Maria Grigoryevna Isakova (russian: Мария Григорьевна Исакова; 5 July 1918 – 25 March 2011), nicknamed ''Cinderella of Vyatka'', was a World Champion

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. ...

. She was born in Vyatka (now Kirov),

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, and competed for the

Soviet Union 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 national ...

. 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 participated 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. 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. For her achievements, Isakova was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

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 organization ...

on the old Medeo natural icerink at

Alma-Ata Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...

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