Irina Rodnina - 70: How the queen of ice was tested for strength

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On September 12, the legendary athlete, Soviet figure skater, Olympic champion, public figure Irina Rodnina turns 70, 55 of which she gave to sports. She is called one of the best athletes of the twentieth century. and the most successful figure skater in pair skating history. However, her success came at a high price, her whole life was a series of tests that she overcame with athletic stamina and unfeminine endurance. Why the years spent in the United States became for her one of the most difficult periods that made her think about suicide - further in the review.

Irina Rodnina has been figure skating since the age of 5, and since then sport has become the meaning of life for her. Her style was called fireworks on ice, and she was second to none in pair skating. If you add up all of her awards, among which there was not a single silver medal, you will get almost a kilogram of gold. At the zenith of fame, after the third victory at the Olympics, the skater switched to coaching. In the USSR, it was considered a national treasure, and the news that Rodnina moved to the United States in 1990 was received with indignation and aggression.

Under the contract, Rodnina was supposed to work in America for 2 years, but stayed there for 12 years. No one knew what she really had to go through there. Over the years, Rodnina has grown noticeably older and grayer. Unaccustomed to giving in to difficulties, the Olympic champion at that time was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her second husband, businessman Leonid Minkovsky, left her for another woman shortly after moving to the United States. But this was not the worst - the real trials began when her ex-husband tried to take her from her "the most valuable medal" - as the skater called their daughter, whom she gave birth to at 36, back in Russia.

Later, the athlete said: "". The court forbade their daughter to leave the country until the age of 18, and Rodnina had to stay in the United States for a long time.

During that period, all the troubles fell upon her, one after another. The mother died, for whose funeral the athlete could not even come, the father was dying, the husband left one with two children. According to American laws, until the age of 13, they could not be left at home alone, and she had to work hard to feed her family. She knew how to deal with physical pain, but she was not ready for such a situation. Rodnina said that then for the first time in her life she was sent to a moral knockdown, and it was harder to get out of it than to win gold at the Olympics.

It so happened that her strong character in family life was, rather, a hindrance. For the first time, she married her partner Alexander Zaitsev, hoping that he would become for her in life the same protection and support as on the ice. But everything turned out differently: "".

In the second marriage, history repeated itself - she again had to take the burden of responsibility on her shoulders and cope with problems on her own. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the family lived in another country, where there was no one to turn to for help. Not knowing the language, finding herself without the support of her husband, Rodnina did not give up even here. She learned English, tore up the contract, realizing that she had entered into it on unfavorable terms, found a coaching job, and provided for herself and the children.

She never complained about fate - she says that an athlete simply has no right to feel sorry for himself. And she repeatedly repeated: "". She is not ashamed of her weaknesses and frankly talks about betrayal. Today Irina Rodnina says that the main thing is not to get embittered by failures and always believe in victory. This principle helped her to overcome all difficulties and get out of them as a triumphant!

"", - says Irina Rodnina.

Returning to her homeland after a 12-year absence, the queen of ice again heard claims against her: Why Irina Rodnina was called a traitor to the Motherland.