During perestroika, Saadi went to work in Canada, where she stayed to live. It was there that she founded her own gymnastics school and found her love and calling for Canadian sport. So much so that one day, she was recognized as coach of the year and her school received a large grant. However, the news came out of nowhere: Saadi was banned for life from coaching in Canada, accusing him of psychological and emotional abuse.
Saadi can easily be considered one of the icons of world artistic gymnastics. But his sporting successes have certainly not gone unnoticed. She achieved a lot and already at the age of 17 she joined the main national team of the USSR. And then it was unconditionally the strongest gymnastics school in the world. It is noteworthy that Elvira Fuadovna began doing gymnastics very late, at the age of 10. Usually, girls are brought to gymnastics at the age of 4 or 5, and already at the age of 7 they refuse to take children due to possible problems with stretching.
In 1972, the Summer Olympics were held in Munich (Germany). Before participating in the Games, Saadi won the USSR championship in floor exercises as well as beam exercises. But in Munich she won gold in the team competition and took only eighth place in the women’s all-around. A year later she became the absolute champion of the USSR, and in 1974 she became the world team champion and bronze medalist of the world floor exercise championship.
Saadi qualified for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal (Canada) thanks to a serious leg injury and again helped the USSR national team win team gold. After arriving from Canada, she decided to end her sports career and was immediately enrolled as a teaching coach in the Dynamo sports company. On the coaching deck, Elvira Fuadovna trained the European Championship medalist and USSR champion Tatyana Gorshkova, for whom she later received the title of Honored Coach of the RSFSR. In Canada, she raised many famous athletes, and four of them were able to participate in the Olympic Games: Victoria and Brooklyn Moores, Yvonne Tusek and Crystal Gilmore.
Twice – 1996 and 2004 – Elvira Saadi was recognized as Coach of the Year by the Canadian Gymnastics Federation. And in 2009, she was inducted into the FIG International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. But at the end of 2020, after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Saadi was suspended from his coaching duties by decision of the same Canadian Artistic Gymnastics Federation. As the organization’s press release revealed, the two-time Olympic champion was accused of psychological and emotional abuse. After that, a long process of consideration of his case began, the outcome of which was not announced until mid-November 2023.
In 2022, 73 gymnasts published an open letter written to Sport Canada, demanding an investigation into abusive practices. Since then, many parents have bombarded the Canadian Gymnastics Federation with “alarming letters,” claiming their children were pulled by their hair during training and their joints were deliberately sprained, leading to later injuries and injuries. serious health problems. It is in this context that the decision was taken concerning Elvira Saadi. And it turned out to be very hard.
— Elvira Saadi has been banned for life from all coaching, refereeing and administrative activities. After ten years, she may be authorized to advise coaches, but in no case to work directly with athletes.– said the famous sports lawyer Emir Crown on his social networks.
In Canada, the 71-year-old native of Tashkent will never be able to coach gymnasts again. Elvira Saadi’s successful career in the North American country is sealed. She could very well try to return to practice her profession in another country, but for that there must be too many different factors.
Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
