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| Ludmila Belousova, Russian Who Skated With Husband to Olympic Gold, Dies at 81 | Ludmila Belousova, Russian Who Skated With Husband to Olympic Gold, Dies at 81 |
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| Ludmila Belousova, a petite Russian figure skater who, with her husband, Oleg Protopopov, dominated pairs competition in the 1960s, winning two Olympic gold medals for the Soviet Union with a dreamy style that evoked the Bolshoi Ballet, has died. She was 81. | Ludmila Belousova, a petite Russian figure skater who, with her husband, Oleg Protopopov, dominated pairs competition in the 1960s, winning two Olympic gold medals for the Soviet Union with a dreamy style that evoked the Bolshoi Ballet, has died. She was 81. |
| The Russian state news agency R-Sport said her death was confirmed on Friday by the skating coaches Alexei Mishin and Tamara Moskvina. There was no immediate information on the cause or where she died. | The Russian state news agency R-Sport said her death was confirmed on Friday by the skating coaches Alexei Mishin and Tamara Moskvina. There was no immediate information on the cause or where she died. |
| Belousova and Protopopov defected to Switzerland from the Soviet Union in 1979 and in recent years had lived in Grindelwald, Switzerland, while spending summers in Lake Placid, N.Y. | Belousova and Protopopov defected to Switzerland from the Soviet Union in 1979 and in recent years had lived in Grindelwald, Switzerland, while spending summers in Lake Placid, N.Y. |
| Few figure-skating pairs have commanded the world’s attention as Belousova and Protopopov did in their heyday, and few were as celebrated in their home countries. At the winter games in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964, they became the first skaters from Russia or the Soviet Union at large to win the gold in Olympic pairs. | Few figure-skating pairs have commanded the world’s attention as Belousova and Protopopov did in their heyday, and few were as celebrated in their home countries. At the winter games in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964, they became the first skaters from Russia or the Soviet Union at large to win the gold in Olympic pairs. |
| They repeated that feat in 1968, in Grenoble, France, becoming one of the oldest pairs to win the gold medal. (She was 32, he was 35.) | They repeated that feat in 1968, in Grenoble, France, becoming one of the oldest pairs to win the gold medal. (She was 32, he was 35.) |
| They also set a pattern for their countrymen and women: From 1964 to 2006, Soviet or Russian skaters took the gold in pairs competition in 12 consecutive Olympics. (China won in 2010 in Vancouver, but Russia regained the gold in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.) | |
| From 1962 through 1969, Belousova and Protopopov finished first, second or third in every world and European championship. That included four consecutive world and European titles from 1965 to 1968. | From 1962 through 1969, Belousova and Protopopov finished first, second or third in every world and European championship. That included four consecutive world and European titles from 1965 to 1968. |
| They gathered those laurels by ushering in a romantic, slow-moving, balletic style that has largely been supplanted today by demonstrations of power and athleticism. | They gathered those laurels by ushering in a romantic, slow-moving, balletic style that has largely been supplanted today by demonstrations of power and athleticism. |
| “They belong at the peak of pairs skating,” the two-time Olympic skating champion and television analyst Dick Button said in an interview with The New York Times during those years. “They picked a style for themselves, a classical style, and they had an iconic devotion to it. The flat backs, the head and body stretched to the nth degree. They were not Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.” | “They belong at the peak of pairs skating,” the two-time Olympic skating champion and television analyst Dick Button said in an interview with The New York Times during those years. “They picked a style for themselves, a classical style, and they had an iconic devotion to it. The flat backs, the head and body stretched to the nth degree. They were not Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.” |
| At 5 feet 2 ½ inches and 90 pounds, Belousova was relatively easy for Protopopov (who was 5 feet 9) to lift. But the complex lifts and throws that later made pairs skating so athletic were hardly their style. In assessing modern pairs skaters for the Ice Network in 2013, Belousova said: “They don’t think about beauty. They think you just have to have the right position.” | At 5 feet 2 ½ inches and 90 pounds, Belousova was relatively easy for Protopopov (who was 5 feet 9) to lift. But the complex lifts and throws that later made pairs skating so athletic were hardly their style. In assessing modern pairs skaters for the Ice Network in 2013, Belousova said: “They don’t think about beauty. They think you just have to have the right position.” |
| Ludmila Yevgeniyevna Belousova was born on Nov. 22, 1935, in Ulyanovsk, more than 500 miles east of Moscow, and started skating at the relatively late age of 16. | Ludmila Yevgeniyevna Belousova was born on Nov. 22, 1935, in Ulyanovsk, more than 500 miles east of Moscow, and started skating at the relatively late age of 16. |
| She and Protopopov met in 1954 at a skating seminar in Moscow, started training together in 1956 and were married in 1957. (Although she kept her maiden name professionally, they were known as the Protopopovs.) They also became their own coaches and choreographers. | She and Protopopov met in 1954 at a skating seminar in Moscow, started training together in 1956 and were married in 1957. (Although she kept her maiden name professionally, they were known as the Protopopovs.) They also became their own coaches and choreographers. |
| The couple placed ninth in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., before winning Olympic gold medals at Innsbruck and Grenoble in 1968. | The couple placed ninth in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., before winning Olympic gold medals at Innsbruck and Grenoble in 1968. |
| She and Protopopov were in their 30s and at their peak when Soviet officials dropped them from major competition, saying they were too old to represent their country and advising them to coach young skaters instead. | She and Protopopov were in their 30s and at their peak when Soviet officials dropped them from major competition, saying they were too old to represent their country and advising them to coach young skaters instead. |
| They had no choice, but in 1979, on a skating tour in Switzerland, they defected. They soon switched to performing in ice shows and in professional competitions, winning four world pro championships. | They had no choice, but in 1979, on a skating tour in Switzerland, they defected. They soon switched to performing in ice shows and in professional competitions, winning four world pro championships. |
| The couple became Swiss citizens in 1995 and, three years later, hoped to skate for Switzerland at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan — not to win (they were in their 60s) but to reintroduce their balletic style to the world. They failed to meet the Olympic qualifying requirements, however, and could not get a waiver. | The couple became Swiss citizens in 1995 and, three years later, hoped to skate for Switzerland at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan — not to win (they were in their 60s) but to reintroduce their balletic style to the world. They failed to meet the Olympic qualifying requirements, however, and could not get a waiver. |
| That did not keep them off the ice. In their 70s they trained three hours a day. When Protopopov had a stroke in 2009, he had a pacemaker implanted, and he and Belousova were back on the ice four weeks later. They continued to skate on most days and promised to skate until they were 100. | That did not keep them off the ice. In their 70s they trained three hours a day. When Protopopov had a stroke in 2009, he had a pacemaker implanted, and he and Belousova were back on the ice four weeks later. They continued to skate on most days and promised to skate until they were 100. |
| As Belousova told Reuters in 2014: “Skating is our life. The ice is a continuation of our life.” | As Belousova told Reuters in 2014: “Skating is our life. The ice is a continuation of our life.” |
| Her husband survives her, but there was no immediate information on other survivors. | Her husband survives her, but there was no immediate information on other survivors. |
| Belousova and Protopopov said they were too busy to have children, but they enjoyed working with young skaters in the summers in Lake Placid, the site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. “They give us young energy,” Belousova said. | Belousova and Protopopov said they were too busy to have children, but they enjoyed working with young skaters in the summers in Lake Placid, the site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. “They give us young energy,” Belousova said. |
| Skating in Russia or even visiting it was not a priority for them. In 2003, Belousova told the Russian newspaper New Izvestia: “We cut off our past once and for all. We are very resolute people. Why would we go back there?” | Skating in Russia or even visiting it was not a priority for them. In 2003, Belousova told the Russian newspaper New Izvestia: “We cut off our past once and for all. We are very resolute people. Why would we go back there?” |
| She changed her mind later that year, when Viacheslav Fetisov, a former National Hockey League player who was appointed the Russian minister of sport, invited them to visit. “Such honor was not rendered to us for all of the 48 years of our sports life,” Belousova said. “We could not refuse.” | She changed her mind later that year, when Viacheslav Fetisov, a former National Hockey League player who was appointed the Russian minister of sport, invited them to visit. “Such honor was not rendered to us for all of the 48 years of our sports life,” Belousova said. “We could not refuse.” |
| They returned to Russia then and several times afterward. In 2014, at the Sochi Winter Olympics, they were greeted enthusiastically by large crowds that came to watch their skating exhibitions. The couple were there, they said, to root on Russia’s efforts to regain the gold for Russian pairs skating — a feat that was accomplished. | They returned to Russia then and several times afterward. In 2014, at the Sochi Winter Olympics, they were greeted enthusiastically by large crowds that came to watch their skating exhibitions. The couple were there, they said, to root on Russia’s efforts to regain the gold for Russian pairs skating — a feat that was accomplished. |
| But in their advanced years they were also living reminders of another era, when rigorous sport and classical dance seemed to meet on the ice. After interviewing them in Sochi, the Times sportswriter Jeré Longman reflected, “It was once said that the Protopopovs developed a style that was not quite skating and not quite ballet, but more in the realm of poetry.” | But in their advanced years they were also living reminders of another era, when rigorous sport and classical dance seemed to meet on the ice. After interviewing them in Sochi, the Times sportswriter Jeré Longman reflected, “It was once said that the Protopopovs developed a style that was not quite skating and not quite ballet, but more in the realm of poetry.” |