Maria Lasitskene (Kuchina) - Russian athlete, high jumper, multiple champion of the world, Europe, two-time winner of the IAAF Continental Cup, multiple champion of Russia. Three times became the winner of the overall standings of the Diamond League. No one has achieved such a result in the history of athletics. Today, Maria Lasitskene is the champion of the Diamond League and is considered the best in her sport.
A family
Maria Kuchina was born on January 14, 1993 in the city of Prokhladny, in Kabardino-Balkaria. The girl grew up in a sports family. Her father, Andrei Kuchin, was engaged in basketball, and her mother played in the volleyball team. Maria inherited from her parents excellent physical data: high growth, mobility and activity.
First steps in sports
Soon, the girl herself began to play sports. Maria Lasitskene came to the athletics section at the age of nine. The first coach of the future champion was Gennady Garikovich Gabrilyan.
At first, Mary did not have a specific specialization. She was engaged in jumping both in height and in length, threw a grenade, engaged in running. Often, a novice athlete defeated even more adult rivals. Maria achieved good results in high jumps, but after the injury, her development in this direction stopped.
At one of the relay races, Maria, having received a wand late, was able to develop greater speed and get ahead of her opponent. This did not go unnoticed by the coach. He took note of the girl’s abilities and began to develop her individual technique of high jump.
Kuchina’s unique training technique excluded all strength exercises, jumping over barriers. This approach to classes soon brought amazing results. Making the fastest possible eight-step run, Maria was able to significantly improve her performance. The methodology of psychological preparation developed by Gabrilyan also helped in this.
The first achievements of Maria Lasitskene in athletics
In 2009, a novice athlete for the first time took part in the world championship in Italy among juniors and took second place there. The European Youth Festival in Tampere ended for her with the same result. These achievements led Maria Kuchin to the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Here the girl showed a brilliant result and returned home with a gold medal.
The victory at the Olympics coincided with the end of school. Therefore, Maria talked with her parents, and at the family council it was decided that the girl would go to study in Volgograd. In this city there were all conditions for the further development of the athlete.
Career in Volgograd
Maria entered the Academy of Physical Culture. In Volgograd there was an athletics arena, an excellent coach Boris Gorkov worked here, and a talented athlete began to train with him.
A year later, the girl was able to increase her result and become the European champion among juniors. But in 2012, at the Youth World Championships in Barcelona, Kuchina was not able to show all her capabilities and became the third. The girl was unsatisfied with the indicators and decided to return to the old effective training methodology. She passed on to her former mentor, Gabrilyan.
The results were not long in coming. A year later, Maria won silver at the World Universiade in Kazan. And in 2014, she first crossed the two-meter bar and won the Grand Prix in Stockholm. At the competitions in Sopot, Kuchina took first place, sharing the victory with the Polish athlete Litsvinko. For the first time in her professional biography, Maria Lasitskene took the top line in the overall standings of the Diamond League.
The following season, the athlete became the world champion in competitions in Beijing, showing a result of 2 meters 01 centimeter.
Preparations for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro have begun. But fate made its own adjustments.
Doping scandal
In November 2015, the WADA Commission recommended the International Association of Athletics Federations to remove Russian athletes from participating in the Olympic Games. The reason was the suspicion of doping.
The result of the scandal was the complete disqualification of many athletes. Among them was Maria Kuchina, who was never suspected and was not convicted of doping drugs.
Personal life
After the announcement of the disqualification, a joyful event occurred in the life of Maria Kuchina. The girl married Vladas Lasickas, a sports journalist and commentator on the Eurosport Russia television channel. The age difference between the spouses is eleven years.
Acquaintance took place at the world championship in Sopot. After the athlete won the competition, the journalist interviewed her. It seemed to the girl that the man was showing irony in her address, although in fact, there was nothing unusual in Vladas’s questions.
For one second, Maria caught the eye of the journalist and realized that their acquaintance in this interview would not end. Vladas began to often call the girl, come to her training. Then followed the first date, where the couple realized that they were made for each other.
Maria Lasitskene’s husband is Lithuanian by nationality, but was born in Moscow. The wedding took place in the homeland of the bride, near Nalchik. The celebration took place in a beautiful place - the old castle "Chateau Erken" on the lake. And the next morning, the newlyweds flew off on their honeymoon.
When Mary returned home from the trip, the good news was waiting for her. The girl was given permission to participate in international competitions under the neutral flag.
There is an old tradition in Lithuania. When getting married, the girl takes the name of her husband, to which the suffix -en and the ending -e join. Today, many do not adhere to these rules, but the athlete decided to make a pleasant spouse and follow all the rules. The girl changed her name and became Maria Lasicki. She claims to be happy in marriage, and age difference is not a hindrance.
Lasickene today
Currently, the athlete performs at tournaments under a new name. Since May 2017, has been participating in the Diamond League games. Mary again managed to take first place in the ranking of the season. In August of that year, the athlete once again became the world champion at a tournament in London and entered the list of the best athletes of the year.
Negative doping tests gave Maria the opportunity to continue participating in international competitions. The winter of 2018 brought the athlete many victories. The girl showed herself well in the "Christmas starts." Then she took part in the sports show "Battle of the Sexes." She became the second after Daniil Lysenko and the first among women.
At the Stalingrad Cup, athlete Maria Lasitskene jumped 2 meters 04 centimeters high. This success was followed by a series of brilliant victories, the final point of which was the world championship in Birmingham. Maria is recognized as the best in her sport. She scored 38 victories in a row.
Today, the girl acts in the club CSKA, she was awarded the rank of senior lieutenant. In a small homeland, the girl is called the “Queen of Heights”. The athlete was awarded the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, second degree. Maria Lasitskene's plans include preparations for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where she hopes to appear under the Russian flag.