Pakhomova Lyudmila skater biography

The story of the life of the great skater Lyudmila Pakhomova, undefeated and unsurpassed on May 17, MSC to share comments 29 years ago, the great skater Lyudmila Pakhomova passed away. We recall how she, along with her partner, changed the world of figure skating. The skater Lyudmila Pakhomova, together with her partner Alexander Gorshvov, dominated the ice for a decade. The Soviet couple, one not only in competitions, but also in everyday family life, completely changed the appearance of dancing on ice and fell in love with the whole world.

Pakhomova and Gorshkov won the European and World championships six times, and the gold of the Olympic Games was the brilliant end of the sports career. Lyudmila could have achieved a lot in her life, but because of a serious illness she left too early-without living until forty years. Of the two elements, she chose the ice in the family of the Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel of aviation Alexei Pakhomov, the daughter appeared on the last day of the outgoing year.

The head of the family was perfectly skating, but he himself wanted his daughter to be involved in parachute. Therefore, the grandmother took the first training session in the figure skating section. The girl did not achieve any success for a long time, and her parents repeatedly tried to take her from the section. However, something every time made them stop and give their daughter another chance to prove themselves on the ice.

When, it seemed, nothing would be able to build a young Pakhomov on a pedestal, coach Viktor Rykin invited her to try herself in a new area of ​​figure skating - dancing on ice. Lyudmila chose for a very long time between classic pair skating and new, unknown dances and still decided to take a chance. However, the success was fleeting: at international competitions, the duet was not too successful, and therefore soon broke up.

Gorshkov, Pakhomov, Zaitsev and Rodnin after presenting government awards in the Kremlin photo: RIA Novosti Gorshkov could not refuse the champion of the country for a long time - neither a coach, nor a club, nor a partner. What to do next is unknown. And then Pakhomova decided to make an invitation to Alexander Gorshkov, who trained at the same ice rink.

Alexander could not refuse the titled skater. However, the creation of a new pair has not attracted practically no interest. Pakhomova and Gorshkov continued to train, where and how it turns out - where they would allow at least for a while. The couple had no coach for quite some time - and a more experienced partner had to play his role. For a long time, they did not take a couple of for a long time - at first it seemed unpromising to almost everyone, but time proved the opposite.

As it turned out, Pakhomova and Gorshkov perfectly suited each other. It was a rafting of the vivid emotionality of Lyudmila and the cold masculinity of Alexander - the ice and flame, who almost fought each other on the ice, but did it so beautifully and elegantly that they forced the audience to admire and admire. And all this at the end of the 10ths, when Soviet dance duets were significantly inferior to foreign competitors.

A couple of artists on ice however, the lag from foreign competitors was reduced before our eyes. The secret of rapidly success was simple: Pakhomova and Gorshkov changed the world of dancing on the ice under themselves and in the new conditions easily defeated the once unsurpassed rivals.

Until the end of the x dancing on the ice, they were a strict, academic type of competition, but Soviet skaters were not afraid to make them brighter, incendiary and mischievous, which first of all conquered the fans, and then the judges. The key for the couple has become a year. It was then that Soviet skaters began the victorious series at the World and European Championships. Over the next six years, Pakhomov and Gorshkov lost at large international competitions only once - at the European tournament of the year.

But this was an exception to the rule, the dominance of the couple in the world arena was absolute. Lyudmila and Alexander made dancing on the ice attractive, infected half of the Soviet Union with a love of figure skating and naturally became the first Olympic champions in the new discipline - rivals could only count on leaders' mistakes, but they did not happen. Pakhomova and Gorshkov remained undefeated.

Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov Photo: RIA Novosti Coaching care until the last days and even in the year the sports couple became married, so all their main victories Lyudmila and Alexander won, being husband and wife. A year after leaving amateur sports and a grand farewell ball, a charming daughter Julia appeared in the family. However, even family chores did not force Lyudmila to leave figure skating.

Having completed the career of the athlete, she became a coach and soon achieved success in the new field: from the year Pakhomova stood at the rudder of the national team and put her hand in raising a whole galaxy of the Champions. A year later, it became known about the serious illness of the champion. They didn’t hide anything from it - they immediately said that chemotherapy, irradiation, and operations needed to do.

Lyudmila took the treatment courses, but gave every free minute to classes on ice.Until the last day, Pakhomova made training plans for her wards, talked with them. And on May 17, the great athlete was gone - she died after seven years of illness, not even surviving until forty. However, Lyudmila still lives in the hearts of fans of figure skating - she fell in love with figure skating millions of people around the world and left the undefeated.