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Irina Slutskaya (Russian language|ru:
Ирина
Слуцкая)
, born February 9, 1979 in Moscow, Russia is a
Russian figure skater. Slutskaya is a two-time
World Figure Skating Championships|World Champion
and six-time European Champion, most ever for a
Russian woman.

In figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics she
won the silver medal for her country and became
the second Russian ever to win a medal in the
women's event. The competition had been billed in
advance as a head-to-head battle between Slutskaya
and United States|American Michelle Kwan.
Unexpectedly, Kwan made mistakes in her free
skate, but still led American Sarah Hughes in the
overall standings. Slutskaya had to win the free
skate in order to win gold. After a nervous
performance, Slutskaya finished second in the free
skate. Hughes won the free skate, and because Kwan
finished third behind Slutskaya, Hughes won the
gold. Russia, still somewhat aggrieved about the
outcome of an earlier dispute over the pairs
competition, filed a complaint against the result
but it was rejected.

In 2005, Irina made a powerful comeback after
being the 9th at the World Figure Skating
Championships in 2004 and a long stay at a
hospital due to an illness. As the crowd chanted
"Ira, Ira" (a diminutive from Irina), she was
overcome with emotion. In an interview, she said: 

"People frequently ask me, how did I manage to
come up after the last year's tumble. It is a
wrong thing to say, because when someone is sick,
it is not a tumble, it's a distress. No one,
unfortunately, is guaranteed from that. I only
want to say: keep believing and fighting. I got
up, and you can, too... The most important for me
now is that this story can serve as an example for
those who doubt that they are able to overcome
their illness and return to a normal life." 


==Records and Achievements==
* Two-time World Figure Skating
Championships|World Champion (2002, 2005).
* Six-time European Champion (1996, 1997, 2000,
2001, 2003, 2005).
* Four-time Russian National Champion (2000, 2001,
2002, 2005).
* Four-time ISU Grand Prix Final Champion (2000,
2001, 2002, 2005).
* First Russian woman to win the European
Championships.
* First woman to perform a triple salchow-triple
loop-double toe in competition (Worlds 2001).
* First woman to perform a triple lutz-triple loop
in competition (Grand Prix Final 2000).
* First woman to perform a Biellmann spin from
each foot.

==External links==
*http://www.irina-slutskaya.com Irina Slutskaya's
official website
*http://www.sem40.ru/rest/sport/14460/ Gold and
tears (in Russian)
*http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00000256.htm ISU
Biography Page