Russian pole vaulter Evgeny Lukyanenko caused an accident, abandoned his crippled girlfriend and put his friend on trial: he took the blame upon himself
It is symbolic that it was in England, where the Olympics are currently taking place, that the phraseological phrase “skeleton in the closet” was born.
At the London Olympics, probably every athlete has his own skeleton in his closet, which has a nasty habit of falling out at the most inopportune moment.
But there are things that the tournament organizers and representatives of the national teams prefer to keep silent about...
So in the Russian national team there is a person on whom great hopes are pinned today. They expect at least “silver” from him. But not everyone wishes him victory...
We are talking about the silver medalist of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in pole vaulting, world champion, two-time national champion, Honored Master of Sports Evgenia Lukyanenko.
Anna Klimenko at the grave of Irina Kovalchuk, who died in an accident.
Shortly before the Olympics, the athlete spoke with journalists. He talked about grueling training, about the injury he suffered, about the desire to win a medal. He remained silent only about one, perhaps the most difficult episode of his life. About how a man died through his fault, his once beloved girlfriend remained disabled, and the athlete blamed his best friend for the tragedy. This is the investigator's version.
Maybe Evgeny Lukyanenko just forgot about it? Hardly.
A month before the start of the Olympic Games in London, the investigation completely proved the champion’s guilt. The case was finally brought to court. But then the “irreparable” happened - Evgeniy Lukyanenko was delegated to the Russian team for the Olympics.
Today in London is a big day for Lukyanenko. Final.
How easily will he fight for a medal?
As easily as defeating your own conscience?
On the eve of the Olympics, we talked about this shocking story in MK.
Let us recall some details of the high-profile case.
August 2009.
“The Olympic medalist got into a terrible accident,” “The champion survived by a miracle,” “Evgeniy Lukyanenko was one step away from death,” the headlines of sports publications were full of then.
Several days passed. And - silence.
They exhaled - Lukyanenko was not injured. God bless. The topic is no longer relevant.
The story might not have continued. And it is unlikely that we would have known that there were victims in that accident. And the culprit of the accident turned out to be the same famous world champion Evgeniy Lukyanenko, who got behind the wheel while heavily drunk and at some point lost control.
Unfortunately for Lukyanenko, an investigator who was too principled took on the high-profile case and decided to get to the bottom of the truth at all costs and punish the culprit.
Thus, the Olympic medalist faced a sentence of 7 to 15 years.
But, as you know, winners are not judged.
As a result, the athlete’s best friend, who was also in the car at the time of the accident, took the blame for the death of the man.
The champion was lucky to have friends who were ready to rewind his sentence for him.
It would seem that the plan worked. But in addition to his friends, the athlete’s ex-girlfriend Anna Klimenko also became an eyewitness to the story. For her, that trip ended with severe injuries. But she received even greater trauma after she found out what kind of person she was planning to connect her life with.
“That day, Zhenya Lukyanenko and I found ourselves together at the wedding of our friends, Irina and Sergei,” recalls Anna Klimenko. — The event was celebrated outdoors. Lukyanenko did not limit himself to alcohol. When it began to get dark, Zhenya offered to give the young couple a ride to the city. Five people crowded into Lukyanenko’s car - the bride and groom, another guy and me. Zhenya pulled away sharply and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The car started to swerve at a sharp turn. I only managed to shout: “We are flying into a tree!” The bride did not die immediately. They managed to take Ira to the hospital. But the doctors were powerless to help her. Do you know how Zhenya behaved after what happened? He jumped out of the car and started calling his father - he was terribly nervous, screaming, clutching his head. He didn’t even think of telling my parents anything, and forgot about the ambulance.
Doctors for the victims were called by local residents, who came running in response to the noise.
“They pulled me out of the car and laid me on the ground,” continues Anna. “I remember the hellish pain.” And I also screamed loudly, calling Zhenya, the only close person of all who was nearby. He came up to me, took my hand and put it on some boy’s knee with the words “let him think it’s me.” And he left. When the ambulance arrived, I could no longer feel my legs and arms. Then three days of coma, operations that were done one after another. Subsequently, I underwent eleven more surgical interventions. As soon as I managed to recover from one anesthesia, I was immediately taken to the operating room again. During all this time, Zhenya visited me twice. And all these meetings boiled down to one thing, he literally begged me: “Please don’t say that I was driving.” I felt sorry for him: “Don’t worry, I’ll tell the investigator that I don’t remember anything.” I had no doubt that, in gratitude, Lukyanenko would help me with treatment.
They helped Anya with her treatment. Lukyanenko's father gave the girl 160 thousand rubles. This amount was enough for a month of treatment. When Anna’s parents again turned to Lukyanenko for financial assistance, the head of the Lukyanenko family wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office, accusing the Klimenko family of extortion.
Meanwhile, the girl had already given her first testimony to the investigator. To the question: “Who was driving?” - Anna answered: “I don’t remember.” Drew suspicions away from Lukyanenko.
Evgeny Lukyanenko on the day of the accident.
And soon the alleged culprit of the tragedy appeared. It was Alexey Lyashenko, the same guy who was sitting in the front seat of the crashed car.
Surely the champion would have gotten away with it if Anna had not changed her testimony after a while. During repeated interrogation by the investigator, the girl seemed to see the light: “Lukyanenko was driving.”
But proving the correctness of these words now turned out to be much more difficult.
- God, how difficult it was for me to find a lawyer - no one wanted to take on our behalf after hearing who we were going to fight against. The lawyers were not afraid of Lukyanenko, but of his father, who holds a high position in our region,” the interlocutor adds.
The athlete’s father is indeed not the last person in Kuban, to say the least. Yuri Vasilyevich Lukyanenko has been the head of interdistrict criminal-executive inspection No. 9 of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnodar Territory for many years.
This fact explains a lot in the high-profile case of Olympian Lukyanenko.
“I have no doubt that it was Lukyanenko’s father who persuaded Alexei Lyashenko to take upon himself the sin for his son,” Anna believes. “They say that they promised to provide the guy with comfortable living conditions in the colony - this costs Zhenya’s father nothing.” Also, according to rumors, Lesha was paid well for false testimony. What’s also scary about this whole story is that the fiance of the deceased Irina, Sergei Kovalchuk, also sided with Lukyanenko. And Sergei no longer communicates with the parents of the deceased, and does not come to his wife’s grave. Sergei spent the money donated at the wedding on a car, in which he now takes new girls for rides. Life goes on...
Life goes on for Evgeniy Lukyanenko. He still trains, competes, and recently got married.
Meanwhile, Anna is slowly recovering from serious injuries, and the parents of the deceased Irina have not come to terms with the fact that the person responsible for the death of their daughter is calmly walking around the city with a serene smile on his lips, maintaining Olympic calm.
After the release of that material, colleagues from the sports department had no doubt: “Lukyanenko’s road to the Olympics is closed.”
Actually, a couple of months ago, not only journalists could not imagine that Evgeniy Lukyanenko would join the Russian national team. And it’s not even that the champion was under recognizance not to leave the place; it’s just that after a terrible accident, the crossbar stopped giving in to the silver medalist of the Beijing Olympic Games. If before the tragedy of 2009 Lukyanenko easily reached a height of 5.85, and his personal record was 6.01, then during the current pre-Olympic year Evgeniy has never reached a mark higher than 5.75.
What is this? Wages of sin? Or did the athlete's nerves fail? What kind of sporting achievements could we talk about when subpoenas appeared in the mailbox one after another?
Nevertheless, Evgeny Lukyanenko is at the Olympics.
On August 8, the athlete passed the qualifying round and reached the finals from 4th place. The chances of winning are great.
And yet, how could a person who, according to the investigator, is the main defendant in the criminal case, leave Russia?
Investigator Nikolai Kolonitsky, who led the high-profile case, completed the investigation in November 2011. At the first preliminary hearing, federal judge Alexander Yarovoy decided to return the case to the prosecutor “to remove obstacles in the review.”
It took months to remove the obstacles.
Before the start of the main court hearings, Evgeniy Lukyanenko was informed that it was time for him to familiarize himself with the case. There was very little left before the process...
And then, like a bolt from the blue, news from Moscow: track and field athlete Lukyanenko is flying to London as part of the Russian team.
Official Slavyansk-on-Kuban rejoiced. City authorities organized mass celebrations in honor of Lukyanenko. Local newspapers burst into praise. Quote from the circulation: “Students of sports schools, coaches and everyone who loves sports gathered on Teatralnaya Square in Slavyansk-on-Kuban to support pole skater Evgeniy Lukyanenko. A dance and entertainment program with the participation of children and adults took place on the square. Presenters from the Youth Affairs Department organized fun competitions. Videos dedicated to Lukyanenko’s sporting victories were broadcast on a large screen installed near the House of Culture...”
The head of the Slavyansky district, Anatoly Razumeev, did not stand aside from the triumphants. He made a speech at a celebration in honor of his fellow countryman: “Kuban and all of Russia will root for our guys, but especially the Slavs. You need to believe in Slavic athletes and worry about them. Remember that the support of fellow countrymen is noticeable even from a thousand kilometers away.”
A few hours before the tragedy - Irina with her husband Sergei and Alexei Lyashenko (from left to right).
However, as we managed to find out, the head of the district was still disingenuous. The city did not support the Olympian.
“People found it strange that the entire administration knew about Lukyanenko’s act, and yet this man was given a ceremonial farewell to London,” residents of Slavyansk-on-Kuban share. - Naturally, many refused to participate in this masquerade.
Lukyanenko himself kept a good face despite a bad game. Journalists who accompanied the athlete to the Olympics later reported in notes: “Our pole vaulter is in great shape, looks great, is calm and confident.”
“The fact that Lukyanenko ended up at the Olympics says one thing: in our country, national interests are more important than human life,” says Anna Klimenko’s lawyer, Marina Chernyshova. — A week before the opening of the Olympics, high officials from the Olympic Committee contacted representatives of the sports department in the Krasnodar Territory. They, in turn, turned to the administration of our city. In short, one day was enough for the judge to suspend the criminal case. And then in our court they appealed the actions of the investigator regarding the fact that he generally took a written undertaking not to leave Lukyanenko and did not allow the athlete to leave the region. As a result, the investigator’s actions were declared illegal. Thus, our criminal law was simply trampled underfoot. It turns out that travel restrictions and procedural deadlines do not apply to Olympians, although they are also citizens of the Russian Federation.
— If Lukyanenko receives a medal at the Olympics, perhaps the case will not be reopened?
“I’m scared to even think that Lukyanenko will receive a medal. In this case, the situation may turn out differently.
— The champion’s friend Lyashenko, who took the blame upon himself, has not yet renounced his previous testimony?
— His position has not changed. But the fact is that the investigation completely proved who was actually driving. Lyashenko, it seems, does not yet fully understand that his friend Lukyanenko will in any case return from the Olympics as a hero, will receive some awards from the regional authorities, he will have a great time in freedom while Lyashenko will serve the full sentence - he will receive a suspended sentence no one will give it.
We also contacted investigator Nikolai Kolonitsky, who miraculously brought the complex case to an end.
- Yes, Lukyanenko was under subscription, we were against his trip abroad, so what? - Kolonitsky sighs. “The court calmly gave him permission to leave. They explained to us: Lukyanenko is a professional athlete, now the prestige of the country depends on him, especially since he is one of the contenders for a medal. In this case, we were powerless to resist the system. And then they gave me a similar example. It turns out that an athlete from Kenya is competing at the London Olympics, who, upon returning home, will be tried for molesting minors. He is involved in the case as the main accused, but nevertheless he was released to the Olympic Games. Honestly, I don't understand this...
- Don’t you think that such a simple matter has been delayed...
— When the investigation was completed and the case was sent to court, Lukyanenko’s lawyers insisted that the case be returned for further investigation. The athlete's defense put forward a version that a hole in the road surface was to blame. The examination took a month. Lukyanenko constantly changes lawyers, who take a lot of time to familiarize themselves with the case. Over the course of two years, while the investigation was ongoing, they constantly put a spoke in my wheels. In addition, while Lukyanenko did not have a written undertaking not to leave, he went to competitions twice a month. It was impossible to catch him at home. The case was suspended, then resumed again. In addition, Anna Klimenko confessed only a year after the incident. For me, everything in this matter was immediately very clear. But, understand, there is no direct evidence of who was driving and whose fault the tragedy occurred. And that's the rub. Of course, we could send Lukyanenko to a lie detector test, but polygraph testimony is not evidence in court. A person who wants to take the blame faces up to 5 years in prison and serious lawsuits from victims. If Lukyanenko is found guilty, he will face up to 7 years in prison, since he was driving while intoxicated.
— Upon Lukyanenko’s return from London, what awaits him?
“First of all, he must familiarize himself with the materials of the criminal case. The case will then go to court. I'll knock on wood. I hope they pass it on...
In exactly two weeks it will be three years since Irina Zametalina passed away. The same bride who died due to the fault of Evgeniy Lukyanenko.
The champion's parents provided financial assistance to the family for Irina's funeral - the money was given to the father of the deceased against a receipt.
— Can Lukyanenko be called a human being? After what happened, he never called us, didn’t express condolences, didn’t show up for the funeral,” says Irina’s father, Viktor Zametalin. “We never heard his voice.” One day they ran into him in court. We thought he would come up to us and say something. So he didn’t even look in our direction. I met his father only once - on the night of the accident. Then he begged us for forgiveness for his son: “Don’t destroy him.” Yes, we didn’t intend to. We didn't care then. But what did they do after? Why did they refuse to help the victim Anna Klimenko? After all, she needed help like no one else! If the Lukyanenko family had acted according to their conscience, perhaps we would not have muddied the waters. And they would have put the brakes on this story. And now the Lukyanenko family looks at us like a wolf, accusing us of not supporting Zhenya at a difficult moment. And who will support us?
— Do you think this story will continue?
- What do you think? If Papa Lukyanenko holds such a post? The athlete himself is supported by the Olympic Committee and our entire sports leadership. And how do we fight it? Recently, a film crew came to us from Moscow, shot a whole film here, and then they called: “Lukyanenko is going to the Olympics, so the program will not be released.” What can we talk about? Where is the justice?
— Do you follow the Olympics?
“We follow Lukyanenko’s performances only to understand when he will return from London. I'm thinking of meeting him at the airport. I want to look this man in the eyes.
— Have you talked with Lyashenko, a guy who wouldn’t mind serving time for the champion?
“I attended more than one court hearing, but I never saw this man there. Subpoenas are sent only to me, Anna Klimenko, Lukyanenko and our son-in-law. And Lyashenko, who incriminated himself, does not seem to appear in the case at all - neither as a witness nor as a participant. But Lukyanenko and Lyashenko have the same lawyers.
— By the way, does your former son-in-law Sergei Kovalchuk communicate with you?
- No, the last time we saw him was when my daughter was 40 days old. We have repeatedly tried to contact him, but for some reason he does not answer the phone. He was also forced to tell a lie, to take Lukyanenko’s side, and now he is afraid of meeting us. He appears at court hearings only in our absence.
— Do you still have children?
- Yes, I have an eldest son. But I will never come to terms with the loss of my daughter. On August 24, it will be three years since Irochka passed away, and I still can’t sleep peacefully, I can’t get this whole story out of my head.
Evgeniy Lukyanenko’s ex-girlfriend, Anna Klimenko, is watching the Olympics from a hospital sanatorium.
— I’ve been in Ukraine for two months now, receiving treatment in a special sanatorium for wheelchair users. When I found out that Lukyanenko was going to the Olympics, I was shocked. It's not fair! It turns out that God forgave him? Is our justice system not working? And when I saw the smile on Zhenya’s face, a thought crept into my head: maybe he forgot about everything? Unlike me... I’m afraid to go out even in my hometown, so as not to run into Lukyanenko. Over the past three years, we have only accidentally crossed paths with Evgeniy once. He drove past in a car. I was sitting in a stroller. Having noticed me, he did not turn away, did not hide his eyes - he looked at me point-blank and grinned. It was the grin of a scary man...
Throughout the entire Olympics, we are rooting for the country, experiencing the failures of the athletes, and counting the medals in the Russian team’s treasury.
An Olympic medal is a gigantic burden of responsibility.
It is unlikely that Evgeniy Lukyanenko can bear such a load.
The former fiancee of the Beijing Olympics medalist and world pole vault champion Evgenia Lukyanenko told the details Road accident with the participation athlete, which happened three years ago in Slavyansk-on-Kuban. According to the girl, the culprit of the accident in which the pregnant wife of Lukyanenko’s friend died was actually an Olympian.“Five people crowded into Zhenya’s car - the bride and groom, another guy and me. Lukyanenko was driving. I didn’t immediately realize how drunk our driver was. I became alarmed after he pulled away sharply, then pressed the gas pedal floor, and the car literally took off,” Klimenko, who became disabled as a result of that accident, told Moskovsky Komsomolets.
“He visited me a total of two times. And all these meetings boiled down to one thing, he literally begged me: “Please don’t say that I was driving.” He managed to lull my vigilance. I felt sorry for him, and I agreed: “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you that I don’t remember anything,” the girl admitted.
According to Klimenko, the athlete’s father gave her 160 thousand rubles for treatment. This money was not enough, and the victim’s relatives again turned to Lukyanenko for help, but he did not help anymore, but wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office, where he accused Klimenko of extortion.
Lukyanenko’s friend, Alexey Lyashenko, was declared the culprit of the high-profile accident. Anna Klimenko is sure that he was bribed and, most likely, promised comfortable conditions of imprisonment - Lukyanenko’s father is the head of the interdistrict penal inspection of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnodar Territory.
“I arrived at the scene a few hours after the accident. I needed to take statements from witnesses to the accident. From conversations in the crowd, I understood that Evgeniy Lukyanenko was driving. Zhenya himself looked terribly scared, he was fussing, running around the mangled car, and was noticeably nervous “When I asked who was driving, no one gave me a clear answer,” investigator Yulia Lebedeva confirms Klimenko’s version.
The investigation into the accident involving Lukyanenko was completed in November last year. Alexey Lyashenko, who took the blame, faces up to five years in prison and numerous lawsuits from victims. “There is no direct evidence of who was driving and whose fault the tragedy occurred. And this is the rub. Of course, we could send Lukyanenko to a lie detector test, but polygraph testimony is not evidence in court,” says the investigator who led case, Nikolai Kolonitsky.
A resident of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Anna Klimenko, who was involved in an accident in 2008 together with the silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics, Evgeny Lukyanenko, told reporters the details of the old incident. The girl, who became disabled due to the accident, assures that the culprit of the accident was the famous pole vaulter who got behind the wheel drunk.
« Five people crowded into Zhenya’s car - the bride and groom, another guy and me. Lukyanenko was driving. I didn’t immediately realize how drunk our driver was. It became alarming after he started abruptly, then pressed the gas pedal to the floor, and the car literally took off... And then Zhenya, without slowing down, completely turned towards us and began to tell us something. He no longer watched the road“,” said Klimenko.
The investigation has not yet been able to identify those responsible. On the day of the tragedy, Lukyanenko celebrated a friend’s wedding; on the third day, the company went on a picnic. On the way back, the car flew into a ditch. The young bride of Lukyanenko’s friend—the girl was pregnant—died without regaining consciousness. Anna Klimenko, the athlete’s former girlfriend, was seriously injured - she remained disabled and is now learning to walk again.
"Please don't say I was driving"
The investigation into a seemingly ordinary road accident dragged on: initially, the athlete’s friend Alexey Lyashenko took the blame, but at the beginning of this year a scandal broke out - the materials from the trial were returned to the prosecutor’s office. Investigators reported that the investigation was going hard - it was constantly stopped, and then rumors began to grow: Lyashchenko was driving the car, and Olympic medalist Lukyanenko.
In particular, the victim Klimenko points to this. According to the girl, the athlete persuaded his friend to take the blame, apparently promising him payment and promising to ensure normal conditions in the colony. The promise seems to be fulfilled - the athlete’s father, Yuri Vasilyevich Lukyanenko, according to some sources, occupies the chair of the head of interdistrict criminal-executive inspection number 9 of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnodar Territory.
« I remember well how Zhenya was the first to jump out of the car and start calling his father. He didn’t tell my parents anything, and he didn’t call an ambulance either. He was in a state of shock, ran across the field and shouted something into the telephone receiver “,” the girl recalls.
According to her, Lukyanenko’s father gave her parents 160 thousand rubles for treatment and took a receipt, but when they again turned to him asking for help, he complained to law enforcement agencies about extortion. “He visited me a total of two times. And all these meetings boiled down to one thing, he literally begged me: “ Please don't say I was driving“... To begin with, we tried to find a lawyer for me, but it turned out to be an impossible task. While three people are protecting Zhenya, no one wanted to take on us. Hearing the name Lukyanenko, the lawyers waved their hands: “ We don't want to mess with the champion's father“,” said Klimenko.
“One day I was called to a confrontation with Alexey Lyashenko, the guy who took the blame. He, looking into my eyes, without a shadow of embarrassment, declared: “I was driving.” I couldn’t believe my own ears - I saw everything! Then the investigator took the floor: “Boy, come to your senses! You are facing 5 years”... It’s scary that the fiance of the deceased Irina Sergei Kovalchuk took Lukyanenko’s side, moreover, they maintained a strong friendship with the champion.”, says the girl.
Investigators are confident of the athlete’s guilt
Klimenko’s version was confirmed to journalists by investigator Yulia Lebedeva, who was present at the scene of the accident: “From the conversations in the crowd, I understood that Evgeniy Lukyanenko was driving. Zhenya himself looked terribly scared, he was fussing, running around the mangled car, noticeably nervous... Soon Father Lukyanenko arrived. He constantly called someone: “My son has done something wrong again”... Afterwards we went to the hospital to examine Zhenya for alcohol intoxication. Alcohol was found in the champion's blood. Lukyanenko’s father accompanied his son everywhere and never left his side. Zhenya himself practically did not speak."
According to investigator Nikolai Kolonitsky, who led the case of the accident, Lukyanenko’s lawyers asked to return the materials for further investigation. “We are now considering the possibility that the cause of the accident was a hole in the road surface. For me, everything in this case is extremely clear, but if it were all that simple... Understand, there is no direct evidence of who was driving... A person who wants to take the blame on himself faces up to 5 years in prison and serious lawsuits from the victims . If Lukyanenko is found guilty, he will face up to 7 years in prison, since he was intoxicated,” said the MK investigator.
Lukyanenko is preparing for the Olympics
As MK notes, after the accident, Lukyanenko seemed to be jinxed - over the past year he has never reached a level higher than 5.75. The athlete’s acquaintances have no doubt that this is retribution for the sin that he took upon himself, the newspaper writes. However, the jumper himself blames long-standing injuries and the incompetence of doctors for his failures.
“In the winter of 2009, I was still performing, but then my joints began to hurt. The pain was so bad that I couldn’t even walk properly, let alone exercise. They began to find out what was wrong, and it turned out that the problem had been going on since childhood. I was often sick and had an abscess. After this, the tonsils need to be removed. But they didn’t remove it for me,” Lukyanenko said in an interview with Soviet Sport.
In the winter of 2010, according to the athlete, he again found himself in the hospital: “It was a pelvic injury that I received during training. One of the doctors of the team - I don’t want to give his name, now this person no longer works on the team - treated me, to put it mildly, incorrectly... As a result of this pseudo-treatment, I also lost my ligaments.”
And now, according to Lukyanenko, he has no money to travel to international competitions. “To transport poles, you need to pay 200 euros for transportation Krasnodar - Moscow, then another 200 euros - Moscow - Warsaw and the same back,” the athlete said and added that the organizers of the competition are not always ready to bear the costs: “Which one should they?” What's the point of shelling out that kind of money for my travels from Krasnodar if I can call someone else and pay three times cheaper? There are a lot of great jumpers in Europe now.”
Athletics
The winner of the 2008 Winter World Championships in pole vault, EVGENY LUKYANENKO, won the Russian Championships that ended on Sunday in Kazan with a modest result of 5 m 85 cm and then did not take the 6.06 he claimed. However, the 23-year-old athlete from Slavyansk-on-Kuban, who already has a jump of 6.01 m this season, said in an interview with VALERIYA MIRONOVA that he is unlikely to be satisfied with even second place at the Beijing Olympics.
— When you started pole vaulting, did you have a feeling of futility? After all, Sergei Bubka, with his last phenomenal record - 6.15 - slowed down the movement of the species for decades.
- Bubka jumped really high. But I never thought and don’t think now that pole vaulting is a futile activity. If we think like this, then where should an athlete go? In height? So after Javier Sotomayor with his 2.45 m, there also seems to be nothing to do. There are more than 40 types of athletics, and almost all of them are “unpromising.” But if no one tries, you won't break records. However, records are not an end in themselves for me.
— Did you immediately pick up the pole?
— At first, like all young athletes, I took up all-around events. Everyone in our family played sports. Mom and sister - athletics, father - football. My current coach Sergei Gripich saw me during some school competitions and invited me to his section. Although I myself worked with older children. And I picked up a pole at the age of 14.
— Although you took an honorable sixth place last year at the World Championships in Osaka, your name made headlines quite recently, when you first won the Winter World Championships, and in early July, at a competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland, you cleared the bar at an altitude of 6.01. What do you attribute the qualitative leap in performance to?
— With a well-structured preparatory season. I worked harder, trained more. And subtleties are a big secret. In short, we decided to apply more varied loads to the usual training, the one that, for example, I conducted a year ago - strength, speed, speed-strength. I do triple and quadruple long jumps and run sprints. I even use the core in preparation, pushing while sitting from behind my head. The concept of “all inclusive” perfectly reflects the essence of pole vaulting.
— Apparently, it is stability that allows those of your rivals, who also now jump six meters, to talk about you as a future Olympic medalist?
— Why only as about the prize-winner? However, anyone can throw around words, I’m not one of them. Let's see what happens in Beijing. And after the final protocol is drawn up, we’ll discuss everything.
— The main qualities of a poleman, in your opinion.
— Courage, endurance, coordination. I personally am always confident in myself.
— Apparently, it’s not just success in sports that gives you confidence?
— At the age of twenty-three, I managed to get two degrees. One diploma is a physical education teacher, and the second is a lawyer. In addition, I am now a graduate student and preparing to write my dissertation. I haven’t decided on a specific topic yet, but I am interested in issues of sports pedagogy. In two years I hope to receive my PhD.
— Do you subconsciously want to be like your coach?
— Gripich is very kind and patient.
- The good ones can be easily controlled.
“You can be kind and keep your distance.”
— Does he have his own technique?
“We are preparing according to a general plan, based on film and video, although, of course, taking into account some of our own nuances. My coach is a genius. In any case, in our region he has no one to consult with. Of course, we can listen to someone, but we stupidly don’t accept anything. And the methodology was changed based on my good performance in Osaka. They just realized that I needed to be loaded more. But I am not just an executor of the coach’s will; my participation in the creative process is also implied. If I feel, for example, that the muscles of the back of the thigh are about to fly or something else, I can say: “that’s it.” Gripich himself says that if something goes wrong, it is better to stop it here and now than to destroy yourself and not go anywhere at all. There were times when I pulled a muscle and the seasons passed by. Each of our training sessions begins with the coach asking me about my well-being. If something bothers me or unpleasant sensations arise during work, I say that I won’t do anything else, and the coach agrees with me.
— Did you do the right thing by participating in a large number of starts of the season?
— In my opinion, it’s better to compete and not to sit quietly, like, for example, the German Denny Ecker or the Frenchman Roman Mesnil. Last year, the championship in Osaka was my tenth start of the season; the Olympics, after the last one in London, will be my eleventh this year.
— What do you think about Australian Steve Hooker, whose best result is 6.00, and American, season leader Brad Walker (6.04 m)?
- Well done. If they didn't jump so high, I wouldn't be interested. The result is born in the struggle. I think Walker is more psychologically stable and assertive. But they are not the only ones that outline the circle of candidates for Olympic medals. I keep an eye on my opponents, try to track all their movements and achievements, but at the same time I never twitch myself. Whether we calculated our strength correctly will be seen on August 19 in the qualifications and on August 22 in the finals. We will arrive in Beijing on the 15th.
- Four days before the start - is this verified?
— Part of our team is scheduled to leave on this date. They say that in China there is not only wild heat, but also smog. And that's okay. So, we will jump on the instruments. As for the heat, in Slavyansk in the summer it’s so stuffy in the gym that if flies fly in, they’ll die. So, one might say, I have been preparing for Beijing since childhood.
