Ulanov fell in love with Smirnova, and prior to the 1972 Olympics, the couple made the decision to skate together the following season. Rodnina/Ulanov went on to compete at the 1972 Olympics where they captured the gold. They then prepared for their last competition together, the 1972 World Championships. While practicing together a day before the start of the competition, the pair had an accident on a lift and Rodnina ended up in hospital with a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

and an intracranial

hematoma A hematoma, also spelled haematoma, or blood suffusion is a localized bleeding outside of blood vessels, due to either disease or trauma including injury or surgery and may involve blood continuing to seep from broken capillaries. A hematoma is ...

. Despite the accident, they had a strong showing in the short program, receiving some 6.0s. In the long program, Rodnina became faint and dizzy but it was enough for their fourth World title. Ulanov continued his career with Smirnova, while Rodnina considered retirement. In April 1972, her coach

suggested she team up with the young Leningrad skater Alexander Zaitsev, who had good jumping technique and quickly learned the elements. Their music stopped during their short program at the 1973 World Championships, possibly due to a Slovak worker acting in retaliation for the suppression of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

. Known for intense concentration, they finished the program in silence, earning a standing ovation and a gold medal upon completion, ahead of Smirnova/Ulanov, whom they again defeated in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. In 1974, Rodnina/Zaitsev left Zhuk, with whom the working relationship had become strained, to train with Tatiana Tarasova. They won six consecutive World titles together, as well as seven European gold medals, and won their first Olympic title together in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. Rodnina/Zaitsev did not compete during the 1978–79 season because she was pregnant with their son who was born on 23 February 1979. They returned in 1980 to capture their second Olympic title together and Rodnina's third. At the age of 30 years and 159 days, she became one of the oldest female figure skating Olympic champions. They then retired from competitive skating. Throughout her career, Rodnina competed internationally 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 ...

and represented the Armed Forces sports society at the national level. Rodnina, along with Ulanov and her later partner Alexander Zaitsev "completely dominated international pair skating throughout the 1970s". With her partners, she won ten World Championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1971 to 1980, a record that equaled Sonia Henie's, along with eleven European titles, making her the most successful pair skater in history. She was one of the first female pair skaters to be known for her athleticism and ever-increasing dangerous tricks. She and her partners were also known for their acrobatic lifts, side-by- jumps, and for the split triple twist. In the early 1990s, she coached at the Ice Castle International Training Center in

Lake Arrowhead, California Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, and surrounding the eponymous Lake Arrowhe ...

Comments on doping

In a 1991 interview, Rodnina said she was aware that Soviet figure skaters had used doping substances since the early 1970's in preparation for the competitive season. According to Rodina "Boys in pairs and singles used drugs, but this was only in August or September. This was done just in training, and everyone was tested (in the Soviet Union) before competitions."

Political career

Rodnina became a member of the

Public Chamber of Russia The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (), sometimes shortened to Civic Chamber (), is a consultative civil society institution with 168 members created in 2005 in Russia to analyze draft legislation and monitor the activities of the parliame ...

in 2005. In the 2007 legislative election, she was elected to the

as a member of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

party. On 17 December 2012, Rodnina supported the Dima Yakovlev Law, the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the United States. ; Sanctions Rodnina was sanctioned by the United Kingdom from 15 March 2022 in relation to Russia's actions in Ukraine. In December 2022, the Ukrainian Parliament sanctioned Rodnina for her support of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In 2023, she supported Poland's decision to boycott the Olympic Games in case Russian athletes are allowed to compete, saying that it would mean "Poland gets banned for the next two Olympic cycles".

Personal life

Rodnina graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture. Her first marriage was to Alexander Zaitsev, with whom she has a son of the same name, born in 1979. From her second marriage with the film producer Leonid Menkovsky, Rodnina has a daughter,

Alyona Minkovski Alyona Leonidovna Minkovski (; born 30 January 1986) is a Russian American journalist, television host and commentator. In 2011, she was named on the ''Forbes'' 30 under 30 media list. Minkovski is currently a producer of ''American Metamorp ...

, born in 1986. She is currently divorced. She spent a number of years living in the United States and then moved back to Russia.

Twitter controversy

On 13 September 2013, Rodnina caused a stir when she

tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...

a doctored photo of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and his wife Michelle, with Obama's mouth full of food, with a photoshopped banana in the image's foreground. She said she was practicing her right to free expression, but critics claimed she was making a racist comment about the African-American president. On 10 February 2014, Rodnina in her Twitter claimed that her account was hacked at the time of posting the offensive photograph and apologized for her handling of the affair.

Results

With Ulanov

With Zaitsev

Other honours and awards

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(1972) *

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 ...

(1976) *Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes *

Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow" The Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow" () is a commemorative medal of the Russian Federation created to denote the 850th anniversary of the city of Moscow. It was established on 26 February 1997 by Presidential Decree � ...

*International Skating Union's Jacques Favart Award, first recipient (1981)Hines, p. xxvii *Inducted into International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1988) *Inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located at the Broadmoor Resort in Co ...

(1989) *In the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, she was given the honor of being the lighter of the Olympic Cauldron along with

Vladislav Tretiak Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak State Duma, MP ( rus, links=no, Владислав Александрович Третьяк, p=trʲɪˈtʲjak; born 25 April 1952) is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Union national ice hockey team. ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* * *
Irina Rodnina in Encyclopædia Britannica

Pairs on Ice: Rodnina and Ulanov

Pairs on Ice: Rodnina and Zaitsev
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodnina, Irina 1949 births 21st-century Russian women politicians Living people Figure skaters from Moscow Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism alumni Armed Forces (sports society) sportspeople European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic figure skaters for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists Members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Sixth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Seventh convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Eighth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour United Russia politicians Russian female pair skaters Russian figure skating coaches Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Russian sportsperson-politicians Soviet female pair skaters Soviet sportspeople in doping cases 20th-century Russian sportswomen