<div dir="ltr">Dear Richard, <div><br></div><div>Thank you very much for this piece on the Protopopovs. I remember watching them when I was eleven in 1968 in the first winter Olympics that I remember, by which I mean, I remember them. My parents loved figure skating, and the coverage, often two or three hours long and devoted to the particular sport on show, offered each different pair of skaters on screen in sequence. I saw how each pair was a story, with all of the stories of a partnership aiming for excellence and medals that only some of them would get.</div><div><br></div><div>One moment I will always remember about them, though, was the competition (and it may have been their last Olympics, I'm not sure) in which they were skating and their music cut out, so the two of them were left to skate in silence. And they did, moving to music they knew with their whole beings and which no one else in the stadium could hear. Understanding the situation -- that without the music, the pair could not be judged in any official capacity and there was no way to get the music back to accompany them -- and that nothing an audience could do to make up for what only the classical music could bring -- the audience stayed silent, so all there was was these two, beautiful, graceful skaters completely in tune with each other with only each other to be in tune with moving over ice before us. It was perfection arising out of the flawed world, and it's one of the most moving love poems I can think of. </div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for letting me remember that. </div><div><br></div><div>All the best, </div><div><br></div><div>Richard. </div><div><br></div><div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Richard Harrison (he/him)<div><a href="mailto:rharrison@mtroyal.ca" target="_blank">rharrison@mtroyal.ca</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 11, 2023 at 1:50 PM richard crepeau via Sport_literature_association <<a href="mailto:sport_literature_association@lists.ku.edu">sport_literature_association@lists.ku.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-2380602463577463190">
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">SPORT AND SOCIETY FOR ARETE </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">November 11, 2023 </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">Just about a week ago, the Russian Skating Federation announced the death of Oleg Protopopov. He and his wife, Ludmila Belusova, who died in 2017, were the first of the many
great Russian pairs figure skaters who came out of the Soviet Union to initiate the international Soviet dominance in pairs figure skating. The Protopopovs elevated pairs skating to new levels of artistry, consistently performing as near to perfection as humanly
possible. <span> </span> </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">They first appeared internationally at the 1960 Olympic games where they finished ninth in the competition. In 1964 at Innsbruck, they became the first Soviet pairs skaters to
win Olympic Gold. They repeated as gold medalist in 1968 in Grenoble. This was the beginning of a forty-year Olympic Gold Medal streak for Soviet/Russian pairs. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">From 1965 through 1968, the Protopopovs won the World Championships and that started a fourteen-year streak for the Soviets. Those same years, they were European Champions, and
that started a fifteen-year streak for the USSR. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">The numbers tell the story of the Soviet/Russian dominance, but perhaps more important is the standard of perfection set by the Protopopovs and their wonderful artistry that
drove their winning performances. They did their own choreography that emphasized their movements on the ice as one. It was an artistic interpretation of the music with every move tied to the music, producing a grace and beauty that is breathtaking. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">I have reminded myself of this style and perfection by watching multiple YouTube videos of their performances going back to the Sixties and up into the Eighties. I cannot produce
words that can adequately describe their skating grace and beauty. I can only urge you to go to YouTube and let these performances wash over you. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">The Protopopovs created the side-by-side jumps that are now common fare, but their signature skating element was the Death Spiral. In this element, Ludmilla’s right hand is firmly
grasped by Oleg in his right hand while she rotates counterclockwise in a large circle and lowers her body to the ice. Two circular rotations on the ice with her hair at times touching the ice, is then followed by an ascent as she is pulled back up to an upright
position. Although this move had been done in the 1920s the Protopopovs resurrected it, and then created three variations on it. The Death Spiral and its variations have become a pairs performance standard. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">In 1971, the great Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya wrote of the Protopopovs: “Their sports performances rise to the level of real art … like fragments of classical ballet
… This is not just a set of mandatory movements for competitions. This is a beautiful ballet adagio on skates” </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">After their 1968 triumph at the Olympics, Russian skating authorities pushed them to retire to serve as trainers of the younger generation of skaters. By that time, pairs figure
skating was becoming much more of an athletic than an artistic endeavor. The emphasis on speed and strength replaced the focus on grace and beauty. The Protopopovs were not inclined to change their style. The forced retirement from competition ultimately led
to their defection from the Soviet Union in 1979, a defection driven by their desire to skate professionally and, as Oleg once said, not driven by politics. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">They continued to skate and perform in ice shows around the world, and their popularity remained high. In the mid-1980s, when they were in their fifties, the Protopopovs once
again returned to competition in the World Professional Championships achieving near perfect scores and more gold medals. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">As to figure skating in general, and pairs in particular, it has become more athletic, and, perhaps, a bit less artistic. In pairs, the throws and more spectacular lifts are
well beyond anything seen in the Sixties or, for that matter, even later. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">Clearly, the pairs skating of Irina Rodnina and her two partners during the decade following the Protopopovs was considerably faster and required more strength and agility. Indeed,
the Protopopovs added more lifts and moves to their performance, but never at the expense of grace and beauty. In a sense, this was progress, building on the standards set by the Protopopovs without whom Soviet and Russian skating would not have taken a prominent
place in Russian and World sport when it did. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">Grace and beauty in sport is at the heart of their legacy. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don’t have to be a good sport be a bad loser. </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Courier New"">Copyright 2023 by Richard C. Crepeau </span></p>
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