Lidia Skoblikova
Encyclopedia
Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova is a Russia former speed skater
. Representing the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960 and 1964, she won a total of six gold medals, still a record number for a speed skater. 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 Olympic Winter Games, 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
.
, Soviet Union
, some 160 km west of Chelyabinsk
, Ural
. She trained at Burevestnik and later at Lokomotiv
sports societies. In 1959, at age 19, Skoblikova qualified for the Soviet World Championships team, placing third in the national championships. She repeated that performance at the World Championships, winning two distance medals as well. The next season, she seemed headed for the World Title after winning the 500 m and placing 2nd in the 1500 m, but she fell in the 1000 m. By winning the final 3000 m, she managed to land on the podium anyway, placing third again. A favourite for the Olympics now, she entered three events. In the first race, the 1500 m, she broke the World Record, and won the gold medal. After just missing a second medal in the 1000 m (fourth), Skoblikova approached the World Record in the 3000 m (missing it by just half a second), but that was enough for her second gold medal.
During the following years, Skoblikova fought with her team mates to become World Champion. In 1961, she won the bronze for the third consecutive time, followed by the silver medal in 1962. In 1963, she finally managed to win the title. In Karuizawa
, conditions were excellent, and Skoblikova won all four races, setting a new 1000 m World Record in the process.
For the 1964 Olympics
, Skoblikova was qualified for all four distances, and she managed to win all of them, thereby becoming the first Winter Olympian to win four individual gold medals. This record was only beaten by Eric Heiden
who won all five speedskating events in 1980
. Two weeks after the Olympics, she repeated her performance from Karuizawa and won all four distances at the World Championships.
Skoblikova withdrew from speedskating for two seasons, but returned in 1967, setting a new 3000 m World Record in January. She failed to reach the podium in the World Championships however, and placed fourth. In 1968, she skated her third and last Olympics, but did not win a medal again—the 6th place in the 3000 m was her best ranking. She retired in 1969 after, remarkably, never having won the USSR National Allround Championships—only single distances. In 1983, Skoblikova, then a member of the Soviet National Olympic Committee, received a silver Olympic Order from the hands of Juan Antonio Samaranch
.
Skoblikova was inducted in the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
. Representing the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960 and 1964, she won a total of six gold medals, still a record number for a speed skater. 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 Olympic Winter Games, and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...
and 1964 Winter Olympics
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...
, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin
Yevgeny Grishin
Yevgeny Romanovich Grishin was a Soviet/Russian speedskater. Grishin trained for the largest part of his speedskating career at CSKA Moscow...
.
Career
Skoblikova was born in ZlatoustZlatoust
Zlatoust is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ay River , west of Chelyabinsk. Population: 181,000 ; 161,000 ; 99,000 ; 48,000 ; 21,000 ....
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, some 160 km west of Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
, Ural
Ural (region)
Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of...
. She trained at Burevestnik and later at Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv (sports society)
Lokomotiv is the Russian sports club and a member of the International Railway Sports Association.Lokomotive traces its history to the All-Union Voluntary Sports Society of rail transport workers' Trade Unions, one of the first sports societies of workers of the USSR. Established in 1936, it...
sports societies. In 1959, at age 19, Skoblikova qualified for the Soviet World Championships team, placing third in the national championships. She repeated that performance at the World Championships, winning two distance medals as well. The next season, she seemed headed for the World Title after winning the 500 m and placing 2nd in the 1500 m, but she fell in the 1000 m. By winning the final 3000 m, she managed to land on the podium anyway, placing third again. A favourite for the Olympics now, she entered three events. In the first race, the 1500 m, she broke the World Record, and won the gold medal. After just missing a second medal in the 1000 m (fourth), Skoblikova approached the World Record in the 3000 m (missing it by just half a second), but that was enough for her second gold medal.
During the following years, Skoblikova fought with her team mates to become World Champion. In 1961, she won the bronze for the third consecutive time, followed by the silver medal in 1962. In 1963, she finally managed to win the title. In Karuizawa
Karuizawa, Nagano
is a town located in Kitasaku District, Nagano, Japan.As of January 1, 2008, the town has an estimated population of 17,833 and has a total area of ....
, conditions were excellent, and Skoblikova won all four races, setting a new 1000 m World Record in the process.
For the 1964 Olympics
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...
, Skoblikova was qualified for all four distances, and she managed to win all of them, thereby becoming the first Winter Olympian to win four individual gold medals. This record was only beaten by Eric Heiden
Eric Heiden
Eric Arthur Heiden, M.D. is an American former long track speed skater and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York,...
who won all five speedskating events in 1980
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
. Two weeks after the Olympics, she repeated her performance from Karuizawa and won all four distances at the World Championships.
Skoblikova withdrew from speedskating for two seasons, but returned in 1967, setting a new 3000 m World Record in January. She failed to reach the podium in the World Championships however, and placed fourth. In 1968, she skated her third and last Olympics, but did not win a medal again—the 6th place in the 3000 m was her best ranking. She retired in 1969 after, remarkably, never having won the USSR National Allround Championships—only single distances. In 1983, Skoblikova, then a member of the Soviet National Olympic Committee, received a silver Olympic Order from the hands of Juan Antonio Samaranch
Juan Antonio Samaranch
Don Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquis of Samaranch, Grandee of Spain , known in Catalan as Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló , was a Catalan Spanish sports administrator who served as the seventh President of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001...
.
Skoblikova was inducted in the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Records
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See also
External links
- sports-reference.com
- Legends of Soviet Sport: Lidia Skoblikova
- Lidia Skoblikova at Olympic.org
- International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. Women's Sports Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.