Simon Poltavsky - Russian volleyball player, originally from Ukraine, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, played for the national team. Height - 204-205 cm, weight - 87-89 kg.
Carier start
Semyon was born on February 8, 1981 in Odessa, at the age of 17 he changed his citizenship from Ukrainian to Russian. Father - Vladimir Poltava, like his son, a professional volleyball player.
The future athlete was training with Vadim Ungurs, and his talents did not go unnoticed: in 1997 Semyon Poltavsky was invited to the St. Petersburg team “Peter-Lada”, which had the status of the “Avtomobilist” farm team and played in the first league of the Russian championship.
After spending 4 seasons with St. Petersburg, Semyon became one of the team leaders. Fans, watching a volleyball player, nicknamed him a "boa constrictor." No matter what the situation was at the site, Poltavsky always showed calm, restraint and remained mentally stable.
In 1999, the volleyball player Semyon Poltavsky was called up to the junior, and then to the youth team of Russia. In both cases, the team became the winner of the world championships.
Moving to Italy and returning to Russia
The year 2002 has come.
Semyon signed a professional contract with the Italian team “Modena” from Serie A, but spent the season on loan at the Montichiari Club. Volleyball player showed in Italy the average level of the game.
For the 2003/04 season, Poltava returned to his homeland, was declared for the final stage of the World League tournament, which was held in Madrid. There he spent the first official match for the national team. Further, in 2007, together with the national team he went to Germany, where he took part in the European Championship.
The leadership of Moscow “Dynamo” in 2003 signed a contract with a volleyball player, the next five seasons, Semyon will spend as part of Muscovites.
In 2005, Poltava will play in a new position. Instead of the player’s position, the audience will see him in the place of the diagonal striker. In the following season - 2006, together with teammates, Semyon will become the champion of Russia for the first time.
In 2007-v will be recognized as the most valuable player in the European Championship.
As a player of the national team of Russia for his career, Simon Poltavsky held 152 meetings, recorded 1626 points in his asset.
Volleyball player met the 2010/11 season at the Yaroslavich club. At the end of the season, the Volga team took 8th place. Despite the failure, Poltavsky was awarded the prize of Andrey Kuznetsov and for the first time in history recognized as the best player in the league, although his team reached only the quarterfinals.
Career ending
A series of injuries followed, due to a back injury, Semyon was unable to leave the national team, and because of shoulder problems, he was forced to miss most of the 2011/12 season.
In the summer of 2012, Semyon returned to Dynamo, but the long recovery period after the operation allowed him to play only as a player.
After one of the matches, the journalists will ask: "Which clubs are claiming gold medals?"
To which Poltava Semyon will answer: "My wife gave me my second daughter, and this is more important than any awards."
The following year 2014, the management of the Belogorye Volleyball Club proposed a new contract to the athlete, but after conducting several team trainings, the team coach refused Poltava.
Only in the fall of 2015 Semyon Poltavsky moved to Dynamo Krasnodar, and in May 2016 he officially announced his retirement from professional sports.