Thread by @SlavaMalamud

I am absolutely exasperated with @NBCOlympics announcers' attempts at pronouncing Slavic/Russian names. It kills me to even listen to them try (or not even try) to do it. I wish I could compose a comprehensive guide to Russian names. I can't.
I will do a quick and dirty one...

Rule 1. English pronunciation norms NEVER apply. Russian names are transliterated directly and are meant to be read phonetically. Therefore, Anastasia is never an-as-TAY-shuh (it's an-as-tah-SEE-ya) and Ivan is never EYE-van (it's ee-VAHN)...

Just remember that in Russian every letter stands for its own sound, AND THAT SOUND ONLY. The "i" will always be pronounced as "ee", the "a" will always be pronounced as "ah" - no exceptions, no variations. The only thing that varies is the stress.
Consonants are self-explanatory

But do keep in mind that "zh" is pronounced as "g" in "giraffe" and "kh" (roughly) as "h" in "horse." The "ts" is basically the same sound as in "cats." The "shch" sound doesn't exist in English. Try to produce something like "sh" and "ch" in a quick succession...

Rule 2. There is no universal rule on where to put the stress, except that in female LAST names that end in "ina" the stress is NEVER on the "i." So, Nikitina is NOT nick-ee-TEE-na (it's nick-EAT-ee-na). But the "i" will be stressed in first names such as Galina or Karina...

The female last names that end in "ova", the stress can be virtually anywhere. Americans tend to always put it on the "o", but this only happens in some of them (Ivanova, Petrova, Kuznetsova, Kozlova), namely in those derived from male names where the stress was on the last "o."

In the male name Fyodorov, the stress is on the first syllable, so Fyodorova will stress the same one (FYO-doh-roh-vah). Stepanov stresses the middle syllable and so will its female equivalent Stepanova (step-AH-no-vah). The stress will NEVER be on the "a" in "ova", however.

The same pattern applies to female names ending in "eva" (Ryabtseva, Solntseva): the stress goes on the same syllable as in the equivalent male names.
In names ending in "yova" (or "yov" for men) the stress is ALWAYS on the "yo" syllable. Every single time, without exception.

In fact, the "yo" sound, which has its own letter, is always stressed, in all words.
Unfortunately, many Russian names with this sound are habitually misspelled (Fedorov instead of Fyodorov, Semin in stead of Syomin, Zhuravlev instead of Zhuravlyov) by sloppy passport officials.

This leads to understandable mistakes in pronunciation (when people see the name Semin, they tend to say SEM-in, instead of the proper SYOM-een), and there is no good remedy for this, other than just asking.
In fact, this would be my suggestion to @NBCOlympics and others: ASK!

That is Rule 3. Ask. Don't be lazy. Don't be condescending. Ask for the proper, native pronunciation. It is not a coincidence that @NBCOlympics figure skating announcers pronounce Russian names perfectly, while all the others butcher them. Russians command respect in fig skating.

Other athletes deserve the same respect and the same professionalism.
Ask. And specify that you want to know how the name is ACTUALLY pronounced, not what the athlete would be willing to settle for. Many will display false modesty and say "Call me what you want." Tell them...

... it's not about your wants or your convenience, it's about professionalism, factual correctness and respect for the audience.
Insist on the truth. Your job amounts to informing us about the athletes. Don't neglect the most basic part of the info.
And stop making my ears bleed.