Oleg Protopopov was a two-time Olympic gold medal winner who, along with his wife, Ludmila Belousova, defected from the Soviet Union and became an international figure skating icon.
- Died: October 31, 2023 (Who else died on October 31?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 91.
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Oleg Protopopov’s legacy
Born in the Soviet Union, Protopopov did not begin skating until he was 15, but developed an immediate love for both the athletic and artistic elements of the sport. He met Ludmila Belousova in 1954, and the pair began training together two years later. They married in 1957. Protopopov and Belousova made their Olympic debut in 1960, finishing ninth, but by 1962 they were capturing medals. First a silver at the World Championships, then again at that year’s European Championships, then a gold at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
In 1965, they became the first Soviet skating pair to win gold medals at both the World and European championships. In 1968, they captured gold at the Olympics yet again while in their 30s, ranking them among the oldest ever figure skating champions. They took home medals the following year, then began transitioning to exhibition skating. All told, they won World titles four straight years, from 1965 to 1968, and made the World podium eight years in a row.
In 1979, the pair defected from the Soviet Union during one of their tours and applied for political asylum in Switzerland. They did not return to Russia until 2003, after the fall of the USSR, although it was only for a ceremonial visit. The couple lived and trained in Lake Placid, New York, and maintained a winter home in Switzerland. Protopopov and Belousova continued to skate together well into their 70s, until Belousova’s death in 2017 at the age of 81. Protopopov and Belousova are credited with advancing the art of their sport, creating three “death spirals” still used in competition today.
Tributes to Oleg Protopopov
Full obituary: NBC Sports
