“Sochi 2014 is a technically excellent Bid, which I would have been honoured to compete in. The Winter Games will provide an incredible opportunity to showcase the “new Russia“ to the world and encourage further positive change, but importantly, it will also inspire millions of youngsters to take up winter sports, for the good of the Olympic Movement.“

Maria Butyrskaya is a World and three-time European Championship gold medallist and six-time Russian Champion figure skater, famous for her style and elegance.

Butyrskaya learnt to skate when she was five years old. In 1999, she became the first Russian to win the ladies' singles title at the World Figure Skating Championships. She also won bronze medals at the 1998 and 2000 World Championships.

Butyrskaya won her first European gold in 1998 and retained the title in 1999. When she repeated her European Championship success for the third time in 2002, she became the oldest woman to ever win the title at the age of 29. Later the same year, she retired from competitive skating.

Multi-talented, Butyrskaya often choreographed her own programs and designed her own costumes. Among other professional performances, she participated in the Champions on Ice tour with several other World and Olympic gold medallists during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. Butyrskaya is a graduate of the Academy of Physical Culture of Russia, having obtained a Masters Degree in Figure Skating and Coaching.

Butyrskaya was born in 1972 Moscow, Russia.

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