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The Most Famous

SKATERS from Russia

This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Skaters. The pantheon dataset contains 315 Skaters, 61 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the most number of Skaters.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Skaters of all time. This list of famous Russian Skaters is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Skaters.

1. Oleg Protopopov (1932 - 2023)

With an HPI of 55.31, Oleg Protopopov is the most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Oleg Alekseyevich Protopopov (Russian: Оле́г Алексе́евич Протопо́пов; 16 July 1932 – 31 October 2023) was a Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Ludmila Belousova he was a two-time Olympic champion (1964, 1968) and four-time World champion (1965–1968). In 1979, the pair defected to Switzerland and became Swiss citizens in 1995. They continued to skate at ice shows and exhibitions until their seventies.

2. Ludmila Belousova (1935 - 2017)

With an HPI of 54.63, Ludmila Belousova is the 2nd most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Ludmila Yevgenyevna Belousova (Russian: Людмила Евгеньевна Белоусова; 22 November 1935 – 26 September 2017) was a Soviet and Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With her partner and husband Oleg Protopopov, she was a two-time Olympic champion (1964, 1968) and four-time World champion (1965–1968). In 1979, the pair defected to Switzerland and became Swiss citizens in 1995. They continued to skate at ice shows and exhibitions through their seventies.

3. Lidiya Skoblikova (1939 - )

With an HPI of 52.90, Lidiya Skoblikova is the 3rd most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova (Russian: Лидия Павловна Скобликова; born 8 March 1939) is a retired Russian speed skater and coach. She represented the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960, 1964 and 1968, and won a total of six gold medals, a record she shares with Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst. She also won 25 gold medals at the world championships and 15 gold medals at the USSR National Championships in several distances. She was also the first athlete to earn six gold medals in the Winter Olympics and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin.

4. Eteri Tutberidze (1974 - )

With an HPI of 52.14, Eteri Tutberidze is the 4th most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze (Georgian: ეთერი გიორგის ასული თუთბერიძე; Russian: Этери Георгиевна Тутберидзе; born 24 February 1974) is a Georgian-Russian figure skating coach who works mainly with female single skaters. She is head coach at the Sambo 70 skating club in Moscow. She has coached several Russian skaters to success in international competitions, including 2022 Olympic and 2021 World champion Anna Shcherbakova, 2022 Olympic silver medalist and two-time Junior World champion Alexandra Trusova, 2020 Junior World champion Kamila Valieva, 2020 European Champion Alena Kostornaia, 2018 Olympic and 2019 World champion Alina Zagitova, two-time World champion and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva, and 2014 Olympic Team champion Yulia Lipnitskaya.

5. Evgeni Plushenko (1982 - )

With an HPI of 50.93, Evgeni Plushenko is the 5th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (Russian: Евгений Викторович Плющенко, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time European champion (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012), a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05), and a ten-time Russian national champion (1999–2002, 2004–2006, 2010, 2012–2013). Plushenko's four Olympic medals once tied with Sweden's Gillis Grafström's record for most Olympic medals in figure skating, which has since been surpassed by Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue. He also won a record total of 22 titles on the Grand Prix circuit.

6. Nikolai Panin (1872 - 1956)

With an HPI of 48.72, Nikolai Panin is the 6th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Panin-Kolomenkin (Russian: Николай Александрович Панин-Коломенкин; 8 January 1872 [O.S. 27 December 1871] – 19 January 1956) was a Russian figure skater and coach. He won the gold medal in special figures in the 1908 Summer Olympics, became one of the oldest figure skating Olympic champions. Panin was Russia's first Olympic champion.

7. Sergei Grinkov (1967 - 1995)

With an HPI of 48.33, Sergei Grinkov is the 7th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Гриньков; 4 February 1967 – 20 November 1995) was a Russian pair skater. Together with his wife Ekaterina Gordeeva, he was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and a four-time World Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990).

8. Alexei Ulanov (1947 - )

With an HPI of 47.34, Alexei Ulanov is the 8th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Alexei Nikolaevich Ulanov (Russian: Алексей Николаевич Уланов; born 4 November 1947) is a retired pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With Irina Rodnina, he is the 1972 Olympic champion and a four-time (1969–1972) world champion. With his then-wife Lyudmila Smirnova, he is a two-time world silver medalist.

9. Alexander Gennadiyevich Zaitsev (1952 - )

With an HPI of 47.01, Alexander Gennadiyevich Zaitsev is the 9th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Alexander Gennadyevich Zaitsev (Russian: Александр Геннадьевич Зайцев, born 16 June 1952 in Leningrad) is a retired pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With partner Irina Rodnina, he is a two-time (1976, 1980) Olympic champion, six-time World champion and seven-time European champion. They were coached by Stanislav Zhuk and later Tatiana Tarasova in Moscow. From 1973 to 1980 they won every event they entered and are, to date, the most decorated pair team of all time.

10. Aleksandr Gorshkov (1946 - 2022)

With an HPI of 46.44, Aleksandr Gorshkov is the 10th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Aleksandr Georgievich Gorshkov (Russian: Александр Георгиевич Горшков, 8 October 1946 – 17 November 2022) was a Russian ice dancer who competed internationally for the Soviet Union. With his wife Lyudmila Pakhomova, he was the 1976 Olympic champion. They were also six-time World Champions (1970–74, 1976), as well as six-time European champions (1970–71, 1973–76), which makes them the most decorated athletes all-time at both events in the pair discipline. Since 2010 and until his death, Gorshkov served as the president of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FFKKR).

People

Pantheon has 61 people classified as skaters born between 1872 and 2006. Of these 61, 52 (85.25%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living skaters include Lidiya Skoblikova, Eteri Tutberidze, and Evgeni Plushenko. The most famous deceased skaters include Oleg Protopopov, Ludmila Belousova, and Nikolai Panin. As of April 2022, 17 new skaters have been added to Pantheon including Eteri Tutberidze, Andrei Bukin, and Marina Klimova.