Maria Abakumova: golden explosion. Abakumova, Maria Vasilievna The best results in the history of Spear. Women

Maria Abakumova was born on January 15, 1986 in the city of Stavropol. The girl first took up a spear at the age of ten. At first the classes didn't pay desired results, however, a few years later the athlete began to train more seriously. The athlete's first coach was Irina Vladimirovna Komarova. Then her mother Galina Abakumova and Krasnodar resident Alexander Sinitsyn became her mentors.

At the Youth World Championships in 2003, Maria Abakumova was able to throw the javelin 51.41 m. As a result, she took fourth place. However, in 2005, in the same competition, the athlete won gold with a score of 57.11 m.

Two years later, the athlete managed to take only seventh place at the World Championships, but a year later Abakumova became the champion of Russia and received an Olympic license.

On Olympic Games In Beijing on August 21, 2008, the women's javelin throw final took place at the National Stadium in incessant rain. On the first attempt, twenty-two-year-old Abakumova took the lead, sending the projectile to 69 meters 32 cm. In the second attempt, Maria threw 69 meters 8 cm, and in the fourth attempt she succeeded in throwing 70 meters 78 cm, which became a new European record and only 92 cm worse than the world record of Cuban Osleydis Menendez.

Before the last sixth attempt, Abakumova was ahead of the second 2007 world champion, Czech Barbora Shpotakova, by 1 meter 56 cm. None of the finalists, including the world record holder Menendez, managed to even come close to Abakumova’s result in the last attempt. All that remained was Shpotakova's throw. And the Czech managed to do the almost incredible: she threw 71 meters 42 cm and took the lead, breaking the European record set a few minutes earlier. Abakumova had one last chance to snatch gold with her last throw, but Maria sent her javelin 67 meters 52 cm and remained second.

It should be noted that before the start of the Beijing Games, Maria’s personal record was 65 meters 71 cm. Thus, at the Olympics, Abakumova threw further than her previous personal record five times, ultimately improving it by more than five meters.

At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Maria, in her second attempt at the final, set new record Russia: 71 m 25 cm. In the fifth attempt, Shpotakova came out on top, throwing the javelin at 71 m 58 cm, but then Maria threw it at 71 m 99 cm, once again updating the Russian record, and showing the second result in the history of women's javelin throwing . Only Shpotakova's world record is higher. As a result, Maria was the first Russian woman to become the world champion in this discipline, setting a national record and a world championship record.

In 2013, Maria Abakumova competed at the World Championships in Moscow, where she won a bronze medal. In the same year, the athlete became the winner of the World Summer Universiade in Kazan.

In February 2014, Maria Vasilievna was a torchbearer in the Krasnodar leg of the Olympic torch relay.

A year later, the athlete became the winner of the international athletics tournament Valter Kalami Memorial, which was held in Estonia. In the same year, at the 2015 Russian Championships in Cheboksary, the athlete took second position.

In February 2016, at the Winter Championship and Russian Long Throw Championship in Adler, Maria took second place with a score of 59 meters 55 cm.

Married to Russian javelin thrower Dmitry Tarabin. They are raising three children. They live in the sunny city of Krasnodar.

Athlete's height: 179 cm; weight: 80 kg.

Maria Vasilievna Abakumova(born January 15, 1986 in Stavropol, USSR) - Russian track and field athlete (javelin throw), world champion, Russian record holder, Honored Master of Sports of Russia.

general information

Maria is married to another Russian javelin thrower: Dmitry Tarabin. On June 17, 2014, they had two daughters.

Maria’s first coach was Irina Vladimirovna Komarova, who taught for about 8 years until she moved to Krasnodar. With her, until 2007, she went to all competitions and championships. It was Irina who instilled a love for throwing and athletics.

Awards

• Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree - For great contribution to development physical culture and sports, tall sports achivments at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad 2008 in Beijing
• Presidential Certificate of Honor Russian Federation(July 19, 2013) - for high sporting achievements at the XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan

Sports career

Summer Olympics 2008

On August 21, 2008, the women's javelin throw final took place at the National Stadium in Beijing, under incessant rain. On her first attempt, 22-year-old Abakumova took the lead, throwing a projectile at 69 m 32 cm. In the second attempt, Maria threw at 69 m 8 cm, and in the 4th she succeeded in throwing at 70 m 78 cm - a new European record and only 92 cm is worse than the world record of Cuban Osleydis Menendez (71 m 70 cm).

Before the last 6th attempt, Abakumova was ahead of the second 2007 world champion, Czech Barbora Shpotakova, by 1 m 56 cm. None of the finalists, including the world record holder Menendez, managed to even come close to Abakumova’s result in the last attempt. All that remained was Shpotakova's throw. And the Czech managed to do the almost incredible - she threw 42 cm 71 m (only 28 cm worse than the world record) and took the lead, breaking the European record set a few minutes earlier. Abakumova had one last chance to snatch gold with her last throw, but Maria sent her javelin 67 m 52 cm and remained second.

It should be noted that before the start of the Beijing Games, Maria’s personal record was 65 m 71 cm. Thus, at the Olympics, Abakumova threw further than her previous personal record 5 times, eventually improving it by more than 5 meters. On September 13, 2016, it became known that Abakumova was stripped of her silver medal due to a positive doping test. The prohibited substance turinabol was found in the Russian woman’s sample.

World Championship 2011

At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Maria, in the second attempt of the final, set a new Russian record - 71 m 25 cm. In the fifth attempt, Shpotakova came out on top, sending the javelin at 71 m 58 cm, but Maria immediately threw it at 71 m 99 cm, once again updating the Russian record, and showing the second result in the history of women's javelin throwing. Only Shpotakova's world record is higher (72 m 28 cm). As a result, Maria was the first Russian woman to become the world champion in this discipline, setting a national record and a world championship record.

Main results

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Yesterday in Daegu, 25-year-old Russian Maria Abakumova beat Beijing Olympic champion in javelin throw Barbora Shpotakova in an incredible fight, becoming world champion for the first time in her career.

Sergey BUTOV
from Daegu

Abakumova prepared for this championship with all the care sent down to her by the Creator. Here's a simple story for you. Shortly before leaving for Korea, Maria sat down on a bench in her favorite sweatpants - the same ones she wore to the Olympic sector in 2008, where she won silver. There was tar on the bench, Abakumova got her pants dirty, and she devoted all her inexhaustible energy to returning them to a competitive look. I washed and scrubbed the tar stain with acetone in my free time from training. Patience and work will grind everything down - in short, Abakumova won. And yesterday, wearing these same pants, she became the world champion.

Russian reporters surrounded Abakumova after the press conference, pinned her against the wall and closed a circle, cutting her off from the rest of the world. And we started talking, fortunately it didn’t require asking a single question. I listened to Maria, who brought down all her enormous charm on us, and thought: “What is she talking about? What the hell are these pants?” And then I suddenly remembered the famous Barbora Shpotakova, Olympic champion and current world record holder, who was crawling on all fours right in the sector - looking for an earring that had flown out of her ear.

No, just imagine the situation. Just a minute ago, Abakumova made the best throw of her life, sending the javelin to 71.99. Set a new Russian record, a new world championship record. The best result of the season in the world, finally. At Shpotakova, who is all athletics world considered a strong, cold-blooded, calculating woman, a sort of Margaret Thatcher with a spear, there was only one throw left to change history. Well, when there is an attempt, this is not yet a defeat: this was just proven by the German David Storl, who in the last approach pushed his heavy core to a personal record - 21.78 - and pulled out gold medal from the hands of Canadian Dylan Armstrong.

The legendary javelin thrower, Shpotakova's coach Jan Zelezny, was already rushing around the podium, ready to tell her ward how many steps to take during the run-up or how to place her foot correctly. The Czech fans have already started singing bellicose songs. And our Margaret Thatcher continued to crawl around the sector in search of an earring.

And then I began to respect Abakumova’s pants. I saw in them real strength and a serious factor that most directly influenced the outcome of her incredible battle with Shpotakova, and in general I understood a lot about the female spear. I understood what it was like to train the best javelin thrower in the world for the wonderful coach Alexander Sinitsyn, who chewed his lips with a straight face for an hour and a half at the coaching exchange. I understood what it took to dance this champion tango together, if not for the calm, worldly wisdom of Sinitsyn, who manages to conquer the emotional Everests of Abakumova every time, this box of dynamite, ready to explode at any moment, to fly into pieces.

We don’t know how Abakumova managed to win yesterday when the day before the final she couldn’t step on her sore foot. We don’t know how it was possible to remain such a cheerful person after she, as a beginner athlete, rushed after the mice who had declared war on Abakumova on the 8-meter territory entrusted to her in the hostel, where for two years in a row she ate, washed things, dried them and received guests. Lived, in a word!

We only know that Sinitsyn promised to shave off his musketeer mustache, which he has worn for many years, in honor of his favorite’s victory at the Olympic Games. And we understand: if the pet really wants it, Sinitsyn’s mustache will be signed with a death sentence.

A SPEAR. Women

top scores in the history of Spear. Women

- one of those athletes with whom, not unreasonably, athletics specialists in our country pin London’s medal hopes. Maria was born in Stavropol, January 15, 1986. Already as a seven-year-old girl, she began to play sports; her parents brought the first-grader to the pool for swimming lessons. But she stayed there for a while, after swimming there were classes gymnastics, tennis, and only already, as a third grader, Maria came to athletics, to the group of coach Irina Komarova.

At first, Maria competed in hurdles, then in the long jump and even in the shot put. By the way, the girl achieved this look most successfully; it was here that she won her first significant award - the gold medal of the 1998 national champion. On next year Maria began performing as a javelin thrower and already in her first starts she showed good results— at the national championship among juniors, she was able to improve the country’s record by 4 meters. To this day, Maria Abakumova holds the highest achievements in Russia in javelin throwing among juniors and youth. In 2005, Maria started at the continental youth championship in Kaunas. Having sent the projectile 57 meters 11 centimeters in the last attempt, Maria won. This year, the young athlete sent the javelin over 59 meters seven more times, which made the national team coaches pay attention to her and include her in the adult team.

World Championship athletics in Berlin (Germany), August 18, 2009

As an adult thrower, Maria Abakumova competed for the first time at the European Cup in Florence. In the company of the strongest throwers in the world, the young Stavropol resident was not a statistic and took seventh place.

From this time on, Maria Abakumova’s entry into the world athletics elite in her type of athletics began. In 2007, the athlete took a high seventh place in the final of the world championship, and the next year she made it into the country's Olympic team.

Olympic Games in Beijing (China), August 21, 2008

Maria's Olympic debut turned out to be not only sensational, but also dramatic. And it’s not just that the competition on August 21, 2008 in the capital of China took place in pouring rain. As Maria herself admitted after the completion of the competition, throughout the tournament she experienced extreme psychological pressure. All the spectators were rooting for Spotakova, this happened obsessively and demonstratively - they communicated with her, greeted her - they knew her as a leader and they wanted to see her as a winner. But in her first attempt, Maria Abakumova sends a projectile to 69 m 32 cm and becomes the leader. In the fourth, Maria sets a new European record and, before the last attempt, is more than one and a half meters ahead of her main rival. Spotakova, in her last throw, accomplished the almost incredible - she threw her javelin 71 m 42 cm and became Olympic champion. However, in the Olympic final alone, Maria managed to improve her personal best by more than 5 meters - also a kind of record. Maria does not regard her performance in Beijing as a sensation; according to her, she was in “amazing” shape at that moment.

European Athletics Championships in Barcelona (Spain), July 27, 2010

In the post-Olympic season of 2009, Abakumova took third place at the world championship in Berlin, and two years later she triumphantly became the world champion in Daegu. Maria, in the second attempt of the final, showed a result of 71 m 25 cm, and in the fifth she threw the projectile at 71 m 99 cm. This was the second longest javelin throw in women's athletics in history. Only world record holder Spotakova threw further.

Maria Abakumova is an Honored Master of Sports of Russia, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.

Trained by Maria A. Sinitsyn, G. Abakumova and Irina Komarova.

World Athletics Championships in Daegu (South Korea), September 2, 2011

Today, the thoughts of the athlete and her coaches are entirely focused on preparing for the Olympics in London. Once upon a time, after the World Championships in Daegu, in an interview, Maria stated that she dreams of exceeding the Russian record. According to Maria and her coaches, today she has everything necessary for a successful performance in London - skill, experience, psychological stability. Maria believes that if she is lucky, not only a new Russian record could be born in London, she is ready for it.

Yuri Danilov