Pakhomova was the daughter of Alexei Pakhomov, an aviation general. She began figure skating at age seven, when her grandmother brought her to Children and Youth Sports School by the Young Pioneers Stadium in Moscow. Her first ice dancing partner was the nine-years-older Viktor Ryzhkin, formerly her coach, with whom she trained at CSKA Moscow under Stanislav Zhuk. They won three Soviet national titles and placed 10th at the 1966 World Championships. They were the first Soviet ice dancers to compete at Worlds.