Ludmilla Belousova has passed away (threads merged)

[Ka3sha]

Article on fsrussia.ru
Ludmilla passed away on September, 26 in Switzerland after battling cancer for 3 years
http://www.fsrussia.ru/intervyu/3193-semya-barbary-kelli-v-ssha-zhdet-olega-protopopova.html

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Thank you for posting, @Ka3sha! Google translated excerpt from the interview with Barbara Kelly, 90, the Protopopovs' longtime friend in Lake Placid:

Do you know that Oleg cremated Lyudmila?
- At first we were very surprised, and then thought that this was a wise decision on his part. Thus, his Mila will always be next to him, anywhere in the world.
You know, we really want Oleg to come here and live with us [in Richmond, VA]. We have been trying to reach him in Switzerland for a couple of days, but so far we have only talked with the owner of the complex where Oleg lived before. He promised to give Oleg our request to contact us in the near future and offer to move to the United States. So we are waiting for a call from Switzerland and we hope that Oleg will come to us. We were very worried when a few days could not get any information, where he was, whether he was all right. Now a little calmed down, having communication even through intermediaries. Glad to be taken care of in Switzerland.
We have already prepared a room for him in the house and now every day we are waiting for the call.

The New York Times published an obituary by Frank Litsky on October 2: Ludmila Belousova, Russian Who Skated With Husband to Olympic Gold, Dies at 81
Excerpt from the end:

But in their advanced years they were also living reminders of another era, when rigorous sport and classical dance seemed to meet on the ice. After interviewing them in Sochi, the Times sportswriter Jeré Longman reflected, “It was once said that the Protopopovs developed a style that was not quite skating and not quite ballet, but more in the realm of poetry.”

Lake Placid News article by Christie Sausa: http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/page/...ed-for-grace-on-and-off-the-ice.html?nav=5007

Despite the struggles with her health, Belousova continued to appear at the rink, coaching and giving lessons and advice, even if she couldn't train as much as she wanted to. It is this generous spirit that is remembered most of all.
"They brought a great deal of grace and international style to Lake Placid," Olympic Center Manager Denny Allen said. "Ludmila was just a kind, gentle soul, a wonderful human being, and it was such a privilege to know her."

I was lucky to stumble across the Protopopovs practicing in the Grindelwald, Switzerland rink in the summer of 1995 on a rainy day during a public skate. I almost didn't recognize Oleg without the toupee he used to wear for the "Evening of Championship Skating" (Evening with Champions/Jimmy Fund) PBS TV broadcast. I snapped a few photos of them from afar and, 2 years later, had the opportunity to meet them in the fall of 1997 at the Harvard Jimmy Fund show I attended. They were very sweet and ooh-ed and aah-ed over my (bad) photos before signing them.

 

[skatesindreams]

Lucky you!
What a memory to treasure, Sylvia.

 

[floskate]

It was not Russians who started to push him down the pedestal. B/P started to slide down at the International Events, Worlds and Europeans @ 1969 and on, placing 2nd, 3rd, etc.. Yet Oleg refused to work on athletic elements and to learn new ones, claiming “this is Ice Skating, not Ice Jumping”…. He believed strongly that what he can offer artistically, without jumps and throws, is enough to win international competitions. In 1969 in his LP routine, he and Ludmila messed up a number of jumps, yet were surprised by results….. Here is a proof with English commentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5e8SYGyytU

......

.... Protopopovs's stories are not black and white......

No this isn't quite true regarding 1969. Oleg did publicly state that their artistry should be enough but he and Ludmilla were witnessed working on new elements in practice at the 1969 Worlds and had been advised that they should increase their technical level. Eva Pawlik actually called him on it in her commentary of their free skate saying that his statements didn't match with what she had witnessed in practice!

 

[Tinami Amori]

No this isn't quite true regarding 1969. Oleg did publicly state that their artistry should be enough but he and Ludmilla were witnessed working on new elements in practice at the 1969 Worlds and had been advised that they should increase their technical level. Eva Pawlik actually called him on it in her commentary of their free skate saying that his statements didn't match with what she had witnessed in practice!

Well, that's true too. But he was resentful of having to add tech difficulties, very resentful, and made many comments on the subject.
Their artistry was superb, however...

 

[Vash01]

I finally got around to listing some of their performances on you tube. I know many have already posted most of these.

Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov

Meditation from Thais (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me4FlewMtaI

Moonlight Sonata/Beethoven (1968 Olympics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tY_2eE9hv8

Elegie- Pro championships (1982)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FQU9QT5bBk

The Swan (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amlhlyKN9QE

Moonlight Sonata (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qky5kw67nX4

Chopin (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3kSeNtBnA

Ave Maria (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtkDi7M0_yA

Paganini’s violin (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iMIONEfatQ&t=112s

EWC (1995):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIbU5UmNnQ

EWC (2005):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiLMZE-ZI-M

Evening with champions (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTKrB71kOaw

This may have been their last public performance

 

[floskate]

I've uploaded a full colour version of their 1968 Olympic free skate. I think the other colour version is incomplete and the others are black & white. Iconic skating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv_BflH2P0Y

 

[briancoogaert]

I've just learnt this sad news. RIP.

And thanks Floskate for your treasures.

 

[SkateGuard]

Just shared this on social but thought it deserved to be shared here too! Khrystyne's beautiful video of eighty six year old 2X Olympic Gold Medallist Oleg Protopopov skating a tribute to his late partner Ludmila at Adult Skating Week in Lake Placid today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osoh4n7SnJM

 

[kittyjake5]

That was beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

 

[aftershocks]

Just shared this on social but thought it deserved to be shared here too! Khrystyne's beautiful video of eighty six year old 2X Olympic Gold Medallist Oleg Protopopov skating a tribute to his late partner Ludmila at Adult Skating Week in Lake Placid today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osoh4n7SnJM

It's sad to see Oleg on the ice without Ludmila's physical presence, but I know she's there with him in spirit. Thanks for sharing the video, Ryan.

 

[bardtoob]

Just shared this on social but thought it deserved to be shared here too! Khrystyne's beautiful video of eighty six year old 2X Olympic Gold Medallist Oleg Protopopov skating a tribute to his late partner Ludmila at Adult Skating Week in Lake Placid today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osoh4n7SnJM

His arm movements still have a fluidity that shows a lifetime of training, which has only been dimmed by age.

 

[skateboy]

Just shared this on social but thought it deserved to be shared here too! Khrystyne's beautiful video of eighty six year old 2X Olympic Gold Medallist Oleg Protopopov skating a tribute to his late partner Ludmila at Adult Skating Week in Lake Placid today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osoh4n7SnJM

Thank you for this. So touching and inspirational.

 

[Coco]

That is so beautiful and so sad all at the same time.

I wondered why this thread was being posted in again and I'm so glad I checked it out.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[UMBS Go Blue]

I am seeing Russian-language tributes to Oleg Protopopov on my Telegram and Twitter as he has apparently passed away. Perhaps a separate thread might be warranted, but to me it feels appropriate to link his memory with that of Ludmila. RIP.

 

[UMBS Go Blue]

Separately, I remember seeing them live at Evening with Champions in the late '90s and early '00s. He could still lift her and they were both still in shape. They could also do their death love spirals better than any active skaters. The audience would always be moved to tears at their love for each other, their love for the sport, and their graciousness. RIP.

 

[tony]

Separately, I remember seeing them live at Evening with Champions in the late '90s and early '00s. He could still lift her and they were both still in shape. The audience would always be moved to tears at their love for each other, their love for the sport, and their graciousness. RIP.

I'm working on putting more up of them (maybe even today), but here's their '99 EWC performance:

https://youtu.be/OUlLiTazvSI

1965 Worlds LP:

https://youtu.be/0N1DS9peuQs

1968 Worlds LP:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

A charming interview with Dick Button at the '68 Worlds:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[tony]

I'll update this post with anything more I add to my YouTube.

Protopopovs 1993 Evening of Champions:

1993 Evening of Championship Skating - Ludmila Protopopov & Oleg Protopopov

youtu.be

 

[Frau Muller]

Wow, I’ve been traveling for two days and did not know about Oleg P’s passing. May his soul Rest In Peace.

 

[SkateGuard]

Here's something people might find interesting... some excerpts from a 2004 essay that Oleg wrote:

"When I was sixteen years old, my mother, a former classical ballerina bought a magazine 'America' (in Russian) at the black market. It was in 1948 in former Leningrad right before the 'Cold War between Soviet Union and the U.S.A. My mother's professional sharp eyes were attracted by beautiful picture of Dick Button in a split jump with perfectly extended points. My Mom said: 'Oleg, you must do better than this American guy'. Since, Dick Button became my ideal for his expressiveness, beauty and dynamic which were very good seen even on the picture. I have never met him personally until 1962 World Championships in Prague when he became an ABC TV sport commentator and I and my wife Ludmila became first time in our life World silver medallists in pair skating. Our first international debut with Ludmila at the European and World Championships was in 1958 where we had first opportunity in our life to watch the outstanding skaters of the West. It was the greatest shock which change our vision and understanding of the figure skating for the entire life, especially that we were Soviet sportsmen from the country with the Iron Curtain. We never had seen live double Axel several times in a row, without long preparation, executed by David Jenkins or Don Jackson's triple Salchow or top of elegance pair skating of Barbara Wagner-Bob Paul. They did not skate their programs, they danced them so musically that it was hard to believe that they did it on the skates. Since, they became as live example for us and we call them the Gold Generation, who made great contribution to the World figure skating but the way they skated, unfortunately is forgotten and ignored today, despite the fact that their artistic and technical achievements and philosophy of skating were already forty to forty five years ahead of time... We met each other fifty years ago in August of 1954 on the skating seminar in Moscow at the first in Soviet Union 9x9 m (27x27 feet) experimental artificial ice-rink. It was so small ice that we could not pass each other without touching by our hands. It was our first accidental pair spin but we did not suspect that it will be forever. In Leningrad, in December we began regular skating outdoor in wild winter cold (-15, -35 C) when we were almost twenty and twenty three years old, knowing nothing about figure skating, pair skating, without coach, choreographer, professional help, tape recorder, video camera, hard leather skating boots, attractive costumes, but with great love to the art of skating. Nevertheless, in 1962, '63, '64 we became silver medallists of the European and World Championships, Olympic champions after ten years of hard training in 1964, and 2nd time in 1968 after fourteen years of skating. Four times World Champions 1965-1968. We were ready to participate at the Olympic Games of 1972 but Soviet Figure Skating Federation using administrative power crossed out our plans, pointing out that we were too old, very theatrical, athletically weak, no speed, no difficult elements in the programs. But underneath of all this 'snow job' was the hidden rumours of our sport and administrable opponents, that Belousova-Protopopov will defect if they will win their 3rd Olympic Games. It was a real hit below the belt for everything what we did for the National sport and our Motherland. But from the other hand, it was good idea prompted to us, because we never thought about this before. We left Soviet Union in 1979. For this period of time we learn a lot of wise things from smart former figure skaters and coaches in the former Soviet Union, which they called 'Black Russian humor'. It is said: 'There are four categories of significance among the people in the modern figure skating: 1. The lowest categories are those who know how to skate, that is figure skaters. 2. The second, a bit higher, are those who don’t skate but teach. 3. The third, still higher, are those who neither skate nor teach, but judge. 4. The fourth and highest category are those who don’t know how to skate, don't teach, don’t judge but direct figure skating'. (Samson Gliaser - 1st coach of Ludmila Belousova in the former Soviet Union in 1951). We would not say that something radically changed in the attitude to the skaters until now. We are not going to say that: 'when we skated, it was great or better'. It was just different time... We remember the time (1979) when we left Soviet Union and all Soviet (eligible!) skaters, coaches and officials were not allowed to say 'Hello' to 'ineligible' Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov until 1992. In the former Soviet Union system, when a skater who was rejected to skate in the frame of the Sport Committee of the USSR, he or she automatically became 2nd grade person or 'ineligible', especially the skaters who had own vision, opinion, which differed from the official line. In spite of the Greatest Power, this system, fortunately, had collapsed... In Russia currently, the skaters must pay about ten percent commission from their prize money. They cannot receive it directly from the ISU but only indirectly from the Russian Figure Skating Federation. The ISU has not a deal directly with the skaters. Thus, National federations are the mini filial of the ISU structure. It can happen that the skaters even do not know for how much 'they are sold'. For example, we never knew that The Sport Committee of the USSR in 1968 got two thousand or twenty five hundred behind our backs for each Exhibition (fifteen) in the International ISU World Tour, while we, as an Amateurs (eligible) two time Olympic Champions and four time World & European champions had nothing from this money, except 'pocket' twenty five Swiss Francs from the ISU for each exhibition... Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier, Dick Button, Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, [Ronnie] Robertson, David Jenkins, Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul, Donald Jackson, Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn... it would be a great advantage to learn their dynamic technique of the short preparation to the jumps, musicality, the beauty of skating skills, and general culture of skating. Their ideals were Freedom, Flight, Grace, and Beauty. But today’s 'triple-quadmania' has killed this so important philosophy of the figure skating stressing primarily on the quantity of the jumps, revolutions and missing the Artistic and technical quality... In 1960 Olympics (U.S.A) it was not required elements at all but skaters (men) did double Axel and triple jumps by own will without restriction or musts. But all pairs overhead lifts with full extension of the lifting arms were forbidden by the ISU after 1957, when Nina and Stanislav Zhuk (Soviet Union) demonstrated them first in the world at the European Championships in Vienna (Austria). Such a lifts were considered very dangerous ACROBATIC ELEMENTS and a pair would be punished (the ISU threatened!) in case of including forbidden lifts into the Free program which was 5min.10 sec. Nevertheless, it was allowed to lift only on the level of the shoulders. Now, forty seven years later, the ISU also will punish pair skaters but if they will not do overhead required lifts! By the way, nobody pushed [Donald] Jackson (Canada) to jump triple Lutz in 1962 Worlds. He did it by his own will and when he was ready to do it. Today the ISU wants to lead and dictate again, what to do and what is forbidden, like forty seven years ago. The ISU is continuing to brake natural progress of the evolution of figure skating, invading own system of over intensification, of the programs, arbitrarily choosing what must be done... The nature of a skater from the very beginning is an artist. Remember American Jackson Haines who was the first in the World to skate - backed by an orchestra - the waltz, mazurka, quadrille, and march on the public holiday in Vienna in 1868. It was one hundred and thirty six years ago! But modern artists of figure skating have to survive in the iron cage of the ISU rules, which make the space for artistic creativity in this cage smaller and smaller every year, forcing the skaters to be more robots on ice instead of human being personalities. Let the skaters skate how they physically CAN in a free program. Let the coaches, choreographers, and skaters to think themselves, as an artist, how to skate, how to compose, and what elements would be more expressive for particularly music. Let them to create independently (without ISU standards) new fresh innovative movements, combinations, elements and they will do their best according to the personal abilities, because it will be the best motivation to work. Variety is the spice of the life. Variety is the spice of the figure skating."