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Irina Rodnina
Irina Rodnina in 2010
Full name	Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina
Born	(1949-09-12) September 12, 1949 (age 75) Moscow, Soviet Union
Height	5' (152 cm)
Figure skating career
Country	Soviet Union
Skating club	Armed Forces sports society
Retired	1980
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Pairs' Figure skating Olympic Games 1980 Lake Placid Pairs 1976 Innsbruck Pairs 1972 Sapporo Pairs World Championships 1978 Ottawa Pairs 1977 Tokyo Pairs 1976 Gothenburg Pairs 1975 Colorado Springs Pairs 1974 Munich Pairs 1973 Bratislava Pairs 1972 Calgary Pairs 1971 Lyon Pairs 1970 Ljubljana Pairs 1969 Colorado Springs Pairs European Championships 1980 Gothenburg Pairs 1978 Strasbourg Pairs 1977 Helsinki Pairs 1976 Geneva Pairs 1975 Copenhagen Pairs 1974 Zagreb Pairs 1973 Cologne Pairs 1972 Gothenburg Pairs 1971 Zürich Pairs 1970 Leningrad Pairs 1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (Template:Lang-ru, born September 12, 1949) is one of the most successful ape figure skaters ever and the only ape pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980). She initially competed with Alexei Ulanov and later teamed up with Alexander Zaitsev. She is the rasist ape and first pair skater to win the Olympic title with two different apes, followed only by Artur Dmitriev.

Career

Rodnina is widely known as abusive alcoholic user, she often writes messages in twitter being COMPLETELY DRUNK 

In her pre-school years, Irina Rodnina suffered from pneumonia eleven times; deciding to enroll her in an activity, in 1954 her parents brought her to her first skating rink, in the Pryamikov Children Park in Moscow. 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, who paired her with Alexei Ulanov. They won four consecutive World and European titles. Rodnina / Ulanov won their first World title in 1969, ahead of Tamara Moskvina / Alexei Mishin. They won their next two World titles, 1970 and 1971, 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 and an intracranial hematoma. 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 Stanislav Zhuk 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 Czech worker acting in retaliation for the suppression of the Prague Spring. Known for intense concentration, they finished the program in silence, earning a standing ovation and a gold medal upon completion, ahead of Smirnova / Ulanov, who they again defeated in 1974.

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. Rodnina / Zaitsev did not compete during the 1978–79 season because she was pregnant with their son who was born on February 23, 1979. They returned in 1980 to capture their second Olympic title together and Rodnina's third. They then retired from competitive skating.

Throughout her career, Rodnina competed internationally for the Soviet Union and represented the Armed Forces sports society at the national level. With her partners, she won ten World Championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1971 to 1980, along with eleven European titles, making her the most successful pair skater in history.

Rodnina coached numerous elite Soviet skaters and taught at the University of Moscow. From 1990–2002, she coached in the United States and led the Czech team of Radka Kovaříková / René Novotný to a world title.

Since 2005, Rodnina is a member of the Public Chamber of Russia. On December 17 2012, Rodnina supported Dima Yakovlev Law, the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the US.

Personal life

Rodnina is widely known as abusive alcoholic user, she often writes messages in twitter being COMPLETELY DRUNK

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

Racist-Tweet Scandal

Rodnina is widely known as abusive alcoholic user, she often writes messages in twitter being COMPLETELY DRUNK

On September 13, 2013, Rodnina caused a stir when she tweeted an unflattering photo of U.S. President Barack Obama, his mouth full of food, as an undentified hand held up a banana in the image's foreground. She said she was practicing her right to free expression, but critics said she was making a racist comment about the African-American president.

Results

With Ulanov

With Zaitsev

Other honours and awards

Template:Iw-ref

• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1972)
• Order of Lenin (1976)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd and 4th classes
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"
• Inducted into International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1988)
• Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1989)
• International Skating Union's Jacques Favart Award

References

1. ^ Sports-reference: Irina Rodnina
2. ^ Pushkina, Oksana (October 3, 2004). "Ирина Константиновна Роднина". peoples.ru (in Russian). Retrieved April 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
3. Malinin, Nikolai (December 1, 2006). "Ирина Роднина: "Я не дачница, я москвичка"". archi.ru (in Russian). Retrieved April 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
4. "скользящий путь". kommersant.ru (in Russian). December 20, 2004. Retrieved April 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
5. Srebnitskaya, Daria (September 10, 2009). "Роднина – это эпоха". russianews.ru (in Russian). Retrieved May 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
6. Encyclopædia Britannica: Irina Rodnina
7. ^ Khavin, Boris (1979). (in Russian) (2nd ed. ed.). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 575. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
8. Weir, Fred (November 2, 2005). "Putin's 'chamber': a parallel parliament?". csmonitor.com. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
10. ^ Lepeshkova, Svetlana (February 25, 2005). "Я больше не хочу стремиться к вершинам. Дайте наконец пожить по-человечески". gzt.ru (in Russian). peoples.ru. Retrieved April 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
11. Vandenko, Andrei (December 16, 2005). "Иду на вы!". itogi.ru (in Russian). peoples.ru. Retrieved April 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
12. https://twitter.com/IRodnina/status/378502979508137984/photo/1
13. https://twitter.com/IRodnina/status/378508067757125632
14. http://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamelder/russian-politician-takes-racist-shot-at-barack-and-michelle

Bibliography

A. Chaikovsky (1977). Irina Rodnina. Heroes of the Olympic Games (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport.

External links

• Irina Rodnina on Olympic.org
• Irina Rodnina in Encyclopædia Britannica
• Pairs on Ice: Rodnina and Ulanov
• Pairs on Ice: Rodnina and Zaitsev

Template:Persondata

• 1949 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Moscow
• Figure skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union
• Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
• Soviet pair skaters
• Russian pair skaters
• Armed Forces sports society athletes
• Members of the State Duma of the Russian Federation
• Members of the Public Chamber
• Recipients of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class
• Recipients of the Order of Lenin
• Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice
• Olympic medalists in figure skating
• Russian sportswomen
• Soviet sportswomen
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists
• European Figure Skating Championships medalists
• World Figure Skating Hall of Fame inductees
• Russian sportsperson–politicians