Irina Slutskaya

Russian figure skater who holds the women's record of seven European Championship titles and invented the double Biellmann spin with a foot change.

Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya was born on 9 February 1979 in Moscow, and began skating at age four, coached throughout her career by Zhanna Gromova. In 1996 at age 16, she became the first Russian woman to win the European Championship title, launching a career defined by exceptional athleticism. Slutskaya became the first woman to land a triple lutz-triple loop combination at the 2000 Grand Prix Final and the first to land a triple salchow-triple loop-double toe loop combination at the 2001 World Championships, but narrowly lost both the 2001 Worlds and the 2002 Olympics to American rivals by tight margins. She won her first World Championship title in 2002, a month after her Olympic silver, becoming just the second Russian woman ever to medal in the event at the Olympics. After health problems including pericarditis and pneumonia nearly ended her career, Slutskaya staged a remarkable comeback, winning a fourth Russian national title and a second World Championship in 2005, in what she called 'the skate of her life' in front of a home crowd in Moscow. She won a seventh European Championship in 2006, breaking the record she had shared with Sonja Henie and Katarina Witt, before winning Olympic bronze at Turin later that year and retiring from competition to start a family.

Athletically powerful skater renowned for difficult jump combinations and her trademark double Biellmann spin with a foot change, which she invented

Generally considered the most successful ladies' singles skater in Russian and European history, remembered for remarkable athleticism and resilience through serious health setbacks

• 2x World Champion (2002, 2005)
• 2x Olympic Medalist (Silver 2002, Bronze 2006)
• Record 7x European Champion (1996-2006)
• First Russian woman to win a European title