:Irina Rodnina

Rodnina was born in Moscow on 12 September 1949. Her father was Russian Red Army officer Konstantin (Nikolaevich) Rodnin, from a village named Yaminovo on the outskirts of Vologda. Her mother was Ukrainian Jewish paramedic Yulia (Yakovlevna) Rodnina. Her parents met each other during the Second World War, and both took part in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria against the Empire of Japan as the war came to a close. She has an older sister, Valentina, who works as an engineer. As a young child, Rodnina was often sick, suffering from pneumonia eleven times. On the advice of her doctor to give Rodnina additional exercise and outdoor time, and in 1954 took her to an ice rink for the first time at Pryamikov Children Park of Moscow.

Since the sixth form of secondary school, age 13, she trained at Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt.

Image:Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov in 1970.jpg

By 1963, Rodnina had begun skating with her first partner Oleg Vlasov, coached by Sonia and Milan Valun. In 1964, her coach became Stanislav Zhuk, who paired her with Alexei Ulanov.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} Rodnina/Ulanov won their first World title in 1969, ahead of Tamara Moskvina/Alexei Mishin. They won four consecutive World titles.{{Cite book |last=Hines |first=James R. |title=Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6859-5 |location=Lanham, Maryland |page=xxvi}}

Rodnina and Ulanov won their next two World titles, 1970 and 1971, ahead of silver medalists Lyudmila Smirnova/Andrei Suraikin. However, Ulanov fell in love with Smirnova, and prior to the 1972 Olympics, the couple made the decision to skate together the following season. Rodnina/Ulanov went on to compete at the 1972 Olympics where they captured the gold. They then prepared for their last competition together, the 1972 World Championships. While practicing together a day before the start of the competition, the pair had an accident on a lift and Rodnina ended up in hospital with a concussion and an intracranial hematoma. Despite the accident, they had a strong showing in the short program, receiving some 6.0s. In the long program, Rodnina became faint and dizzy but it was enough for their fourth World title. Ulanov continued his career with Smirnova, while Rodnina considered retirement.

In April 1972, her coach Stanislav Zhuk suggested she team up with the young Leningrad skater Alexander Zaitsev, who had good jumping technique and quickly learned the elements. Their music stopped during their short program at the 1973 World Championships, possibly due to a Slovak worker acting in retaliation for the suppression of the Prague Spring. Known for intense concentration, they finished the program in silence, earning a standing ovation and a gold medal upon completion, ahead of Smirnova/Ulanov, whom they again defeated in 1974.

In 1974, Rodnina/Zaitsev left Zhuk, with whom the working relationship had become strained, to train with Tatiana Tarasova. They won six consecutive World titles together, as well as seven European gold medals, and won their first Olympic title together in 1976. Rodnina/Zaitsev did not compete during the 1978–79 season because she was pregnant with their son who was born on 23 February 1979. They returned in 1980 to capture their second Olympic title together and Rodnina's third. At the age of 30 years and 159 days, she became one of the oldest female figure skating Olympic champions. They then retired from competitive skating.

Throughout her career, Rodnina competed internationally for the Soviet Union and represented the Armed Forces sports society at the national level. Rodnina, along with Ulanov and her later partner Alexander Zaitsev "completely dominated international pair skating throughout the 1970s".{{Cite book |last=Kestnbaum |first=Ellyn |title=Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning |publisher=Wesleyan Publishing Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-8195-6641-1 |location=Middleton, Connecticut |pages=112}} With her partners, she won ten World Championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1971 to 1980, a record that equaled Sonia Henie's, along with eleven European titles, making her the most successful pair skater in history. She was one of the first female pair skaters to be known for her athleticism and ever-increasing dangerous tricks. She and her partners were also known for their acrobatic lifts, side-by-jumps, and for the split triple twist. In the early 1990s, she coached at the Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, California.

In a 1991 interview, Rodnina said she was aware that Soviet figure skaters had used doping substances since the early 1970's in preparation for the competitive season. According to Rodina "Boys in pairs and singles used drugs, but this was only in August or September. This was done just in training, and everyone was tested (in the Soviet Union) before competitions."

Rodnina became a member of the Public Chamber of Russia in 2005. In the 2007 legislative election, she was elected to the State Duma as a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. On 17 December 2012, Rodnina supported[http://vote.duma.gov.ru/vote/79982 Система анализа результатов голосований на заседаниях Государственной Думы] the Dima Yakovlev Law, the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the United States.

; Sanctions

Rodnina was sanctioned by the United Kingdom from 15 March 2022 in relation to Russia's actions in Ukraine.{{cite web |title=CONSOLIDATED LIST |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1188172/Russia.pdf |date=29 September 2023}}

In December 2022, the Ukrainian Parliament sanctioned Rodnina for her support of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2023, she supported Poland's decision to boycott the Olympic Games in case Russian athletes are allowed to compete, saying that it would mean "Poland gets banned for the next two Olympic cycles".

Rodnina graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture. Her first marriage was to Alexander Zaitsev, with whom she has a son of the same name, born in 1979. From her second marriage with the film producer Leonid Menkovsky, Rodnina has a daughter, Alyona Minkovski, born in 1986. She is currently divorced. She spent a number of years living in the United States and then moved back to Russia.

On 13 September 2013, Rodnina caused a stir when she tweeted a doctored photo of U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, with Obama's mouth full of food, with a photoshopped banana in the image's foreground.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/16/russia-obama-banana-racism-debate|last=Walker|first=Shaun|title=Russian MP's Obama with banana picture sparks racism debate|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=22 September 2013}} She said she was practicing her right to free expression,{{cite web|url= https://twitter.com/IRodnina/status/378508067757125632|title=Свобода слова есть свобода! За свои комплексы сами и отвечайте!|trans-title=Freedom of speech is freedom of speech! If you have issues it's your problem!|publisher=Twitter|date=13 September 2013}} but critics claimed she was making a racist comment about the African-American president.{{cite web|last=Seddon|first=Max|title=Russian Olympic Champion Says Racist Obama Photo Was Work Of A Hacker When It Really Probably Wasn't|date=10 February 2015|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/maxseddon/russian-olympic-champion-says-racist-obama-photo-was-the-wor|website=BuzzFeed|access-date=19 October 2020}}{{cite news|title=Uproar over Russian MP Irina Rodnina's Obama banana pic|url=http://www.news.com.au/world-news/russian-mp-irina-rodnina-in-obama-racism-row/story-fndir2ev-1226719337293|publisher=news.com.au|date=15 September 2013|access-date=16 September 2013|archive-date=26 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926181038/http://www.news.com.au/world-news/russian-mp-irina-rodnina-in-obama-racism-row/story-fndir2ev-1226719337293|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Irina Rodnina, Former Russian Skater Who Lit Olympic Flame, Tweeted Racist Obama Photo|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/irina-rodina-olympic-twee_n_4748137.html?ir=Black+Voices|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=14 September 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121105015114/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/irina-rodina-olympic-twee_n_4748137.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black+Voices |archive-date=5 November 2012}} On 10 February 2014, Rodnina in her Twitter claimed that her account was hacked at the time of posting the offensive photograph and apologized for her handling of the affair.

• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1972)
• Order of Lenin (1976)
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"
• International Skating Union's Jacques Favart Award, first recipient (1981)Hines, p. xxvii
• Inducted into International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1988){{cite encyclopedia |title=Irina Rodnina |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |url=http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9343792/Irina-Rodnina |access-date=24 April 2015}}
• Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1989)
• In the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she was given the honor of being the lighter of the Olympic Cauldron along with Vladislav Tretiak

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/irina-rodnina-1.html |title=Irina Rodnina |publisher=Sports-reference |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421061337/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/irina-rodnina-1.html |archive-date=21 April 2011 }}

{{cite web|url=http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/rodnina/|script-title=ru:Ирина Константиновна Роднина|trans-title=Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina| last=Pushkina|first=Oksana|date=3 October 2004|work=peoples.ru|language=ru|access-date=23 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/rodnina/|archive-date=19 January 2003}}

{{cite web|url= http://www.archi.ru/events/news/news_current_press.html?nid=3112&fl=1&sl=1|script-title=ru:Ирина Роднина: "Я не дачница, я москвичка"|trans-title=I'm a Moscovite|last= Malinin|first=Nikolai|date=1 December 2006|work=archi.ru|language=ru|access-date=23 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://www.archi.ru/events/news/news_current_press.html?nid=3112&fl=1&sl=1|archive-date=19 January 2003}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=533871 |script-title=ru:скользящий путь|date=20 December 2004|work=Kommersant|language=ru|access-date=23 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=533871 |archive-date=19 January 2003}}

{{cite book|script-title=ru:Все об олимпийских играх|trans-title=All about Olympic Games|author=Khavin, Boris|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|edition=2nd|pages=575|year=1979|location=Moscow|language=ru|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hD2HNwAACAAJ&q=%D0%A5%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD+%D0%A4%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0+%D0%B8+%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82}}

{{cite web|url=http://russianews.ru/newspaper/26869/26965/| script-title=ru:Роднина – это эпоха|trans-title=Rodnina – is an era|last=Srebnitskaya| first=Daria|date=10 September 2009|work=Russian News|language=ru| access-date=6 May 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://russianews.ru/newspaper/26869/26965/|archive-date=19 January 2003}}

[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/506649/Irina-Rodnina Encyclopædia Britannica: Irina Rodnina]

{{cite web|url= http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/rodnina/interview3.html|script-title=ru:Иду на вы!|trans-title=Irina Rodnina interview|last=Vandenko|first=Andrei|date= 16 December 2005|work=itogi.ru|publisher=peoples.ru|language=ru |access-date=23 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/rodnina/interview3.html|archive-date=19 January 2003}}

{{cite web|url= http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/rodnina/interview.html|script-title=ru:Я больше не хочу стремиться к вершинам. Дайте наконец пожить по-человечески|trans-title=Irina Rodnina interview|last=Lepeshkova|first=Svetlana|date=25 February 2005|work=gzt.ru| publisher=peoples.ru|language=ru|access-date=23 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://www.peoples.ru/sport/fskating/rodnina/interview.html|archive-date=19 January 2003}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1102/p01s01-woeu.html|title=Putin's 'chamber': a parallel parliament?|last=Weir|first= Fred|author-link=Fred Weir|date=2 November 2005|work=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=23 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090934/http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1102/p01s01-woeu.html|archive-date=19 January 2003}}

{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2008/0805/p07s01-woeu.html|title=Russia's other Olympic powerhouse – in parliament|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=5 August 2008|last=Weir|first=Fred|author-link=Fred Weir}}

{{cite web |url=http://echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1256004-echo/ |script-title=ru:ИРИНА РОДНИНА ИЗВИНИЛАСЬ ЗА ИНЦИДЕНТ С ФОТОКОЛЛАЖЕМ СЕМЬИ БАРАКА ОБАМЫ | language = ru |trans-title=Irina Rodnina apology |publisher=Echo of Moscow }}

• {{cite tweet|user=IRodnina|author=Irina Rodnina|number=432894710072766464|date=10 February 2014|title=I respect the Obama family and apologize for not clearly stating earlier that I don't support the tweeted photo or racism in any form. (1/2)}}{{cite tweet|user=IRodnina|author=Irina Rodnina|number=432894990587817984|date=10 February 2014|title=My account was hacked and I should have shown better judgement in my initial response and handling of the event. (2/2)}}

{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26141678 | title = Russian Olympic figure skater sorry for Obama banana tweet | first = Steve | last = Rosenberg | work = BBC News | date = 11 February 2014 }}

{{cite news |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-02-14-9101140379-story.html |title= Rodnina Confirms Soviet Steroid Use |first= Phil |last= Hersh |work= Chicago Tribune |date= 14 February 1991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007202143/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-02-14-9101140379-story.html |archive-date=7 October 2018 |url-status=dead}}

{{cite news |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-01-01-9101010178-story.html |title= Death-spiral queen a legend in life |first= Phil |last= Hersh |work= Chicago Tribune |date= 1 January 1991 }}

{{cite news |url= https://www.gazeta.ru/sport/news/2023/02/03/19651513.shtml |title= Роднина заявила, что обрадуется бойкоту Олимпиады |language= Russian |website= gazeta.ru |date= 3 February 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230213014310/https://www.gazeta.ru/sport/news/2023/02/03/19651513.shtml |archivedate= 13 February 2023 }}

{{cite news |url= https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1131610/ukraine-parliament-sanction-russians |title= Ukraine's Parliament sanctions 55 Russian athletes and one Ukrainian for showing support towards war |first= Neil |last= Shefferd |website= insidethegames.biz |date= 13 December 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230210082612/https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1131610/ukraine-parliament-sanction-russians |archive-date= 10 February 2023 |url-status= live }}

}}

{{cite book|title=Irina Rodnina|author=A. Chaikovsky|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|series=Heroes of the Olympic Games|year=1977|location=Moscow|language=ru|url=http://www.sportlib.ru/books/figur/rodnina/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101020152/http://www.sportlib.ru/books/figur/rodnina/|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 January 2007}}

{{Commons category|Irina Rodnina}}

• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021220100247/http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/heroes/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=71432 |title=Irina Rodnina on Olympic.org |date=dmy}}
• {{Olympics.com profile}}
• {{Olympedia}}
• [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9064035 Irina Rodnina in Encyclopædia Britannica]
• [http://www.pairsonice.net/profileview.php?pid=96 Pairs on Ice: Rodnina and Ulanov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217192839/http://pairsonice.net/profileview.php?pid=96 |date=17 December 2005 }}
• [http://www.pairsonice.net/profileview.php?pid=115 Pairs on Ice: Rodnina and Zaitsev] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221133109/http://www.pairsonice.net/profileview.php?pid=115 |date=21 December 2005 }}

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{{Succession box|title=Final Olympic torchbearer |with = Vladislav Tretiak|before=Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds, and Adelle Tracey|after=Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima|years=Sochi 2014}}

{{Succession box|title=Final Winter Olympic torchbearer |with = Vladislav Tretiak|before=Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash, Nancy Greene and Wayne Gretzky|after=Yuna Kim|years=Sochi 2014}}

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Category:1949 births

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