The Most Famous
SKATERS from Belarus
This page contains a list of the greatest Belarusian Skaters. The pantheon dataset contains 483 Skaters, 2 of which were born in Belarus. This makes Belarus the birth place of the 21st most number of Skaters behind Switzerland, and Poland.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Belarusian Skaters of all time. This list of famous Belarusian Skaters is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Valentina Stenina (b. 1934)
With an HPI of 43.97, Valentina Stenina is the most famous Belarusian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.
Valentina Sergeyevna Stenina (Russian: Валентина Серге́евна Стенина; born 29 December 1934) is a former speed skater who competed for the Soviet Union. Born Valentina Miloslavova in Babruysk (which is now part of Belarus), she fled to Sverdlovsk – taken by her mother – in 1941 because of World War II. In Sverdlovsk, she took up speed skating, training at VSS Trud, and met and married fellow skater Boris Stenin. In 1959, Stenina participated in her first World Allround Championships, held in her home town of Sverdlovsk, and she won silver. The next year, 1960, was a very good year for Stenina: her husband Boris became Soviet Allround Champion, then Boris won silver at the European Allround Championships, then she herself became World Allround Champion, then Boris became World Allround Champion, and then at the 1960 Winter Olympics of Squaw Valley, she won silver on the 3,000 m behind Lidia Skoblikova, while Boris won bronze on the 1,500 m. In addition, Boris received the Oscar Mathisen Award that year. Valentina was not even considered for that award since women were not eligible to win it until 1987. The following year (1961), Stenina successfully defended her World Champion title in a grand way with victories in three distances and a second place in the fourth. Later that month, she won the Soviet National Championships – a title she would win a total number of four times in her career (in 1961, 1965, 1966, and 1967). Stenina did not compete in 1962 but returned in 1963, winning bronze at the World Championships. At the 1964 Winter Olympics of Innsbruck, she won another silver medal on the 3,000 m, again behind Skoblikova. Another silver medal at the World Championships would follow in 1965 and she became World Champion for the third and final time in 1966, this time not winning any of the four distances. For her accomplishments, Stenina was awarded the title of Honorable Citizen of Sverdlovsk in 1967 – the year she won her third consecutive (and fourth total) Soviet National Championships title. In 1968, she ended her career as a speed skater. Stenina currently lives in Yekaterinburg (which is the name that Sverdlovsk was changed back to in 1991). Her husband Boris died in 2001.
2. Igor Zhelezovski (1963 - 2021)
With an HPI of 41.73, Igor Zhelezovski is the 2nd most famous Belarusian Skater. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Ihar Mikalaevich Zhalyazouski or Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski or Ihar Mikałajevič Žalazoŭski (Belarusian: Ігар Мікалаевіч Жалязоўскі; Russian: Игорь Николаевич Железовский; 1 June 1963 – 12 June 2021) was a Soviet and Belarusian speed skater.
3. Natalia Mishkutionok (b. 1970)
With an HPI of 35.03, Natalia Mishkutionok is the 3rd most famous Belarusian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Natalia Yevgenievna Mishkutionok (born 14 July 1970) is a Belarusian former pair skater. With Artur Dmitriev, she is the 1992 Olympic champion, the 1994 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion (1991, 1992), and a two-time European champion (1991, 1992).
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Belarusian skaters born between 1934 and 1970. Of these 3, 2 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Belarusian skaters include Valentina Stenina, and Natalia Mishkutionok. The most famous deceased Belarusian skaters include Igor Zhelezovski. As of April 2024, 1 new Belarusian skaters have been added to Pantheon including Valentina Stenina.
