Athletistic / Figure skating. Honored figure skating coach of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova spoke about the death of the legendary figure skater Oleg Protopopov. It was previously reported that the two-time Olympic champion had died aged 92 in Switzerland.

Protopopov achieved huge success with his wife Lyudmila Belousova. She died in 2017.

Legendary figure skater Protopopov has died at the age of 92.

“I was just thinking about Oleg yesterday. It’s a very sad story, a great loss for our figure skating. Protopopov is a great athlete, he is ours, one of the geniuses of our sport. Lyudmila Belousova died ago was six years old. I was on very good terms with them, I’m really sorry.

Protopopov is a grandiose man with whom the victories of the Russian school of figure skating began. He created an unforgettable style. It’s unlikely we’ll remember another couple this long. Protopopov and Belousova were real pioneers and stars. It’s a shame!

We thank them very much for the fact that they left huge memories and marks in our souls. Because it was thanks to them that figure skating entered our souls and began to live there. They were so unique and inimitable in the world,” Tarasova quotes Match TV as saying.

Protopopov won two gold medals in pairs skating with his wife Lyudmila Belousova. They achieved victories at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck (1964) and Grenoble (1968).


@sportru