Kira Ivanova

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Women's Figure skating
Olympic medal record
Bronze	1984 Sarajevo	Singles

Kira Valentinovna Ivanova (Russian: Кира Валентиновна Иванова) (January 10, 1963 — December 21, 2001) was a figure skater from the former Soviet Union whose senior international career ran from 1979 to 1988. While she had won numerous medals at international events, such as World Junuior Championships, Enia Challenge Cup, and Moscow News Trophy, her true breakthrough on the international skating scene came with a bronze medal at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. While her performance in Sarajevo was less than inspiring, Ivanova shined at the 1985 World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo, where many felt that she deserved to win the title over Katarina Witt but settled for the silver medal.

Her life was turbulent both on and off the ice. When another teenager, Elena Vodorezova, then-current Soviet champion who had placed 5th in the World in 1978, was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, Ivanova became Soveiet Union's best hope for the 1980s. Sure enough, Ivanova showed some promise. For example, while Ivanova had only placed 13th in the compulsory figues and was unknown to most of the judges at the 1981 World Campionships, her strong short program was good enough to place her 4th in the competition. Also, she won the Moscow News Trophy in the fall of 1982, completing a clean triple-triple combination jump, which remains rare to this day in women's figure skating.

At the same time, however, Ivanova gained a reputation for having poor attitude, as she routinely abandoned performances midway when she missed jumps. For example, at the Moscow News Trophy in the fall of 1981, she entered the free skating portion with what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. Yet, after falling on her opening triple loop jump, she showed a great deal of anguish and downgraded the rest of her jumps to singles and doubles, and she dropped to 3rd.

Ivanova's behavior was controversial off the ice as well. Ivanova, then 17, reportedly got romantically involved with her co-coach, Vladimir Kovalev, then in his late 20s, and they had some public outbursts that interfered with her training. Allegedly due to these problems, the Russian Skating Federation banned her from competing outside of the Soviet Union for two years, beginning in the fall of 1981. Thus, she was barely allowed to participate in the Sarajevo Games, where she won the Bronze for the Soviet Union. However, there have been speculations that the Soviet Union banned Ivanova and her coach from going overseas because they were considered high risk for defecting to the West.

In the beginning of her career, Ivanova was known as a good free skater with triple jumps and strong ballet training; then, she later become to be known as the "queen of compulsory figures" who had become an inconsistent free skater. At the 1988 Winter Olympics, for example, she finished first in the compulsory figures, beating the defending Olympic champion Katarina Witt, but skated poorly in both the short and long programs, which took her out of medal contention. Her free skating performance there was typical; she missed the opening triple lutz, and she eased up the rest of the program as though she had already given up her hopes for a medal. After her amateur career ended she skated professionally in an ice-show and went into coaching.

On December 21, 2001, Ivanova's body was found by her neighbours in her Moscow apartment. She was 38 and had apparently died of stab wounds inflicted by a butcher's knife.

After her death, chairman of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseyev revealed to the press that Kira had been suffering from alcoholism. "Ivanova became addicted to alcohol in recent years and underwent several treatments, but with no visible results" Piseyev said. The fact appeared to explain Ivanova's known erratic behavior, if not the circumstances of her murder.

She was the only female figure skater ever to win an Olympic medal for the USSR.