About Protopopov biography

Oleg Protopopov - biography, news, personal life Age: 92 since the birth of death: 91 years old Oleg Alekseevich Protopopov. Born on July 16 in Leningrad now St. Petersburg - died on November 3 in Grindelwald Switzerland. Soviet skater, two -time Olympic champion and in pair skating together with Lyudmila Belousova. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR; Deprived of Oleg Protopopov was born on July 16 in Leningrad now St.

Petersburg. In childhood, he survived the blockade of Leningrad. He was raised by his stepfather, poet Dmitry Censor, who saved them with his mother during the war. As Protopopov recalled, the censor pulled them out of the blockade city when they were already on the verge of death. It was the stepfather who gave him the first skates in his life. However, he began to engage in figure skating seriously only at the age of 15 - in the year, the coach Nina Vasilievna Lepninskaya.

In the year he was preparing to take part in all -Union competitions, but was drafted into the army for the Baltic Fleet.

He was demobilized in the year, but during the service he continued to classify figure skating - he was released from the ship for training. In the year he began to speak with Lyudmila Belousova, whom he met at a seminar in Moscow. They decided to just ride together, tried to perform some elements. It seemed to the athletes that they were suitable for each other.

Belousova moves to Leningrad and in December of the year, athletes begin to train together under the leadership of I. Moskvin, for some time - at times they worked together, set their own programs themselves. By the year they were silver prize -winners of the USSR championship and masters of sports. In December, the skaters got married and have not parted since then.

The international arena was debuted in the year. The technical arsenal of the athletes was not rich, in addition, inexperience affected, so they were nervous and performed at the European Championship of the year not very successful - they made mistakes, performing simple elements. At the European Championship of the year, the fall was allowed, the judges put on average grades 5, 1.

In the couple, it increased significantly both in technical and artistic terms. Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousov were invented and the first to perform many elements that later were included in the mandatory program of the skaters around the world. So, for the first time they were executed by Todes forward on the inner rib, that is the first success came in the year: the skaters finally first won the USSR championship on the eighth attempt!

Jeline in one judicial voice and only one tenth score. In the couple, she put an arbitrary program for jazz music, receiving average grades already at 5, 8. At the European Championship in the mandatory program, the couple received higher grades than M. Kilius - H. Boymler Germany, but in most places they lost to them, in an arbitrary program, the couple from Germany also went around the Soviet couple and won.

At the Olympics, unexpectedly with an advantage of one judicial voice, Kilius and Boymler, thanks to the high level of consistency, synchronism and harmony of skiing, were performed, beautiful spirals, a combination of swords and anxel jumps, double salches, several supports, including a tough lasso in two turnover. Almost all judges put grades 5, 9. The masterpieces became their programs in which the image of lovers is revealed with subtle psychologism, almost absolute synchronism of all movements, amazing beauty and smoothness of the lines were achieved.

Belousova - Protopopov led world pair skating along the path of artistic enrichment of programs. In the year, the most acute competition was composed by a new pair of beetle - Gorelik, who lost to them at the World Cup with only one judicial voice. At their third Olympics, the couple won both programs. In the journalists appreciated by the triumphal, arbitrary program to the music of Rachmaninov and Beethoven, they were purely executed: the combination of the double rittberger - steps - an axel of one and a half revolution, double Salhov, 7 various supports, including Lasso and Lasso -Axel, as well as a large -length spiral in the Libele pose, which lasted 15 seconds.

Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova, however, then the couple began to lose younger Soviet pairs, which extremely complicated the program. At the World Cup, athletes made several mistakes and took third place. In the year, at the USSR championship, they were a leader after the execution of a mandatory program, but in the amount of two species they remained only fourth and did not get to the national team subsequently announced judicial conspiracy.

At the USSR championship, the year is only the sixth of the year, and in April - the third, but in the absence of the strongest couples, after which the athletes left amateur sport. He was awarded two orders of the Red Banner of Labor, a prize of Jacques Favar, the International Skating Union. Having left big sport, the athletes did not part with figure skating, worked in the Leningrad ballet on ice.

In the year, the apartment of Belousova and Protopopov in Leningrad was robbed, all medals were stolen. They tried to join the CPSU, as honestly admitted, for career reasons. But they were not accepted.Oleg Protopopopov said: “They waited for three years, but they didn’t accept us. They said that the Party of the Workers 'and Peasants' party, among the candidates there are no less worthy people than you.

Yes, on our part it was a conjunctural calculation, we wrote statements, took recommendations from Tamara by Moskvin, director of the St. Petersburg Sports Palace of Sergei Tolstikhin, but nothing helped. The flight from the USSR on September 24 of Belousov and Protopopov, while together with the Leningrad ballet on ice on tour in Switzerland, asked the leadership of this country of political asylum and refused to return to the USSR.

In the USSR, athletes were deprived of the titles of honored masters of sports, their names were deleted from all Soviet reference books telling about the Olympic achievements of the USSR, and the athletes themselves openly called traitors. Belousov and Protopopov themselves explained their step by the fact that in their native country the couple did not allow to develop further, they did not want to throw sports and believed that their talent would be appreciated more abroad.

Oleg Protopopov about the reasons for the emigration: “At one time, rumors were dissolved, as if asking back, but this was not. Yes, I was born in Leningrad and was not going to leave anywhere. Somehow I even told Ekaterina Furtseva, the Minister of Culture, who called us with Luda to Moscow that I wanted to die in my hometown. But then the circumstances changed. The only way to break out was the emigration and this, believe me, was not easy to accept it.

The couple of Rodnin - Ulanov was considered the favorites, our students Smirnov - Suraikin were the second, but we could count on a hard third place. At least. I remember, Sergei Pavlov, the country's chief athlete, convinced: “There is a chance to occupy the entire Olympic podium! The opportunity cannot be missed. " Naive moron! It was me about myself and did not think to take us anywhere: “bronze” in pair skating was already promised to the GDR team, and for this the Germans promised to support Sergei Chetrukhin in the lonelines competition, where the positions of the USSR were weaker.

In fact, they sold us, although in form everything looked quite decent. The coaching council gathered before the Olympics and no one supported our candidates. Rodnina and Ulanov won the games, although Luda Smirnova and Andryusha Suraikin, to whom we put an arbitrary program were supposed to win. They skated cleanly, and Ulanov did not fulfill the obligatory element, did not jump a double somersault, which was a gross violation.

Nevertheless, the judges forgave the mistake. Now such a trick would not have passed on the rules, they did what they wanted. It ended in the fact that they won, and we were thrown back in fourth place. Is this possible with normal refereeing? We had to crawl on the belly in order to fall so low! We lived in Grindelwald. In the year they received Swiss citizenship, after which they were able to speak at the opening of the European Championship in Sofia in November in the year of the invitation of the Figure Skating Federation of St.

Petersburg. They attended the Olympics in Sochi. Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova. The growth of Oleg Protopopov: centimeters. The personal life of Oleg Protopopova: he was married to the skater Lyudmila Belousova, his partner on ice. We got married in December and lived together all their lives. They did not have children. According to the explanations, the couple did not give birth to children, so as not to become hostages of the Soviet system.

Apparently, the escape plan to the west has long been voted. Belousova said: “We saw how Viktor Korchny was tormented. Vitya was actually blackmailing, saying: if you win with Karpov, forget about the family. We know this firsthand, Bella had the same lawyer as us. The Soviet system did not forgive those who tried to swim against the current. "The wife of Lyudmila Belousova died on September 29 in Switzerland in the year of life from oncology.