Kira Ivanova

Kira Valentinovna Ivanova (Russian: Кира Валентиновна Иванова; 10 January 1963 – 18 December 2001)[2] was a Soviet Russian figure skater. She was the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1985 World silver medalist, a four-time European silver medalist, and a three-time Soviet national champion.

Kira Ivanova
Kira Ivanova at the 1978 Prize of Moscow News
Personal information
Native name	Кира Валентиновна Иванова
Full name	Kira Valentinovna Ivanova
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1963-01-10)10 January 1963 Moscow, Soviet Union
Died	18 December 2001(2001-12-18) (aged 38) Moscow, Russia
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 2 ^1⁄2 in)[1]
Coach	Vladimir Kovalev Viktor Kudriavtsev
Skating club	Dynamo Moskva
Retired	1988
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Figure skating: Ladies' singles Olympic Games 1984 Sarajevo Ladies' singles World Championships 1985 Tokyo Ladies' singles European Championships 1985 Gothenburg Ladies' singles 1986 Copenhagen Ladies' singles 1987 Sarajevo Ladies' singles 1988 Prague Ladies' singles

Career

Ivanova won the silver medal at the 1978 World Junior Championships. She made her senior World debut at the 1979 World Championships, finishing 18th. Ivanova was 16th at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

She was not sent to the 1980 World Championships, however, she received more assignments after Elena Vodorezova, a Soviet champion who had placed 6th at 1978 Worlds, was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. At the 1981 World Championships, Ivanova placed 13th in the compulsory figures, 4th in the short program, and 13th in the free skate, and finished 12th overall. She won the Moscow News Trophy in the fall of 1982, completing a clean triple-triple jump combination.

The Soviet skating federation allegedly banned Ivanova from competing outside the Soviet Union for two years, beginning in the fall of 1981, for public conflicts with her coach that interfered with her training. She returned to international competition in time for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, where she won bronze[3]. She was the only ladies' single skater to win an Olympic medal for the Soviet Union or Russia until Irina Slutskaya won silver in 2002.

She won the silver medal at the 1985 European Championships in Gothenburg, at the 1986 European Championships in Copenhagen, at the 1987 European Championships in Sarajevo and at the 1988 European Championships in Prague.[4]

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Ivanova finished first in the compulsory figures ahead of the defending Olympic champion Katarina Witt, but placed 10th and 9th in the short and free programs and finished 7th overall. After ending her amateur career, she skated in Igor Bobrin's Theater of Ice Miniatures[3]. In 1991, Ivanova began coaching children at Moscow's Dynamo arena but quit in August 2001.[5]

Personal life and death

Neighbors found Ivanova's body, covered in stab wounds, in her apartment on 21 December 2001.[5][6] She had lived in the northern outskirts of Moscow in Otradnoye District.

After her death, the chairman of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Valentin Piseev, told the press that Ivanova had been suffering from alcoholism, stating "Ivanova became addicted to alcohol in recent years and underwent several treatments, but with no visible results."[5]

Results

International
Event	77–78	78–79	79–80	80–81	81–82	82–83	83–84	84–85	85–86	86–87	87–88
Olympics			16th				3rd				7th
Worlds		18th		12th			4th	2nd	4th	5th
Europeans		10th	11th	7th			4th	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd
Moscow News		2nd	1st		2nd	1st	1st	1st		1st
Skate Canada		?			3rd
International: Junior
Junior Worlds	2nd
National[7][8]
Soviet Champ.	2nd J	1st		1st		DSQ		2nd	2nd	2nd	1st
J = Junior level; DSQ = Disqualified

References

1. "Kira Ivanova profile". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010.
2. "Biography". Kira Ivanova – Unofficial site. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012.
3. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (December 22, 2001). "PLUS: FIGURE SKATING; Soviet Olympian Found Dead in Home". The New York Times.
4. James R. Hines (2011). Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating. Scarecrow Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-810-87085-7. Kira Ivanova figure skater.
5. "Ivanova found dead in Moscow apartment". Associated Press. ESPN. 21 December 2001. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012.
6. "Kira Ivanova, Soviet skating star, found dead". Cincinnati Enquirer. 22 December 2001.
7. Иванова Кира Валентиновна [Kira Valentinovna Ivanova]. solovieff.ru (in Russian).
8. Иванова Кира Валентиновна [Kira Valentinovna Ivanova]. fskate.ru (in Russian).

External links

• Kira Ivanova – Unofficial site