State Duma deputy Irina Rodnina, a three-time Olympic champion in pair skating, has clarified that her former husband, Alexander Zaitsev, played no part in earning her medals. The remarks, attributed to Sport Express, underscore a clear separation between personal history and sporting achievement.
Rodnina stated that she keeps her medals as personal mementos. The couple separated in 1985 and have not shared a household since then. She emphasized that she does not know where Zaitsev stores the medals and she declined to explain his statements, noting that the two had moved on long ago.
In July of this year, reports confirmed that a medal from the 1980 Olympic Games—one earned by Rodnina and Zaitsev—had been sold at RR Auction, drawing renewed attention to the couple’s storied career. The sale price for Rodnina’s Olympic gold medal reached $93,000, highlighting the enduring value of Olympic memorabilia for collectors and fans alike.
Throughout their time as partners, Rodnina and Zaitsev achieved extraordinary success, becoming two-time Olympic champions after triumphs in 1976 and 1980. They also claimed six world championships gold medals, ascending to the pinnacle of the sport from 1973 through 1978. The pair dominated European competition as well, securing seven titles between 1973 and 1978 and again in 1980.
Their partnership lasted from 1975 to 1985, during which the couple welcomed a son named Alexander. After their divorce, Rodnina entered into a second marriage, uniting with filmmaker Leonid Minkovsky. That relationship ended in 1992, marking the end of a remarkable era in figure skating history.
Earlier, Elena Vaitsekhovskaya had claimed that the medal sold at auction had been stolen, a statement that added another layer of mystery to the auction’s aftermath and the broader conversation about the provenance of Olympic relics. The ongoing dialogue around the medals continues to provoke interest in the athletic achievements and personal journeys of Rodnina and Zaitsev, whose names remain synonymous with an era of unprecedented success in pair skating.