People, Jan. 21, 1980

Maybe it's the foods they prefer—lamb, lightly cooked vegetables, whole wheat bread, raw sugar. Or perhaps, the air of artistic freedom they have been breathing. Whatever the causes, Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, the Soviet figure skaters who defected last fall, are performing like teenagers, although he is 47 and she, 44. The Protopopovs left home because they were no longer able to do the routines that gained them two Olympic gold medals and transformed figure skating from muscular jumps into frozen ballet. Now they can, on a U.S. tour with the Ice Capades,...

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