In June 1979, a standard contract was signed for the European tour of the Leningrad Ice Ballet. It would seem that an ordinary event even for the USSR - travel abroad by people of art was always encouraged, because this was the only way to demonstrate that “even in the field of ballet we are ahead of the rest.” Two-time Olympic champions Lyudmila Belousova And Oleg Protopopov were supposed to become, as they say now, the headliners of the show, but, as it turned out later, the star couple had their own plans. On June 24 of the same year they performed in Moscow. The last performance of the season - then preparations for the European tour began. None of the spectators knew that this performance would be the last for the couple at native land for a long 30 years. But the athletes themselves will not return to the USSR, in Once again challenging yourself and the entire system.

And the eternal battle...

Belousova and Protopopov are figure skating legends. But their affection for each other, which has not weakened over time, remains no less legendary. And if anyone doesn't believe in love forever, just look at this couple. It seems that they were made for each other. And if they had not met at an ordinary seminar for athletes in 1954, they would have crossed paths at another time and in another place. But their meeting simply could not have happened.

They had to overcome the first obstacle right at the start. Both Belousova and Protopopov started figure skating not just late, but unprecedentedly late. Yulia Lipnitskaya at the age of 15 she became an Olympic champion in the team, and Lyudmila and Oleg had never put on figure skates until that age. Nowadays, if someone at that age decides to start a serious career in figure skating, they will look at him like he’s crazy, and not a single serious coach will waste time on such a futile business.

Artists on Ice

They had to study in record time short time. The technical arsenal left much to be desired, and even in the Soviet arena they failed to become the best; there is nothing to say about the world. At their first international tournaments, which were the 1958 World and European Championships (the Grand Prix series did not exist then), they were unable to do without falls. Two years later, they went to their first Olympics in Squaw Valley, where they took ninth place. It would be nice to stop there - the couple had already achieved what seemed almost unrealistic, and the partner’s age was approaching 30. Should we stop? No matter how it is!

They were able to catch up and surpass their opponents in technology. And in artistry, expressiveness and “program components” they had no equal even then. The power of love that the couple had simply could not help but be reflected in their skating style - they were rightly called artists on ice. On the ninth attempt they win the Union Championship and climb onto the podium of the European Championship. And as a result - victory at the Games in Innsbruck 1964. And then they again take a sharp turn (how often, when talking about Belousova and Protopopov, you use this turn) - soon the duo refuses to cooperate with coaches and decides to prepare programs on their own.

Trainers and choreographers themselves, they won their second gold at the Olympics and set a record when at the 1968 World Cup all the judges unanimously gave them a 6.0 for artistry.

"No Country for Old Men"

Logically, the story should have continued something like this: “But everything comes to an end, and the careers of our champions have come to an end.” But Belousova and Protopopov would not have remained in history if they had calmly obeyed logic. They decided to continue their careers, but sports officials did not agree with this. They began to gently hint to the couple with points that it was time to give way to the young, then the hints became more and more harsh. When, at the 1970 national championships, the duo for the first time in for a long time remained without awards, and as a result - without major tournaments, Protopopov could not stand it and said that their pair was purposefully pushed aside, because in figure skating the emphasis began to be placed on power skating, and they forgot about art on ice.

Oleg was right and wrong. What's wrong is that then they could fight Rodnina And Ulanov on equal terms and in the fact that art was not valued. Figure skating always develops in a spiral. And nowadays fans argue which is better – artistry Volosozhar/Trankova or super-complexity of elements Duhamel/Redford. And he’s right in that they were ready to fight for medals at the Union Championship, even when they were already approaching 40.

Non, je ne regrette rien…

The resentment that they were “left” from the sport gave vent a few years later - when in September 1979, performing on an ice ballet tour in Switzerland, Belousova and Protopopov became defectors. The sculptor put it well on this matter Ernst Neizvestny, comparing the escape to how “Worker and Collective Farm Woman” would have asked for political asylum. Subsequently, both said more than once that they were not running for money, but for the opportunity to develop and remain in the sport. Sport was the state for them, and ice was its capital. And when they are expelled from the “country” of their hearts, why stay in the country of their passports? They didn't stay.

In the USSR they tried with all their might to forget them. They were immediately stripped of the title of Honored Masters of Sports, their names were erased from the list of Soviet Olympic champions and the protocols of competitions that had already taken place. At figure skating tournaments, active athletes were prohibited from communicating with “traitors.” Those who risked violating the order faced a serious scolding at home.

But things were not so rosy for the duo in Switzerland either. They were the central figures in the news for some time, but then they began to forget about Belousova and Protopopov. They were not quickly given citizenship, which means that they again became “restricted from traveling abroad” - but in Europe. And yet it was freedom. Freedom to create without looking at anyone, freedom to make programs as before - only for two. And also for the audience of a small alpine country, which nevertheless became a new homeland for them. The Union had already collapsed, it was possible to return, but the couple still did not have Swiss citizenship. But they remained. “We have finally broken with the past, and we don’t regret anything,” they said. They became Swiss citizens only in 1995 and immediately surprised everyone for the umpteenth time - the couple decided to take part in the Games in Nagano-98! If this had happened, a record would have been created for all time, but the Swiss Figure Skating Federation did not support this adventure.

Dedication to skating

Belousova and Protopopov still live in the village of Grinderwald, periodically going out to skate in shows or as guests of honor at tournaments. Living for each other is their motto. Their love remains enchanting and magical, but they have neither children nor students. Lyudmila Belousova said in one of her interviews: “Would we be able to skate for so long if we wanted to have children?” They still go out on the ice, completely surrendering to their feelings. Such dedication to figure skating deserves the brightest words.

Opinions about Belousova and Protopopov vary widely. Some people idolize them, some are surprised by them, others are at best condescending. However, they have not paid attention to other people’s opinions for a long time. Otherwise, they would have had to end their careers 60 years ago, when they came “too late to win” figure skating.

The lyrical style of the phenomenal couple Lyudmila Belousova - Oleg Protopopov still remains the standard of skating for two people in love with each other and with ice. “Dreams of Love” to the music of Franz Liszt in 1964 in Innsbruck was gold - the first gold medals in the history of Soviet figure skating! At the 1968 Grenoble Games, the couple again became first, becoming world and European champions four times between the Games.

These two did not know what it was to be like others. But they knew, felt, believed that their work was unique. And they wanted to go their own way. After retiring from sports in 1972, they worked in the Leningrad Ice Ballet, and in 1979 they asked for political asylum in Switzerland. They wanted freedom, especially creative freedom. The loss of titles, the names crossed out from our sports directories - all this did not interfere with their love. Which means it didn’t interfere with riding. The reprinted reference books did not touch on the meaning of life.

“Do you think we weren’t patriots? - Oleg Alekseevich said in an interview with MK. - Yes, they were ready to give everything for the sake of the Motherland. Otherwise, why would we ride when I was bleeding on Olympic Games oh, in Grenoble - there were kidney stones and terrible colic, but the operation could not be done: if the abdominal muscle was cut, one would have to forget about supports. Remaining in Switzerland, we immediately told the local authorities that the reasons for our escape were purely creative. There was always something about us that didn’t suit Russia: sometimes we were too athletic, sometimes too theatrical, then vice versa. Then they stopped letting us into competitions, inviting us to demonstration performances... We didn’t allow ourselves to be controlled. This was probably the whole essence of our conflicts.”

It’s hard to believe, but Belousova and Protopopov skated until recently. To some, this seemed, with all due respect to the skaters, even unnecessary. Everything, they say, has its time. But for them, not skating, not going out on the ice, was like not breathing. Which means no living. “Our strength is only in the fact that we go out on the ice every day. If we lose him, we will lose everything...”

In 1999, for the first time after the escape, they flew to Moscow and St. Petersburg. They were then invited by Vyacheslav Fetisov to the Grand Prix finals in figure skating in St. Petersburg. And Oleg Alekseevich, accepting the invitation, was not slow to clarify: “Why is this all of a sudden and in what capacity? Isn’t it wedding generals?” They did not want to see themselves in this role.

When they realized that they were really welcome, they said that they would be happy to skate for at least an hour on the unforgettable Yubileiny ice. This was the first palace in St. Petersburg, built under Khrushchev. Once upon a time personal meeting The legendary athletes spoke with Khrushchev about how Leningrad could not remain without an ice palace. He supported their idea, as did the fans, who sent the skaters money in letters per ruble for the construction of the skating rink.

...Thin, fragile Lyudmila next to her partner and husband at the airport seemed somehow unreal. How could nature hide such power of character in such a light, almost transparent shell? “There should be a secret in figure skating, just like in a woman,” Oleg Protopopov will say. Belousova had a secret. There is no need to solve it, you can only admire and remember.

“MK” met famous skaters at Sheremetyevo then. They will fly to Moscow several times later. And they even attended the Olympic Games in Sochi. But that first meeting after such a long break remained in my memory as a vivid memory.

“Sentries of Love” was the title of the MK report from Sheremetyevo.

Today Oleg Protopopov was left alone. Wife, partner, comrade-in-arms, friend, his great secret left his post. And - she stayed. As a symbol of boundless love, fidelity and faith...

“MK” repeats the interview given by the skaters in the very first minutes after their return. None of the answers need to be adjusted. Oleg answered the questions, but Lyudmila was nearby all the time and nodded in agreement, without losing her light smile even for a second.

… “Mila! Oleg!" - several faithful friends of the great Belousova and Protopopov rushed between the legendary figure skaters who had just arrived, trying to push aside photojournalists and television cameras near the VIP arrival staircase at Sheremetyevo. Twenty-four years is so much... “A lot,” Lyudmila nodded, exuding such charm with a smile that you just wanted to freeze next to her and not move.

Russia has not seen its first Olympic champions in figure skating for twenty-four years. Over the years, there have been so many champions!.. But Belousova-Protopopov are unique. Proud, but not arrogant. Swiss by passport, but Russian. They were happy at Sheremetyevo. And they movedly said “thank you” to everyone who met us. “Thank you for coming,” those present responded, somewhat dumbfounded by such “unstarry” behavior...

- Lyudmila, Oleg! Skates with you?

Of course, we want to train in St. Petersburg, at Yubileiny. Remember, as they say, youth, although we are not old...

- Let me give you the number “MK”: we already announced your arrival yesterday...

Thank you very much: we just read Moskovsky Komsomolets on the plane. We didn't expect it to be so touching!

-You look amazing...

We are trying. You have to keep yourself in shape! Lyudmila weighs 42 kilograms, I weigh 64. On vacation we can add a couple of kilograms... But this is our combat, competition weight. Yes, we even lost a little weight compared to the past: in any case, the suits we wore at the Olympics in Grenoble back in 1968 are a little too big today.

- Do you know that many in Russia still just dream of seeing you on the ice again?

Apparently, because they know that we don’t part with the ice. Of course, we don’t do triple jumps - one or two rotations. But all the mandatory elements of pair skating - lifts, rotations, spirals... - it's all there. And we are sure it will be for a very long time. The vestibular apparatus just needs to be strengthened. You stand on a wooden rotating disk and different sides you spin - the more, the better. Make 23 full turns with eyes closed for us - not a problem. And then it’s not a problem to withstand three to four and a half minutes on the ice.

- Now that you have already set foot on Moscow soil, are your emotions overwhelmed?..

It’s like we’re in a dream: Mila was just filling out a form on the plane, an entry declaration... And she wrote that it wasn’t the State Sports Committee that invited us, but the State Concert. I wrote it out of old memory. And this was exactly 24 years ago, when we left Soviet Union- and just along the lines of the State Concert. I tell her: “Listen, it was like yesterday! So we left yesterday, and today we arrived...” What a fantasy!

- Are you ready for the shocks that await you, starting even with the fact that you simply don’t recognize Moscow?

But I don’t know - it seems to me that we never left. But we see new and young faces around us - you can’t imagine how nice it is!

- Honestly: weren’t you afraid to accept the invitation?

Why be afraid?..

- “We cut off the past from ourselves once and for all. We are very determined people... Besides, every day in our house we watch ORT, NTV and the Russian channel. That is, you are aware of all the events of your life today. It’s enough to look at it for five minutes to stop any desire to come here. If we ever come, it will be only as artists to perform in front of our fellow countrymen,” you said in a summer interview with MK. Why did you accept the invitation now?

We decided that we had no right to refuse. We were invited by the Chairman of the State Sports Committee Vyacheslav Fetisov - and this was the first time in 48 years of our sports life. We were not given such an honor even after the Olympic Games, when we won. Then we were greeted, of course, differently, but let’s not remember the old... Naturally, we knew that a lot had changed. But there were no fears, since we were flying to new country and new Russia.

- But also in new Russia There is enough chaos - maybe it would have been better to maintain some illusions?

My desk is also a complete mess, but I navigate it very well and find all the things I need. So if there is something wrong in our homeland, then there are people who, wisely and good brains, are good at this.

- You never dropped out of figure skating, you continue to skate and comment...

Yes, we are sometimes asked: do you keep track of new names? We don’t keep track of them - on Radio Liberty we have been covering the largest competitions for seven years now. Sometimes you have to work at night. So we don’t monitor, but we are constantly well informed about events. We can also predict the future: the future belongs to those who know how and want to work. Russia doesn’t need to sleep in any case: they don’t sleep in the East...

- Do you criticize judges?

Judging has always been different. No computer system can replace the human eye, and most importantly, a professional view of oneself. If I look at the computer, I will definitely make a mistake. After all, a computer, among other things, is an artificial creation, the same as man. And then he begins to believe him - even though he made the program himself. But I can make the program in such a way that it will make the choice as I want! So an element of subjectivity is still inevitable in figure skating. And this is also the essence of competition. Another thing is that I want the competition to be fair. But not like this: some administrator from the ISU comes out - and suddenly gives another couple a medal! I would never go to such an award ceremony in my life: I’m either a champion or a semi-champion, excuse me!..

- Are you upset watching today's figure skating?

You know, there should be a secret in figure skating, just like in a woman. When there is this mystery, then it’s interesting. No, nothing upsets us - we are no longer at that age when we worry about such things. Moreover, we are minding our own business and trying to ride the way we want. And one-day ones - they will ride and leave, and no one will ever see them again.

- If you are offered to advise one of the athletes in Moscow or St. Petersburg, will you accept the offer?

There have been no requests for consultation in 24 years. Yes, to be honest, if people like Stasik Zhuk were not very much in demand... What can we talk about?! Zhuk earned 138 medals for his country - and he was not allowed into the CSKA skating rink! But, despite the fact that we are not training today, ours are training former students, and they have world champions: Valya Nikolaev had Oksana Baiul, the Velikovs had Shishkova-Naumov, Petrova-Tikhonov... And then: we tried to train several times, but we realized that, giving something to others, we could not It's okay to train yourself. A real coach cannot work half-heartedly. But there may simply not be enough energy for yourself and others. We are still striving to ride, which means we can’t take too much away from ourselves. But we can give advice to the children who ride nearby, free of charge, of course. Children cannot be refused.

Now you will see Moscow and the luxurious houses with which it has become overgrown. Do you think that you might want to come back and buy an apartment?..

Our main home is ice. Where there is ice, there is our apartment. And thoughts... We are still very grateful to our country: on the one hand, it raised us, but it could also grind us into powder. Switzerland is the country that provided support in difficult times, saved our lives, and we now have a different citizenship. But we remained Russian, just as we were...

In 1994 we received Swiss citizenship. But we are not the heroes of this country. Switzerland has its own legends. If we had won something while competing under their flag, then it would have been a different matter. We were there on tour from that same State Concert. They stayed and immediately signed a contract with the American Ice Ballet. A month and a half after the escape, we were already touring with all our might. We had no money, no corner... When we announced that we would not return to Russia again, the police were immediately invited to us, who took away our Soviet passports. We never saw them again, then they took us to one hotel, then to another... We still don’t know the place where they hid us (since they were looking for us Soviet intelligence services), - only after it was announced that we were granted political asylum, could we start thinking about our coal.

But all this was already secondary. The main thing is that we were on the ice, we could train... That's why I say: our apartment is where the ice we skate on is!

The best in "MK" - in a short evening newsletter: subscribe to our channel in

Lyudmila Belousova, Oleg Protopopov: We were hidden in Swiss hotels

The 1964 and 1968 Olympic champions in pair skating Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov visited the “Undressing Room”. We met in Lausanne at the European Figure Skating Championships, which ended last weekend. Famous athletes came here from the village of Grindenwald, where they have lived for more than twenty years. They rent an apartment in a small chalet with felt cherries in the garden. This is where they train. But not only for themselves: Belousova and Protopopov, despite their advanced age, still participate in ice shows.

They emigrated to Switzerland in 1979, not wanting to put up with the lack of demand for their talent in their homeland. Their names were deleted from reference literature. And with them, in fact, pair skating began. They raised the bar high, which has not been surpassed to this day. No, not by the elements - by the beauty of the skating, the purity of the lines, the love dialogue between a man and a woman on the ice.

Lyudmila, a Muscovite, instructor of young figure skaters in the Dzerzhinsky Park in Maryina Roshcha, and Oleg, a Baltic Fleet sailor from Leningrad, met in 1954 at a third-rate figure skating seminar in Moscow. And soon they became a couple. And they got married three years later.

FOX COLLAR

Lyudmila Belousova: I had a boy in Moscow. But when I moved to Leningrad and we started skating, I got to know Oleg more and, naturally, began to compare. And I realized that my life was unthinkable without figure skating, so we became closer and closer to each other. Oleg was free. He was still in the navy, and we only had the opportunity to train when he was released from the ship. In 1956 he was demobilized.

Oleg looked after me touchingly. Even once the collar was torn off. We were walking, I was wearing a coat with a fox collar. We went to the children's slide for a ride, I went down, and Oleg got scared and grabbed me by the collar. And the fox remained in his hands.

When we got married, Oleg, who had recently returned from service, had nothing but a pea coat and a cap. Fortunately, his mother kept his room when he left for the navy 9.8 square meters in a communal apartment. That's where we settled.

Oleg Protopopov: Our neighbors were a policeman with his wife Dora and two children: Sasha and Vera. Here the guys are walking in the yard, and their mother shouts to them: “Sashka, Verka, go, fart (change your clothes. Note auto.), to whom I say, fart.” The four of them brushed their teeth with one brush. We lived like this for quite a long time, and only after we won the Olympic Games in 1964 were we given a one-room apartment.

L.B.: In the first years of our life together, when we were plagued by chronic lack of money, I, a student at the Institute of Railway Transport, often dragged my husband to my student canteen. We took the menu and, covering the names of the dishes, chose the cheapest ones. But what was good was that there was always bread and mustard on the table, with which you could get your fill.

"WORD OF MOUTH RADIO"

“We were reproached for being too theatrical,” Belousova and Protopopov continue. In 1972, the decision was made not to send us to the Olympic Games in Sapporo. Sixteen years later, in Sobesednik, Ulanov admitted that already two years before that Olympics, he and Rodnina were planning to win Olympic gold medals. And therefore, in 1970 at the Union Championship, when we beat them in the compulsory program, and Rodnina and Ulanov were in eighth place, everyone was alarmed. And the next day our rivals became first, and we were fourth. But before that we had a gap of 13 points! We just had to ride on our bellies. And even if they gave us average scores, we still had to win. They simply gave the green light to the athletic style, creating a monopoly in pair skating. Although the struggle between two styles and directions would, we are convinced, give something more, something outstanding.

In 1973 we moved to the Leningrad Ice Ballet. In the Central Committee we were told that we were artists, and in ballet that we were athletes. For seven months we went back and forth, to the secretary of culture Kruglova, and then to Furtseva, and she called Kruglova to receive us...

We worked in the ballet incognito for six years. Our names were not on the posters or programs, except perhaps in the inserts for them. But they were enough for literally two cities. And we toured often: in Karaganda, Zaporozhye, Chelyabinsk. But our fans always knew that we would perform, and through “word of mouth,” as we called it, they told each other about it on the radio.

We said: “Let's do a classical ballet on ice.” “What,” they wondered, “will Protopopov make us work ten times harder?” Reasonable. Protopopov would have squeezed out what was needed! In general, it was useless. But still, we tried to teach the classics to half the troupe, they assured: “Guys, who wants to study, we will help. But in order not to drink, do not smoke. We’ll see someone with a cigarette and we’ll kick them out.” In short, there were about twenty people who came and studied. And, apparently, we began to exert some influence on them, because one day the rehearsals were canceled. And why? Because, they say, artists are tired in the morning, and don’t skate well in the evening. But we were older. What about ballet training: class four hours? This is our profession. No! And they canceled it.

In one of the documents sent to the culture department of the regional party committee it was said that we were standing across the path of the Leningrad Ballet, causing harm to it. The fact is that our repertoire did not fit into the ballet repertoire. We had our own costumes, performances, choreography. We were completely independent, and this, of course, infringed on those who wanted to manage us. We performed “The Dying Swan” by Saint-Saëns, “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven, and these numbers were declared sports. And those productions were far ahead of their time. Baiul danced “The Dying Swan”, and we did it twenty years before her. Mishkutenok and Dmitriev performed “Dreams of Love”. Many went through our repertoire, including, God rest upon him, Grinkov, he and Gordeeva also once took “Dreams...”.

BULB OR SUN?

A year before Belousova and Protopopov escaped, their apartment in Leningrad was burglarized and all their medals were stolen. They were called to Moscow, having found them from journalist Arkady Galinsky. The head of the Leningrad criminal investigation department called. The dialogue went something like this: “I’m in your apartment. What did you have there? “What, there’s nothing left? ask the skaters. You are probably calling on the red phone? Tell me, is there a record on the shelf on the right?” “Yes, it’s worth it.” “That’s good, there’s music, the skates are with us, so everything will be…”

They fled the country without any valuables. In one of her interviews, Tchaikovskaya compared them to a light bulb on a bare wire, which was mistaken for the sun. It's about their apartment. When they opened it, they found nothing except a light bulb dangling on a cord: they gave all the furnishings to Lyudmila’s relatives and gave away the rest.

Have you prepared escape routes?

L.B.: Absolutely not. We were invited by a Swiss impresario, first we performed in Germany, and our last tour was in Switzerland. And here we decided: “That’s enough!” We were immediately granted political asylum, more precisely two weeks after we were released. In the first days, we were hidden in hotels from KGB officers. We don’t even know what hotels we stayed in. We were transported from city to city at the expense of the state. Then, when they “discovered” us, they signed a residence permit.

Why did you choose Grindelwald?

O.P.: We needed to train, but there was nowhere to skate. Our friends started calling all the skating rinks, asking where there was ice in Switzerland in September. It turned out that only in Grindenwald there is ice from June to Easter, and in other places ice is poured only in October. The place where the piece of ice was found became our home. We settled into a hotel room that was run by our skater friends. And very quickly they left under a contract for the American show “Ice Coppace”.

LOYALTY TO THE SEARCH

How did you feel about the fact that your names were immediately deleted from all kinds of reference books; they are still not there?

O.P.: It’s normal, we have become enemies of the people. Seven years ago, when the centenary of Russian figure skating was celebrated in St. Petersburg, we were supposedly invited there by sending a booklet that said that the history of pair skating began with Zhuk, and immediately after him Rodnina was mentioned. True, the only thing there was our photograph, old, old, all scratched, they couldn’t even retouch it. And just our last names in small print. But we are not offended. There was no point in betraying the homeland.

Journalist Bashkatov from Kyiv, who claimed to be the chronicler of our sport, wrote the book “Fidelity to the Search.” And he described us in such a way that one could only guess that it was us: “After Stanislav and Nina Zhuk ended their careers, another couple took their place, who took high places at the Olympic Games and world championships, but in general they chose an opportune moment and ran away from the Soviet Union like thieves, not wanting to work as coaches. And they disappeared into the world of private property. And that’s enough about them!” And the phrase was: “Everyone is tired of these elegiac steps. They felt cramped next to the low-level flight.” That is, it was an allusion to our program “Reflections” by Massenet. In addition, the author practiced graphomania or something, constantly using phrases like: plastic figure skating, plastic inspiration, and so on. In a book of two hundred pages, he used the word “plastic” one hundred and four times, so in response I composed a quatrain, which I would put in the epigraph:

When you read "Fidelity to the Quest"

An obsessive question itching:

Isn't this an essay?

Complete plastic diarrhea?

Could you leave earlier?

O.P.: In 1973 Dick Button invited us to the Professional World Cup. For our victory we were given four million Japanese yen, which was equal to fifteen thousand American dollars. But for five thousand we bought elastic for the ballet, because the dancers in the corps de ballet skated with holes in their pants between their legs. We brought fifty meters of black elastic and fifty meters of pink. I think they then rolled around in these pants for a long time, reshaping them. But in order to give them this fabric, we had to overcome a lot of obstacles, go to the regional committee and ask them to accept and give this souvenir to the ballet. They answered us: “We do not accept gifts from private individuals, we are a state organization.” A smart people They told us: “Why did you need this? They would have taken fifteen thousand and left immediately.” But then we had no thoughts of leaving.

We were offered tours many times. The owner of the Holiday on Ice revue, Maurice Chalpe, offered five thousand dollars a week; none of the skaters received that much. He came to the Ministry of Culture, the sports committee and convinced the officials that in a month of performances we would earn and bring twenty thousand to the USSR. Then he was perplexed: “Are you idiots, refusing that kind of money?” But they didn’t let us go. I remember at a competition in Colorado, he invited us to his hotel room, where the table was laden with food, there was black and red caviar, cognac and so on. Chalp believed that he would “split” us. We talked for probably three hours. I couldn’t explain to him: “You know, we are Soviet people and we don’t have the right to solve private issues, we can only solve them as a collective.”

Moreover, this was our sincere position. We were great patriots.

How did your patriotic ideas dissipate?

O.P.: You see, when you are constantly being brainwashed, you accumulate certain information and come to inevitable conclusions. We were called to demonstration performances abroad. We call the regional committee in order to obtain permission to leave. They tell us: “Please call in three days. Comrade Zhuravleva has not arrived yet.” They're lying! Then again: “Oh, you know, she came out. And Comrade Skvortsov left for Moscow.” I recorded these answers on tape. And, in the end, a whole film was collected. After listening to it, we realized that they were playing with us and that, it turns out, no one could solve this issue. And formulations like “the regional committee is not against your going abroad, but only with the team” did not suit us. Having analyzed all this, we came to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to resist the authorities; they will strangle us anyway. And then we were already old: I turned 47, and Lyudmila 44. By theatrical standards, a long time ago, at the age of 38, we could have been sent to ballet retirement, having assembled an artistic council from all these mediocrities figure skaters from the “street” who did nothing They weren’t made for figure skating, but they were part of the leadership.

But if we had party cards, they wouldn’t talk to us like that, so we submitted an application to the party. The secretary of our party organization was Alexander Yakovlev, the namesake and namesake of the ideologist of perestroika times. Two years have passed with no response. We ask: “Sasha, how are you?” He hesitates: “No one gave you any recommendations.” How so?! We were given recommendations by Tamara Nikolaevna Moskvina, Pyotr Timofeevich Tolstikhin (now the director of the sports and concert complex of St. Petersburg) and one cellist from the ballet. But Yakovlev insisted: “I can’t do anything. Go to the district committee."

We came to the district committee to see a certain Barinova. We say, this and that, we’ve been waiting for two years. She said: “Yes, but we have people no less worthy than you. We embrace the working class first.” And then we were convinced that everything was over, and we had to leave the country in any way. We would never have been released anywhere. And we wanted to ride.

Don’t you want to visit Russia and see what’s happening here?

O.P.: View no, because we are aware of everyone Russian events, “catch” ORT via satellite communication and watch the news every day, in particular the “Time” program. But if we are offered to perform, we will come with pleasure. We can still surprise everyone with our numbers, although I don’t care next year turns 70.

Who should invite you?

O.P.: Probably the leaders of the National Figure Skating Federation.

Or maybe not only them? You are global personalities. The top officials of the state should be proud of this heritage. The ex-president of Russia invited Solzhenitsyn, Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich to their homeland.

L.B.: Rostropovich another level. I think the current President can invite Oleg as a double. Many people note that twenty years ago Oleg was the spitting image of Putin. He still looks a lot like him.

OUR HELP

Lyudmila Belousova. Born on November 22, 1935 in Ulyanovsk. She played for the sports society "Lokomotiv" (Leningrad).

Oleg Protopopov. Born on July 16, 1932 in Leningrad. He played for the sports society "Lokomotiv" (Leningrad).

Belousova and Protopopov have been skating together since 1954. Olympic champions 1964, 1968, world and European champions 1965 1968. Awarded two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor. In 1979 they emigrated to Switzerland. They live in Grindenwald. Since 1995 they have had Swiss citizenship.

Twice Olympic champions in figure skating, 83-year-old Oleg Protopopov and 79-year-old Lyudmila Belousova showed amazing shape for their age by skating a 3-minute program at one of the charity shows.

Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov went through fire, water, copper pipes, and also exile and oblivion together. But nothing could separate these talented and strong people.

Belousova and Protopopov not only became figure skating champions in 1964 and 1968, they also invented and for the first time performed all the elements of figure skating, which later became mandatory for the athletes’ performance program.

So Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Prototopov skated at the 1968 Olympics, where they became champions.

This sports couple are not only partners on the ice, they have been married since 1957. In 1979, after a performance in Switzerland, they refused to return to the USSR. Then they were declared traitors to the Motherland and deprived of their sports titles.

Today they live in the small Swiss town of Grindelwald and, despite their advanced age, will continue to lead an active social life. At the end of September, 79-year-old Lyudmila Belousova and 83-year-old Oleg Prototopov took to the ice at the “Evening with Champions” show in the USA and skated a 3-minute program, impressing the audience with their athletic form. All proceeds from ticket sales go to the research. cancer diseases. We provide our readers with a unique opportunity to see the entire performance of this wonderful couple.

To be fair, it should be said that not only stars engage in charity, but also the most ordinary people. Turkish. What a wedding!

Soviet figure skating star Lyudmila Belousova, who performed in a duet with Oleg Protopopov, has passed away. About this on your Twitter page reported producer of one of the American skating shows 6ABC Kristen Beatty.

“Today Lyudmila Belousova died at the age of 81. It was an honor for me to skate with her in the show and receive advice from her when I performed in pairs,” Beatty commented on Belousova’s passing on her microblog.

The cause of the figure skater’s death could have been cancer. Bronze medalist of the 1984 Games in pair skating Oleg Makarov, who was closely acquainted with the star couple, told the R-Sport portal about this.

“Belousova had cancer. They discovered it a year and a half ago. They were treated in Europe. And everything seemed to be getting better for them, in August they looked good. But I can’t talk about the reasons, because they only told me in the morning, American time,” - said Makarov.

Lyudmila Belousova performed in tandem with her husband Oleg Protopopov. They have repeatedly climbed to the highest step of the podium at various world competitions. In particular, they won gold at the 1964 Games in Innsbruck and the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble. Also, the legends of domestic figure skating have four victories at the world championships and four golds at the European championships.

After completing their careers in amateur sports, the skaters continued to skate with the Leningrad Ballet on Ice and went on tours abroad with it. In 1979, Belousova and Protopopov, after performing in Switzerland, asked for political asylum in this country. For their act, the skaters were deprived of the titles of Honored Masters of Sports of the USSR, and they were forbidden to return to their homeland.

However, this did not bother the champions. Having accepted Swiss citizenship, the couple continued to skate professionally, performing around the world in various show programs. For the first time after leaving, Lyudmila Belousova visited Russia only in 2003.

Despite their rather respectable age, the skaters did not part with the sport even for a minute. It is worth noting that the last time Belousova went on the ice was not so long ago. In the fall of 2015, the legendary duo once again delighted the audience by performing a three-minute program at the annual “An Evening with Champions” show in Allston (Massachusetts, USA).

The passing of Lyudmila Belousova shocked her colleagues in the sports department. According to Russian coach Mikhail Mishin, this is an irreparable loss for the entire domestic figure skating industry and especially for him.

“I spent half of my sports life with her and Oleg in the same locker room. I offer condolences to Oleg and all her fans, figure skating fans,” Mishin continued. “I have been to their skating rink in Switzerland more than once, stayed in their modest apartment. All my life they dedicated not to accumulating wealth, but to their business, which they served - figure skating,” TASS quotes Mikhail Mishin as saying.

It is still unknown where the legend of Russian figure skating will be buried, in Switzerland or at home.