Sad news from the world of skating as we've heard that two-time Olympic champion Ludmila Belousova-Protopopov, a true pioneer of pairs skating, has died at age 81. She will be missed.
The Protopopovs, as they became known, are legendary. They contributed significantly to the development of pairs skating, including introducing three death spirals – the backward inside (BIDS), forward inside (FIDS), and forward outside (FODS), which they dubbed the Cosmic spiral, Life spiral, and Love spiral, respectively.
Here's a photo posted by Sandra Bezic on Twitter with a message about Ludmila's death:
I am very happy to have seen them perform live in Lake Placid, where they spent part of every year. Oleg was seriously ill a number of years ago but regained his health and mobility. He is now 85.
Here's a link to her Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludmila_Belousova