Alexey Ulanov is a renowned Soviet figure skater-greenhouse. The peak of his career came at the end of the 60s. It was then that he began performing with Irina Rodnina, with whom he won all the highest standard awards in pair figure skating, including the only gold Olympic medal.
Biography: early years
Alexey Nikolaevich Ulanov was born on November 4, 1947 in Moscow. As a child, he was torn between music and figure skating. Mom dreamed that her son would find himself in music, since almost everyone in her family played different instruments. Ulanov's great-grandfather was a virtuoso master of the button accordion, and his grandmother - the accordion. Alexey also loved music and later mastered playing the button accordion.
Figure skating came into his life when he was barely seven years old. It was then that the parents took Alexei to the Young Pioneers Stadium, located not far from their home. At first, Ulanov rode alone, later he was paired with his sister.
After school, Ulanov fulfilled his mother's dream and entered the Gnessin School, the bayan department. However, he did not give up figure skating. After successfully graduating from a music school, Alexei accepted the invitation to move to CSKA. It was a cunning move on his part, since playing for the "army" was counted as service in the army. Alexey then just turned 18 years old.
Sports career
At that time, the legendary Stanislav Zhuk coached the figure skaters at CSKA. It was he who "separated" Ulanov from his sister and put him in a duet with Irina Rodnina. She was then only 16 years old.
The first joint competition for them was the Moscow Skates international tournament in December 1966. The newly minted couple did not win it then, because by that time they had skated together for only five months. Ulanov and Rodnina took this tournament only a year later.
Soon the guys became bronze medalists of the All-Union Championship and thanks to this they entered the national team of the country. 1969 was a triumphant year for Ulanov and Rodnina. They became champions of Europe and the world. For the next three years, they easily won all the tournaments in which they took part.
The Ulanov-Rodnina pair was admired not only in the Union, but also far beyond its borders. The stately Alexei and the diminutive Irina on the ice were a single whole and looked surprisingly harmonious. But figure skating fans could not imagine what was happening outside the ice.
Few people know that the Soviet national team might not have had Olympic "gold" in pair skating in Sapporo. Before the performance, Rodnina threw a tantrum - she absolutely did not want to go out on the ice. The reason was jealousy. The day before, Rodnina caught Ulanova in a room with another figure skater, Lyudmila Smirnova. Alexey had been breathing unevenly towards her for several years and dreamed of performing with her in a pair, but the formidable Stanislav Zhuk did not see any prospects in such a duet.
Rodnina, on the other hand, showed sympathy for Ulanov, so for her what she saw was a stab in the back. Then the Beetle solved the problem with great difficulty. To persuade Irina to go out on the ice, he had to involve even high-ranking officials. Ulanov and Rodnina then became Olympic champions. And for this couple, that Olympics was the last tournament.
After the end of the season, Beetle found another partner for Rodnina. It was Alexander Zaitsev, whom she later married. Ulanov began to skate with Lyudmila Smirnova.
This pair skated for only two seasons. Ulanov and Smirnova lost to Zaitsev and Rodnina in all competitions. The change of partner then backfired on Alexei. This news was received with hostility in the USSR Figure Skating Federation. Ulanov and Smirnova were constantly obstructed. And Stanislav Zhuk took revenge. His authority was enough to persuade the judges to understate the points for Ulanov and Smirnova. Soon, Zhuk called their pair hopeless. For this reason, in 1974, Alexey and Lyudmila decided to end their skating careers.
Life after sports
After leaving the big sport, Ulanov and Smirnova came to ice ballet. They performed in the Leningrad collective "Ballet on Ice" and successfully toured Soviet cities. At the same time, Alexei graduated from the ballet master department of the Leningrad Conservatory.
In the early 90s, Ulanov tried himself as a coach. But then perestroika broke out, many skating rinks were closed. At the same time, the coaches were paid very little. During this period, many left Russia in search of a good life. Ulanov and his wife also left their homeland and moved to the States. There they got a good job as children's coaches.
In 2010 Ulanov came to Russia. At home, he continued coaching.
Personal life
Alexey Ulanov is married twice. His first wife was the same Lyudmila Smirnova, for the sake of which he refused to speak with Rodnina. The wedding took place immediately after the Sapporo Olympics. After that, Ulanov and Smirnova became a couple not only in life, but also on the ice.
The couple have two children - a son Nikolai and a daughter Irina. They followed in the footsteps of their parents and took up figure skating. The son has performed in various American ice shows for about ten years. Returning to his homeland, he founded his figure skating school in St. Petersburg. The daughter performed in tandem with Maxim Trankov. Failing to achieve high results in sports, she began to work as a children's figure skating coach.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Ulanov divorced Smirnova. Soon he returned to his homeland, where he married again. In 2016, Ulanov became a father again. A young wife bore him a son.
