Irina Slutskaya
Irina Slutskaya in 2005
Personal information
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1979-02-09) February 9, 1979 (age 33) Moscow, Soviet Union
Residence	Moscow, Russia
Height	160 cm (5.2 ft)
Coach	Zhanna Gromova
Skating club	Sport Club Moskvitch
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	198.06 2005 Cup of Russia
Short program	70.22 2005 Cup of China
Free skate	130.48 2005 Cup of Russia
Medal record Competitor for  Russia Ladies' Figure skating Olympic Games Silver 2002 Salt Lake City Ladies' singles Bronze 2006 Turin Ladies' Singles World Championships Gold 2002 Nagano Ladies' singles Gold 2005 Moscow Ladies' singles Silver 1998 Minneapolis Ladies' singles Silver 2000 Nice Ladies' singles Silver 2001 Vancouver Ladies' singles Bronze 1996 Edmonton Ladies' singles European Championships Gold 1996 Sofia Ladies' singles Gold 1997 Paris Ladies' singles Gold 2000 Vienna Ladies' singles Gold 2001 Bratislava Ladies' singles Gold 2003 Malmö Ladies' singles Gold 2005 Turin Ladies' singles Gold 2006 Lyon Ladies' singles Silver 1999 Prague Ladies' singles Silver 2002 Lausanne Ladies' singles Grand Prix Final Gold 1999–2000 Lyon Ladies' singles Gold 2000–2001 Tokyo Ladies' singles Gold 2001–2002 Kitchener Ladies' singles Gold 2004–2005 Beijing Ladies' singles Silver 1995–1996 Paris Ladies' singles Silver 2002–2003 St. Petersburg Ladies' singles Silver 2005–2006 Tokyo Ladies' singles Bronze 1996–1997 Hamilton Ladies' singles Bronze 1998–1999 St. Petersburg Ladies' singles World Junior Championships Gold 1995 Budapest Ladies' singles Bronze 1994 Colorado Springs Ladies' singles

Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya (Russian: Ири́на Эдуа́рдовна Слу́цкая Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya  (listen) (help·info); born February 9, 1979) is a Russian figure skater. She is a two-time World Champion (2002, 2005), two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 2002, bronze in 2006), seven-time European Champion (1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006), a four-time Grand Prix Final Champion (2000–2002, 2005) and a four-time Russian National Champion (2000–2002, 2005). Slutskaya, known for her athletic ability, was the first female skater to land a triple lutz-triple loop combination.^[1] She is also known for her trademark double Biellmann spin with a foot change, which she also invented. She is generally considered to be the most successful ladies' singles skater in Russian history.

Career[link]

Slutskaya began skating at the age of four due to her mother.^[2] She was coached by Zhanna Gromova since the age of six^[2] and throughout her competitive career. During her career, Slutskaya won a total of 40 gold medals, 21 silver medals, and 18 bronze medals.

In 1996, Slutskaya became the first Russian woman to win the European title. She also won the title in 1997. She finished third at the 1996 World Championships and fourth in 1997.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics, she finished fifth in a very close free skate fight for the bronze. Maria Butyrskaya, Lu Chen, and Irina were 3rd, 4th, 5th respectively after the short program. Although these 3 skaters each made 1 mistake, Chen and Butyrskaya's were step outs while Irina had a fall. Lu Chen ended up edging Butyrksaya 5–4 for the bronze. Chen also edged Slutskaya 6–3.

The next month she took a silver medal at the 1998 World Championships. She did not win any competitions in the 1998–99 season and missed both the European and the World Championships. She almost decided to stop skating and call it a career.

Slutskaya made a successful comeback at the 2000 Grand Prix Final. She landed seven clean triples, including two triple-triple combinations and became the first woman to do a triple lutz-triple loop combination. She later won her third European title and won a silver medal at the 2000 World Championships with Michelle Kwan winning the gold.

At the 2001 World Championships, she became the first woman to land a triple salchow-triple loop-double toe loop combination and won the silver medal. She lost in a 7–2 decision to Michelle Kwan. Kwan had no visible mistakes while Slutskaya badly two-footed her triple lutz-triple loop-double toe loop combination and had two sloppy landings.

Slutskaya won silver at the 2002 Winter Olympics and became the second Russian ever to win a medal in the women's event. The competition had been billed in advance as a head-to-head battle between Slutskaya and American Michelle Kwan. After the short program, as expected, Kwan and Slutskaya placed first and second with Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes of the U.S. placing third and fourth, respectively. Many expected the free skate to play out like the 2000 and 2001 World Championships where Kwan and Slutskaya would fight for gold. Unexpectedly, Kwan made mistakes in her free skate and fell behind American Sarah Hughes in the overall standings. Slutskaya had to win the free skate in order to win gold. Slutskaya skated a nervous performance with minor errors throughout. Hughes won the free skate in a 5–4 decision against Slutskaya, and with Kwan finishing in third behind Slutskaya, Hughes won the gold overall. Russia, still somewhat aggrieved about the outcome of an earlier dispute over the pairs competition, filed a complaint against the result but it was rejected shortly. The next month she won the World title in Nagano. Going into the freeskate, Slutskaya had an advantage. She had finished 1st in both the qualifying and short program. Fumie Suguri was 2nd, and Kwan was only in 3rd after a shaky short program. Slutskaya could lose to Kwan in the free skate (e.g. finish 2nd to Kwan) and still win. Regardless, she skated a strong performance and a majority of the judges named Slutskaya the winner of the free skate. This was her first world title.

Illness and comeback[link]

Slutskaya chose not to compete at the 2003 World Championships after receiving news that her mother had fallen seriously ill, requiring a kidney transplant. The initial transplant was rejected and another one had to be performed.^[3] However, soon after her mother's condition began improving, Slutskaya's own health sharply deteriorated, including fatigue and swelling in the legs.^[3] She went to several hospitals which struggled to correctly diagnose her condition.^[3] Doctors told her that she should stay away from the cold, but she refused and finished 9th at the 2004 World Championships.

She was diagnosed with vasculitis.^[4] In 2005, Slutskaya made a strong comeback after a long stay at a hospital. She won both the European and World titles. At Worlds, Slutskaya was first after the short program and skated last in the free skate. She won the title and shed tears while the crowd chanted "Ira, Ira" (a diminutive of Irina). In an interview, she said:

She said the 2005 World Championships free skate was "the skate of her life." Although she has had perfect performances before, to her this was more special because "she was in front of her friends and family, and she was skating at home".^{[citation needed]}

On January 19, 2006, Slutskaya won the European Championships for the seventh time. In 2005, she had already tied the record for the most European Championship victories (with 6), and added another to her collection, becoming the most successful ladies skater at the European Championships.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Slutskaya was one of the heavy favorites to win the gold medal. She was in second place after the short program, behind Sasha Cohen of the United States. In the long program, Slutskaya doubled a triple flip and then fell on a triple loop jump. She won the bronze medal, behind gold medalist Shizuka Arakawa of Japan and silver medalist Cohen. Slutskaya did not compete in the 2006 Worlds the following month, and has not skated in competition since. In November 2006, she denied reports that claimed she was retiring from competitive figure skating, saying the reports were completely false.^[5]

Post-competitive career[link]

On April 10, 2007 Slutskaya announced she was returning to Russia from the United States and would not participate on the 2007 Champions on Ice tour after finding out she and her husband, Sergei, were expecting a child.^[6] Slutskaya stated that she was enjoying motherhood and had no plans to return to skating competitively. "I don’t see the target," she said. "I don’t know why I have to go there. I have almost all the titles."^[7]

She began a career in showbusiness. She presented figure skating reality shows on Russia Channel 1 "Stars on Ice" with co-host Yevgeni Plushenko and "Ice Age" with actor Marat Basharov.^[8] She has released CD, too.^[9] In 2008, she took part in a Russian TV soap opera about figure skating "Hot Ice".^[10] She also toured as the lead skater in the Russian version of the show "Winx on Ice".^{[11][dead link]}

In November 2008, Slutskaya performed in the "Skate from the Heart" show.^{[12][dead link]} In 2009, she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.^[13]

In 2011, Slutskaya also participated in 2010 Winter Olympic champion Kim Yu-Na ice show All That Skate Summer

Personal life[link]

Slutskaya was born in 1979 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, the only child of a Russian mother and Jewish father. Her mother was a former cross-country skier for the Soviet Union.^{[14][dead link]}

In August 1999, Slutskaya married her boyfriend of three years, Sergei Mikheev. They had met each other at a summer camp near Moscow, where Mikheev was a physical education instructor. She gave birth to a son, named Artem, in November 2007 in Moscow.^[15] Regretting not having siblings herself, she said she would like another child.^[15] In October 2010, she gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Varvara.^[16][17]

Records and achievements[link]

• Invented the double Biellmann spin with foot change
• First Russian woman to win European title (1996)
• First woman to land triple lutz, triple loop combination in competition (2000 Grand Prix Final)
• First woman to land a triple salchow, triple loop, double toe-loop combination (2001 World Championships)
• First Russian woman skater to win a silver medal at the Olympics (2002 Salt Lake City)
• Four-time Russian Nationals champion
• Four-time Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final Champion
• Two-time World Champion (2002, 2005)
• First (and only) woman ever to win seven European titles (2006)

Results[link]

Programs[link]

See also[link]

• List of select Jewish figure skaters

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Irina Slutskaya

• Irina Slutskaya Official Page
• (Russian) Gold and tears
• Irina Slutskaya at the International Skating Union
• Jews in Sports bio