Lyudmila Yevgenyevna Titova (russian: Людмила Евгеньевна Титова) (born 26 March 1946) is a retired Russian

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

Short biography

After winning three national titles in 1966, she made her international debut at the

World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world. The event is held over two days, with all skaters entering the first three distances (500 m, ...

of 1966. She finished 18th overall, not having qualified for the final distance, but was second in the 500 m event. Next year, she did not compete much because of exams at the

Moscow Aviation Institute Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University) (MAI; russian: Московский авиационный институт, МАИ) is one of the major engineering institutes in Moscow, Russia. Since its inception MAI has been spearhe ...

where she studied. In 1968, Titova became Soviet allround champion and two weeks later participated in the world all-round championships again, winning both the 500 m and the 1,000 m, while finishing sixth overall. Two weeks after that, 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 ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, she became Olympic Champion on the 500 m and won silver on the 1,000 m, finishing 0.3 seconds behind

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

skater Carry Geijssen who skated a new Olympic record. Titova became the 1970 World Sprint Champion (the first time they were held and named ''ISU Sprint Championships'' then) and although she loved the sprint distances and found the 3,000 m boring, it did not prevent her from competing in allround events, and she even won silver at the European Allround Championships in 1971 and bronze at the World Allround Championships that same year. At the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, Titova won bronze on the 500 m and finished fourth on the 1,000 m, 0.23 seconds too slow for bronze. Later that same year, she won bronze at the World Sprint Championships and became Soviet Sprint Champion. She then semi-retired until the 1975 World Sprint Championships, where she was disqualified. Next year, she participated in the 1,000 m at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

, finishing seventh. Titova's last time in a competition was two months later, when she won bronze at the Soviet Sprint Championships. After retiring from competitions she worked as a TV speed skating commentator and later as director of public relations at association Sport Park. Together with two other female graduates from the Moscow Aviation Institute, Titova – almost 50 years old then – was part of a skiing expedition team that reached the

Geographic South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

on 11 January 1996.

Medals

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

World records

Over the course of her career, Titova skated 3

world records 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 organization ...

Personal records

References

External links

Lyudmila Titova at SkateResults.comShort biography of Lyudmila Titova
(in Russian)
Lyudmila Titova at the South Pole
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Titova, Lyudmila 1946 births Living people Moscow Aviation Institute alumni Soviet female speed skaters Burevestnik (sports society) athletes Olympic speed skaters of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Speed skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating World record setters in speed skating Russian female speed skaters Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Universiade medalists in speed skating World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Competitors at the 1970 Winter Universiade People from Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai Sportspeople from Zabaykalsky Krai