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Irina Smirnova/Ilchenko (URS/RUS)
The USSR's mighty hammer


Smirnova hits a ball off Li Yueming's block at the 90 World Championships in China. The USSR won the title over the hosts 3-1. [FIVB Photo Archives]

She had a hammer of an arm. But it wasn’t as spectacular as Lang Ping’s or Mireya Luis’s. Her approach on the outside looked like a pair of scissors opening and snapping shut suddenly, with long limbs wobbling and folding like those of a rubber figure. It wasn’t pretty, but it was incredibly effective. Irina Smirnova was a tall outside hitter for her time (now most of them are her height or taller). Her haircut always reminded me of a Cock-of-the-Rock, with its rounded yellowish-orange helmet jutting out from the front of the head. And with such a particular look, she was hard to miss on the court throughout all the years she played for the Soviet and Russian Teams.

The first time she raised my eyebrows was when I saw her play at the 87 Japan Cup. Back then Irina Parkhomchuk was the mastermind setter, running a much more creative offence than that which Russia runs today. (You’d think with time a team would actually get more intricate… but no, Karpol thrives on conservatism.) Back in 87, the back row attack still wasn’t a common weapon, but for Smirnova, it was so easy that she spearheaded the back row trend which today is, by default, an integral part of a team’s offence.

Smirnova's best years began in the 88 Seoul Olympics, where her solo block on match point at 16-15 gave the USSR the gold medal over the Peruvian underdogs. For two years since then, culminating at the USSR's impressive World Championship victory in China 90, Irina Smirnova was feared as probably one of the best outside hitters in the world along with Cuba's Mireya Luis and Brazil's Ana Moser. Since the powerful Luis hadn’t been present in Seoul, Smirnova had the chance to be in the spotlight for a couple of years. And even though Cuba returned to the international scene after the Seoul boycott, the Caribbean team didn’t really begin its total domination of international volleyball until 1991.


In case you're wondering what a cock-of-the-rock looks like...
The years between Seoul 88 and China 90 were the peak years of Soviet hegemony. As if the USSR hadn’t dominated the scene enough in the past!

Smirnova, along with Tatyana Sidorenko, was a solid outside hitter. Middles Valentina Ogienko and Yelena Ovtchinnikova (later Chebukina) were the blocking towers of the team. And the brain lay in Irina Parkhomchuk and her creativity, which gained her the MVP award at the 90 World Championships. That tournament was won in complete domination of all teams. Even the host team was overpowered, and this despite their having had brought legend Lang Ping out of inactivity to defend her country’s colours. The USSR was simply too much for all the other teams, and with such overbearing power in their attacks, it was doubtful that any other team would step up with any type of intricate scheme to challenge brute Soviet force.

Unless of course, it was a MORE powerful, physical, and athletic team.


Irina at the 91 World Cup, acting surprised at the referee's call... "Ja? Nu kak eto vozmozhno?!" 
In the two Gala Matches played in Barcelona and Rome in 1991, Smirnova and her teammates faced a combined team of Cubans, Brazilians, Peruvians, Chinese, Japanese and USAmericans. Although the Soviets lost both matches in five sets, the statistics were astonishing: both Sidorenko and Smirnova accounted for more kills than the rest of the team combined! Despite their efforts (especially those of Marina Nikulina who was replacing Irina Parkhomchuk) the All-Stars won both matches by 3-2. That same year, the Soviets got used to Luis banging balls over or around their tall blocks like no one had ever done before. Whereas before not many teams could put up a solid enough block to counter the two Soviet hitters, all of a sudden Smirnova and Sidorenko were seeing more and more Cuban arms stuff-blocking them with might. 

At the 91 World Cup, Luis and Company edged out a seemingly disoriented USSR and took home yet another World Cup trophy. Smirnova was voted the tournament's best spiker, but the individual honours were all she was going to see for the remainder of her career for the 90s had ushered in Cuba as the new world power.

In Barcelona 92, Irina Smirnova and Tatyana Sidorenko were once again the ones to rack up points for their team (then called, the "Unified Team" as the USSR had dissolved into a Community of Independent States (CIS), but who played under the Olympic flag—yes, a very odd situation). Although they lost at the tie-breaker in pool play to a very solid USA team, the Unified Team eventually beat Brazil in the semifinal, and met Cuba in the gold-medal match. Smirnova played her usual game, high and strong, but it took Cuba four tight games to win the match. On match point, Magaly Carvajal served a crooked floater that Valentina Ogienko shanked. Smirnova tried running to save the ball but failed, and she slammed the ball down in obvious frustration. Whereas in Seoul they had taken home the gold, in Barcelona they felt the sourness of second place. However, if I recall correctly, Smirnova won the Best Spiker award at the Olympics. I also remember the US magazines hailing rookie Artamonova as a "Smirnova look-alike" because she had Smirnova's stretched-arm swing going fully over-the-block. If you see Artamonova play nowadays, similarities with her predecessor will abound.


Irina hits a ball on the outside against Peru in the historic final match of the Seoul Olympic Games. Her mighty attacks helped the USSR come back from 0-2 to win 17-15 in the fifth and take the gold. Teammates Ogienko, Parkhomchuk, Ovtchinnikova are covering her hit. [FIVB Photo Archives]
Many thought that Barcelona was Smirnova's last participation in an Olympic Games. But in 96, Karpol yanked her out of wherever she was to include her in his first Olympic Russian team (no longer the USSR or the CIS). The older players—Ogienko, Nikulina and now Smirnova (who came under the name Ilchenko)—added experience to a younger team that came from the base of the 91 Junior World Champion team—Artamonova, Grachova, Morozova, Batukhtina, plus the younger ones, Menshova, Tischenko and Godina. 

Though they played well in Atlanta, the Russians had to give way to a very young but amazing Chinese team (coached by Lang Ping) who defeated them 3-1 in the semifinal. And in the bronze-medal match, Russia had to face a spirited Brazil, who played whole-heartedly to erase the horrible memories of their semifinal loss to Cuba (one that ended in fistfights and reports filed to the police ). With Brazil's five game victory, Karpol's team lost a place in the medal stand for the first time at the Olympic Games.

I assume Irina Smirnova/Ilchenko retired from the National Team after Atlanta. Though I didn't see all of Russia's matches, I noticed that Karpol didn't use her at the tie-break against Brazil, neither did he use Artamonova. Instead, he went to Menshova and rookie Godina. Strange. But then again, what can one expect from Karpol? There must be some rationale behind his actions. Still, under his rabid coaching, Smirnova rose to become the best attacker of her time, and an essential piece in the Soviet machine that conquered the two most important international competitions between 1988 and 1990.

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