Lidiya Skoblikova
(1939- )
Biography
Lidiya Skoblikova is a legendary Soviet athlete, the only 6-time Olympic champion in the history of skating, multiple world champion and record holder.
Lidiya was born in Zlatoust in a large worker family. Since childhood, her favorite hobby was sport . She was engaged in athletics and volleyball , skiing and gymnastics. When Lydiya was 16, she decided to try speed skating, and a year later won the Zlatoust championship, the same year Scoblikova entered the CSPU. In January, 1957 Lydiya won the national championship in speed scating among girls. The first international success came in the 1959 when Skoblikova took the 3rd place at the World Cup in Sverdlovsk. A year later, Lydiya showed the 3rd result at the World Championship in Sweden. In 1960 Skoblikova debuted at the Olympics in Squaw Valley , USA and won two gold medals. The next Olympics in Innsbruck , Austria became the absolute triumph of the young Soviete athlete. On this Olympics Lidiya seemed to do the impossible - she won all four golden medals in skating competitions. Thus, Skoblikova became the only 6-time Olympic champion in speed skating. The world press unanimously called the Olympics in Innsbruck “The Olympics of Skoblikova”. After the World Cup- 1964 , where Lydiya repeated the Olympic record, again taking the upper hand in all four disciplines, Skoblikova made a decision to finish her sports career and became engaged in coaching and teaching.
Международная известность
Lydiya Skoblikova is rightly considered a legend of Soviet and world sports. In 1960, before the Olympics in Squaw Valley foreign press treated her as one of the best stayers of speed skating. However, some journalists predicted the "Ural lightning" failure on the Olympics, stating the fact that Lydiya flew to the United States having the plane seat number 13 and stayed in a hotel room number 13.
The Olympics in Squaw Valley were the first Olympics that included competitions in speed skating among women, that's why Skoblikova and other women athletes were viewed with prejudice. Skating requires speed, strength and endurance- qualities that are not developed or absent in females. In one of her interviews during the Olympics Skoblikova objected the correspondent of Sports Illustrated: "Skating makes us more feminine…. Cycling or skiing takes a lot of muscle, but skating does you no harm." Skoblikova's appearance and personality often disarmed critics. She was a Russian real beauty with a smile, blue eyes and open face. After winning the race she always went to the stands , waving to spectators , smiling broadly . "At the theater you applaud a good actor who gives you pleasure. When I have won a race, giving people pleasure, I like to skate around the stadium wearing the laurel wreath of victory. People applaud and that gives me pleasure."
4 years later in Innsbruck , Austria Skoblikova created a furore , winning all the gold medals possible in speed skating. Before the Olympics, at a press conference on the question of foreign journalists how many medals she planned to get in Innsbruck , Lydiya answered , " As many as my rivals allow me to get ." "This attractive girl with an iron will is , perhaps, the best female skater ever"- wrote the American magazine " Sports illustrated "after the triumph of the Soviet athlete .
| Л.Скобликова участвует в эстафете олимпийского огня Сочи-2014 |
Experts and correspondents of foreign newspapers and magazines , commenting Lydiya Skoblikova's skating in Innsbruck , noted the high technique of her run, "absolute harmony of the movements ," and especially admired her will to win , tenacity and strength of her character .
In spite of the fact she finished her sports career in the mid-1960s, Skoblikova did much for the development of sports in the Soviet Union and the creation of a positive image of Soviet athletes abroad.
In 1983, the President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch awarded "ice queen" the silver sign of the Olympic Order "For contribution to the promotion of the sports ideals and outstanding sports achievements."
Nathan Aaseng in the book Women Olympic Champions wrote about Skoblikova: "First, she was a key member of a Soviet national women's team that pushed the limits of achievement far beyond those of the previous generation.… The Russians' success in turn pushed East Germany, the United States, and other countries into developing female athletes.… Second, Skoblikova stood out as an important contradiction to the stereotype of Soviet female athletes as cold, masculine machines. Her combination of incredible strength and endurance, grace under pressure, willingness to let her emotions show, and pride in her appearance, reinforced the idea that women could be warm and feminine and still enjoy and excel in sports."
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