Isakova, Maria (1920—)

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Isakova, Maria (1920—)

Soviet skater. Born in Khlynovka, Soviet Union, in 1920; married; children: at least one daughter.

Won the Women's World championships (1948, 1949, 1950).

Maria Isakova began her athletic career participating in track and field in school; she soon switched to ice skating. At 16, she was a member of the Dynamo Club. She attended Kirov Physical Training College, then moved to Moscow during the early years of World War II and attended the Stalin Central Institute of Physical Culture. Isakova won the women's world speed-skating championships thrice in succession and broke the USSR record for 1,000 meters at 1:41.2 in 1947. Sadly, women's speed-skating did not become an Olympic event until 1960.