Vladimir Kovalyov

Vladimir Nikolaevich Kovalev
Born	(1953-02-02) 2 February 1953
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Figure skating career
Country	Soviet Union
Skating club	VSS Trud
Retired	1980
Medal record Figure skating: Men's singles Representing the Soviet Union Olympic Games 1976 Innsbruck Men's singles World Championships 1979 Vienna Men's singles 1977 Tokyo Men's singles 1976 Gothenburg Men's singles 1975 Colorado Springs Men's singles European Championships 1980 Gothenburg Men's singles 1979 Zagreb Men's singles 1978 Strasbourg Men's singles 1977 Helsinki Men's singles 1976 Geneva Men's singles 1975 Copenhagen Men's singles

Vladimir Nikolaevich Kovalev (Russian: Владимир Николаевич Ковалёв) (born 2 February 1953) is a retired figure skater who competed internationally for the USSR. He is an Olympic silver medalist and 2-time World champion. He trained at VSS Trud in Moscow. Kovalev is pronounced, "ko-va-lyov."

Career

Kovalev placed second behind his British rival John Curry at the 1976 Winter Olympics. However, Kovalev's short and free programs were filled with mistakes and the audience was displeased when the results were announced that he had placed ahead of such skaters as Toller Cranston and Jan Hoffmann. Kovalev went on to win the gold at the World Championships in 1977 and 1979, and he was also the winner of the European Championships in 1975.

While Kovalev entered the 1980 season as a top contender for the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics title, he was clearly poorly trained, overweight and uninspired. As a result, his jumps had become too inconsistent. For example, weeks prior to the Olympics, Kovalev had placed 3rd at the 1980 European Championships with poor short and free programs, far behind his chief rivals, Robin Cousins and Jan Hoffmann. Once in Lake Placid, skating officials and news reporters took note of the fact that Kovalev, perhaps unmotivated and skeptical of his chances, missed most of the practice sessions. When he did show up, he was even unable to complete basic jumps. After observing his practices, an American reporter asked Kovalev at the pre-competition press conference, "Aside from the fact that you are the best-looking male skater in the competition, do you think you have what it takes to win here?", Kovalev burst out of the conference, never to be seen in public again as a competitor. The Soviet officials soon withdrew him from the competition after placing 5th in compulsory figures. Kovalev retired from competitive skating, and began his career as a skating coach.

Kovalev, along with his chief student, Kira Ivanova, were both considered high risks for defecting to the West. Kovalev also coached Natalia Lebedeva and Maria Butyrskaya, when her first coach, Sergei Volkov, died of cancer.

Results

International
Event	69–70	70–71	71–72	72–73	73–74	74–75	75–76	76–77	77–78	78–79	79–80
Winter Olympics			8th				2nd				WD
World Champ.			3rd		4th	2nd	2nd	1st	4th	1st
European Champ.			6th		4th	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd
Moscow News	2nd	3rd	2nd		1st	1st	1st	1st
Prague Skate		2nd
National
Soviet Champ.	5th	4th	1st		3rd	3rd		1st	2nd
WD = Withdrew

External links

• DatabaseOlympics.com