- Joined
- Apr 19, 2018
We were talking about Irina Rodnina on the Legacy thread, but she also had a heartbreaking moment.
After the World Championships, following her first Olympic title in 1972, her partner Alexei Ulanov whispered in her ear as they were taking their bows. Irina fell apart.
It turns out that he was in love with another Russian pair skater, and he dissolved the partnership with Irina to pair with his new love. Their WC title moment was punctuated with her sobbing uncontrollably as he led her off the ice.
Of course, as we know, Irina weathered the storm rather well with new partner Alexander Zaitsev. Ulanov didn't do too shabby either. He took two WC silver medals with his new partner.
What? Why would he choice that time to tell her that? That’s just so unnecessarily dramatic and ridiculous, he couldn’t wait until they got home?