among the oldest champions in figure skating. The following season, they won the silver medal at the European Championships and bronze at the World Championships as Irina Rodnina began her reign with her first partner, Alexei Ulanov. Those were the pair's final appearances at major international competitions but they continued to compete within the Soviet Union until 1972. In total, Belousova and Protopopov won two Olympic titles and won medals eight times at both the World and European Championships, including four consecutive World and European gold medals. After retiring from competition, they continued to skate together in shows for many years. In September 2015, they renewed their long-standing tradition of skating in a charitable exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts, at an event called "Evening with Champions". Belousova and Protopopov contributed to the development of pair skating, including the creation of three death spirals: the backward inside (BiDs), the forward inside (FiDs), and the forward outside (FoDs), which they respectively dubbed the "Cosmic spiral", "Life spiral", and "Love spiral". Dick Button stated: "The Protopopovs are great skaters not only because they were the finest of Olympic champions, but also because their creative impact was extraordinary." Personal life Protopopov was raised by his mother, a professional ballet dancer, and his stepfather, a poet. He graduated from Herzen University, faculty of physical education. He married Ludmila Belousova in December 1957. Although Belousova kept her maiden name after their marriage, the pair are commonly referred to as "The Protopopovs". Eager to keep skating, the couple decided not to have children. On 24 September 1979, Protopopov and Belousova defected to Switzerland while on tour and applied for political asylum. They settled in Grindelwald and eventually received Swiss citizenship in 1995. Though Switzerland remained their winter home, their summer home and training center was Lake Placid, New York. On 25 February 2003, they visited Russia for the first time after a 23-year exile, upon the invitation of Vyacheslav Fetisov. They attended the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and performed their last exhibition dance in 2016, when Protopopov was 84. Belousova died on 29 September 2017, aged 81. Competitive highlights (with Bogoyavlenskaya) (with Belousova) References External links Pairs on Ice profile 1932 births Living people European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics