Nikolai Panin

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Panin-Kolomenkin (Николай Александрович Панин-Коломенкин; – 19 January 1956) was a Russian figure skater and coach. He won the gold medal in special figures in the 1908 Summer Olympics, became one of the oldest figure skating Olympic champions. Panin was Russia's first Olympic champion.

Life and career
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Kolomenkin was born on January 8, 1872 in Khrenovoye, Voronezh Governorate, Russian Empire. He began figure skating as a child. His first pair of skates was split with his sister, as the family could not afford two pairs; he would use the left boot and his sister the right, and as an adult he would normally perform difficult figures with his left foot. He competed in figure skating under the name "Nikolay Panin", though most Russian sources now hyphenate his surname to "Panin-Kolomenkin".

Despite having a weak constitution, Panin was very active and took part in rowing, cycling, athletics and gymnastics. While studying mathematics at Saint Petersburg University in 1897, he took part in the first Russian Championships and placed second. To improve, he developed a technique of wrapping towels around his feet to weigh them down and improve his balance, thus preventing falls. It was at this time that he took the nickname "Panin" on to evade the mockery of his fellow students, at a time when many athletes were adopting nicknames.

Two men's skating events were contested at the 1908 Summer Olympics: single skating and special figures. Panin won the special figures event and competed, but did not finish, in the singles event. 1908 was the only year in which special figures was an Olympic event. Panin also competed in the 1903 World Championships, placing second behind Salchow.

Panin was a prominent figure skating coach both before and after his win at the Olympics; his students included European Championships silver medalists Ivan Malinin and Karl Ollo, as well as six-time national champion Ksenia Caesar. He even helped train his rivals during his own competitive career. He wrote several biographical and reference books, the first of which appeared in 1910, and he was also a judge at international competitions.

He also competed as a shooter. At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, he placed 8th in the 50 metre pistol competition.

Panin was also one of the first to be ranked in a sport classification system, a precursor to the Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR. Several of his students also won ratings.

Panin died on January 19, 1956 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.

In 1993 Russia issued a 50 ruble gold coin commemorating Russia's first gold medal. Panin appears alongside the Olympic rings and flame, a laurel branch, and a winged ice skate. He was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009.