Today I invite you to remember, dear readers, the Olympic champions in the men's single skating who managed to win not one Olympiad, but two or even three. As it turned out, there are not so many such athletes, but only five people in the entire history of figure skating, and one of them, Evgeni Plushenko, was taken into account for winning the team competition. All other skaters have multiple points in the individual classification. Below they are presented to your attention.
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1. Gillis (Yillis) Grafström (Sweden). Gillis Grafström became a three-time Olympic champion in his life - in 1920 he won the summer Olympic Games, which took place in Antwerp (Belgium), and then two winter olympics- 1924 (Chamonix, France) and 1928 (St. Moritz, Switzerland).
Grafström was notable for his excellent performance of compulsory pieces. He is the author of the rotation - flying sit spin (jump into the spinning top). After the end of his career, Grafström coached, among other things, the outstanding Norwegian figure skater Sonya Henie. In addition to figure skater Gillis, Grafström worked as an architect, writer and engraver. In Germany, in Potsdam, there is a street named after him. In 1976 Gillis Grafström was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
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2. Karl Schaefer (Austria). Two-time Olympic champion in 1932 (Lake Placid, USA) and 1936 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany).
In addition to figure skating, Karl Schaefer played the violin perfectly, and besides, he was the champion of Austria in breaststroke swimming. At the end of his skating career, in 1940, Karl Schaefer organized the Karl Schaefer Ice Review show. After the Second World War, he restored the Engelmann ice rink and worked as a coach. From 1974 to 2008, Vienna hosted an annual figure skating, named after him - "Karl Schaefer Memorial".
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3. Richard (Dick) Button (USA). Two-time Olympic champion in 1948 (St. Moritz, Switzerland) and 1952 (Oslo, Norway).
At the 1948 Olympics, Dick Button won the compulsory exercises. At competitions in a free program, he managed to perform a double axel for the first time. Dick Button became the first athlete to perform this jump in competition. At the 1952 Olympics, Dick Button again becomes the first figure skater in history to manage to perform a triple loop jump in competition. Having skated brilliantly free program, he again wins the Olympic Games.
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4. Evgeni Plushenko (Russia). Two-time Olympic champion - 2006 (Turin, Italy) - in the individual competition and 2014 (Sochi, Russia) - in the team competition.
At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Evgeni Plushenko won by a huge margin of 27 points over the runner-up Swiss figure skater Stéphane Lambiel. At the 2014 Olympics, Evgeni Plushenko competed in team competitions. After short program Plushenko was second only to Yuzuru Khan. According to the results of the short and free program, Evgeny brought the team 19 points out of 20 possible. The Russian team won the team competition.
5. Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan). Two-time Olympic champion (naturally in the individual competition) in 2014 (Sochi, Russia) and 2018 (Pyeongchang, Korea).
At the 2014 Olympics, Yuzuru Hanyu won both the short and free programs, becoming the undisputed winner of the Olympic Games. At the 2018 Olympics, Hanyu competed while still recovering from injury. The consequences of the injury made themselves felt, in connection with which, Hanyu did not participate in team competitions, but concentrated on performing in the individual competition. The performance was successful, taking first place in the short program, and second in the free program, in terms of total points Khan managed to maintain leadership and win the second Olympics in his life.
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Here they are, multiple Olympic champions in the history of world men's single skating. Let's remember them and wait for the historical list to be replenished, we hope, by entering the names and surnames of Russian skaters.
In a world that attracts more and more children into its ranks - future champions, as well as interesting and beautiful to watch on TV or on an ice rink.
The emergence of figure skating
The first skates on iron runners appeared in the 13th-14th centuries in Holland, which is why it is considered the ancestor of figure skating.
After the advent of skates of a fundamentally new type, popularity also came, which incredibly contributed to the rapid development of this sport, which in those days was reduced to drawing various figures on the ice without losing a beautiful pose.
The first set of rules for figure skating was published in England in 1772 and was called the Treatise on Skating. It described all the main figures known at that time. Thus, the UK has secured the authorship of all figures required in figure skating. In addition, in 1742 the first circles of skaters appeared here, the official rules for holding competitions were developed and approved.
The founder of the modern style of figure skating, sports historians unanimously recognize the American Jason Heinz. It was he who played the main role in its distribution throughout the world, and, in particular, in Russia.
Development of figure skating in Russia
In the Russian Empire, figure skating was very popular back in the time of Peter I, who brought the first samples of skates from Europe. It is noteworthy that the Russian emperor was the first who came up with the idea of fastening skates directly to shoes and created, in fact, the prototype of modern skates.
The first Russian manual for skaters was published in 1838 in St. Petersburg and was called " Winter fun and the art of skating”, compiled by the gymnastics teacher of the military educational institution G.M. Pauli.
Figure skating itself appeared in Russia in 1865, and at the same time the first ice rink was opened in the Yusupov Garden in St. Petersburg. At that time, it was the most comfortable in all of Russia and immediately became a platform for the professional training of figure skaters. And in 1878 the first competition among Russian athletes was held.
The first skaters in Russia began to appear at the end of the 19th century. A pioneer who took part in international competitions, became A.P. Lebedev, who was a lawyer by education.
Nikolai Poduskov became a member of the first official competition, which was held in 1896 and took 4th place in single skating, but on open championship Russia in 1901 has already taken the last place.
Georgy Sanders, who takes part in the same competitions as Poduskov, took 3rd place, becoming a bronze medalist. In addition, he was the first to perform complex figures, the author of which was, which in turn helped another famous Russian figure skater, Nikolai Panin, who performed them at the 1908 Olympics in London, win the first Olympic gold for Russia.
Of the Soviet champions who won top honors in various competitions in figure skating, the most famous are Sergey Chetverukhin (silver at the Olympics in Sapporo, bronze at the 1971 World Championships, silver at the world championships in Calgary (1972) and Bratislava (1973) and bronze at the European Championships in 1969) and Sergey Volkov (in 1975 - world champion, champion of the USSR in 1974 and 1976).
Notable Russian male figure skaters in singles
Famous Russian figure skaters have repeatedly become champions and won prizes in various tournaments - from the Olympic Games to championships of various levels, Grand Prix and Cups.
One of the first best figure skaters in Russia was Alexei Urmanov - multiple medalist and champion of the USSR, Russia and European champion, Olympic champion in 1994.
At the 1998 Olympics, Russia again got a gold medal in men's single skating, which he won in addition to the highest Olympic award, in the arsenal of this famous Russian figure skater there is the "gold" of the Russian championship, "silver" and "bronze" of the world and European championships.
One of the most famous and top athletes Russia is Alexei Yagudin, who has the main award of the athlete - the "gold" of the 2002 Olympics. He is a multiple European and world champion, winner of the Grand Prix finals in figure skating.
No less famous is the young single skater Maxim Kovtun, who has several serious victories to his credit. He is a three-time winner of the Russian Championship, took silver at the 2015 European Championship.
The most famous and titled figure skater in Russia and around the world is Evgeni Plushenko. He is the owner of the gold medals of two Olympics (2006 - in singles, 2014 - in team skating), twice took the "silver" of the Olympic Games. Plushenko 3 times won the title of world champion, seven times - the champion of Europe and as many as 10 times - the championship of Russia. He also has many other awards and titles.
Plushenko has a number sports achievements, and his hallmark was the performance of the most difficult figures of single skating at competitions. He has no equal.
Russian male figure skaters are rightfully considered among the best in the world.
Famous Russian female single skaters
Unfortunately, women's single skating in Russia cannot boast a long history of performances and awards in this sport.
The history of victories began only in 1976 with the advent of the figure skater. It was she who won the first awards at the European Championships, and later became the third at the World Championships.
The first Olympic medal - "bronze" - was won by single skater Kira Ivanova in 1983.
Success came to the skaters only when, for the first time in the history of Russia, Irina Slutskaya won the European Championship in 1996. And already in 1999, also at the European Championships, Maria Butyrskaya, Soldatova and Volchkova won all the awards. In the same year, Butyrskaya brought the "gold" of the World Championship.
Despite the fact that the best Russian figure skaters Maria Butyrskaya and Irina Slutskaya no longer perform, they are the most famous and legendary figure skaters in Russia to this day.
The current leaders in Russian women's singles are Yulia Lipnitskaya and Adelina Sotnikova.
Sotnikova, the first and so far the only one, won the Olympic gold medal in women's singles. In addition, she became the winner of the Russian championships 4 times, twice won silver at the European Championships.
Figure skating experts call Adelina a child prodigy, because at the age of 13 she performed the most difficult elements of figure skating.
Yulia Lipnitskaya is also an Olympic gold medalist in the team event. In addition, she has awards of various merits at the World and European Championships, including junior ones.
Yulia is now 17 years old, Adeline is 19, and behind them is the future of women's single skating in Russia.
The best in pair skating
Russia in pair skating for titles, regalia and worldwide famous athletes lucky much more than in singles.
Russian pair skaters by name and faces are known even to those who are very far from the world of sports.
Our couple Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova won the first Olympic "gold" back in 1964, again in 1968. They are the author of many elements that are still included in the mandatory program of performances all over the world to this day. At that time, this pair was the only one who skated in a way that no one else could.
The next couple to conquer the Olympics were Alexei Ulanov and Irina Rodnina - in 1972. The next gold Irina Rodnina won already in tandem with Alexander Zaitsev in 1976 and 1980.
The most famous figure skaters in Russia - Olympic champions in pair skating it is:
Maxim Marinin and Tatyana Totmyanina;
Roman Kostomarov and Tatyana Navka.
The leaders of pair skating today are the Russian skaters Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar, who already have 2 Olympic gold medals (in pair skating and in team competitions) and they are not going to stop there.
The best couples in ice dancing
Sports dancing on ice as a separate discipline was included in the program of international competitions only in 1950.
In this program, Russia (then still Soviet Union) was represented by the well-known couple and Lyudmila Pakhomova, who set the tone in dancing around the world and became world champions 6 times and won gold at the 1976 Olympics.
The first, already Russian, famous dance couple and Evgenia Platova twice became the gold medalists of the 1994 and 1998 Olympics, which made them record holders in this sport.
A couple is known and among the achievements of which there is the bronze of the 2010 Olympics, the double gold of the European Championships and the 2009 world champions.
One of the most famous young dancers, and Elena Ilyinykh, brought the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals of the European and Russian championships to the medal treasury of Russia. The couple broke up after the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
To date, the best, strongest and most famous skaters in Russia in ice dancing - Dmitry Solovyov and Ekaterina Bobrova - are the champions of Europe and Russia.
She ended her career. According to the commentary of the athlete's mother that appeared on the network, Yulia informed the leadership of the federation about her departure back in April. The reason for this decision was the illness of the skater. The mother of the athlete noted that Lipnitskaya underwent a three-month treatment for anorexia.
In an interview with Gazeta.Ru, the athlete's mentor Alexei did not refute the information about the athlete's decision to end her career.
“I’m not answering questions about Yulia’s departure yet,” Urmanov said.
The leadership of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) after the test skates in Sochi will meet with the athlete and her coach Alexei Urmanov to discuss the future plans of the figure skater, said CEO FFKKR.
“Lipnitskaya, as you know, will not participate in the test skates in Sochi. But after the rentals, we will meet and discuss with Yulia and Urmanov their future plans, ”R-Sport quotes Kogan.
Earlier, the honorary president of the FFKKR hinted that it was time for Yulia to hang up her skates.
“The situation of Lipnitskaya, in my opinion, is similar to the story of Adelina Sotnikova. The sooner she finally draws conclusions, makes a decision, the better it will be for everyone, so as not to fool people, fans. No need to mislead fans of figure skating. After all, everyone understands that when there is, it is difficult for Lipnitskaya to fight them, ”said Piseev.
Last season, Lipnitskaya missed the Russian figure skating championship due to an injury. hip joint resulting from a fall on a slippery pavement while returning from a workout.
The main award of the athlete, who was won during her short career, is a gold medal at the 2014 Olympic Games. Julia became the winner of the team competition along with Evgeny, Maxim Trankov, and Nikita Katsalapov.
Lipnitskaya in Sochi showed the best result in the short and free programs, gaining twenty points out of twenty possible.
Also on account of the figure skater is the silver of the World Championship - 2014 and the gold of the European Championship of the same year.
Lipnitskaya's last start was the Moscow Grand Prix in November 2016, when she was forced to interrupt her free program due to leg problems and ended up in last place.
It is worth noting that Yulia is not the only winner of the Sochi Olympics, who is now experiencing difficulties in continuing her career. So, who won gold in women's single skating will miss the 2017/18 season. This was announced by the coach of the athlete Evgeni Plushenko.
“Adelina Sotnikova will not compete this season due to injury. We all hoped that we would heal this injury, but, unfortunately, it did not work out. The injury still worries, full-fledged training is not possible, and it is wrong to enter competitions in such a situation. Now we need to heal the injury, which is still taking place due to the fact that, unfortunately, the diagnosis was incorrectly made, Adeline did not recover, and this injury worries her. She had a ligament tear in her ankle and a broken bone in her foot. Initially, they thought that Adeline would quickly recover from this injury. Initially, they did not put a cast, and in general a completely different diagnosis was made.
Skipping a season doesn't mean the end of a career," Plushenko said.
The President of the FFKKR said that in figure skating there are cases when, after long break the returning athlete could again reach a high level.
“It happened, no one is to blame. Zhenya (Plushenko) explained the situation in great detail - there was an injury, they started treating it not quite correctly. Now she (Sotnikova) can skate, but she can’t train at full strength. Given the time that is left, it will be unrealistic for her to enter this season.
He also emphasized that there were many examples in history of skaters returning to a high level. “We have many examples when athletes returned and performed again at high level. The same (Italian),” said Gorshkov.
More news, materials and statistics can be viewed at winter views sports, as well as in groups of the sports department in social networks
Until 1978, none of the Soviet figure skaters managed to be on the podium either at the Olympic Games or at the European and World Championships. AiF.ru remembers who started the era of prosperity in the Soviet and Russian women's single skating, and talks about the athletes who proved that Russia has no equal in women's single skating.
Elena Vodorezova
The first Soviet figure skater who managed to climb the podium in international competitions, having won medals at the European and World Championships, was Elena Vodorezova.
Elena was born on May 21, 1963 in Moscow. Figure skating She started training at the age of 4, and from the age of 6 she trained at the CSKA school.
Under the leadership of the renowned coach Stanislav Zhuk in 1976, at the age of 12, Vodorezova became the first number of the USSR national team in women's singles. While still a teenager, the figure skater for the first time in the world performed two unique record element:
"SE" represents all Russian victors of the XXII Olympic Winter Games
Kind of sport: figure skating
Winners: Evgeni Plushenko, Yulia Lipnitskaya, Elena Ilyinykh/Nikita Katsalapov, Tatyana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov, Ksenia Stolbova/Fyodor Klimov, Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitry Solovyov (team tournament)
The Russian figure skating team won gold in the team tournament of the Olympic tournament, which was held for the first time at the Olympics. After eight events, the team consisting of Yulia Lipnitskaya, Evgeny Plushenko, duets of Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov scored 75 points. The second place was left for the Canadian skaters - 65 points, the third - for the US team with 60 points scored.
Kind of sport: figure skating
Winners: Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (pair skating)
Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov became two-time Olympic champions in Sochi, winning the tournament in pair skating as well. Taking into account the short program, they scored 236.86 points (84.17 + 152.69). Another representatives of Russia - Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov (218.68) - became the silver medalists of the 2014 Games.
Kind of sport: short track
Winner: Viktor An
Russians Viktor An and Vladimir Grigoriev became the champion and vice-champion of the Olympic Games in Sochi at a distance of 1000 meters. On February 10, Ahn won bronze in the 1500 meters, which became the first ever medal for our country in short track. In 2006, at the Turin Olympics, he, speaking for Korea, became the champion at distances of 1000, 1500 m, and also in the 5000 m relay.
Kind of sport: skeleton
Winner: Alexander Tretyakov
Skeletonist Alexander Tretyakov, following the results of four races, showed a time of 3 minutes 44.29 seconds, which brought him the gold medal of the Games. Silver went to Latvian Martins Dukurs (3:45.10), bronze went to American Matthew Antoine (3:47.26). Tretyakov's gold became the first for Russian athletes in skeleton at the Olympics: in Vancouver, Tretyakov was third.
Kind of sport: bobsled
Winners: Alexander Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda (two)
The Russian crew consisting of Alexander Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda won the competition of twos. The second place was taken by the team of Switzerland, bronze - by the USA. Another one Russian team- Alexander Kasyanov and Maxim Belugin - finished fourth, 0.03 seconds behind third place.
Kind of sport: snowboard
Winner: Vic Wild
Russian Vic Wilde won gold at the Sochi Olympics in parallel giant slalom. He was 0.54 seconds behind Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland in the first of his two final runs, but won the second by 2.14 seconds. The Slovenian Jean Koshir became the bronze medalist of the Games. Recall that on the same day, Wild's wife Alena Zavarzina brought Russia another award, winning bronze in the women's competition.
Kind of sport: figure skating
Winner: Adeline Sotnikova
Russian woman Adelina Sotnikova is the Olympic champion of the 2014 Games in Sochi: this is the first ever gold in Russia in women's single skating. The winner scored 224.59 points. The second was the champion of Vancouver-2010 Korean Yuna Kim. Third - Italian Carolina Kostner. Another representative of Russia, Sochi 2014 Olympic champion in team competition Yulia Lipnitskaya is fifth.
Kind of sport: short track
Winner: Viktor An
Russian Viktor An won the gold medal of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi at a distance of 500 m. On February 15, he won the Olympic final at a distance of 1000 meters. Thus, An became a five-time Olympic champion - the first in the history of short track. He won all four disciplines - 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and the 5000 m relay. On the first two distances - in Sochi for Russia, on the last three - with Korea in Turin-2006.
Kind of sport: short track
Winners: Viktor An, Semyon Elistratov, Vladimir Grigoriev, Ruslan Zakharov (relay)
The Russian team (Viktor An, Semyon Elistratov, Vladimir Grigoriev, Ruslan Zakharov) won the gold medal in the 5000m relay at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi with an Olympic record. Viktor Ahn became a six-time Olympic champion in short track speed skating. Note that he already won medals in all four disciplines at the second Olympics: in Turin 2006, as part of the Korean national team, he had 3 gold (1000 m, 1500 m, relay) and 1 bronze (500 m). In Sochi, he also has 3 gold (500m, 1000m, relay) and 1 bronze (1500m). In addition, An caught up with the famous American Apolo Anton Ono in terms of the number of Olympic medals- by 8.
Kind of sport: snowboard
Winner: Vic Wild
Russian Vic Wild won gold at the Sochi Olympics in parallel slalom. In the first of the two final races, he beat the Slovenian Jean Koshir by 0.12 seconds, and in the second he kept this advantage. The Austrian Benjamin Karl became the bronze medalist of the Games. This gold was Wild's second in Sochi.
Kind of sport: biathlon
Winner: Alexey Volkov, Evgeny Ustyugov, Dmitry Malyshko, Anton Shipulin (relay)
Russian four won the 4x7.5 km relay. This is the first gold for domestic male biathletes in the relay race since the 1988 Olympics.
Kind of sport: ski race
Winner: Alexander Legkov
Russian skiers triumphantly completed the men's 50 km ski mass start, taking the entire podium. Alexander Legkov became the Olympic champion - his time was 1:46:55.2. Silver was won by Maxim Vylegzhanin, bronze - by Ilya Chernousov. Thus, Russia has 12 gold medals, which ensured her an early victory in the team medal standings at the home Olympic Games in Sochi.
Kind of sport: bobsled
Winners: Alexander Zubkov, Alexei Negodailo, Dmitry Trunenkov, Alexei Voevoda (four)
The crew of Alexander Zubkov, consisting of Alexei Negodailo, Dmitry Trunenkov and Alexei Voevoda, won gold medals at the Sochi Olympics in the four-man competition. For Zubkov and Voyevoda, this is the second gold medal of the 2014 Games - they had previously won the competition of twos. The second place in the tournament of fours was taken by Latvia, bronze - by the USA. The crew of Alexander Kasyanov finished fourth, 0.03 seconds behind third place. Bobsledders brought Russia 13th gold and helped to consolidate the leadership in the team standings both in terms of the number of medals of the highest standard and the total number. Russia repeated the record of the USSR team in 1976 in Innsbruck in terms of the number of gold medals. The total number of medals has now reached 33: 13 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze.
26 RUSSIANS - OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS OF SOCHI-2014
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Gold |
Athlete |
Kind of sport |
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Viktor An |
short track |
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Alexey VOEVODA |
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Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR |
figure skating |
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Alexander ZUBKOV |
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Maxim TRANKOV |
figure skating |
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Vic WILDE |
snowboard |
|
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Ekaterina BOBROVA |
figure skating |
|
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Alexey VOLKOV |
||
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Vladimir GRIGORIEV |
short track |
|
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Semyon ELISTRATOV |
short track |
|
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Ruslan ZAKHAROV |
short track |
|
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Elena ILINIKH |
figure skating |
|
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Nikita KATSALAPOV |
figure skating |
|
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Fedor KLIMOV |
figure skating |
|
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Alexander LEGKOV |
||
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Julia Lipnitskaya |
figure skating |
|
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Dmitry MALYSHKO |
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Alexey NEGODAYLO |
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Evgeny Plushenko |
figure skating |
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Dmitry SOLOVIEV |
figure skating |
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Adeline Sotnikova |
figure skating |
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Ksenia STOLBOVA |
figure skating |
|
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Alexander Tretyakov |
skeleton |
|
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Dmitry TRUNENKOV |
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|
Evgeny USTYUGOV |
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|
Anton Shipulin |