Ludmilla Belousova & Oleg Protopopov 1969 Europeans Exhibition

I’m posting in memory of Ludmilla Belousova, who passed away today - 29/09/17 aged 81. After their triumphant 1968 season winning the triple crown of figure skating (Europeans/Olympics/Worlds), they vowed to carry on but were finally beaten in Garmisch by Rodnina & Ulanov. Anti Protopopov German press articles the previous year deriding their technical content perhaps contributed to a very lukewarm reception by the audience in Garmisch for the free programme where they were sadly and very rudely booed. However the audience had rediscovered its manners in time for the exhibitions where the Protopopov’s were in fine form and treated the crowd to numerous encores. This film really captures the essence of their skating. While advancing pairs technique passed them by; we were so lucky that they were able to find another outlet for their skating as professionals after their defection. RIP Ludmilla, and thank you for your gift to skating history x