The first Soviet figure skater, the USSR champion Valentin Zakharov, passed away.

Valentin Dmitrievich Zakharov, the first Soviet figure skater in single skating, died at the age of 93. This was announced on January 8 on the website of the press service of the Russian Figure Skating Federation.

Zakharov participated in the European Championships (1956-1958) and the World Championships (1958) as a member of the USSR national team, twice won the national championship (1953, 1954) and several times won medals at national and international competitions.

Zakharov was born on April 9, 1933 in Leningrad. He has been involved in figure skating since 1948, and competed in singles and pair skating. He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute. In 2023, he gave an interview about his sports career and life during the war.

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