Athletistic/Tennis. In recent years, it has become almost impossible to see the Russian flag at international competitions. First, anti-doping organizations became attached to our country, then a special military operation (SVO) of the Russian Armed Forces began in Ukraine, and Russian sports received numerous bans, sanctions and bans. But the white-blue-red tricolor still remains in the memory of millions of sports fans around the world. And all sorts of embarrassments arose with his participation.

Background

On April 19, 1987, a daughter Masha was born in Nyagan (KhMAO-Yugra). In the future, she will become one of the strongest tennis players on the planet. By the age of 4, she picked up a tennis racket and at age eight, she moved with her parents to the United States to play tennis. At the age of 14, Sharapova would compete in ITF competitions for the first time, and a year later she would make her debut on the WTA Tour. Even then, it was clear from Maria’s play that an extraordinary athlete had emerged in tennis, who would dominate the tour for many years.

Photo source: Wimbledon.com

Sharapova made her debut in senior Grand Slam tournaments in January 2003, managing to qualify for the main draw of the Australian Open. And the following year, the Russian made history by winning her first Grand Slam tournament. On July 3 in London, she was able to defeat the future queen of tennis, the American Serena Williams, in the ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon. This victory made Maria the first Russian woman to win the Wimbledon tournament, and also allowed her to become the 8th racket in the world. All this at 17!

Russian team

Although Sharapova has lived in the United States since the age of seven, she has retained Russian citizenship and has always stated in her interviews that she feels Russian. However, for a long time, fans accused her of disrespect for her native country, because Maria did not play for the national team at the Fed Cup and did not come to the tournaments held in Russia. His debut in the Fed Cup took place only in 2008 – in the quarter-final match against Israel. Then Maria won two singles victories and helped the Russian team defeat the Israelis with a score of 4:1. Participation in the match allowed Sharapova to qualify for the 2008 Beijing (China) Olympics, but due to a shoulder injury, she missed the Games in the Chinese capital and the Fed final 2008 Cup. But formally, Sharapova won the Fed Cup. that year with the Russian team thanks to his participation in the quarter-finals.
The second time Sharapova played for the Russian national team was only in 2011 – in a match with the French team. At the beginning of 2012, Maria defeated Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinoza in the match between the Russian and Spanish national teams (3: 2 in favor of Russia) and ensured her participation in the 2012 Olympic Games in London (Great Britain) .

London 2012 Olympic Games

It was decided to hold the tennis tournament at the Summer Olympics in the capital of Great Britain on the grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. This is where the Wimbledon tournament has been played for almost 150 years.
All of Russia dreamed that Maria Sharapova could repeat her feat of eight years ago and become the strongest on British grass. Sharapova at the 2012 Olympics was the flag bearer for the Russian team in the opening parade. The tennis tournament itself, Maria had an excellent start to the tournament, beating Israeli Shahar Pe’er (6:2, 6:0), alternately defeating British Laura Robson (7:6, 6:3) , the German Sabine Lisicki (6:7, 6:4, 6:3), the Belgian Kim Clijsters (6:2, 7:5) and in the semi-final beating her compatriot Maria Kirilenko (6:2, 6 :3).

Sharapova’s opponent in the 2012 Olympics final was Serena Williams. It was she who Maria beat in the Wimbledon final in 2004 and entered the elite of world tennis. But Russia’s hopes of repeating the banquet were dashed by the incredible game of Serena, who, being at the peak of her career, practically destroyed Sharapova, allowing her to win only one game in the match – 6:0, 6 :1. As a result, Maria finished the Olympic tournament with a silver medal, which can also be called a great success. And Serena became a three-time Olympic champion.

But the main incident happened during the awards ceremony. After the medal presentation, a traditional Olympic ritual took place with the singing of the anthem in honor of the winner and the raising of the winners’ flags. The flags of the United States, Russia and Belarus began to fly in the air above the main court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Victoria Azarenka won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics) and the American anthem rang out in the arena. But on the last notes of the song, the American flag was literally torn from its support, after which it slowly fell onto the lawn. Fans in the stands immediately reacted to the incident, starting to laugh and applaud the event.

Interestingly, curiosity did not stop the organizers and they quietly let the anthem finish playing. But in the United States they did not appreciate this moment – the main broadcaster of the Olympics in America, the NBC television channel, did not broadcast the episode of the falling of the flag live, focusing its attention only on the winners.

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic


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