Lavrova is a rhythmic gymnastics legend. She became an Olympic champion at the age of 16, then became the first gymnast to conquer Olympus twice. It is even difficult to count his victories at the World and European Championships. At 20, after having won everything and several times, she announced her retirement, wishing to experience life outside of sport. So few people knew that she would have too little time for this.
His pregnant sister was driving the car.
Happy wounds
Lavrova was born in 1984 in Penza. At the age of five, she entered Olga Stebeneva’s rhythmic gymnastics section. Nine years later, Natalya found herself in the adult Russian national team. In 1999, she became world champion for the first time.
The 1999 World Cup took place in Osaka (Japan). The young gymnast arrived at this tournament with an unhealed injury, but that did not prevent her from participating in the group all-around. It is interesting how the coach of the group exercise team, Tatyana Vasilyeva, spoke about Lavrova’s injury a few years later.
— During a training session before leaving for Osaka, one of the girls unsuccessfully threw a mace which fell on Natasha’s nose. Thank goodness she didn’t suffer any fractures at that time, although we were all very scared. We were worried about her, but in the end we did a great job in Osaka and became world champions. Since then, I have noticed this trend: if something happens to Lavrova during preparation, it means we will winVasilyeva said.
A year later, the Summer Olympics were held in Sydney, Australia. Lavrova arrived at the 2000 Olympics with a broken big toe, but left Australia as Olympic champion.
Photo source: Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Penza region
Natalia became the first gymnast in history to become an Olympic champion at such a young age. Already at the age of 16 she became Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
She’s not too old to give up the sport right away and competed in her first full Olympic cycle. Over the next four years, despite her injuries, she won the World and European Championships, as well as the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (Greece).
After arriving from Athens, Lavrova finally decided to abandon her sports career. At the age of 20, she became the first double Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion in history and could not find the motivation to continue. But Natalya did not intend to completely abandon the sport, wanting to become a coach. She first managed to become an assistant to Irina Viner in the Russian national team, and then moved to Dynamo Moscow.
Last trip
Unfortunately, Natalya Lavrova did not have a successful coaching career. She had too little time for that. On April 23, 2010, she died.
On this day, Lavrova and her sister Olga visited her parents, after which she went to her native Penza, where competitions in rhythmic gymnastics were held at that time. However, they were not destined to go to the sports palace.
After the spring rain, the track turned out to be slippery, and Olga, who was driving the Lada, could not control the car. The car began to skid, after which it ended up in the oncoming lane. An oncoming foreign car crashed into the car of the Lavrov sisters, after which the Lada flew onto the side of the road, overturned several times, and then completely caught fire.
Photo source: penzavzglyad.ru
Eyewitnesses managed to get Natalya and Olga out of the car, but neither they nor the doctors could save the girls. What made the story even more tragic was that Olga was seven months pregnant at the time.
The competitions in which Natalya Lavrova was going to participate were canceled. This decision was made personally by Irina Viner, who said that it would simply be impossible to perform in music against the background of such a terrible tragedy.
Memory
Thousands of people came to say goodbye to the Lavrov sisters. Legendary coaches and athletes attended the funeral. Natalya and Olga were buried on the Walk of Fame at the Penza cemetery.
In 2011, a new street in Penza was named after the gymnast, and a few years later a tournament named after Natalya Lavrova was organized. It is a shame that such a brilliant and extraordinary personality left us prematurely at the age of only 25.
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.
