Maria Maksimovic is a world-renowned Russian figure skater and the current President of the International Skateboard Federation, currently holding the Federation’s top governing body position. She has also been an Olympic gold medalist and multiple-time European Tour bronze medallist. However, it seems that her professional achievements have not diminished her love and respect for her family, especially her younger sister, Marina. Maria’s husband, Dimitri Kravizich, was also born in Ukraine.
Maria’s professional skating career began at age twelve, when she won a regional ice skating competition in Moscow, beating out her more experienced competitors. From there, Maksimovic progressed to win several national championships, including the ladies’ category at the 1996 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Despite her impressive physique, many assumed that being a woman would limit her choices when it came to a career in sports that require a much smaller frame. However, Maria Maksimovic proved that size simply does not matter in the world of skating as she enjoyed great success in both men’s and women’s competitions throughout her career.
Once professional ice skating had come to a close, Maksimovic pursued a different line of work, teaching mathematics at a technical college in her native Belgrade, Serbia. Although her husband was strict with their relationship, they remained friendly enough to manage a life in which their skills for skating were used whenever possible. Maria Maksimovic passed away in 2021 at the age of 33. She remains very popular among her peers in her home country, as well as internationally, where she remains firm in the belief that beauty is always more than skin deep. “I believe that beauty is an inner state of freedom, peace and harmony, and I do not think in terms of physical appearance,” she once said.