“Protopopov suffered a stroke before the Sochi Olympics” – Rodnina

Two-time Olympic pairs figure skating champion Oleg Protopopov suffered a stroke before the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the three-time Olympic champion and Russian State Duma deputy told . Irina Rodnina .

On Friday, Skating Lesson announced on Facebook* that Protopopov had died at the age of 91. He performed in tandem with his wife Lyudmila Belousova. The duo won the USSR championships six times, the world and European championships four times, and won gold at the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games.

“I don’t know exactly what happened to Protopopov. I think age has already taken its toll. He was born in 1932. I know that before the Sochi Olympics he suffered a stroke. It is likely that all of this had an impact.

It hurts when colleagues leave. Protopopov and Belousova were great athletes with their own face, with their own “I”, with incredible skating form. It was Protopopov and Belousova who changed pair skating, made it more duo, more understandable, and not just two athletes jumping and spinning next to each other. It was very painful when Lyudmila left. Now so does Oleg. Double Olympic champion.

There was a time when they were forgotten in our country. And they accused me that it was because of me. Because the young woman, in difficulty, with her partner, won against the double Olympic champions. But we always treated them with respect, they were always a great example for us,” Rodnina told .

Belousova died in September 2017.

* The activities of Meta* (social networks Facebook* and Instagram*) are banned in Russia as extremist.