Elena Valova – Oleg Vasiliev and Irina Moiseyeva – Andrei Minenkov elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame

Soviet figure skaters -- sports pair Elena Valova – Oleg Vasiliev, as well as the dance duo Irina Moiseyeva – Andrei Minenkov were elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Official information about this was published on April 17.

Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev are Olympic champions (1984), silver medalists of the Olympic Games (1988), three-time world champions (1983, 1985, 1988), six-time medalists of the world championships. This sports pair continued the traditions of Soviet pair skating, domestic pairs dominated this discipline since 1964.

Irina Moiseeva - Andrei Minenkov - two-time world champions (1975, 1977) in ice dancing, winners of 8 medals at the World Championships, silver (1976) and bronze medalists (1980) at the Olympic Games. The duet, which was the first to demonstrate virtuoso body control, expressive hands, which over the next decades influenced the development of ice dancing in the world.

In addition to Soviet athletes, in 2018 the following were also elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame - Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa from Japan; Ukrainian, Soviet figure skater, Olympic champion (1992) Viktor Petrenko; coach from China Bing Yao and Canadian choreographer Sandra Bezic.

For the first time since its foundation in 1976, three Olympic champions were elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. It is also noteworthy that the current electees represent absolutely all figure skating disciplines - pairs, singles (women's and men's) and ice dancing, according to a special press release from the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is located in the American city of Colorado Springs.