Fragile on the outside, strong on the inside: 5 inspiring stories of Russian female athletes

High performance sports, in addition to talents and skills, require the strongest motivation, determination and willpower. Professionals often have to sacrifice their personal lives to achieve the desired results. And life sometimes comes with unpleasant surprises.

These women athletes have achieved a lot, including in sports. Despite all the obstacles and trials that fate prepared for them, they were able to move on and conquer new heights. The sportswomen proved again and again that the female gender is not weak at all. And their strength – internal and external – can be envied by anyone.

Tatiana Totmyanina

One of the worst falls on the ice in the world of pairs figure skating happened in 2004. At that time Totmyanina had already won the titles of three-time European champion, two-time Russian champion and world champion. The accident occurred at the Skate America Grand Prix, which was held in Pittsburgh.

At first there was no sign of trouble. Tatiana and Maxim Marinin, who were considered the best couple, confidently skated the free skating program “Scheherazade”, and the 17,000-seat Mellon Arena watched their every move with pleasure. But at one point a terrible thing happened – the partner made a mistake during the support. At that fateful moment, the skater was at the highest point during the skating and collapsed on the ice head down from a height of 2.5 meters. The audience was in shock and many thought that the fall was fatal: the athlete lay unconscious, surrounded by a crowd of medical personnel, and Marinin looked at this horrifying picture frozen, confused look.

The further professional career of the figure skater was in great doubt. Tatiana herself, having regained consciousness, was tearing on the ice. The loss of consciousness had its advantages: the skater had forgotten the moment of the fall, and she had no fear of returning to the arena. What can’t be said about her partner, who felt guilty and wanted to end his career. The coach long persuaded Totmyanina to stay longer in the hospital and fully recover. However, the determined athlete returned to training in two weeks, in three weeks she and Marinin tried to perform supports. And in two and a half months the strongest pair of the country won their third “gold” at the Russian Championships and qualified for the main starts.

Yana Kunitskaya

The girl was born in a family of professional athletes: her mom is a gymnast and her dad is a skier. However, her father was against her practicing martial arts. Such activity is not for girls, he thought, and wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. But Kunitskaya continued to train and, despite everything, strive for new heights.

In 2010, after the Russian Thai boxing championship, due to her weakened immune system, the girl contracted such a deadly infection as staphylococcus aureus. She had to spend six months in hospital, undergo more than 20 surgeries and many blood transfusions. It was only at the Military Medical Academy that Yana was able to get back on her feet. Despite the severe illness, Kunitskaya was able to recover, regain her form and return to MMA. Just six months after her last surgery, she took part in a fight against Arune Lauzeikate.

Apparently, as a sign of protest, I started to devote even more time to martial arts. Pain has never frightened me.

Yana Kudryavtseva

This gymnast won five gold medals at the World Championships while performing with a fractured foot. Here’s how it went down. In 2015 in Kazan at the World Cup, the girl injured her ankle, but used to such pain, did not pay much attention to it. In Stuttgart, she performed already with a damaged leg. “I had to get the opportunity to perform there so as not to let down those who believe in me,” recalls the athlete.

After the World Championships, Kudryavtseva returned home and was immediately hospitalized. She was diagnosed with a fracture of one fourth of the navicular bone of the left foot, which required urgent surgery. The girl was treated in Munich, after which she was forced to take a break from sports for six months. Despite this, the gymnast was able to recover, returned to the carpet and performed in three types of program at the international tournament in Riga. And in 2016, she became the overall champion in the individual all-around at the European Championships in Holon.

Elena Berezhnaya

The career of this athlete is quite dramatic. At the age of 16, the girl got to Riga. As a partner in figure skating she got Oleg Shlyakhov with, to put it mildly, difficult character – before Elena seven partners ran away from him. The girl had to endure on the part of the partner constant beatings and shouting, he could easily lock her in a room for a whole day. Berezhnaya put up with this attitude for the sake of the team and future successes, because their couple was really promising: they regularly got into the “top ten” of the best at the major world and European forums.

An accident happened at one of the figure skating trainings. The girl’s partner, performing a complex rotation, crashed his skate right into her head. She was immediately hospitalized: the force of the blow was so powerful that Elena was on the verge of life and death. Doctors said that regardless of whether the operation was successful or not, a return to sport was out of the question.

Elena re-learned not only to speak and walk, but also to skate. In this she was helped by her new partner and favorite person Anton Sikharulidze and coach Tamara Moskvina – they also helped the girl to leave Shlyakhov. The figure skater managed to cope with all the difficulties, and a year later she and Sikharulidze again performed at international tournaments.

Elena Vyalbe

The name of Elena Vyalbe forever entered the history of skiing. In the life of the fourteen-time world champion there were many difficulties. She participated in many sporting events on a global scale, took prizes and showed amazing results. But before her first Olympics in 1988 in Calgary, the girl became pregnant. She faced a difficult choice: give birth to the child or take part in the games. Sports officials insisted that the skier had an abortion – it was believed that it was impossible to return to professional sports after childbirth. However, Elena refused.

When her son was born, she was forced to miss one season of games. Many were sure that the athlete lost her shape and will not return to the track. But the future champion was able not only to recover, but also to take part in the next three Olympic Games: she took three golds and four bronzes in cross-country skiing. The movie “White Snow” was released in 2021 about her difficult fate and amazing will to win.