TOP SKATER IN WORLD

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30366, 15 February 1964, Page 2

TOP SKATER IN WORLD

Woman From Russia The Soviet athlete Lidia Skoblikova, who has made Olympic history by becoming the first competitor to win four individual titles at one Olympics, has been setting up records with some monotony during the last four years, writes Susan Vaughan from London. She first came to prominence in world-class skating during the 1960 winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, California, when she set up a world record of 2min 25sec for the 1500 metres speed skating. She also gained a second gold medal in the 3000 metres; so the four golds she has just won at Innsbruck bring her total to six. Lidia is an extraordinary woman. But even she cannot explain why she is able to skate faster than any other woman in the world. She frowns as she thinks about it “I just don’t know,” she says. Then she adds in her rather intense Russian manner: “I train and I concentrate.” She has been doing just tins since she was 11, when her skating talent was spotted and she received special training to develop it Today, at 24, she lives for skating as she always has: she is a physical training instructor at Russia’s ski centre in the Ural mountains. Lidia, a married, blue-eyed blonde, displays great selfpossession in public and replies resolutely to reporters’ questions. Asked what other sport she enjoys she replied curtly: “All sport” Asked if this included ski-ing, she added sharply: “I said all sports.” (All rights reserved)