 Pakhomova on a 2013 Russian stamp from the "Sports Legends" series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Lyudmila Alekseyevna Pakhomova | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1946-12-31)31 December 1946 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 17 May 1986(1986-05-17) (aged 39) Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lyudmila Alekseyevna Pakhomova (Russian:Людмила Алексеевна Пахомова; 31 December 1946 – 17 May 1986) was a Russianice dancer who competed for theSoviet Union. With her husbandAleksandr Gorshkov, she was the1976 Olympic champion, one of the oldest female figure skating Olympic champions.
They are six-timeWorld Champions (1970–74, 1976), as well as six-timeEuropean champions (1970–71, 1973–76), which makes them the most decorated of all-time at both events in the pair discipline.
Pakhomova was the daughter ofAlexei Pakhomov, an aviation general.[1][2] She began figure skating at age seven, when her grandmother brought her toChildren and Youth Sports School by theYoung Pioneers Stadium in Moscow.[1][3] Her firstice dancing partner was the nine-years-olderViktor Ryzhkin, formerly her coach,[4] with whom she trained atCSKA Moscow underStanislav Zhuk.[1] They won threeSoviet national titles and placed 10th at the1966 World Championships. They were the first Soviet ice dancers to compete at Worlds.[2]
After her partnership with Ryzhkin ended, Pakhomova invitedAleksandr Gorshkov to skate with her.[1] He was only a couple of months older and also trained at CSKA Moscow. Since he had much less experience, some experts were skeptical of her choice.[4] Despite the initial experience gap, Gorshkov said that Pakhomova was a strong personality who was determined they would become champions.[1]
Pakhomova/Gorshkov began training in May 1966, under coachElena Tchaikovskaia, and made their international debut in December of the same year.[1] They competed forDynamo.[5] After teaming up, a personal relationship developed between the duo and Gorshkov proposed marriage; Pakhomova responded that they would marry only if they became World champions.[1]
Pakhomova/Gorshkov performed in the ice dancing demonstration event at the1968 Winter Olympics – the event determined if ice dancing would be added as an official Olympic sport and was successful.[2] They won their firstWorld title in 1970 and married later that year.[1] The duo repeated as World champions in1971,1972,1973, and1974. In 1974, Pakhomova/Gorshkov and Tchaikovskaya created the Tango Romantica, which the ISU would later adopt as acompulsory dance.[2]
Following the1975 European Championships, Gorshkov began feeling ill and underwent a lung operation, with their coach Elena Tchaikovskaia donating blood.[1][4] They flew toColorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. for the1975 World Championships, unsure about their participation.[1] During the first practice session, Gorshkov had trouble breathing and needed to be given oxygen – they withdrew from the event.[1][2] In the Soviet Union, rumors circulated that Gorshkov had died on the flight to the United States and the chairman of the Soviet Sports Committee called him to check if he was still alive.[1]
Pakhomova/Gorshkov returned to competition the following season. Ice dancing debuted as an official Olympic sport at the1976 Winter Olympics inInnsbruck, Austria, and Pakhomova/Gorshkov became the first Olympic champions in the discipline. They won their sixth World title in1976 in Gothenburg, Sweden. They retired from competition later that year.[1] In 1977, they had a daughter, Yulia Gorshkova.[1]
Pakhomova began coaching at CSKA. Her students included 1980 and 1981 World Junior championsElena Batanova /Alexei Soloviev and European medalistsNatalia Annenko /Genrikh Sretenski.[1] She coachedIgor Shpilband for eight years (age 12 to 20).[2] He and partnerTatiana Gladkova became the 1983 World Junior champions.
In late 1979, Pakhomova began having health problems which were eventually diagnosed asleukemia, but she continued to go out onto the ice even after her cancer made it very difficult.[1] Her husband said she did not want to change anything in her life and it was not in her nature to give up.[1] Pakhomova died at the age of 39 on 17 May 1986 and was interred in theVagankovo Cemetery in Moscow.[1][2][6]
Aminor planet,3231 Mila, discovered by Soviet astronomerLyudmila Zhuravleva in 1972, is named after her.[7] Pakhomova was posthumously inducted into theWorld Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1988, along with Gorshkov.
Pakhomova and Gorshkov's programs included:[8]
| International | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 66–67 | 67–68 | 68–69 | 69–70 | 70–71 | 71–72 | 72–73 | 73–74 | 74–75 | 75–76 |
| Olympics | 1st | |||||||||
| Worlds | 13th | 6th | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| Europeans | 10th | 5th | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Moscow News | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||||
| National | ||||||||||
| Soviet Champ. | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| International | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 |
| World Championships | 10th | ||
| European Championships | 7th | ||
| National | |||
| Soviet Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st |
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