Estonian figure skating coach Irina Kononova dies at 67
Estonian figure skating coach Irina Kononova died on Thursday, September 17, at the age of 67; her student Alexander Selevko won Estonia's first-ever European Championship silver medal in 2024.
Estonian figure skating coach Irina Kononova died on Thursday, September 17, at the age of 67. Her death was announced by the Tallinn Figure Skating School.
Kononova was born on November 17, 1958, in Tallinn. In 1982 she graduated from the Lesgaft Leningrad Institute of Physical Culture, and in 1986 from the Anatoly Lunacharsky State Institute of Theatre Arts.
Coaching career
Kononova began working as a figure skating coach in 1996. From 2001 she served as director and coach of the Tallinn Figure Skating School, holding the highest coaching qualification category.
She is regarded as one of Estonia's most successful coaches. Kononova was the first specialist whose student won a European Figure Skating Championship silver medal for Estonia, achieved by Alexander Selevko in January 2024.
Colleagues' tributes
Jana Kuura, secretary general of the Estonian Skating Union, told Rus.ERR she had known Kononova since 1993. She described Kononova as a very responsive and helpful person, someone people at the Estonian Figure Skating Union turned to whenever questions requiring deep knowledge of the sport arose. Kuura said Kononova was always ready to help, both professionally and beyond, and that the union and its secretariat had lost a very strong source of support.
The Tallinn Figure Skating School also noted Kononova's professionalism, her working methods, her kindness, and her ability to find an approach to every person.
