Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya

Irina Sluzkaya
Full name	Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya
nation	Russia
birthday	February 9, 1979
place of birth	Moscow
size	160 cm
Weight	49 kg
Career
discipline	Single run
society	Sport Club Moskvitch
Trainer	Shanna Gromova
choreographer	Sergei Petukhov
status	resigned
End of career	2006
Medal table
Olympic medals 0 × 1 × 1 × World Cup medals 2 × 3 × 1 × EM medals 7 × 2 × 0 ×
winter Olympics silver Salt Lake City 2002 Ladies bronze Turin 2006 Ladies  World figure skating championships bronze Edmonton 1996 Ladies silver Minneapolis 1998 Ladies silver Nice 2000 Ladies silver Vancouver 2001 Ladies gold Nagano 2002 Ladies gold Moscow 2005 Ladies  European figure skating championships gold Sofia 1996 Ladies gold Paris 1997 Ladies silver Milan 1998 Ladies gold Vienna 2000 Ladies gold Bratislava 2001 Ladies silver Lausanne 2002 Ladies gold Malmo 2003 Ladies gold Turin 2005 Ladies gold Lyon 2006 Ladies
Personal best
Total points 198.06 Cup of Russia 2005  Freestyle 130.48 Cup of Russia 2005  Short program 70.22 Cup of China 2005
Placements in the figure skating Grand Prix
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Grand Prix Final 4th 3 2  Grand Prix competitions 13 3 4th

Irina Eduardowna Sluzkaja ( Russian Ирина Эдуардовна Слуцкая , / iˈrinɑ ˈslutskɑæ / listen ^{? / I} ; * February 9, 1979 in Moscow , Soviet Union ) is a former Russian figure skater who started in a single run . She is the world champion from 2002 and 2005 and the European champion from 1996 , 1997 , 2000 , 2001 , 2003 , 2005 and 2006 .

Career

Sluzkaja is the only child to a Russian mother and a Jewish father. Her mother was a cross-country skier. She started figure skating at the age of four. She started for the Moskvich sports club and had been training with Shanna Gromova since she was six .

In 1995 Sluzkaja became junior world champion and played her first world and European championships . Just one year later, in 1996, she became European champion in Sofia and won her first medal at the World Championships in Edmonton with bronze behind Michelle Kwan and Chen Lu . In 1997 she defended her European Championship title in Paris . In 1998 she was Vice European Champion behind her compatriot Marija Butyrskaja and Vice World Champion behind Michelle Kwan. In her first Olympic Games , she finished fifth in Nagano . In the next season, she could not qualify for any international tournament and was already thinking of an end to her career. In 2000 she started a successful comeback. For the first time she became a Russian champion. At the Grand Prix final in Lyon, which she won, she landed seven triple jumps, including the first woman ever to achieve a triple-Lutz-triple-Rittberger combination. In Vienna she won her third European title ahead of Butyrskaja. At the World Championships in Nice she was defeated by Michelle Kwan and won the silver medal, and she was the first woman to show a triple Salchow, triple Rittberger double toe loop combination. Sluzkaja also invented the double Biellmann pirouette , a Biellmann pirouette with changing feet. A year later she defended her national championship title as well as her European championship title in Bratislava and also her victory in the Grand Prix final. At the World Cup she was again second behind Kwan. In the 2002 Olympic year, she again defended her national championship title and won the Grand Prix final for the third time in a row. At the European Championships she lost to Marija Butyrskaja. A duel between Slutskaya and Michelle Kwan was expected for the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City . After the short program, Sluzkaja was just behind Kwan. However, this made mistakes. Sluzkaja had to win the free program, but made a few minor mistakes. So she lost the freestyle with four to five judges votes against the American Sarah Hughes and won the silver medal. Russia appealed the result, but it was rejected. A month later, Sluzkaja became world champion for the first time in Nagano .

In 2003 Sluzkaja won her fifth European title in Malmö , but could not take part in the World Cup due to illness. She had learned that her mother was seriously ill and needed a kidney transplant. Afterwards, she developed vasculitis , an autoimmune disease, and is still taking medication today. In October 2004 a knee injury followed. So she had to cancel all tournaments except for the world championship , but because of the injury she only managed to finish ninth. Her doctors advised against participating.

Cured of injuries and illnesses, she went into the 2004/2005 season, which was to be her most successful. She won all competitions in the ISU Grand Prix series in which she took part and at the end of it for the fourth time in her career the Grand Prix final . In Turin she became European champion for the sixth time. Her most emotional appearance followed at her home world championship in Moscow . After showing a flawless freestyle, she burst into tears during the evaluation while the audience sang "Ira" chores. To this day, she describes the freestyle at this World Cup as the course of her life, not least because it took place in front of her family and friends after this difficult time for her.

The following year, Sluzkaja became European champion for the seventh time in Lyon and thus holds the sole title record in the women's competition at European championships . At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Sluzkaja was the favorite for the gold medal, just like four years earlier. After the short program, she was just behind the US-American Sasha Cohen in second place, but only showed her triple flip in the freestyle and fell in the triple Rittberger and thus only won behind the Japanese Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa and the US-American Sasha Cohen Bronze. After that, Sluzkaya ended her competitive career.

In August 1999, Sluzkaya married her boyfriend Sergei Michejew. The couple met three years earlier in a training camp near Moscow. In 2000, she graduated from the Moscow Sports Academy. She had a son in November 2007 and a daughter in October 2010.

Sluzkaya worked as a presenter and actress in various programs and series on Russian television.

Results

Competition / year	92/93	93/94	1994/95	1995/96	1996/97	1997/98	1998/99	1999/00	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06
winter Olympics						5.				2.				3.
World championships			7th	3.	4th	2.		2.	2.	1.		9.	1.
European championships			5.	1.	1.	2.		1.	1.	2.	1.		1.	1.
Grand Prix Final				2.	3.	4th	3.	1.	1.	1.	2.		1.	2.
Junior World Championships	8th.	3.	1.
Russian championships		3.	3.	2.	3.	4th	4th	1.	1.	1.	2.	Z	1.

• Z = withdrawn

Web links

Commons : Irina Sluzkaja  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Irina Slutskaya in the database of the International Skating Union (English)
• Irina Eduardowna Sluzkaja in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Official Website (Russian)