Career
Skoblikova was born in Zlatoust, Soviet Union, some 160 km west of Chelyabinsk, Ural. She trained at Burevestnik and later at Lokomotiv sports societies. In 1959, at age 19, Skoblikova qualified for the Soviet World Championships team, placing third in the national championships. She repeated that performance at the World Championships, winning two distance medals as well. The next season, she seemed headed for the World Title after winning the 500 m and placing 2nd in the 1500 m, but she fell in the 1000 m. By winning the final 3000 m, she managed to land on the podium anyway, placing third again. A favourite for the Olympics now, she entered three events. In the first race, the 1500 m, she broke the World Record, and won the gold medal. After just missing a second medal in the 1000 m (fourth), Skoblikova approached the World Record in the 3000 m (missing it by just half a second), but that was enough for her second gold medal.
During the following years, Skoblikova fought with her team mates to become World Champion. In 1961, she won the bronze for the third consecutive time, followed by the silver medal in 1962. In 1963, she finally managed to win the title. In Karuizawa, conditions were excellent, and Skoblikova won all four races, setting a new 1000 m World Record in the process.
For the 1964 Olympics, Skoblikova was qualified for all four distances, and she managed to win all of them, thereby becoming the first Winter Olympian to win four individual gold medals. This record was only beaten by Eric Heiden who won all five speedskating events in 1980. Two weeks after the Olympics, she repeated her performance from Karuizawa and won all four distances at the World Championships.
Skoblikova withdrew from speedskating for two seasons, but returned in 1967, setting a new 3000 m World Record in January. She failed to reach the podium in the World Championships however, and placed fourth. In 1968, she skated her third and last Olympics, but did not win a medal again—the 6th place in the 3000 m was her best ranking. She retired in 1969 after, remarkably, never having won the USSR National Allround Championships—only single distances. In 1983, Skoblikova, then a member of the Soviet National Olympic Committee, received a silver Olympic Order from the hands of Juan Antonio Samaranch.
Skoblikova was inducted in the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Read more about this topic: Lidiya Skoblikova
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