Life of gymnasts. Personal experience: my daughter is a gymnast
Agility - these qualities are just as important for rhythmic gymnastics as strength, endurance, the ability to feel the rhythm. The little gymnast Vasilisa, who already has several medals to her credit, has it all. How does the life of the family in which the future champion grows up change? What changes in the child himself when he is seriously involved in sports? Vasilisa's mother answers these questions.
Hello! My name is Irina, I live with my family in Tula. My daughter Vasilisa is seven years old, of which she has been doing rhythmic gymnastics for two and a half years.
How it all began
I myself madly like this one, very beautiful, graceful - in my opinion, the most feminine of all kinds! But I would never have thought that we would send our daughter to gymnastics. As a child, I was engaged in regular dancing, I was very flexible, and my mother was constantly persuaded to send me to gymnastics. But she considered this discipline traumatic, and in general did not want to connect my life with sports. It might seem that now I decided to realize my childhood dreams with the help of my daughter, but this is not so.
Vasilisa was very “soft” from infancy. For myself, I explained this by the fact that all babies are like that - it seemed to me so. Once a physical education teacher kindergarten after gymnastics, he told us that Vasilisa had extraordinary flexibility, and asked permission to work out with her individually. After a while, he began to persuade us to give it to gymnastics. But I, like my mother once, was afraid of this sport, dangerous projectiles and injuries. Then I decided that rhythmic gymnastics is less traumatic (naive!).
In the fall of 2015, my daughter and I went to ours. The coach immediately became interested in Vasilisa when she just entered the gym on her thin, thin legs. The fact is that in gymnastics texture is very much appreciated, girls should be thin and tall, like my daughter. She got it right from the very beginning. Since then, from the very first lesson, when Vasilisa's coach believed in her, her daughter has been studying with her and loves her very much.
I will say a banal thing, but the coach is, of course, one of the most important people in the life of a gymnast. This is actually the second mother, in whose eyes the kids grow up, change, and someone turns into professionals and even colleagues. This is a mentor who demands the possible and impossible from you, participates in all your achievements. This is also a friend who will correctly set you up for good luck or support you in failures. Maybe not all coaches are like that. But we were lucky.
Vasilisa has a very inspiring example - gymnast Yana Kudryavtseva. This is my favorite athlete too. It seems to me that her natural data are limitless! And the character, strength of mind is very much ahead of her age. And she has some kind of her own unique manner of performances, special, unlike anyone else. It's a pity that she left the sport so early.
How are the classes
Training lasts for three, and sometimes four hours every day, except Sunday, even during the holidays. In summer, only one month of rest - usually in July, and from August again six times a week. And someone in July leaves for a sports camp. Gymnasts cannot rest for a long time, otherwise the stretching worsens, and then you have to start all over again.
Vasilisa, of course, gets tired. After the lessons, you have to immediately go to training, someone comes right in school uniform and changes clothes on the spot. And then you need more at home when there is no strength.
Most importantly, despite being tired, Vasilisa likes to play sports, she is a very hardworking and hardy girl. IN rhythmic gymnastics in training there are strength exercises, and stretching, and work with the subject, and choreography. Stretching is always painful. Small children are pulled very hard, almost all babies cry and then do not want to go to training, because it really hurts a lot. Vasilisa steadfastly endures everything, and she never had the thought of quitting gymnastics. In addition, all her efforts are not in vain: so far, she has not been left without a medal at any competition. She always has an incentive to train to get first place. I sometimes make fun of her: "Let's not go to the competition, something is already tired." She is offended: “No! Well, I wanted to! I tell her: “Well done! That's right!"
Success Vasilisa
Vasilisa has only 10 medals: one of them is silver, one is bronze, the rest are gold. Four of them are from inter-regional tournaments, one from the regional, the remaining 5 are school ones. We don't have big plans for the future yet. It is clear that all the parents of gymnasts want to see the second Alina Kabaeva, but one must understand that for this it is necessary that too many different factors coincide.
The competition in this sport in Russia is extremely high. We have a very large country, in which, probably, every third girl is sent to rhythmic gymnastics. And there are a lot of talented children. Vasilisa does not think about the Olympics yet, she just trains and enjoys her small victories.
How sport affects the life of the whole family
Since the daughter began to play sports, the rhythm of life of the whole family has completely changed. If there are no grandparents, aunts, uncles, girlfriends, nannies to help, then taking a child to training and picking them up six times a week is a real problem! Many moms are quitting their office jobs, moving to remote jobs, or becoming self-employed. Some, for example, start earning by sewing leotards for rhythmic gymnastics.
So far, Vasilisa is only in the first grade, so there are no problems with her studies. But usually you have to rush to training right from school, you can do the lessons late in the evening, when it’s already. I think with horror what will happen next, because this is only the first class! But many of our older gymnast girls study in gymnasiums and schools with in-depth study of individual subjects, and they all do well. After all, they have no time to waste time on all sorts of nonsense, the whole day is scheduled by the clock. Their peers, who do not have any hobbies, spend this time on social networks.
The financial side of gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a very expensive sport, probably like any other. A special item of expenditure is gymnastic leotards: their price can reach several tens of thousands of rubles, like the cost of a trip to a resort for one person! The thing is that expensive fabrics and, most importantly, expensive crystals, of which there should be a lot, are often used in their manufacture.
Professional performance items that comply with the requirements of the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) are also not cheap. In addition, girls tend to grow out of them: from hoops and balls - in diameter, from jump ropes and ribbons - in length, from maces - also in weight. It is desirable that the item is in harmony with the swimsuit. If the girl is already small, then under new form you need to buy a new sports equipment.
For the right to participate in competitions, an entry fee is paid. Going to competitions can cost as much as another swimsuit. In general, playing sports is very expensive. Not everyone can be prepared for such expenses.
If physically, and the parents have the desire, time and opportunity, then, of course, it is worth trying to send the child to the sport. But you need to be ready to invest in it from all sides. With an athlete child, the whole family will live in sports. Perhaps everyone will follow his diet, reshape their schedules and rearrange their lives in accordance with the child's class schedule. Parents will become psychologists overnight. The gymnast's mother will learn to do some pirouettes, trying to help her daughter learn some element.
But you also need to be prepared for grief, injury and pain. There is another very unpleasant moment, which turned out to be a big disappointment for me personally. Among the parents of young athletes, gossip and intrigue are commonplace. Almost all moms and dads are vain. Having brought the child to the “health and posture” section, after a while they begin to demand results. And if they are not there, then, according to the elders, everyone around can be to blame for this, but not their child. Therefore, I would like to advise parents who are going to connect the life of a child with sports, more common sense and patience.
- They are like one big family.
It also teaches children incredible discipline. Children involved in sports are different. They are not the ones we used to see smoking behind school or sitting on benches late at night. If we talk about rhythmic gymnastics, then for girls this is generally the most best view! Everyone gets very beautiful figures, posture, grace. Gymnastics develops not only flexibility - it is a very complex and multi-tasking sport. In one second, you need to do a lot of things at the same time and remember a lot of things. Therefore, they improve at the same time.
Most importantly, child athletes are 100% busy. And their victories are such happiness for the whole family! And when your child does something that you will never physically be able to do in your life, these are unique sensations.
Big sport №7-8 (114)
Text: Nikolai Orlov
In addition to Nelli Kim, several dozen former Soviet gymnasts of various titles live in the USA and Canada. We decided to find out how the fate of those who have achieved the most prestigious title of Olympic champion develops. And they realized that at least Canadian gymnastics owes a lot to our former compatriots.
Olga Korbut
Born: May 16, 1955
Achievements: Four-time Olympic champion (1972 - team, 1972 - freestyle, 1972 - beam, 1976 - team), two-time silver medalist of the Games (1972 - bars, 1976 - beam)
Included in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame under the first number, the athlete did not win the most prestigious award - the Olympic gold medal in individual all-around. However, it was she who created a revolution in her sport, the first in the world to perform a reverse free element on the uneven bars. The “Korbut loop” (the gymnast stands on the high part of uneven bars and performs a back flip, clinging to the upper bar of the bars with her hands) was especially fond of the Americans, who literally idolized Olga and named about 220 gymnastic clubs in their country after her.
However, Korbut and his ex-husband, the ex-soloist of Pesnyary Leonid Bortkevich, emigrated to the USA only in 1991. Officially - because of the fear of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. Overseas, the gymnast managed to work as a coach in several gymnastic centers, gives private lessons. From time to time, scandals arise around Korbut. In 1999, she accused her coach Renald Knysh of rape during the 1972 Olympics in Munich. However, the history of development has not received. Knysh himself calls it fiction and confesses his desire to "publicly spit the hated Korbut in the face." The second story involves the theft of products from the store in the amount of $19. When Olga was caught red-handed, she explained that she simply went to the car for a forgotten wallet. The third scandal arose around the gymnast's son Richard, who was sentenced to three and a half years for possession of counterfeit banknotes, and after his release he was deported to Belarus.
This year, Korbut again drew attention to her person by selling Olympic medals on the auction. Information appeared in the press that financial problems forced the athlete to take such a step. Olga stated that this was not the case, however, she did not provide convincing explanations for the reasons for parting with the awards.
Elena Davydova
Born: August 7, 1961
Achievements: Two-time Olympic champion (1980 - team, 1980 - individual all-around), silver medalist of the Games (1980 - balance beam)
The best gymnast of the Games in Moscow ended her career in 1982, but remained in the sport. She defended her Ph.D. thesis on the topic “Non-traditional training of the best gymnasts for competitions”, and coached in Leningrad. And in 1991, together with her husband, boxing coach Pavel Filatov, she moved to Canada. Davydova lives in Oshawa, where she is the head coach of her own gymnastics club. On Olympic Games in London, Elena was one of the mentors of the Canadian team and personal trainer team leader Christina Vakulik. The Canadians finished fifth in the team competition, showing best result in the history of the country. “It feels like I'm an Olympic champion again. For Canada, this result is equivalent to a gold medal, because our team has never even reached the final before. I am happy,” said a member of the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame since 2007. Elena Davydova went to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro already as a judge - she led a team that evaluated the performances of athletes in floor exercises.
Natalya Kuchinskaya
Born: March 8, 1949
Achievements: Two-time Olympic champion (1968 - team, 1968 - balance beam), two-time bronze medalist Games (1968 - freestyle, 1968 - all-around)
The gymnast, who fell in love with the fans at the Games in Mexico City, ended her career immediately after they ended. As she later admitted, she "lost motivation." The former sportswoman lived in Kyiv, trained children. “They will never give up and will not sit up. They, if their eyes are already burning, then sincerely, ”Natalia explained her choice. After the collapse of the USSR, Kuchinskaya went to train in Japan, then she worked with children in rhythmic gymnastics in St. Petersburg.
Her move to America surprised many. As it turned out, Natalia called overseas ex-husband, whom she divorced back in the 1980s. In America, Alexander became a successful businessman and again proposed to his ex-wife. Now the couple live in Illinois, where Kuchinskaya has her own gymnastic club. “I train whoever hits. Here it is customary - they pay money, train at least 80-year-olds. But I also have children. Not bad. Of course, this is not great gymnastics, ”Natalya admitted to Soviet Sport.
Elvira Saadi
Born: January 2, 1952
Achievements: Two-time Olympic champion (1972 - team, 1976 - team)
After the Games in Montreal, the gymnast ended her career and began working as a coach at Dynamo Moscow. Her pupil, in particular, was the silver medalist of the 1990 European Championship Tatyana Groshkova. Saadi left for Canada in 1991. “I have two children, and my husband and I, by and large unable to provide them with a normal life. I don’t have clout in stores to buy food, dress girls, dress myself the way I want, ”Elvira explained the reasons for her departure.
The two-time Olympic champion settled in the city of Cambridge and began working as a coach. She trained several athletes for the Canadian team and was recognized three times best coach years in the country. In 2011, Saadi became the founder of her own gymnastics club. The Canadian Dynamo, whose head coach is Elvira, is considered one of the strongest clubs in the country and, in addition to numerous health programs, offers training for elite athletes. The Dynamos from Cambridge are regularly invited to Canada's national teams of all ages.
Natalia Shaposhnikova
Born: June 24, 1961
Achievements: Two-time Olympic champion (1980 - team, 1980 - vault), two-time bronze medalist of the Games (1980 - freestyle, 1980 - balance beam)
The gymnast from Rostov-on-Don went down in history not only thanks to four medals of the Games, but also as the creator of a new element - "Shaposhnikova's flight" from the lower pole to the upper one. It is still considered one of the hardest uneven bars. Natalya ended her career after the Games in Moscow, in 1982 she married a colleague from the USSR men's team Pavel Sut and moved to him in Minsk. Worked as a choreographer in the center Olympic training, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, she moved with her family, first to Germany and then to the United States. In the suburbs of New Jersey, Shaposhnikova and Sut opened their own school, Gymnastika, where they teach together with their daughter Olga. The family business is more than 20 years old, they organize classes for those who want to become professional athletes, and for amateurs, hold birthdays, organize gatherings for children. For a week of classes at a summer camp, they ask for $ 250, for this amount you can get two workouts a day and lunch.
Svetlana Boginskaya
Born: February 9, 1973
Achievements: Three-time Olympic champion (1988 - team, 1988 - vault, 1992 - team), silver (1988 - freestyle) and bronze (1988 - all-around) medalist of the Games
The strongest gymnast of the planet at the turn of the 1980s-1990s best performance in her career she demonstrated at the 1990 European Championships in Athens, where she won all five personal gold medals. Thus, Boginskaya became only the third athlete in history after Vera Chaslavskaya and Lyudmila Turishcheva, who submitted such an achievement. After the Barcelona Games, Svetlana ended her career and moved to the USA, where she began working as a coach. However, after a three-year break, she decided to compete at her third Games.
In Atlanta, Boginskaya represented Belarus and became fifth in the vault, after which she finally ended her career and began participating in gymnastic shows, with which she traveled around the USA and Europe. “So I earned for my future, and put the money in the bank at interest,” the athlete admitted. Now a member of the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame Boginskaya with her husband William and two children lives in Houston, where she has her own company, Olympia Gymnastics Camp, organizing training camps for young gymnasts. "Through my sports camps about 500 children attend. During the summer I get my annual salary,” says Svetlana.
Natalya Laschenova
Born: September 16, 1973
Achievements: Olympic champion (1988 - team)
The youngest gymnast in gold Olympic team Seoul did not go to the Games in Barcelona. Latvia, and the athlete lived in Riga, refused to pay for her training. “I came to an appointment with the head of the National Olympic Committee, and he says: “Speak for Latvia, and if you win prizes, then you will have funding and all the benefits,” recalled Natalya, who was upset by the fact that the state “forgot” about her Seoul medal. The gymnast ended her career and moved to Minsk, where her first husband Nikolai lived.
Laschenova received Belarusian citizenship and worked as a coach for six years, including in the national team. And in 1999, with her second husband, Roman, she left for the United States. “We live in Ohio. I work as a trainer. I work with children from 9 to 14 years old. The school, of course, is private,” says Laschenova, who still has a Belarusian passport. True, the Olympic champion connects her future with America, where her children were born - a daughter, who is now six, and an 11-year-old son.
Maria Filatova
Born: July 19, 1961
Achievements: Two-time Olympic champion (1976 - team, 1980 - team), bronze (1988 - bars) medalist of the Games
About the fate of this gymnast it is time to shoot a television series. A native of Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Filatova, after completing her career, settled in Minsk. By Maria's own admission, she first "traded brooms in the bathhouse", and then worked as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, she signed a contract with the British Gymnastics Federation and coached gymnasts from Northern Ireland for several years. During the training camp of the islanders in the United States, Filatova was offered a coaching position in one of the gymnastic clubs in Rochester. Maria worked there until recently.
In 2006, she wrote an official letter to Vladimir Putin with a request to grant Russian citizenship, since she only had a passport that had become invalid former USSR. However, the Citizenship Commission under the President of the Russian Federation found no grounds to satisfy the application of the two-time Olympic champion. In 2014, Filatova decided to return to her homeland and the following year she became the owner of a Russian passport. Lives in Leninsk-Kuznetsky, works as a coach.
Lena Mukhina since childhood, she wanted to be a gymnast, and therefore she was incredibly happy when the school announced admission to the section of her dreams. The girl immediately impressed the coaches with her hard work and unbridled desire to achieve the almost impossible. For this, the coach fell in love with his pupil Mikhail Klimenko. They called her “quiet”, they said that she did not have enough sports anger at the right time, and the coach brushed it aside, insisting on the girl’s amazing performance and her ability to master the most complex elements. In just two years, he managed to raise a high-class athlete, ready to go to the Olympics in Montreal at the age of 16.
However, the dreams of the Games were not destined to come true. Despite the "space" program, Elena was not taken to the team. And the reason for this is a serious spinal injury received during the competition a year before the Olympics. sports guide The country considered Mukhina too unstable a gymnast, and in the face of fierce competition in the team, this sounded like a sentence. And after all, no one knew that, without yet healing the injury, the athlete went to the gym to train. For half a day, the girl was diligently treated in the hospital with the help of an orthopedic collar, and after a day's round, the mentor took her to training. Fortunately, even with such strange methods of treatment, the gymnast still managed to recover from the injury and return to the platform.
And then there was the amazing 1978 World Cup. The most difficult program of Elena fully justified itself: at the age of 18, she became the absolute world champion, ahead of and Comaneci, and their formidable teammates. However, together with them, Mukhina also became the world champion in the team event, and in some exercises she also collected full set awards. Golden medal, of course, was won on her favorite uneven bars. In Moscow, her and Nikolai Andrianov greeted as national heroes.
The jump that crossed everything
After the victorious World Championship, it seemed that the path to the Moscow Olympics was open to the athlete. But fate presented another test - in the fall of 1979, the gymnast broke her leg on demonstration performances. Elena spent a month and a half in a cast, but then it turned out that the bones had parted, and it had to be applied again. The coach could not endure such a long wait and again forced the injured ward to return to the gym - dismounts were trained on one, healthy leg. So, without really healing the injury, the gymnast arrived at the pre-Olympic training camp in Minsk - the last training camp in her life.
On the sidelines, then there was talk that Mukhina might not be taken to the Olympic team again, while Elena, meanwhile, was training with might and main, left to herself. And in an unkind hour, I decided for the first time to try to perform a unique bunch, ending with a landing head down - in a somersault ... But I didn’t twist it. Right before the eyes of those present in the hall, the gymnast hit her head on the floor. Later, the coaches will say that the reason for such an unsuccessful attempt was a weak push with a recently broken leg.
The athlete needed urgent surgical intervention, minutes were counted, and hours were lost. A doctor with the necessary qualifications was found only a day later, and therefore the results of the first operation were disappointing: the athlete’s brain remained in a compressed state for too long, and the body turned out to be almost completely paralyzed. A blooming girl, a titled athlete, remained an invalid, chained to a chair for the rest of her life, which was supposed to be short: doctors, averting their eyes, spoke about a year or two, and some did not even give six months.
How to live after the tragedy?
However, Elena was not one of those who, having heard this, decides to give up. She began to fight for her life. Unbearably heavy, painful, terrible - but life! Operations followed one after another, but there was little sense from them. Moreover, every time it was more and more difficult for doctors to bring the girl out of a postoperative coma, since her body was seriously weakened. After another operation, which again did not bring practically any positive effect, Elena firmly decided to leave the hospital. However, she did not leave hope for recovery - she began to study according to the methods Valentina Dikulya who developed a set of rehabilitation measures for spinal injuries. But after a couple of months of serious loads, classes had to be stopped, because due to heavy loads, the kidneys began to fail.
Hopes for a full recovery had to be abandoned. And then Elena radically changed her attitude to life: she stopped feeling sorry for herself, envying others, and began to appreciate what was available to her, tried to make the most of her opportunities. Daily physical exercise the girl did not quit, and therefore, a few years after the injury, she could sit in a chair, hold a spoon on her own, and write a little. The latter, by the way, came in handy when the athlete studied at the Moscow Institute of Physical Education. Teachers came to her, lectured, took exams. So Elena managed to get a diploma of higher education. But it was difficult for her to read - every time she had to fix a sheet of text at eye level. However, the girl did not give up! After all, those two years that the doctors measured out to her have long since passed.
The order will not replace the old life
At the same time, Mukhina herself never sought to draw anyone's attention to her struggle with injury. She did not like direct or indirect reminders of helplessness at all. Therefore, when in 1983 the President of the IOC himself Juan Antonio Samaranch in the company of journalists came to visit to present the highest award Olympic movement- The Olympic Order, Elena was not too happy about this. She calmly and honestly answered questions, soberly assessed her situation and at the same time perfectly understood that all the visits of journalists and photographers are far from the most sincere support and desire to help.
For 26 years, the gymnast fought for her life. Day after day, hour after hour. She, who once controlled her body better than billions of other people, overcame the loss of the usual ability to walk for a quarter of a century. And overcame. To live contrary.
Gymnastics. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear about this sport? A small survey showed that people mainly associate gymnastics with Alina Kabaeva, splits and stiffness. As it turned out, many have no idea how young athletes work, how much they strive for their dream, overcoming themselves every day, every workout. Although, maybe this is good, because then, the audience sees beautiful girls on the carpet, which take off, simultaneously circling the ribbon or freeze in completely unthinkable poses. Rhythmic Gymnastics - Women's olympic look number one sport in Russia and around the world. The editors have prepared for their readers material about a young gymnast from Yakutsk - Kristina Ksenofontova. Kristina is only 10 years old, but she already knows firsthand what hard work, perseverance and the will to win are. Some adults, at times, need to take an example from such not childishly grown-up children. We left all Christina's thoughts as they are, almost without editing, so that you can feel her words even more deeply.
My name is Kristina Ksenofontova. I am 10 years old and I do rhythmic gymnastics. I have been training since the age of five at the Violete club.
My mother's name is Anya, she is a doctor. And dad's name is Sergey, he is a lawyer. And I also have a brother Kirill, he is seven years old. He doesn't do anything. He used to go to judo and dance. We are friends, but sometimes we fight. He doesn't watch my performances, I don't know why (laughs).
My day starts early in the morning. I have breakfast and go to school. I study at school number 36. After school I have lunch, do my homework and go to training. We have gymnastics training in the club and choreography lessons at the barre twice a week. In gymnastics, we work a lot, warm up, stretch, work out the elements and do runs of our exercises. It is very interesting to work with objects. And in the choreography, we stand at the barre and do it like ballerinas, so that our legs are everted and beautiful. In choreography, I like to do jumps and turns. The girls and I seem to be competing who will do more and better. Sometimes we do improvisation, choose music and come up with dances ourselves. 
When I have a day off, I sleep as much as I want. Then I eat, then we clean up, I also do my homework, if I didn’t have time on other days. Sometimes I go for a walk or I can play at home. Of course, I don't play with dolls on my phone anymore. And sometimes I cook, I know how to cook cupcakes.
Mom and dad decided for themselves where to send me, and they chose gymnastics. At first I kind of liked it, I don’t remember exactly the first impression. But I remember that even at home I did it myself, I did all kinds of twine. 
Gymnastics is hard, but I love everything. I love workouts. And I love performing on the carpet. Even when they scold me, I still want to train more, correct mistakes and become even better. We are scolded for the cause when we do not remember the comments or do something wrong. I take no offence. In training, I'm most interested in the general physical training. Checking if I can do it or not. During OFP, some cry because it's hard, but I endure.
The hardest part is running my drills, especially with the ball. He is the hardest for me. But I try and work hard. I love my coaches, especially Violetta Semyonovna and Olga Dmitrievna. Violetta Semenovna is my coach, she is beautiful and smart and knows how to do all the elements, and Olga Dmitrievna is a choreographer, she is cheerful and kind.
I have a friend at the club. Her name is Milena. We are friends with her, I don’t worry about rivalry, she is a year younger than me and we perform in different streams. But my main competitor, I think, Alina, if she pulls herself up a little more, she will become cool. 
Gymnasts must be thin and slender because excess weight interferes with and can be dangerous for training. With food, everything is fine with me, I limit myself a little. Only if we have training camps, for example, I can sometimes immediately come home and fall asleep from fatigue. And also, sometimes, when no one sees me, I can eat a little too much, but then I work out everything, I do physical training at home. I love to eat everything, especially pies and chicken. But I don't like cakes. 
My first competition was intra-club, I took second place. And then there were city and republican ones, I often take first and second places. I went to the Championship of the Far East and other all-Russian and international competitions. I don't count my medals, but my medallion is already full. 
When I grow up I see myself Olympic champion.
Interviewed by Olga Donskaya
Photos provided by the heroine of the material
Rhythmic gymnastics is an early sport. Already at the age of 15, girls perform at the largest international competitions and receive the title of master of sports, and after 20 years - it's time to think about leaving. Saying goodbye to gymnastics forever or just changing your role in this sport - everyone decides for himself.
Searching for yourself
The name - Irina Chashchina, is perhaps familiar even to those who have never been interested in rhythmic gymnastics. On her account, the gold of the European Championship and the World Championship, as well as the silver medal of the Olympic Games in Athens. Having survived a doping scandal that resulted in a two-year disqualification, she was able to gather her will into a fist, return and climb the Olympic podium.
Irina planned parting with big sport long before the Olympics, but despite this, leaving for her turned out to be a difficult test. The athlete was pulled out of a long depression by the project “Dancing on Ice”, and later by the show “Circus with the Stars”, where she won another, albeit not a sports, victory. Later there were shootings in the film "Bullet", where Chashchina was invited to leading role. So the athlete again felt the attention and love of the public.
Today Irina Chashchina is the vice-president of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation. Also in 2013, the former athlete opened her own rhythmic gymnastics school in Barnaul.
From gymnasts to coaches
Yulia Barsukova won Olympic gold at 21 at the Sydney Olympics. Then, by a lucky coincidence, she managed to get around the main favorite of the competition - Alina Kabaeva, who made a gross mistake by dropping the hoop. Age and sports uniform allowed the athlete to move forward to new achievements, but she decided to say goodbye to gymnastics.
After leaving the sport, Julia tried herself in different directions. She worked as a presenter and took part in one of ice shows. However, very soon the athlete realized that she could not live without her favorite sport. So, the idea came to open own club rhythmic gymnastics. And not just one, but a whole network in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan. Later, the athlete accepted the offer to head the rhythmic gymnastics department at the Moscow School. Olympic reserve No. 1, what he does to this day.
The gymnast does not hide that she would like to return to the Russian national team, but already as a coach.
Life without gymnastics
Olga Gladkikh - Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics in group exercises. Olga received her main medal in 2004 in Athens, when she was only 15 years old. And a year later, the girl officially left big sport deciding to devote his life to politics.
As you know, the easiest way for athletes to high level Those wishing to get a higher education, this is a sports university, where study is actually reduced to formalities. Olga did not look for easy ways and entered not just anywhere, but at the Faculty of Political Science at Moscow State University. In the future, the athlete received a second higher education, having studied as an economist at the Financial Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation.
As Olga herself admits, she never used her sports regalia in her studies and further work. Today, the girl lives in Moscow and works as an ordinary manager in a consulting company.
