Skoblikova, Lydia

Lydia Skoblikova

1939-

Russian speed skater

Before American speed skaters Eric Heiden and Bonnie Blair raced to fame as Olympic champions, Soviet speed skater Lydia Skoblikova set a standard of excellence. She was the first athlete, man or woman, to win six gold medals in Olympic competition and remains the only woman to win four gold medals in a single Winter Olympic Games. Along the way, she debunked stereo-types about women athletes, Soviets in particular. Three decades later, despite the lack of widespread name recognition, her accomplishments still stand among the greatest in the sport.

A Natural Fit

Skoblikova was born March 8, 1939, into a large family in Zlatoust, a small mining town in the mountains of Siberia in the Soviet Union. Her father worked as a metallurgical engineer, a position that gave his daughter the chance to pursue skating and be educated in the Soviet system. With the area's long, cold winters and many rinks, skating was an obvious choice of recreation, and Skoblikova spent many hours on the ice. By the time she was twelve, her talent and fondness for speed skating took root, and she became serious about the sport.

In 1957, the 18-year old set the women's Soviet records in the 1,500 meter and 3,000 meter distances. That same year, she married her trainer, Alexander Skoblikova, who later placed her under the charge of a series of other trainers when he devoted himself to teaching at the Chelyabinsk Pedagogic Institute near Zlatoust. His wife supported the career change, explaining to Israel Shenker of Sports Illustrated, "I think it's better not to be married to a skater. You have more to talk about." This attitude reflected her broad base of interests, including music and literature. Soon, she too became a teacher at the Chelyabinsk Pedagogic Institute, concentrating on physiology.

Although Skoblikova was not single-minded in her pursuit of speed skating glory, she did want to be the best. Along with her teammates, she undertook a strenuous and innovative training regimen that included gymnastics, running, and an early form of in-line skating for times when ice was unavailable. She was driven to work harder than anyone, telling Shenker of Sports Illustrated, "If anyone else runs 20 times 200, I can do 40 times 200. And at faster speed."

Speed Skating's First Big Star

Skoblikova began her international skating career in 1959, winning an all-around bronze medal at the World Championships. At the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, the first to offer women's speed skating, she competed in three out of the four events. She placed fourth in the 1,000 meter but won a gold medal in the 1,500 meter (setting a world record) and the 3,000 meter, her favorite distance. She didn't race in the 500 meter, thought to be her only weakness.

Skoblikova cut back on her training during 1961 and 1962 to focus on teaching, but still won the all-around bronze medal at the 1961 World Championships and the all-around silver medal the following year. She returned in a big way in 1963. At the World Championships in Karuizawa, Japan, she swept all four races—the 500 meter, the 1,000 meter, the 1,500 meter, and the 3,000 meter. She was humble in victory, telling Sports Illustrated 's Shenker, "The others were just skating worse than I was."

Her greatest triumph, however, came at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, where the 24-year old duplicated her world championship success. The heavy favorite, she swept all four events: the 500, the 1,000, the 1,500, and the 3,000. She set world records in all but the 3,000. This last race took place as the ice was melting, so Skoblikova had to skate through some puddles, which slowed her pace. Yet instead of blaming host officials for the track's condition, writer Robert Condon quoted her in Great Women Athletes of the 20th Century. as saying, "The ice was perfect."

This feat—winning four gold medals in a single Olympics—has not been repeated by any other woman. Only two male athletes, American Eric Heiden and Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen , have since done so. Only one other woman, Russian cross-country skier Lyubov Egorova, managed to equal, almost thirty years later, her tally of six gold medals. As a reward for Skoblikova's singular success, Premier Nikita Khrushchev informed her that she was being made a member of the Communist Party.

Skoblikova added to her gold medal collection at the 1964 World Championships in Kristinehamn, Sweden, where she won the 1,000, the 1,500, and the 3,000 meter races. For the second year in a row, she was named the world champion.

Challenging Stereotypes

When Skoblikova entered the 1960 Winter Olympics, she encountered both gender and political preconceptions. As the first Games to feature women's speed skating, Skoblikova and the other female competitors were looked upon with suspicion. Speed skating requires quickness, strength, and endurance—attributes that many felt were unbecoming, if not absent, in females. Skoblikova offered a defense to Shenker of Sports Illustrated : "Skating makes us more feminine…. Cycling or skiingtakes a lot of muscle, but skating does you no harm."

Skoblikova's appearance and personality played a role in disarming detractors. The 5-foot, 5-inch blue-eyed blonde weighed a slim 126 pounds and was typically described as attractive in press accounts. Her ready, warm smile and gracious manner charmed spectators. After winning a race, she played to the crowd, waving and smiling broadly. As she told Sports Illustrated 's Shenker, "At the theater you applaud a good actor who gives you pleasure. When I have won a race, giving people pleasure, I like to skate around the stadium wearing the laurel wreath of victory. People applaud and that gives me pleasure."

The dominance of the Soviet women at many of these Games' events also fueled rumors about the use of performance-enhancing drugs and even female impersonators. No one suggested Skoblikova, with her petite and shapely figure, was anything but a very talented skater.

Chronology

1939	Born March 8 in Zlatoust in the Soviet Union
1952	Decides to pursue competitive speed skating
1957	Marries Alexander Skoblikova
1959	Begins her international speed skating career
1960	Wins two races in first women's speed skating events in Winter Olympics history
1962	Begins teaching physiology at the Chelyabinsk Pedagogic Institute
1963	Sweeps all four events at World Championships and is crowned world champion
1964	Competes in her second Winter Olympics and wins all four races
1974	Becomes head of the physical education department at a Moscow university

Awards and Accomplishments

1957	Sets women's Soviet records in the 1,500 meter and 3,000 meter distances
1959-61	Wins all-around bronze medal at USSR National Championships
1959-61	Wins all-around bronze medal at World Championships
1960	Wins two gold medals at Winter Olympics
1962	Wins all-around silver medal at World Championships
1962-64	Wins all-around silver medal at USSR National Championships
1963	Wins four gold medals at World Championships and is named world champion
1964	Wins three gold medals at World Championships and is named world champion
1964	Wins four gold medals at Winter Olympics
1964	First woman named Soviet Athlete of the Year
1967	Wins overall silver medal at USSR National Championships
1996	Inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame
1999	Named by Associated Press as one of top 10 female Winter Olympians of the 20th century
2002	Named to Bud Greenspan's list of 25 Greatest Winter Olympians

The atmosphere at these Olympics, moreover, was thick with patriotic fervor. The Soviets seemed particularly unwilling to embrace the Games as a friendly competition. Instead, they viewed the Games as a way to prove Communist superiority and to instill pride among their people. Toward that end, the Soviets had supported and promoted their best athletes. Skoblikova benefited, receiving financial support and time off from her teaching duties to train. This led to charges, officially denied by the Soviets, that their athletes violated the Olympics' amateur-only requirement.

Despite the tension, Skoblikova won over many fans, including American figure skater Carol Heiss, who won a gold medal at the 1960 Games, where she met Skoblikova. Heiss later told Mechelle Voepel of The Kansas City Star, "The Russians always intrigued us, and she was so nice. But the ways things were, I didn't see her again until about 10 years ago. It was so much fun. It was like the years melted away."

An Enduring Legacy

Nearing thirty, Skoblikova competed in the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France, but was not able to replicate her previous success. She raced in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters but failed to medal. Although her achievements had already earned her a celebrated place in sports history, her name remains relatively unknown outside her native country, mainly a result of the Cold War context in which she competed and the extent to which the sport has evolved. But her speed skating exploits have not been forgotten. Among her honors, she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and was named by Olympic historian and filmmaker Bud Greenspan in 2002 as one of the 25 Greatest Winter Olympians of All Time.

Related Biography: Russian Skier Lyubov Egorova

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Russian cross-country skier Lyubov Egorova tied Skoblikova's record of six Olympic gold medals and was hailed as a sports hero. Her career and reputation, however, were derailed when she failed a drug test at the 1997 World Championships.

Egorova was born in Siberia in 1966 and moved to St. Petersburg as a teen to train on her country's best cross-country course. Described as a late bloomer, she didn't win her first international competition until she was 25. At the 1991 and 1993 World Championships, she won three gold medals. She also was the 1993 World Cup overall champion. Competing for the Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, she medaled in all five nordic skiing events, winning three golds and two silvers. She matched Skoblikova's gold count at the 1994 Games, winning three more golds and a silver.

Egorova's downfall came in 1997, when she was caught taking a banned substance, Bromantan, which can enhance performance and mask other drugs. She was stripped of the gold medal she won days earlier and was barred from World Championship competition for two years. Egorova professed shock, insisting that she did not knowingly take Bromantan. Many did not believe her explanation that she accidentally consumed the substance by taking a medication.

Egorova lives in St. Petersburg with her husband and resumed competing at the end of her two-year ban. Although her Olympic record is unaffected, the scandal angered fans and competitors.

Nathan Aaseng, in his book Women Olympic Champions, wrote about Skoblikova's legacy: "First, she was a key member of a Soviet national women's team that pushed the limits of achievement far beyond those of the previous generation.… The Russians' success in turn pushed East Germany, the United States, and other countries into developing female athletes.… Second, Skoblikova stood out as an important contradiction to the stereotype of Soviet female athletes as cold, masculine machines. Her combination of incredible strength and endurance, grace under pressure, willingness to let her emotions show, and pride in her appearance, reinforced the idea that women could be warm and feminine and still enjoy and excel in sports."

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Aaseng, Nathan Women Olympic Champions. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 2001.

Condon, Robert J. Great Women Athletes of the 20th Century. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1991.

Greenspan, Bud. Frozen in Time: The Greatest Moments at the Winter Olympics. Santa Monica, CA: General Publishing Group, 1997.

Tinovitsky, G., contributor. How They Reached the Top: Stories of Soviet Sports Champions. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1966.

Periodicals

Bruno, Luca. "Norway Crowns Ole King." Toronto Star (February 21, 2002): D11.

Elliott, Helene. "Olympic Scene." Los Angeles Times (January 24, 2002): D7.

Shenker, Israel. "Curls and Cold Steel." Sports Illustrated (January 27, 1964): 40.

Voepel, Mechelle. "Three Previous Games Have Been American Beauties." Kansas City Star (February 3, 2002): I3.

Other

"34. Lyubov Egorova, Cross Country Skiing." Sports Illustrated for Women. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/34/ (November 29, 2002).

"Bud Greenspan's 10 Greatest Winter Olympians." http://media.gm.com/events/olympics/25_greatest.html(October 24, 2002).

"Championships of Russia and USSR. Ladies." www.speedskating.ru/en/stat/wrch1.html (November 22, 2002).

"Hall of Fame." Women's Sports Foundation. …/iowa/about/awards/results.html?record=4">www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cg…/iowa/about/awards/results.html?record=4 (October 24, 2002).

"History of Women in Sports Timeline." http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/timelne8.htm (November 22, 2002).

"Lidia P. Skoblikova." International Journalists'Association ASMO-press. http://analytics.ex.ru/cgi-bin/txtnscr.pl?node=589&=472⟨=2=1 (November 22, 2002).

"Lydia Skoblikova." Women's Sports Foundation. www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/athletes/record.html?record=818 (October 24, 2002).

"Skoblikova, Lidiya Pavlovna." Chambers Biographical Dictionary 1997 http://vweb.hwwilsonweb.com/cgi-bin/webspirs.cgi?sp.usernumbe (November 1, 2002).

Sketch by Carole Manny