To my great regret and chagrin, the world of big sport knew a considerable number of disappointments, defeats, stories of bitter, tragic success. Not every athlete, having reached the summit of Olympus, is able to stay in the lead and not quickly slide down, on the go losing its former glory, success, awards.
The tragedy of a talented gymnast
One such example is the difficult, one might even say, tragic fate of a Soviet gymnastics star. Zinaida Voronina is a gymnast whose biography resembled a fairy tale about Cinderella. In 1968, at a competition in Mexico City, the young athlete became a champion. But she could not stand the fanfare, bright fame and simply broke under this difficult, albeit pleasant burden.
After 12 years, the sports champion, the owner of the gold cup, was simply kicked out of the white stone due to the fact that she was considered an antisocial social element. And all for a banal, sad reason. Zinaida, once a bright beauty and The titled athlete could not live a day without the “bitter”, that is, without a bottle of strong alcohol. Zinaida Voronina is a gymnast, whose biography could have developed completely differently.
Fifteen years ago, a beautiful athlete, the owner of the greatest sports award, left this world in solitude and complete oblivion.
Zinaida Voronina: biography
And it all started simple and usual, like many girls. The female trainer Antonina Levshevich from most of the girls noticed a flexible, graceful, slender high school student in Yoshkar-Ola and invited her to train in a sports club. As it turned out, she was not mistaken. Of course, initially I had to work on stretching, flexibility, endurance of a novice athlete, but, as they say, the result was worth it.
Zinaida Voronina was purposeful, strong-willed, aimed at victory, she grabbed everything on the fly. Time passed, and when Zina went to the 9th grade, she was noticed and invited to Dynamo. It was impossible to imagine greater happiness. Young Zinochka came to conquer Moscow in a thin, fully blown coat and in her mother’s leaky shoes.
Fame came to a talented girl - albeit not quickly. Zinaida Voronin trained under the guidance of a wonderful coach Vladimir Shelkovnikov. He helped flourish all the talents of the athlete, so she ended up in the USSR team.
Already at the age of 18, Zinaida went to the championship in Dortmund, where she earned two medals with her talents - silver and bronze. After only one year - the award at the European Championships, and another year later - the Olympic Games, where her piggy bank of awards was replenished with a silver medal for a vault and a bronze medal for floor exercises. And this was only the beginning, new titles and achievements loomed ahead.
Champion among the stronger sex
Girl Zina was not only a wonderful athlete, she was fabulously beautiful. Many even said that if there were only men at the jury, then Voronina would become the champion of the whole world. That was actually true. The girl captivated the dazzling appearance of everyone around, both in the gym and beyond. There was no release from fans, and besides, the athlete was also smart. But, waiting in the wings, the young lady opted for the talented gymnast Mikhail Voronin. Already at that time in his arsenal there were six medals brought from Mexico City.
It was the most beautiful couple in the world of Soviet sports. Soon there was a wedding, by that time the guys had an apartment, a good income, and in addition - the glory and love of the people. Soon the first-born appeared - the son of Dima. Everything was fine, at 22 Zinaida Voronina returned to training, after a year spent on maternity leave, and in 1970 she won the World Cup.
But time passed, training was given to the gymnast more and more difficult, and the competition in this sport was always strong. Young, ambitious athletes stepped on their heels. The girl gradually began to lose heart, to take champion positions. Zinaida Voronina, a world-class gymnast, could no longer cope with physical activity. The reason for this was damned alcohol. Friends increasingly saw Zina while intoxicated. According to the gossip, the champion’s mother and saw. Everyone tried to save a talented athlete, but the embrace of the "green snake" was stronger.
Existence below the 101st km
Unfortunately, the marriage broke up in just two years. The son remained with his father, and after he began to engage in sports. Zinaida Voronina tried to improve, was engaged in a bit of coaching.
But nothing happened, she again and again was applied to the bottle. All this led to the fact that before the 1980 Summer Olympics it was simply relocated for 101 kilometers.
Homecoming
There was no one to help her here. But the athlete managed to pull herself together, got a job at the factory. In Balashikha, no one could have imagined that Zinaida Voronina, a gymnast, whom the whole world applauded, stands next to them. After a while, the woman returned to her hometown forever. At 54, Zinaida Voronina died.
It is unfortunate that talented people remain in oblivion not only among the fans, but also among their relatives and relatives. Today, few people remember the unusually talented athlete and beauty - Zinochka Voronina.