The Soviet gymnast Elena Shushunova was called the brightest sports star of the eighties, incredible and amazing. She happened to become the absolute record holder at the 1987 World Universiade. The athlete won all six gold medals.
The art of mastering the body in perfection has always been admirable. Gymnastic exercises were originally intended for men. And in the program of the Olympics, the sport was included only for them. Official permission for the performance of women in this discipline was received only in 1928.
Takeoff start
The biography of Elena Lvovna Shushunova began in 1969. The future celebrity was born in Leningrad on May 23 in an ordinary family. From an early age, parents taught their daughter everything to achieve with their own labor.
Lena has been fond of sports since childhood. The attention was drawn to her by the coaches selecting the pupils. Galina Ivanovna Rubtsova noticed the first grader at a physical education lesson at school. The first training sessions began. They were so heavy that the girl broke.
Due to the lack of visible results, she did not want to continue classes. And the mentors did not promise the student any achievements: Helen was called the "average", firm and solid, but no higher. Mom was able to support the young gymnast, explaining that it takes a very long time to train to win.
Training continued with the new mentor Yatchenko. The future champion in the classroom with Gavrichenkov was even more persistent. Under his leadership, the talent of the gymnast was revealed completely. At ten, Shushunova fulfilled the standard of a master of sports. Three years passed, and Elena won the floor exercises at the 1982 European Junior Championships.
Triumph
Hard training met all the expectations of coaches and the athlete herself. Elena won all national competitions in gymnastics. In 1983, she won the country's Cup in the all-around. Fifteen-year-old Elena was called one of the most promising young athletes in the world. She received the bronze only in 1984, and the rest of the awards, from 1985 to 1988, were gold.
Triumphantly ended all the world championships. Shushunova still decided to end her career by choosing a quiet life, but the coach convinced the pupil to continue speaking. In 1985, in Montreal, Canada, the Soviet gymnast won three gold, having managed to come forward from the 17th place after the free program.
Team Championship brought Elena to the 5th position. Despite the fact that only the first three places were selected for the finals, the coaches took a chance to put on Shushunova. She became a three-time world champion, winning victories in the vault, team jump and absolute championship.
In Helsinki, at the European Championships, the gymnast, being the honored master, received four highest awards. She was the best in all-around, floor exercises, on parallel bars and in a vault. The most difficult performance for a girl on a log brought her bronze.
1987 became rich in impressions. In Zagreb, Shushunova set a world record by winning all the gold of the World Universiade. At the European Championship, she won the vault, becoming the third in the all-around. Disappointment brought the athlete to participate in the world championship in Rotterdam.
Retirement
She received gold for a vault and floor exercises, took silver in the team championship, for all-around and floor exercises, and was awarded bronze for the parallel bars. However, the world team championship was lost: the gymnasts from Romania became the winners with a minimal margin.
Elena diligently prepared for the most decisive competition for her in 1988. At the Olympics in Seoul, she won the gold in all-around and team championships. Elena received all samples of awards in her personal piggy bank. The log brought her silver, and the bars - bronze. The gymnast again announced the end of her career in sports. This time, no one persuaded to continue the performance, but immediately she was invited to start a slightly different work.
In the new national team, Shushunova became an assistant mentor. Her responsibilities included demonstrating the correctness of the exercises. This activity was so alien to the champion that she left gymnastics completely.
A new element in gymnastics was called the “Shushunova jump”, and the performer herself was included in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
