Protopopov kept his wife’s ashes at home and bequeathed to bury them together in St. Petersburg – Fetisov

Two-time Olympic figure skating champion Oleg Protopopov’s will indicated that he should be buried with his wife Lyudmila Belousova in St. Petersburg, the two-time Olympic hockey champion and family friend told . Vyacheslav Fetisov .

Protopopov died on October 31 at the age of 91. During his sports career, the skater 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’m looking for contacts at the moment. For several years, I have not been able to communicate. As far as I know, Lyudmila was cremated, and Oleg Alekseevich kept her ashes in his house. And I know for sure that the will indicated that they were to be cremated and buried in St. Petersburg.

I’m trying to understand what’s going on. It doesn’t work yet. Perhaps this will go through our embassy in Switzerland. I’m looking for ways to influence all of this. As soon as possible, I will of course help with the funeral in St. Petersburg. Now I still don’t understand where, what and how to look. Especially in this situation, the international situation complicates everything,” Fetisov told .

Belousova and Protopopov were invited to Switzerland for demonstrations in 1979, where they remained. In August 1995, they obtained Swiss nationality and settled in the town of Grindelwald. Belousova died in September 2017.