During the Soviet Union, the names of our skaters thundered all over the world. Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov, Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov, Irina Rodnina, Natalia Bestemyanova and Andrey Bukin - everyone knew these athletes. Russian figure skating today is no longer considered the absolute best on the planet. But nevertheless, there are stars in it who adequately continue the glorious traditions of their predecessors.
Roman Kostomarov and Tatiana Navka
This pair is rightfully considered one of the most artistic and beautiful in pair skating. The first time they became world champions was in 2004 at a competition in Dortmund, Germany. Then they won gold at the 2006 Olympics, won the Russian figure skating championship three times, won the European championship three times, and eventually became three times world champions. The couple broke up at one time, but after the birth of Tatiana's daughter in 2000, the duo reunited again.
Alexey Yagudin
Alexey Yagudin is the gold medalist of the 2002 Olympics, four times won the title of world champion in singles skating. First, the athlete trained with Alexei Mishin, then moved on to the famous Tatyana Tarasova. During the entire time of his performances, Alexey only once lost the world title, giving it to his rival Evgeni Plushenko. This happened in 2006 at the Vancouver Championships.
Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya
In 2002, the pair became Olympic pair skating champions in Salt Lake City. Elena and Anton are silver medalists of the 1998 Winter Olympics, twice became world champions and twice - Europe. They also won four Russian championships.
In 1996, Berezhnaya, who was then performing with Oleg Shlyakhov, received a severe head injury. She was on the verge of death, underwent two difficult operations, but returned to the big sport. With Sikharulidze she learned to skate again, the new partner supported Elena in everything.
Ilya Overbukh and Irina Lobacheva
The duo won the 2002 Ice Dance World Championship in Nagano. Then in 2003 Ilya and Irina became European champions. They are also three-time Russian champions, silver medalists at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
The skaters were married and have a son. But later they broke up, and the sports couple broke up.
Irina Slutskaya
Our famous single skater has twice become a world champion, she is a seven-time European champion. In total, she took 40 gold medals, 21 silver, and 18 bronze.
Many coaches and athletes believe that she was sued at the controversial 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Then she lost the victory to Sarah Hughes from the USA, taking the second place.
Evgeny Plushenko
This skater is definitely a fan favorite and a star. He is very artistic, participates in many show projects, for example, he performed with Dmitry Bilan at Eurovision.
However, the main thing is Evgeny's sporting achievements. He won the 2006 Olympics and received two Olympic silver medals. Plushenko is a three-time world champion, six-time European champion in men's singles skating.
