The Most Famous

SKATERS from Russia

This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Skaters. The pantheon dataset contains 483 Skaters, 70 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 59.71, Oleg Protopopov is the most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 24 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. Lidiya Skoblikova (b. 1939)

With an HPI of 59.56, Lidiya Skoblikova is the 2nd most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 33 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 Winter Olympic 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.

3. Ludmila Belousova (1935 - 2017)

With an HPI of 58.68, Ludmila Belousova is the 3rd most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 23 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.

4. Boris Shilkov (1927 - 2015)

With an HPI of 56.25, Boris Shilkov is the 4th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Boris Arsenyevich Shilkov (Russian: Борис Арсеньевич Шилков; 28 June 1927 – 29 June 2015) was a speed skater.

5. Evgeni Plushenko (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 56.19, Evgeni Plushenko is the 5th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 37 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. Klara Guseva (1937 - 2019)

With an HPI of 55.99, Klara Guseva is the 6th most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Klara Ivanovna Guseva (Russian: Кла́ра Ива́новна Гу́сева; 8 March 1937 in Tambov Oblast – 12 May 2019) was a Russian speed skater. After her marriage, she was also known as Klara Nesterova (Russian: Не́стерова). Born in the Russian SFSR, Klara Guseva competed for the Soviet Union. She trained at Spartak in Ryazan. She won a silver medal at the Soviet Allround Championships in 1960 and participated one month later in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. These were the first Winter Olympics where speed skating for women was on the programme. Guseva participated in the 500 m and finished 6th. The next day, she finished 4th on the 1,500 m. The day after that, she started in the first pair on the 1,000 m and skated a new Olympic record time of 1:34.1. Nobody was able to beat that time and Guseva was Olympic Champion on the 1,000 m, ahead of silver medallist Helga Haase, who had become the first female Olympic Champion in speed skating when she won the 500 m two days earlier. After that, Guseva participated in the World Allround Championships once, the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, and a few more Soviet Allround Championships, but she did not win any more medals. Guseva died in a car accident on 12 May 2019 in Moscow.

7. Viktor Kosichkin (1938 - 2012)

With an HPI of 55.80, Viktor Kosichkin is the 7th most famous Russian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Viktor Ivanovich Kosichkin (Russian: Виктор Иванович Косичкин; 25 February 1938 – 30 March 2012) was a speed skater who competed for the Soviet Union. Kosichkin trained at Dynamo. He participated in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. On the 5000 m, held on his 22nd birthday, he won gold, while the silver medal went to his major rival, Knut Johannesen. On the 10000 m two days later, the roles were reversed, with Johannesen winning gold and Kosichkin silver. The next year (1961), Kosichkin became Soviet and European Allround Champion, while winning silver at the World Allround Championships (behind Henk van der Grift). In 1962 he was not selected to be on the Soviet team for the European Championships and he damaged his skates in anger. His friend Yevgeny Grishin gave him an old pair of skates and Kosichkin became World Champion on these. 1963 was not a good year for Kosichkin, winning no major medals and finishing only 15th at the Soviet Allround Championships. In 1964, he once more won silver behind Johannesen at the World Allround Championships. He also participated in the 5000 m and the 10000 m at the 1964 Winter Olympics of Innsbruck, but he did not win any medals. He was Soviet Champion on the 5000 m in 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1962, and on the 10000 m in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964 and 1965. Kosichkin's highest ranking on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, was a third place.

8. Nikolai Panin (1872 - 1956)

With an HPI of 55.15, Nikolai Panin is the 8th 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.

9. Sergei Grinkov (1967 - 1995)

With an HPI of 55.01, Sergei Grinkov is the 9th most famous Russian Skater. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Гриньков; 4 February 1967 – 20 November 1995) was a Soviet and 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).

10. Alexei Ulanov (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 54.51, Alexei Ulanov is the 10th 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.

People

Pantheon has 70 people classified as Russian skaters born between 1872 and 2006. Of these 70, 60 (85.71%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Russian skaters include Lidiya Skoblikova, Evgeni Plushenko, and Alexei Ulanov. The most famous deceased Russian skaters include Oleg Protopopov, Ludmila Belousova, and Boris Shilkov. As of April 2024, 70 new Russian skaters have been added to Pantheon including Oleg Protopopov, Lidiya Skoblikova, and Ludmila Belousova.