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Ludmila Yevgenyevna Belousova (russian: Людмила Евгеньевна Белоусова; 22 November 1935 – 26 September 2017) was a Soviet and Russian
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 ...
who represented the Soviet Union. With her partner and husband
Oleg Protopopov Oleg Alekseyevich Protopopov (russian: link=no, Оле́г Алексе́евич Протопо́пов; born 16 July 1932) is a former Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Ludmila Belousova he is a two-time Olymp ...
, she was a two-time
Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...
(1964, 1968) and four-time
World champion 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, ...
(1965–1968). In 1979, the pair defected to Switzerland and became Swiss citizens in 1995. They continued to skate at ice shows and exhibitions through their seventies.


Career

Belousova started skating relatively late, at age 16. She trained in Moscow where she met
Oleg Protopopov Oleg Alekseyevich Protopopov (russian: link=no, Оле́г Алексе́евич Протопо́пов; born 16 July 1932) is a former Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Ludmila Belousova he is a two-time Olymp ...
in the spring of 1954. She moved to Leningrad in 1955 and began training with Protopopov in 1956 following his navy discharge. The pair trained at the VSS Lokomotiv sports club and competed internationally for the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. They were coached initially by
Igor Moskvin Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...
and then by
Pyotr Orlov Pyotr Petrovich Orlov (russian: Пётр Петрович Орлов; 1912 1989) was a Soviet figure skater and pair skating coach. He was a three-time champion of the USSR (1946, 1947, 1951) and bronze medalist of the USSR championship (193 ...
, but parted ways with Orlov after a number of disagreements. The pair then trained without a coach at a rink in
Voskresensk, Moscow Oblast Voskresensk (russian: Воскресе́нск) is a town and the administrative center of Voskresensky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located upon the banks of the Moskva River southeast from Moscow. Population: History It was founded i ...
. In 1961, they decided to work with
Stanislav Zhuk Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk (russian: Станислав Алексеевич Жук, ; 25 January 1935 – 1 November 1998) was a pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Nina, he won three silver medals at the European Figur ...
to raise their technical level. Belousova and Protopopov debuted at the World Championships in 1958, finishing 13th. They competed at their first
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
two years later, placing ninth. In 1962, they made the
World Championship 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, ...
podium for the first time, earning the silver medal. They were the first pair from the Soviet Union or Russia to win a world medal after the pair skating discipline was introduced at the 1908 World Championships (in which only three pairs competed). Later in 1962, they won silver at the
European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
, becoming the second Soviet pair to medal after Nina Zhuk and
Stanislav Zhuk Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk (russian: Станислав Алексеевич Жук, ; 25 January 1935 – 1 November 1998) was a pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Nina, he won three silver medals at the European Figur ...
(who won silver in 1958, 1959, and 1960). The pair's first major international gold medal came at the
1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...
. It was the first Olympic pairs gold for the Soviet Union. Belousova and Protopopov began the forty-year Soviet/Russian gold medal streak in pair skating, the longest in Olympic sports history, from 1964 to 2006. They won their first
World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
and
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
gold medals in 1965, becoming the first Soviet/Russian pair to win those titles. They became Olympic champions for the second time at the
1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...
. At 32 and 35 years old, respectively, they were among the oldest champions in figure skating. The following season, they won the silver medal at the
European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
and bronze at the
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, ...
as
Irina Rodnina Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina ( rus, Ирина Константиновна Роднина, p=ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skating, figure skater, who is ...
began her reign with her first partner,
Alexei Ulanov Alexei Nikolaevich Ulanov (russian: Алексей Николаевич Уланов; born 4 November 1947) is a retired pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With Irina Rodnina, he is the 1972 Olympic champion and a four-time (1969–19 ...
. Those were the pair's final appearances at major international competitions but they continued competing in the Soviet Union until 1972. In total, Belousova and Protopopov won two Olympic titles and medalled eight times at both the World and European Championships, including four consecutive World and European gold medals. After retiring from competition, they continued to skate together in shows for many years. In September 2015, they renewed their long-standing tradition of skating in a charitable exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts, at an event called "Evening with Champions". Belousova and Protopopov contributed to the development of pair skating, including the creation of three death spirals: the backward inside (BiDs), the forward inside (FiDs), and the forward outside (FoDs), which they respectively dubbed the "Cosmic spiral", "Life spiral", and "Love spiral".
Dick Button Richard Totten Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating analyst. He is a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive World champion (1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to ha ...
stated: "The Protopopovs are great skaters not only because they were the finest of Olympic champions, but also because their creative impact was extraordinary."


Personal life

Belousova studied engineering at university. She married Protopopov in December 1957. Although she kept her maiden name after their marriage, the pair were commonly referred to as "The Protopopovs". Eager to keep skating, the couple decided not to have children. On 24 September 1979, Belousova and Protopopov defected to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
while on tour and applied for
political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
. They settled in
Grindelwald Grindelwald is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Berne. In addition ...
and received Swiss citizenship in 1995. Switzerland remained their winter home while their summer home and training center was
Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...
. On 25 February 2003, they visited Russia after a 23-year asylum, on the invitation of
Viacheslav Fetisov Viacheslav Alexandrovich "Slava" Fetisov (Russian: Вячеслав Александрович Фетисов, ''Vjačeslav Aleksandrovič Fetisov''; born 20 April 1958) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for HC CSK ...
. They had their last exhibition dance in 2016, when Belousova was 80 years old.Хранительница гармонии. 85 лет со дня рождения олимпийской чемпионки Людмилы Белоусовой
tass.ru (19 November 2020)


Competitive highlights


References


External links


Pairs on Ice profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belousova, Ludmila 1935 births 2017 deaths European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in figure skating Sportspeople from Ulyanovsk Russian female pair skaters Soviet defectors Soviet emigrants to Switzerland Soviet female pair skaters World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners