Elena Davydova - the absolute Olympic champion in gymnastics

Elena Davydova - gymnast, winner of the 1980 Olympics, absolute champion of the USSR in 1981. He is a candidate of pedagogical sciences and a deserved master of sports. Multiple ghost in free disciplines, exercises on uneven bars and all-around. This article will describe a brief biography of the athlete.

Childhood

Elena Viktorovna Davydova was born in Voronezh in 1961. The girl became interested in gymnastics at the age of six when she saw Natalia Kuchinskaya and Larisa Petrik (gold medalists of the Olympic Games) on TV. Elena tried to enter the Spartak school of gymnastics herself, but she was not taken because of small growth (at that time it was considered a disadvantage). Nevertheless, the girl did not forget about her dream. She regularly came to the school and secretly watched the gymnasts' lessons through the windows.

Soon it was noticed by Gennady Korshunov (coach) and invited to a trial lesson. Then he put Elena in the group, which was led by his wife. After Davidov's talent became apparent, Gennady took up her training himself. By 1972, the girl became the best student of her group.

Competition

In 1973, Elena Davydova won at her first international tournament. And a year later she joined the junior team of the country. Support leap, log, bars and floor exercises - these are the types of gymnastics on which the girl specialized. In 1975, according to the results of several junior competitions Elena took the third place in terms of the amount of exercises. Also, the girl won gold medals on the uneven bars and in the base jump. And in March 1976, Davydova became the absolute champion of the country.

Olympics

In 1980, the main rival of Elena was the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneschi. Throughout all the Olympic competitions, they were almost on par with. At the final stage Komaneci needed to score 9.925 points for an absolute victory. Before the assessment, there was a significant hitch. Maria Simionescu (Romanian judge) refused to issue points, because this deprived Comaneschi of gold. This situation delayed the competition for almost half an hour, but still the score was fixed. As a result, Nadia scored only 9.85 and shared silver with Maxi Gnauk. Davydova also put a record 9.95, which brought the gymnast a gold medal. Athletes from the USSR, Sweden and the GDR shook Elena in her arms and threw her into the air.

After the Olympics

In July 1981, Montreux celebrated the 100th anniversary of the International Gymnastics Federation. Elena Davydova was invited to perform her famous free exercises. She repeated them twice, which caused a storm of applause in the hall. In August, the girl went to a tournament in Turkey. The bars, free exercises and support jump - these are the types of gymnastics in which Elena managed to win. The girl scored the highest points. By the way, the heroine of this article is the only gymnast who did not compete in the world championships after winning Olympic gold.

End of career

After leaving the sport, Elena Davydova entered the graduate school of the Lesgaft Institute. Later she defended there the thesis and became a candidate of pedagogical sciences. Since 1987, Elena began to engage in coaching activities, as well as judging.

Family and personal life

In 1983, the heroine of this article married Pavel Filatov, who worked as a boxing coach. They had two sons, Dmitry and Anton. In 1991, the whole family moved to the city of Oshawa (Canada). Davydova was offered a job in a parent club of a non-commercial type called "Gemini Gymnastics". Her best students include Britney Habib, Christina Fakulik, Catherine Fairhurst, Daniel Hicks, Sarah Diogen, Stephanie Capuchity.

Elena's parents are retired. Mother Tamara worked earlier in the Leningrad LOMO, and father Victor worked as a mechanic. Also, Davydova has a brother Yuri, who is younger than his sister for 12 years. He still lives in Russia.

Nowadays

In 1991, the edition of the FIG published a list of eighteen gymnasts, who made a significant contribution to the development of sports. Among them was Elena Davydova. On the IG website, her name is included in the "Legends of gymnastics" section. In 1996, the organizing committee of Atlanta invited Davydov to the Olympic Games. There, Elena met with President Clinton of America. In May 2007, the name of the heroine of this article was added to the International Hall of Fame. This can be regarded as the receipt of the Nobel Prize in gymnastics.