Irina Rodnina

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina - Soviet figure skater, 3-time Olympic champion, 10-time world champion, Russian public and statesman. Deputy of the State Duma of 5-7 convocations from the United Russia party.

Biography of Irina Rodnina is full of many interesting facts that relate to his personal life and sports career.

So, here is a short biography of Rodnina.

Biography of Irina Rodnina

Irina Rodnina was born on September 12, 1949 in Moscow. She grew up and was brought up in the family of a soldier Konstantin Nikolaevich. Mother, Yulia Yakovlevna, worked as a doctor, being Jewish by nationality.

In addition to Irina, a daughter, Valentina, was born in the Rodnin family. In the future, she will become a mathematical engineer.

Childhood and youth

As a child, Irina did not differ in good health, having had time to get pneumonia as many as 11 times.

The doctors advised her to exercise more to strengthen her immunity.

As a result, the parents decided to take her to the rink, believing that skating on the ice would help improve their daughter's health.

For the first time, Rodnina went to the skating rink at the age of 5. Then the girl did not yet know that this particular sport would play the main role in her biography. Initially, she went to figure skating, after which she was taken to the CSKA skaters section.

In 1974 Irina became a graduate of the State Central Institute of Physical Education.

Figure skating

Irina Rodnina's professional career started in 1963, when she was barely 14 years old. The athlete's height was 152 cm, with a weight of 57 kg. That year she took 3rd place at the All-Union youth competitions.

At that time, Rodnina's partner was Oleg Vlasov. After the first victory, the girl began to train under the guidance of Stanislav Zhuk. Soon, Alexey Ulanov became her new partner.

Over the next ten years, Irina and Alexei repeatedly took first places in international competitions and the Olympic Games.

In 1972, Irina Rodnina received a serious injury that separated her from Vlasov. After a three-month break, Alexander Zaitsev became her new figure skating partner. It was this duet that made the USSR famous.

Zaitsev and Rodnina demonstrated fantastic skating at that time, performing the most difficult programs. They were able to reach unprecedented heights in pair skating, which no modern figure skater could do.

In the mid-70s, Tatyana Tarasova began to train figure skaters, who paid great attention to artistic elements.

This made it possible to further improve the skating of Irina Rodnina and her partner, which turned into 2 more Olympic golds - in Innsbruck in 1976 and Lake Placid in 1980.

In 1981, Rodnina was awarded the title of Honored Figure Skating Coach. During the biography of 1990-2002. she lived in America where she continued her coaching career.

The best result of Irina Konstantinovna as a mentor is considered to be the victory at the world championship for a pair of Radka Kovarzhikova and Rene Novotny from the Czech Republic.

Politics

Since 2003, Irina Rodnina has repeatedly participated in elections, nominating herself for the State Duma of the Russian Federation. After 4 years, she was finally able to become a deputy from the United Russia party.

In 2011, Rodnina was admitted to the committee on women, family and children. At the same time, at United Russia, she led several projects that related to the development of sports in the state.

Irina Rodnina joined the Council for Physical Culture and Sports under the President of the Russian Federation. She was honored to participate in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

The legendary hockey goalkeeper Vladislav Tretyak lit the Olympic flame together with the figure skater.

Personal life

Over the years of her biography, Irina Rodnina was twice married. Her first husband was her figure skating partner Alexander Zaitsev.

They got married in 1975 and broke up exactly 10 years later. In this union, the boy Alexander was born.

The second time Rodnina married a businessman and producer Leonid Minkovsky. She lived with her new husband for 7 years, after which the couple announced a divorce. In this marriage, their daughter Alena was born.

In 1990, Irina Rodnina and her family flew to the USA, where she successfully worked as a figure skating coach. However, a year later she is left alone again, since Leonid decides to leave her for another woman.

The divorce entailed a lot of judicial red tape. The figure skater was forced to ensure that her daughter stayed with her. The court granted her request, but ruled that Alena should not leave the United States.

For this reason, the girl received her education in America, after which she began working as a journalist. Now she runs an American Internet news project.

Irina Rodnina today

Rodnina continues to be on the General Council of the United Russia party. She is also involved in the development of children's sports in the Russian Federation.

Not so long ago Irina Konstantinovna took part in the 17th KRASNOGORSK International Sports Film Festival. She actively promotes the Yard Trainer project, in which dozens of sports associations from different regions of the country participate.

In 2019, Rodnina was a member of the Russian delegation to PACE. Russia's powers were again fully restored. The MP announced this event on her Instagram page.