Ekaterina Gamova marital status. Biography of Catherine Gamova

Ekaterina Gamova (Mukasey) - volleyball player, eleven-time Russian champion and twice World champion. Honored Master of Sports, holder of two orders "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the second and first degree. Born in 1890 in Chelyabinsk.

She studied at a school with a sports bias. I became interested in volleyball in the eighth grade, before that I played handball and basketball. At the age of eleven, the growth of the athlete reached 1.72 m, now it is 2.02 m. In the middle of the 2000s, she defended her diploma from the faculty of the RSSU in journalism.

At the age of fourteen, she was accepted into the team of masters, and a year later she won the Russian Cup. Two years later he moved to Yekaterinburg. As part of the Russian national team, she became a two-time world and European champion, as well as a multiple silver medalist in various sports championships.

In 2016, she founded her own volleyball school in the city of Kazan. Young volleyball players train at the base Olympic reserve. In the same period, she ended her career, and a year later she received the position of assistant head coach of the Russian national volleyball team. She made her debut as a coach in 2017 at the European Championship, where our girls won gold.

Personal life

In 2012, she married Mikhail Mukasey (producer and director). After that, the inscription Gamova-Mukasey appeared on the athlete’s T-shirt, and under this name she continued to perform until the end of her career.

Ekaterina Gamova's apartment

The volleyball star has an apartment on Shabolovka, located on the eighteenth floor of a new business class building. This is her first own property acquired, but she never became her own. She was not engaged in design at all, because after the purchase she immediately left to work in Turkey and entrusted this business to a familiar designer.

The apartment was converted into a studio: the kitchen is combined with the living room, from which sliding doors of the "compartment" type led to the bedroom. At that time, such an environment was quite modern, but today Katya is unhappy with this design, as her taste has changed.

A two-room apartment on Shabolovka, according to CIAN, costs from 5 to 24 million rubles.

House of Ekaterina Gamova

After completing her career, the athlete, with her usual zeal, took up the arrangement of her country house. The site belongs to her husband's parents: Anatoly Mukasey and Svetlana Druzhinina in the old-time village of filmmakers - in Snegiry. The house itself was built by Mikhail and Ekaterina on their own.

The project of a one-story house with panoramic windows was bought ready-made, but a professional architect was invited to bring it to life. Active construction lasted a little more than two years, and now the cottage, built of timber, resembles a Swiss chalet in its appearance. It is surrounded by a balcony around the perimeter, enclosed by a glass partition.

The tastes in the design of the country house of Mikhail and his wife completely coincided, therefore, during the planning and discussion of the future interior with the designer, there were no quarrels and quarrels. Everything was thought out and approved quickly. The interior space is divided into two zones: private and guest. On the ground floor there is a living room, a kitchen with a dining area and a master bedroom.

The living area is made in dark colors with light, lilac accents. A large number of spotlights are mounted around and luminous panels are installed.

The basement is occupied by guest rooms, a billiard room, a gym and a studio with musical instruments played by family friends.

According to CIAN, prices for cottages in Snegiry start at 10 million rubles

"Bathing in the glory is not mine"

Photo: Mikhail Korolev

Ekaterina Gamova is not just the most famous volleyball player in the country, she has been number one in world volleyball for the past ten years. As part of the Russian national team, the athlete won two silver Olympic medals. Last summer, after the Olympics, Catherine decided to take a break from playing for the national team and got married. Her chosen one was a cameraman and producer
Mikhail Mukasey. The volleyball player spends this summer with her family.

Ekaterina, this is almost your first full-fledged vacation in your sports career, isn't it? After all, in the summer, in the off-season, you went to the training of the Russian national team.
Perhaps even the only one. For the first time in my life, I can really relax and completely relax - not only physically, but above all psychologically.

And how do you rest?
Most of the time, my husband Misha and I ( Mikhail Mukasey is the son of director Svetlana Druzhinina and cameraman Anatoly Mukasey. - Approx. OK!) spent in Moscow. And just recently returned from Georgia. We went to the wedding to our friends: first we visited Tbilisi, and then went to the celebration itself - to Kakheti. I was completely delighted with this country, I want to come there again.

It's your first wedding anniversary soon. Tell us how you met Mikhail?
The acquaintance happened on the set of a commercial for one of the furniture complexes. The shooting was done by his company.

You saw him and immediately understood: this is fate ...

No, nothing like that! ( Laughs.) After I left the set, Misha started sending me text messages. There was a long correspondence, and then we met. Misha began to come to Kazan ( Ekaterina plays for Dynamo Kazan. - Note OK!), I'm in Moscow. Very smoothly everything grew into a relationship. But until the moment he made me an official proposal, I had no illusions. I was just glad that I had it, enjoyed the "here and now" and did not make any plans.

How does Mikhail feel about the fact that his wife is one of the best volleyball players in the world? Or is he indifferent to sports?
No, not indifferent. He himself played volleyball as a child, so he is well versed in this matter. Misha is always very worried about me, cheers and supports me. Although I do not think that my status in the volleyball world is of great importance to him. Rather, he, along with me, rejoices at my success. And in these successes there is partly his merit.

You play in Kazan, Mikhail works in Moscow. Surely it's hard to be torn between the two cities?
I can't say it's terribly difficult. When the volleyball season is on, we see each other every two weeks. The team and I often fly to Moscow for games, and they let me go - for this many thanks to the coach. Or I stay here after the match. And it also happens that Misha comes to me. I don't remember that we didn't see each other for more than two weeks.

And how does your husband feel about your many trips?
Misha knows that this is my favorite job and supports me in everything. He never bangs his fist on the table or swears because I don't spend all my days with him. ( Laughs.) This was not, is not and will not be!

Are you still thinking about children?
We don't guess, to be honest. Somewhere up there, probably, something is known about this, but not to us. I have a job first.

But many volleyball players give birth, and then return to big sport.
Age must be taken into account here. If you leave to give birth at the age of twenty-five, then there is still a chance to return. Or another option: you play to the last, and then give birth and never return. Everyone has his own path. I am now thirty-two, and I do not yet know how everything will develop further. The contract will end - we will decide.

Rivals gave you a nickname consonant with the last name - Game Over, that is, "the game is over." How do you feel about it?
I am very calm about any nicknames, especially since this - Game Over - came from my youth. I just don't pay attention to it. People love it and it's great.

And how do you feel about the attention of the fans in general?
To be honest, I start to feel embarrassed when too many eyes are riveted on me, I feel a slight embarrassment. I don't like to boast of my fame. Swimming in the glory and love of the fans is not mine. Sometimes, especially after tough matches, you don't want to hear or see anyone. There is only one desire - that no one touches you. After all, we are all living people ... I try never to refuse autographs, but I don’t really like taking pictures with fans. And to be completely honest, I don’t like it at all! The doctor of our team knows about this, and after the matches he tries to protect me from people. Before the game, I am ready to sign and take pictures for at least three hours, but after the match I feel completely exhausted. Not everyone understands this. But you can’t please everyone - I realized this simple truth a long time ago, maybe even in childhood.

What was your biggest dream as a child?
Probably sleep! I lived in Chelyabinsk, got up at six in the morning to go with transfers to the other end of the city. We trained twice a day. After the morning workout, I went to school, then back to training. She returned home at eight or nine in the evening. It's good that the school was not far from the hall where they trained. But I was not alone, there were many such girls.

Who brought you to volleyball?
Aunt. She also became my first coach. But it is important not only to bring the child to the gym, it is also necessary to instill in him a love for sports. Aunt succeeded. Officially, I started training at the age of nine, but I lived in the gym from early childhood. I remember very well how once I went with my aunt's team to a competition in the city of Miass, which is located almost a hundred kilometers from Chelyabinsk. The team won, they were presented with a pair of skis, which eventually went to me. I was very happy, because the skis were just needed for physical education at school.

Have you ever doubted the correctness of the chosen path?
No never. This is my life!

And when did you realize that volleyball is your life's work?
This probably comes with age, when you gain worldly wisdom. You look back, you see what you managed to achieve, and you understand: yes, this is the right path.

When you were just getting started professional career, volleyball players did not have the opportunity to earn serious money. They even talk about the fact that professionals were transported in reserved seat cars ...
In a reserved seat car, I went to competitions, probably only at school. Then the conditions were better. I never really thought about how hard or easy it is to be a professional volleyball player. I just did my job, took everything for granted. I was taken to the team of masters at the age of fourteen. Of course, it was nice to realize that at such a young age I achieved certain heights, but at the same time I faced difficulties. All the players in the team turned out to be at least five years older than me. I was, in fact, a very small child.

Did you have to grow up early?
Yes, I had to get used to it, because I had to somehow train, live. I joined the rhythm and worked on an equal footing with everyone. And when I turned fifteen in the fall, many people were very surprised about my age. But I still do not think that my childhood was somehow particularly difficult. You see, it's all about how you feel about what's going on. I took it for granted, so I lived a completely normal life. If I had been constantly worried about not being able to go out with friends like my other peers, then perhaps my childhood would have seemed hopeless to me.

And at that time you did not ask the question: what is all this for?
No. But appetite comes with eating. When I played in the children's team, I dreamed of getting into the team of masters. Then she dreamed of a youth team, then - of the main national team. Moreover, when I was little, for some reason I did not even think of winning the Olympic Games. At that moment, gold medals were much more important to me. children's championship Russia. ( Laughs.)

Tears in the eyes of athletes after defeats are a familiar picture. But you cry much less often than others. Your most memorable tears are after the defeat in the final of the 2004 Athens Olympics. And perhaps, when last summer the Russian team lost to the Brazilians in the quarterfinals of the London Olympics.
In Athens, we were one step away from Olympic gold ... In general, competitions of this level are a terrible stress. It is very difficult for me to restrain myself, is it necessary? I tried once to suppress my tears, but it does not lead to anything good. It was after the defeat at the Beijing Olympics. I decided for myself: I will hold on, no one will see my tears. But when I reached the village, I realized that I was starting to feel sick from the fact that I kept all this in myself. As a result, we got together with our masseur and fellow volleyball player Marina Babeshina, wept for three ... ( Smiling.)

Surely you experienced the London defeat harder than many others in your career ...
Yes, I realized that this was my last chance to win. Olympic gold. It turns out that this dream of mine will never come true... And the match against the Brazilians was very difficult. I don't think it's ever been so hard for me. The Brazilians played poorly at the beginning of the tournament, and then there was a revival of the Phoenix bird, which happened precisely in the match with us. I believe that this match was worthy of the Olympic final.

Look, you're only thirty-two! The famous Russian volleyball player Sergei Tetyukhin was able to win Olympic gold on his fifth attempt, he was then thirty-six years old.
Sergei Tetyukhin is a brilliant athlete, I have great respect for him. And after all, he also left the national team ... I don’t know how I can do it. While I live in fairly short periods of time and am not ready to make plans for 2016. I love to play and win, that's why I'm still in the sport.

That is, you have not yet decided for yourself whether you have finally completed your career in the national team or not?
While I am an active athlete, but anything can happen. I will definitely play next season, I have a valid contract. What will happen next, now I do not think. I believe that everything will be as it should be.

Are you a fatalist?
Yes, I know that our life is painted somewhere above. We can guess as much as we like, but they say: if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.

However, do you already have some ideas about what to do after completing sports career?
There are certain thoughts. We often discuss this with Misha, but so far I would not like to talk about it.

Maybe you should try yourself in the cinema? Still, my husband is engaged in it, and his parents are directly connected with the cinema.
No, cinema is not my story. I want to do something that I am good at. I am aware of the cinema at the level of the layman, so why should I go there? I'd rather be a simple spectator who enjoys the fruits of labor of people who really know a lot about this. And I myself, for example, will open a volleyball school.

Ekaterina, did your attitude towards cinema change after meeting Mikhail? Have you started going to the cinema more often, have your tastes changed?
We most often watch movies at home, on the big screen TV. Indeed, Misha often advises watching films that he considers good. Most of the time, we agree. Although we recently went to see The Great Gatsby together, I liked the film, and Misha said that it was a movie for girls. (Laughs.)

If you and Mikhail do not spend the evening watching a movie, how do you spend your free time?
Now we travel a lot, meet friends, build our dacha - but everything is in relaxation mode. It's now, summer. But winter will come, and free time will be sorely lacking. It will remain exactly just to be with each other together.

In the past six months, the best volleyball player in the history of the country, Ekaterina Gamova, could increasingly be seen not on sports grounds, and in television studios and on the covers of magazines. It seems that volleyball fans will soon have to get used to the new role of Ekaterina Gamova.

In the meantime, she is preparing to enter the site to spend her last match in a career. And what a match! Two Dynamos, Kazan and Moscow, in which Gamova played at different stages of her career, will arrange a real show so that the farewell to Catherine the Great will be remembered for a long time. On the eve of the match, which will be held in Kazan, Ekaterina Gamova met with journalists. A correspondent of AIF-Kazan also attended the meeting.

"I'm leaving no later and no earlier"

- Ekaterina, is it sad to realize that you are ending your career?

Not really. I don’t see anything sad in this, for me this is a pleasant time. I perceive even this farewell match as a holiday: a holiday for me, for the fans who will see the game of two the best teams countries. I am filled with only positive emotions.

Ekaterina Gamova became the champion of Russia five times with Dynamo-Kazan. Photo: Dynamo-Kazan

- You haven't played for a long time, almost half a year. Can you show your level in the game with the national team volleyball players?

All this time I did not stop working in gym, supported physical form. I don't think it's all that critical. Let's hope that we will play fresh.

In 2010 Dynamo Kazan had carte blanche to sign players of the highest caliber. They were waiting for one thing - will Gamow go? Negotiations went on for more than six months, and when the contract was signed, literally within a week other stars of domestic volleyball came to the club. A team was built around Catherine the Great. And they did not fail: five won Russian championships in a row, two Russian Cups, the Club World Cup and the Champions League - all these trophies have been won since the 2010/2011 season.

- Do you think it's too early for you to decide to end your career? Or maybe they dragged it out?

I think I'm leaving no later and no earlier. Everything has its time. In principle, I did not plan to play further, but the main reason was my injury, which tormented me in last years. Is there a chance that I will change my mind? 0%. Over the past years, I have gotten used to the fact that in the summer I have a vacation, and in the fall new season, training resumes and I re-enter the mode. I thought that this time in the fall it would start to “break”, but nothing like that - I don’t want to play.

Dynamo Kazan and pink contract

- Do you remember how you ended up in Dynamo Kazan?

Then I had the option of moving to Kazan or Krasnodar. Sergei Nikolaevich (Chernyshov, director of the ZhVK Dynamo-Kazan - author's note) immediately won me over, we found a common language. “Ask for whatever you want, even a pink contract,” he joked then. Well, I was joking, so all my contracts with Dynamo were eventually printed on pink paper - such a tradition that emerged from a joke.

Of course, at that moment I did not go anywhere. As an athlete, I looked at the players who were on the team, looked at the coach. It was with him that I really wanted to work.

That pink contract. Photo: Dynamo-Kazan

Unrealized dream

- Do you regret that you never won Olympic gold?

You know, no. I consider my career very successful, but I can’t be upset that I don’t have one medal. If earlier I said that I would give everything for the gold of the Olympics, now I have a completely different opinion.

- You do not want to try your hand as a coach?

No. I will not be a coach, or a deputy, or a sports journalist, and I am not going to the cinema either. Life is very bright and multifaceted, there are many different directions in which I would try myself. I will definitely not go to the cinema and politics. Show Business? This is quite interesting and familiar to me. If earlier I could not devote much time to such events, now I have plenty of it. From the unusual - this winter I plan to finally get up on alpine skiing.

From Kazan, Ekaterina will move to Moscow, where her husband lives. In the photo with her husband's parents - Anatoly Mukasey and Svetlana Druzhinina, famous filmmakers. Photo: Dynamo-Kazan

- Is it difficult to adjust to a normal life after sports?

I have my own affairs, plans. A lot of filming and interviews, I go to fitness. It turns out that I still have almost every day planned out. It is clear that it is a completely different matter, but still. I want to arrange comfort in the house and generally do all those simple and ordinary things that are inherent in ordinary women.

Volleyball after Gamova

Ekaterina sits at a press conference surrounded by huge cups - all those awards that she won with the team. For for long years she played on the highest level, being a real face, a brand of the whole world volleyball. In previous years, injuries miraculously bypassed her, but sport is, first of all, physical exercise who simply could not, sooner or later, not make themselves felt.

So Gamova’s body began to malfunction more and more often, all the last season Gamova healed her knee injury more than she played ... It was possible to leave the sport in another way, for example, to leave to pursue a career in Turkey or China, but there were such opportunities. But the decision turned out to be firm and instead of leaving to finish playing abroad, Gamova decided to open her own volleyball school.

“It was my idea to create Gamova's school and I am very glad that they agreed with me. Of course, now I will spend most of my time in Moscow - after all, I and my whole family have been living in this city for the last 12 years. I understand that it’s not enough just to name the school by its name, so I will try to come to Kazan as often as possible, communicate with the girls who will study there, conduct master classes and help in every possible way. Of course, they will have a coach, but I would also like to take part in this as far as possible. ”

Gamova retires from volleyball, but her name is forever inscribed in the history of this sport. Last season, Dynamo Kazan did not win a single trophy, and changes are coming in the Russian team. Is there life after Gamova? Certainly! Apart from this school in Kazan, with her career, her outstanding game and her attitude to work, she has already brought a huge number of children from all over the country to volleyball, who grew up following her example. This is probably why she is Catherine the Great - not so much because of all these cups and medals, but for what she did for her sport.

By the way, Dynamo Kazan decided to withdraw Gamova's number from circulation. Now a T-shirt with her name and number 11 will be posted under the arches of the local volleyball center.

Gamova Ekaterina Alexandrovna (10/17/1980) - Russian volleyball player, Honored Master of Sports. 11-time champion of Russia and 4-time winner of the Russian Cup. As part of the national team, she won the gold of the World Championship and the European Championship twice. Has two silver medals Olympic Games. In 2010, she was recognized by fans and experts as the best athlete in Russia.

“After every game, I feel the most sincere emotions. Even after 10 years of my career, I rejoice in victory and grieve in defeat as brightly as I did at the very beginning. In this sense, my attitude to volleyball has never changed.”

Childhood

Ekaterina Gamova is from Chelyabinsk, she was born on October 17, 1980. From childhood, the girl was distinguished by a craving for sports. Therefore, parents and a school for her chose a special one, with a bias towards physical disciplines.

With the leading sport decided very quickly. Because of tall Katya, and by the age of 11 he was 172 centimeters, the choice was only between volleyball, basketball and handball. The final choice of Gamova was helped by her aunt, who used to play volleyball herself, and then began to train young people. She also became the first mentor of the future world champion.

Ekaterina Gamova began her career in her native Chelyabinsk club Metar. And as part of this team, the volleyball player won her first award - the gold of the Russian Cup. After that, the girl was invited to the famous Yekaterinburg "Uralochka", which at that time was led by the famous coach Nikolai Karpol. Interestingly, the girl was offered a contract immediately for 15 years, which is generally unusual for the world of sports. But, apparently, the leadership of the "Mermaid", and maybe Karpol himself, considered the girl's outstanding talent and decided to immediately stop any attempts by competitors to lure away their new star.

Club career

Already at the age of 19, Gamova became the champion of Russia. In the final, "Uralochka" met with its subsidiary team "Uraltransbank". The duel was not easy. Nominally, the second team managed to show character and even led the game with a score of 2:1. But largely thanks to Ekaterina, "Uralochka" turned the tide and won the "gold". The Chelyabinsk athlete still remembers that moment as one of the brightest in her career.

A year later, the Yekaterinburg club managed to repeat this success and defended the title. Uralochka also won bronze medals in the Champions League. Gamova and her team had a great chance to win the main European trophy in 2003. "Uralochka" made it to the final of the tournament. Yes, and Ekaterina herself, according to the results of that year, became the most productive athlete. But this was still not enough to defeat the French Cannu, and in the end the Russians were content with only silver medals.

In 2004, Ekaterina Gamova decided to move from Yekaterinburg to Moscow and play for the capital's Dynamo. But her contract ended only after 9 years. The athlete was able to break the agreement with Uralochka only through the court. It is interesting that next year Uralochka and Dynamo met in the final of the Russian Championship. And the old team of Gamova, which by that time had been strengthened by Cuban athletes, did not leave a stone unturned from the Muscovites, beating them with a score of 3:0. True, the next three years (2006-2009) remained with Gamova and her Dynamo.

In the 2009/10 season, Ekaterina Gamova decides to leave for Turkey and play for the Fenerbahce club. In one year, the Russian volleyball player has replenished her piggy bank with gold medals of the Turkish Championship and the Cup of the country. Moreover, Gamova's team went through the entire national tournament without a single defeat. But the Champions League did not work out again. Fenerbahce lost in the final and was content with only silver.

And yet this peak was conquered by Ekaterina Gamova. It happened in 2014, when the athlete was already playing for Dynamo Kazan. It is interesting that the volleyball player then went out on the court already under the surname Gamova-Mukasey, adding her husband's surname.

Career for the Russian national team

Ekaterina Gamova joined the national youth team at the age of 17. Together with the team, she won the silver of the European Championship (1998) and the gold of the World Championship (1997). After that, she was taken to the main national team, which at that time was led by Nikolai Karpol.

“Although I do not keep in touch with Karpol, I always say hello when I meet. I will always have respect for him as a person and mentor. My career growth began with this specialist. But I do not detract from the merits of all subsequent coaches "

For a long time, the coach kept Gamow in reserve, releasing only a few minutes on the court. Only in 2001, she entered the base. And immediately won the European Championship with the team, and at the World Championship she became the most productive player in the tournament. Finest hour for Gamova came at the Olympics in Athens. Together with her teammate Lyubov Sokolova, she shared the entire load that fell on the national team. As a result, Ekaterina became the most valuable player of the tournament with a record 204 points. But, unfortunately, this was not enough to win the Olympics. In a dramatic duel, the Russians lost to the Chinese team. And Ekaterina Gamova, after that match, could not hold back her tears, saying only one phrase to reporters: “We still have something to strive for ...”

In 2006, Ekaterina Gamova helped the Russians win the World Championship gold for the first time. Moreover, the main favorites - the Brazilians - were defeated in the final. In 2010, the national team repeated this success, and again in decisive match the Brazilians were beaten. Then Gamow brought decisive points. And after some time she was recognized as the best athlete of the year in Russia.

The only award that did not submit to Ekaterina Gamova is the gold of the Olympic Games. The volleyball player participated in the tournament in Beijing and London, but the national team then could not show its the best game. In 2014, Gamova officially ended her career in the national team.

The legendary Russian volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova has completed her sports career.

On October 1, 2016, the famous Russian volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova held her farewell match in Kazan, in which the teams she played for - Kazan and Moscow Dynamo played.

farewell match in her career, the volleyball player spent in Kazan.

There was a full house in the hall. Ekaterina decided to play for both Dynamos - both Kazan and Moscow, to which she gave six years of her career.

"Ulanova, Startseva, Vasileva ... And, finally, number 11 - Ekaterina Gamova," the host of the show announced the entrance to the site of the one for whom several thousand fans gathered on the arena this Saturday evening.

Gamova did not hold the ball in her hands for several months, but she brought the first point of the Kazan Dynamo in the match. A huge banner "Legend No. 11" was lit up on the fan section, indicating the number of matches held in Kazan. There were 225 of them.

Disappearing unnoticed in the room under the stands, Gamova returned to the site before the second set in the form of the Moscow "Dynamo".

“It was very unusual for me to play against my team. And when Dasha Stolyarova scored in the first attack, I even wanted to be happy for Dynamo Kazan, although I was already on the other side of the site,” Gamova admitted after the match.

In the middle of the second game, she left the court for the last time as a player.

After the match, she gave a farewell speech. “I want to say the main thanks to my mother, who gave birth to me. Despite everything and in spite of everything,” Ekaterina concluded her speech, and the arena was drowned in applause and tears.

Opposite the blue jerseys of Zenit legends Igor Shulepov, Lloy Ball, Sergei Tetyukhin and Ruslan Olikhver, a huge canvas with number 11 appeared, which from now on will hang in volleyball palace in Kazan.

"Let's say thanks to Katya together," the host of the match suggested, and before he could finish the phrase, words of gratitude were heard from the stands.

Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gamova(since 2013 she performed under the surname Gamova-Mukasey) was born on October 17, 1980 in Chelyabinsk.

She studied at secondary school No. 71 with sports classes. She began playing volleyball at the age of eight under the guidance of her aunt Lyubov Borisovna.

By the age of 11, Ekaterina's height was already 172 centimeters, by this time she had finally chosen volleyball, although at first she also attended basketball and handball training, and continued her volleyball education at the Metar sports school in the Metallurgical District of Chelyabinsk.

At the age of 14, Ekaterina was enrolled in the Chelyabinsk team of masters "Metar".

In 1996 she won the first title in her career - the Cup of Russia.

In 1998, at a training camp in Alushta, Ekaterina Gamova received an offer to move to Yekaterinburg to join the famous team "Uralochka", headed by the coach of the Russian national team Nikolai Karpol. The athlete signed a contract with a club from Yekaterinburg for a period of 15 years.

In March 1999, Uralochka and its subsidiary Uraltransbank, for which Gamova played, met in the final of the Russian Championship and nominally the second team almost beat the first, leading in sets 2:1. Ekaterina Gamova for the first time became the winner of the Russian Championship, and later recalled this match as one of the best in her career. In the same season, as part of Uraltransbank, she also became a member of the Final Four» European Volleyball Confederation Cup, held in Naples.

In the 2000/2001 season, Ekaterina Gamova, speaking for the main Uralochka, became the champion of Russia and the bronze medalist of the Champions League.

In the fall of 2004, Ekaterina Gamova announced her decision to leave Uralochka for Moscow "Dynamo". The decision to terminate the contract with Uralochka, which was in effect until 2013, was made by the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg.

In April 2005, Dynamo and Uralochka expectedly met in the final of the Russian Championship, where new team Gamova could not oppose anything to the group of players who survived the departure, but strengthened by two volleyball players of the Cuban national team "Uralochka" and lost with a score of 0:3.

In 2006-2009, Gamova, as part of Dynamo, became the champion of Russia three times and once a silver medalist.

Ekaterina Gamova spent the 2009/2010 season in Turkey, playing for Istanbul Fenerbahce. Starting with winning the Turkish Super Cup, Fenerbahce won the Cup and the national championship without a single defeat, and only in the Champions League final - the 39th match of the season - the winning streak was interrupted. Another individual prize was won by Ekaterina Gamova, who became the most productive at the Final Four in Cannes.

In the summer of 2010, the Russian diagonal switched to Kazan "Dynamo".

Ekaterina Gamova spent six seasons with Dynamo Kazan and became one of the main creators of the team's success, which won five Russian championships in a row in 2011-2015. Three times Ekaterina became the owner of the Lyudmila Buldakova Prize as the best volleyball player of the Russian championship.

In the spring of 2014, she won gold medals in the Champions League and Club World Cup and was recognized as the most valuable player in both tournaments. As part of the Kazan team, she also won the Russian Cup twice.

Ekaterina Gamova in the Russian national team

Since 1997, Ekaterina Gamova has been a member of the Russian youth team, won the 1997 World Championship and the 1998 European Championship silver.

In the fall of 1998, she went with the Russian national team to Japan for the World Cup, but did not go to the site - Nikolai Karpol accredited the young volleyball player as a coach, giving her the opportunity to feel the atmosphere of a big tournament.

In 1999, Ekaterina Gamova played her first matches as part of the Russian national team: in January, she played on international tournament in Bremen, in June - in qualifying matches European Championships and at the Montreux Volley Masters tournament in Switzerland. In July, as part of the student team, she became the silver medalist of the Universiade, held in the Spanish Palma, and then joined the main team and played several games as part of the World Grand Prix in China. From there, she went to the youth team, which she caught up with in Moscow a few hours before flying to Canada for the World Cup.

Youth Championship world ended triumphantly for the Russian team, and its leader Ekaterina Gamova became the most productive player of the tournament and from Canadian journalists she received the nickname “Game over” consonant with her last name and characterizing the brilliant game. In the same 1999, again as part of the national team, Ekaterina Gamova won her first European Championship and the silver medal of the World Cup.

In the summer of 2000, Gamova won the prize for the best blocker final tournament Grand Prix and was included in the application of the Russian team for the Olympic Games in Sydney. She was not a starter for Nikolai Karpol's team that won silver medals, but she appeared on the court in seven matches and scored 9 points.

As part of the national team, in 2001 she won the European Championship and performed brilliantly at the World Champions Cup, where she was the best in block play and the most productive (102 points) player of the tournament, ahead of her teammate Evgenia Artamonova by 3 points.

In 2002, the Russian team victoriously completed the next Grand Prix and became the third at the World Championships in Germany. At the world championship, Ekaterina Gamova scored 209 points, losing only to Yumilka Ruiz from Cuba in terms of performance, she was second in block play and serve.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics Ekaterina Gamova's leadership qualities, character and skill were especially convincing: together with Lyubov Sokolova, she had to share almost the entire load in the attack of the Russian team. Gamova became the most productive player Olympic tournament, scoring 204 points: 160 on offense, 31 on block and 13 on serve.

In terms of block efficiency, Ekaterina surpassed everyone else, she was third in the tournament in terms of the percentage of attacks, but the best in this indicator, the Chinese woman Zhang Ping, attacked almost two times less (182 times against 349 for Gamova). In the final game lost in an equal fight to the Chinese team, which became one of the most beautiful events of the Olympics, Gamova earned 33 points, after the match she could not hold back her tears, and in an interview with reporters she said: "We still have something to strive for ...".

November 2006 Russian team won the world championship for the first time; in the final match against Brazil, Gamova scored 28 points, including the last one to end a dramatic fifth game in favor of Russia. In terms of overall performance at the tournament, Gamova took 4th place. Under the new coach of the Russian national team, the Italian Giovanni Caprara, Ekaterina Gamova was invariably a participant in all official tournaments.

In 2007, she became the bronze medalist and top scorer at the European Championships in Belgium and Luxembourg. After the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where the Russian team failed to become a winner, Gamova briefly interrupted her career in the national team, but returned to the team, already led by Vladimir Kuzyutkin, during the next major start - the 2009 Grand Prix draw.

On November 14, 2010 in Tokyo, Ekaterina Gamova, like four years earlier, put a winning point in the final match of the World Cup, and in total in the game with the Brazilian national team she scored 35 points out of 106 scored by the Russian team. For an outstanding game, Gamova was awarded the World Championship MVP prize.

In Russia she was recognized as the best athlete in 2010 according to the versions of "Soviet Sport", "Sport-Express", "New News", became the winner of the "Golden Pedestal" prize according to the viewers of the TV channel "Russia-2" and the "Silver Doe" award of the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia.

In July - August 2012, Ekaterina Gamova was a participant in the Olympic Games for the fourth time. In London, the Russian team repeated the result of the previous Olympics, failing to reach the semi-finals and compete for medals. After the end of the tournament, Gamova stated that she most likely would not perform at next Games, later confirmed the decision to end her career in the national team, but in the fall of 2014 she played for her at the World Cup in Italy.

Only the 2015/2016 season, part of which Ekaterina Gamova missed due to a recurrence of a leg injury, did not bring her and Dynamo a single title. At the end of this season, the volleyball player did not renew the contract with the Kazan club and said that she would make a decision to continue her career after the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

May 18, 2016 at live On the Match TV channel, Ekaterina announced that she was ending her professional career due to the inability to take part in the Olympic Games in Rio for health reasons.

The farewell match of Ekaterina Gamova took place on October 1, 2016 at the Saint Petersburg Volleyball Center in Kazan. It was attended the strongest squads dynamos in Moscow and Kazan. Gamova played the starting set for Dynamo-Kazan, she played the beginning of the second game segment as part of Dynamo Moscow, leaving the site after the first technical break. The game jersey with the name "Gamova" was raised under the arches of the Volleyball Center, and its 11th game number in the Kazan club was withdrawn from circulation.

Ekaterina Gamova in the program "Tonight"

Growth of Ekaterina Gamova: 202 centimeters.

Attack height of Ekaterina Gamova: 321 centimeters.

Block height of Ekaterina Gamova: 310 centimeters.

Weight of Ekaterina Gamova: 80 kilograms.

Shoe size of Ekaterina Gamova: 49.

Personal life Ekaterina Gamova:

Married to Mikhail Mukasey - one of the best modern Russian operators.

Mikhail Mukasey is the son of famous cinematographers Svetlana Druzhinina and Anatoly Mukasey, the grandson of Soviet intelligence officers Mikhail and Elizaveta Mukasey. He was a cinematographer in the films Wave Breaker, The Day Before, Arbiter, Down House, Tin, Montana, The Snow Doesn't Always Melt, and some others. He acted as a producer of the film "On Treason". Mikhail Mukasey participated in the filming of more than 500 videos.

It was on the set of the video that they met. Mukasey, as a cameraman, took part in the filming of the video, one of the heroines of which was volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova. Communication began, mutual sympathy arose, and then a stormy romance flared up, which ended in marriage.

Achievements of Ekaterina Gamova:

Russian youth team:

world champion (1997 and 1999);
silver medalist of the European Championship (1998).

Student team of Russia:

silver medalist of the Universiade-1999.

Russian team:

two-time Olympic silver medalist (2000 and 2004);
two-time world champion (2006 and 2010), bronze medalist world championship-2002;
two-time European champion (1999 and 2001), bronze medalist of the European Championships (2005 and 2007);
silver medalist of the World Cup (1999);
silver medalist of the World Cup of Champions (2001);
winner (2002), silver (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009) and bronze (2001) Grand Prix winner.

In the clubs:

11 times champion of Russia (2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2008/2009, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 20 14/2015) ;
silver medalist of the championships of Russia (1998/1999, 1999/2000, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2007/2008);
4-time winner of the Russian Cup (1996, 1997, 2010, 2012);
Turkish champion (2009/2010);
winner of the Super Cup and Turkish Cup (2010);
Champions League winner (2013/2014);
finalist (2002/2003, 2006/2007, 2008/2009, 2009/2010) and bronze medalist (2000/2001, 2011/2012) of the Champions League;
bronze medalist of the CEV Cup (1998/1999), finalist of the Thor Teams Cup (2005/2006);
Club World Cup winner (2014).

Personal achievements:

2000 - best blocker final stage The Grand Prix;
2001 - the most productive player and the best blocker of the World Cup of Champions;
2003 - the most productive player of the final stage of the Grand Prix;
2004 - the most productive player and the best blocker of the Olympic tournament;
2004 - the best volleyball player in Europe;
2006 - the most productive player of the final Grand Prix tournament, the best server of the "Final Four" of the Champions League;
2007 - the award "Glory" in the nomination "For the will to win";
2007 - the most productive player in the European Championship;
2007 - the best forward of the "Final Four" of the Cup of Russia;
2008 - the best striker and the most productive group stage Champions League;
2009 - the most productive player in the Final Four of the Champions League;
2010 - the most productive player in the Final Four of the Champions League;
2010 - MVP (most valuable player) of the World Cup in Japan;
2010 - the best athlete of the year according to the audience of TC "Russia-2";
2010 - MVP and best forward of the Final Four of the Russian Cup;
2011 - best player championship of Russia - the owner of the Prize of Lyudmila Buldakova;
2011 - the best forward of the "Final Four" of the Cup of Russia;
2012 - the most productive player and the best forward of the European Olympic qualifying tournament;
2012 - the best forward of the "Final Four" of the Cup of Russia;
2013 - the best player of the championship of Russia - the owner of the Lyudmila Buldakova Prize;
2013 - the best forward of the "Final Six" of the Cup of Russia;
2014 - MVP and the most productive player of the Final Four of the Champions League;
2014 - MVP and the best diagonal club world championship;
2014 - the best player of the championship of Russia - the owner of the Lyudmila Buldakova Prize.