“Protopopov lived for many years in a village 120 kilometers from Bern, in the mountains. It is impossible to know one’s fate.” – Piseev

Oleg Protopopov, two-time Olympic champion in pairs figure skating, has lived in recent years in the mountains about 120 km from Bern, Switzerland, which makes it very difficult to know the fate of the famous athlete, honorary president of the Figure Russian. The Skating Federation (FFKKR) told Valentin Piseev.

Skating Lesson previously reported that Protopopov died at the age of 91. There is no official information about the death of the famous figure skater.

“I know that he lived for many years 120 kilometers from Bern, somewhere in the mountains. I had his phone number, the only one. I spoke to him and congratulated him. That’s right, the last time he had his birthday in July, I didn’t have any phone contact. And so, every year, I congratulated him. The last time we had personal communication was at the Sochi Olympics, when he was invited as a guest of honor.

He lived in a village, as I imagine. Therefore, who in general can know what happened and where can they report it? He himself was unsociable. Therefore, there isn’t even anyone to call about this.

From there, all you have to do is wait for the feedback. I think the ISU has no contacts in this village either. It’s very difficult to know, I don’t know how. Only if you go there and ask around. We can only hope for the best,” Piseev told .

Protopopov performed in tandem with his wife Lyudmila Belousova. The duo won the USSR championships six times (1962-1964, 1966-1968) and won the world and European championships four times (1965-1968). Belousova and Protopopov won gold medals at the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games.

Belousova died in September 2017.