Irina Rodnina is a Russian retired pair skater and politician born September 12, 1949, in Moscow, who competed for the Soviet Union. She won ten consecutive World Championships from 1969 to 1978 and three consecutive Olympic gold medals in 1972, 1976 and 1980, skating first with Alexei Ulanov and then with Alexander Zaitsev, whom she married, becoming the first pair skater to win Olympic titles with two different partners. She later served in the Russian State Duma from 2007 and helped light the Olympic cauldron at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
Facts
Career HighlightWon three consecutive Olympic gold medals in pair figure skating and ten consecutive World Championships from 1969 to 1978. 1 Classification
Competition Category FAQs
Why did Irina Rodnina change skating partners in 1972?
Her partnership with Aleksey Ulanov ended after the 1972 Olympics, and she went on to win with Aleksandr Zaytsev.
Rodnina and her first partner Aleksey Ulanov split up as a pairs team after the 1972 Olympics, where they won gold. Ulanov had become romantically involved with Lyudmila Smirnova, another pairs skater, who won the silver medal behind them at those Games. Rodnina then began to skate with Aleksandr Zaytsev, and the two married in 1976. The change did not slow her down: of her ten successive World Championship titles from 1969 to 1978, the first four came with Ulanov and the next six with Zaytsev.
Connections
Competed In
Source Wikipedia, Irina Rodnina
Plays
Source Wikipedia, Irina Rodnina
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikipedia, Irina RodninaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 2Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (%5B%5BWikipedia%3ATemplates+for+discussion%2FLog%2F2025+April+17%23Template%3ALang-rus%5D%5D{{{CRITERION}}}</noinclude>Russian: Ирина Константиновна Роднина, IPA: [ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna]; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skater, who is the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980).
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Irina Rodnina
WikipediaIntroduction
Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (Russian: Ирина Константиновна Роднина, IPA: [ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna]; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skater, who is the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969-78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980).
Infobox wikitext, birth_date parameter (year component)
12 September 1949
Infobox wikitext, birth_date parameter
12 September 1949
REST summary extract, first sentence
who is the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969-78) and three successive Olympic gold medals.
Wikipedia, article summary lead
Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (Russian: Ирина Константиновна Роднина, IPA: [ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna]; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skater, who is the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969-78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980).
Plays: Figure Skating, lead paragraph, plays
Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina (%5B%5BWikipedia%3ATemplates+for+discussion%2FLog%2F2025+April+17%23Template%3ALang-rus%5D%5D{}</noinclude>Russian: Ирина Константиновна Роднина, IPA: [ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna]; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure s
Competed In: Olympic Games, Lead paragraph (competition)
She is the first pair skater to win the Olympic title with two different partners, followed only by Artur Dmitriev.
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