Vladimir Nikolayevich Kovalyov (russian: Владимир Николаевич Ковалёв; born 2 February 1953) is a 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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

who 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 ...

. He is an Olympic silver medalist and 2-time World champion. He trained at VSS Trud in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Career

Kovalyov placed second behind his British rival

John Curry John Anthony Curry, (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British Figure skating, figure skater. He was the 1976 1976 European Figure Skating Championships, European, Figure skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, Olympic and World Figure Sk ...

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 ...

. However, Kovalyov's short and free programs were filled with mistakes and the audience was displeased when the results were announced that he had placed ahead of such skaters as

Toller Cranston Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston, CM (April 20, 1949 – January 24, 2015) was a Canadian figure skater and painter. He won the 1971–1976 Canadian national championships, the 1974 World bronze medal and the 1976 Olympic bronze medal. ...

and

Jan Hoffmann Jan Hoffmann (born 26 October 1955) is a German figure skater who represented East Germany in competition. A four-time Olympian, he is the 1980 Olympic silver medalist, the 1974 & 1980 World Champion, and a four-time (1974, 1977–1979) Eur ...

. Kovalyov went on to win the gold 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, ...

in 1977 and 1979, and he was also the winner of 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, ...

in 1975. While Kovalyov entered the 1980 season as a top contender for the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics title, he was clearly poorly trained, overweight and uninspired. As a result, his jumps had become too inconsistent. For example, weeks prior to the Olympics, Kovalyov had placed 3rd at the 1980 European Championships with poor short and free programs, far behind his chief rivals,

Robin Cousins Robin Cousins, MBE (born 17 August 1957) is a British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980. He was the 1980 Olympic champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist (1978–19 ...

and

. Once in Lake Placid, skating officials and news reporters took note of the fact that Kovalyov, perhaps unmotivated and skeptical of his chances, missed most of the practice sessions. When he did show up, he was even unable to complete basic jumps. After observing his practices, an American reporter asked Kovalyov at the pre-competition press conference, "Aside from the fact that you are the best-looking male skater in the competition, do you think you have what it takes to win here?", Kovalyov burst out of the conference, never to be seen in public again as a competitor. The Soviet officials soon withdrew him from the competition after placing 5th in compulsory figures.Vladmire Kovalyov
/ref> Kovalyov retired from competitive skating, and began his career as a skating coach. Kovalyov, along with his chief student,

Kira Ivanova Kira Valentinovna Ivanova (russian: Кира Валентиновна Иванова; 10 January 1963 – 18 December 2001) was a Soviet Russian figure skater. She was the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1985 World silver medalist, a four- ...

, were both considered high risks for defecting to the West. Kovalyov also coached

Natalia Lebedeva Natalia Borisovna Lebedeva (russian: Наталья Борисовна Лебедева, born 16 December 1964) is a Ukrainian former competitive figure skater who represented the Soviet Union. She is a two-time (1989 and 1990) European silver m ...

and

Maria Butyrskaya Maria Viktorovna Butyrskaya (russian: Мария Викторовна Бутырская, links=no, born 28 June 1972) is a Russian retired figure skater. She is the 1999 World champion and a three-time European champion — becoming the oldes ...

, when her first coach, Sergei Volkov, died of cancer.

Results

External links

DatabaseOlympics.com

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalyov, Vladimir 1953 births Living people Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Russian male single skaters Soviet male single skaters Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters from Moscow Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Universiade silver medalists for the Soviet Union Universiade medalists in figure skating Competitors at the 1972 Winter Universiade