The other side of the coin. Pole vaulter Evgeniy Lukyanenko: Favorite status adds strength Lukyanenko is preparing for the Olympics

Athletics

The winner of the 2008 Winter World Championships in the pole vault, EVGENY LUKYANENKO, won the Russian Championships that ended on Sunday in Kazan with a modest result of 5 m 85 cm and then did not take the 6.06 he claimed. However, the 23-year-old athlete from Slavyansk-on-Kuban, who already has a jump of 6.01 m this season, said in an interview with VALERIYA MIRONOVA that he is unlikely to be satisfied with even second place at the Beijing Olympics.

— When you started pole vaulting, did you have a feeling of futility? After all, Sergei Bubka, with his last phenomenal record - 6.15 - slowed down the movement of the species for decades.

- Bubka jumped really high. But I never thought and don’t think now that pole vaulting is a futile activity. If we think like this, then where should an athlete go? In height? So after Javier Sotomayor with his 2.45 m, there also seems to be nothing to do. There are more than 40 types of athletics, and almost all of them are “unpromising”. But if no one tries, you won't break records. However, records are not an end in themselves for me.

— Did you immediately pick up the pole?

— At first, like all young athletes, I took up all-around events. Everyone in our family played sports. Mom and sister - athletics, father - football. My current coach Sergei Gripich saw me during some school competitions and invited me to his section. Although I myself worked with older children. And I picked up a pole at the age of 14.

— Although you took an honorable sixth place last year at the World Championships in Osaka, your name made headlines quite recently, when you first won the Winter World Championships, and in early July, at a competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland, you cleared the bar at an altitude of 6.01. What do you attribute the qualitative leap in performance to?

— With a well-structured preparatory season. I worked harder, trained more. And subtleties are a big secret. In short, we decided to apply more varied loads to the usual training, the one that, for example, I conducted a year ago - strength, speed, speed-strength. I do triple and quadruple long jumps and run sprints. I even use the core in preparation, pushing while sitting from behind my head. The concept of “all inclusive” perfectly reflects the essence of pole vaulting.

— Apparently, it is stability that allows those of your rivals, who also now jump six meters, to talk about you as a future Olympic medalist?

— Why only as about the prize-winner? However, anyone can throw around words, I’m not one of them. Let's see what happens in Beijing. And after the final protocol is drawn up, we’ll discuss everything.

— The main qualities of a poleman, in your opinion.

— Courage, endurance, coordination. I personally am always confident in myself.

— Apparently, it’s not just success in sports that gives you confidence?

— At the age of twenty-three, I managed to get two degrees. One diploma is a physical education teacher, and the second is a lawyer. In addition, I am now a graduate student and preparing to write my dissertation. I haven’t decided on a specific topic yet, but I am interested in issues of sports pedagogy. In two years I hope to receive my PhD.

— Do you subconsciously want to be like your coach?

— Gripich is very kind and patient.

- The good ones can be easily controlled.

“You can be kind and keep your distance.”

— Does he have his own technique?

“We are preparing according to a general plan, based on film and video, although, of course, taking into account some of our own nuances. My coach is a genius. In any case, in our region he has no one to consult with. Of course, we can listen to someone, but we stupidly don’t accept anything. And the methodology was changed based on my good performance in Osaka. They just realized that I needed to be loaded more. But I am not just an executor of the coach’s will; my participation in the creative process is also implied. If I feel, for example, that the muscles of the back of the thigh are about to fly or something else, I can say: “that’s it.” Gripich himself says that if something goes wrong, it is better to stop it here and now than to destroy yourself and not go anywhere at all. There were times when I pulled a muscle and the seasons passed by. Each of our training sessions begins with the coach asking me about my well-being. If something bothers me or unpleasant sensations arise during work, I say that I won’t do anything else, and the coach agrees with me.

— Did you do the right thing by participating in a large number of starts of the season?

— In my opinion, it’s better to compete, and not to sit quietly, like, for example, the German Denny Ecker or the Frenchman Roman Mesnil. Last year, the championship in Osaka was my tenth start of the season; the Olympics, after the last one in London, will be my eleventh this year.

— What do you think about Australian Steve Hooker, whose best result is 6.00, and American, season leader Brad Walker (6.04 m)?

- Well done. If they didn't jump so high, I wouldn't be interested. The result is born in the struggle. I think Walker is more psychologically stable and assertive. But they are not the only ones that outline the circle of candidates for Olympic medals. I keep an eye on my opponents, try to track all their movements and achievements, but at the same time I never twitch myself. Whether we calculated our strength correctly will be seen on August 19 in the qualifications and on August 22 in the finals. We will arrive in Beijing on the 15th.

- Four days before the start - is this verified?

— Part of our team is scheduled to leave on this date. They say that in China there is not only wild heat, but also smog. And that's okay. So, we will jump on the instruments. As for the heat, in Slavyansk in the summer it’s so stuffy in the gym that if flies fly in, they’ll die. So, one might say, I have been preparing for Beijing since childhood.

Evgeny Lukyanenko is one of the most famous and titled athletes in the Russian Federation. The athlete performs in and during his sports career managed to achieve quite a lot, however, his fame is ambiguous and overshadowed by one tragic incident.

Childhood and early career

The future athlete was born in the winter of 1985 in the Krasnodar region. As a child, the child was extremely active and mobile. As often happens, the parents, in order to channel their son’s energy into a creative direction, sent little Zhenya to the athletics section. The guy didn’t mind, because he loved activities where you needed to move a lot. From the first training it became noticeable that the child had certain inclinations. The children's coaches decided that Evgeniy needed to practice pole vaulting: he was very thin, but flexible, strong and tall. In a word, he had the ideal physique for a jumper.

Lukyanenko begins to devote himself completely to the sport, and in the future this will bear fruit. Today, the athlete remembers with warmth and nostalgia the times when his parents took him to a sports school, as well as his first coach.

Professional career

The rise of Evgeniy Lukyanenko began quite early, and this is due to the fact that the athlete demonstrated high results in youth and youth competitions. For some time he performed only on the domestic stage, but in 2007 the situation changed. It was then that the selection for the Olympic Games began, which were to take place in 2008 in Beijing. His wife was only twenty-two years old at the time of the selections, but many professionals said that he would be among those who would win a ticket to Beijing.

Everything happened exactly like this - Evgeniy Lukyanenko passed the selection without any problems and began to prepare directly for the Olympic Games.

Among other things, Lukyanenko is a multiple champion of Russia in pole vaulting, as well as a winner of the World Athletics Championships, which took place in Spain in 2008, literally a few months before the Olympics.

Beijing Olympics

Pole vaulter Evgeny Lukyanenko went to China as the Olympic favorite, and many predicted victory for him. Unfortunately, the athlete failed to win the gold award: he stopped one step away from the highest achievement. The young and promising athlete climbed only to the second step of the podium. He was a few centimeters short of victory, however, as many would later note, it was still a good result for an athlete who had only recently begun performing on the international stage.

For playing in China, Evgeniy Lukyanenko will receive an honorary government award - the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.

After some time, the athlete will give an interview in which he will note that he was counting on first place, but is still satisfied with the result.

Traffic accident involving an athlete

In 2009, an unpleasant event happened in the life of a young man, which marked the beginning of a series of failures in his personal and sports life. Evgeniy became the culprit of a tragic and large-scale accident. He was driving his car and, according to the official version of the State Traffic Inspectorate, lost control. At that moment, in addition to Lukyanenko, his friends were sitting in the car - pregnant Irina Kovalchuk (a friend of a fellow athlete), Anna and Alexey. As a result of the accident, Irina died and Anna became disabled.

The Olympic silver medalist faced a sentence of up to eleven years in prison. After some time, Alexey Lyashenko took the blame, saying that it was he who was driving. But witnesses will claim that the famous athlete was driving the car. Some experts associated this turn of events with the fact that alcohol was found in Evgeniy’s blood.

In the end, it was Alexei who was tried. Perhaps the reason was that Evgeniy’s father is far from the last person in the Krasnodar region, and the athlete persuaded his friend to take the blame. Be that as it may, now Evgeniy Lukyanenko does not like to remember this story. Photos from the scene of the accident that day spread across many newspapers and television shows. Many were surprised that there were any survivors at all.

London Olympics

The biography of Yevgeny Lukyanenko is rich in events of various kinds, and the London Olympics was supposed to be the next important stage in the life of the young man. Experts believed that here he would at least be among the top three and compete for the championship title. The athlete successfully completed the qualifying stage and was preparing for the next large-scale competition.

Unfortunately, at the 2012 Olympics, Evgeniy suffered a complete fiasco. He couldn't even make it into the top three. After the end of the competition, he will be called one of the main disappointments of those games.

Pole vaulter Evgeniy Lukyanenko received a lot of criticism from sports commentators. To this day, the failure is associated with the same accident, after which he was never able to recover morally.

Despite this, the jumper remains one of the best athletes in the history of post-Soviet Russia. He continues to participate in Russian championships and claims high awards at each of them. This is him, Evgeniy Lukyanenko. Photos from stadiums where the athlete soared over the bar show a young and well-built guy, a real track and field athlete.

Achievements and awards

The athlete is a multiple champion of the Russian Federation in pole vaulting, as well as a participant and winner of international championships. Personal best is 6 meters 1 centimeter, indoors - 5 meters 2 centimeters. Plus, Evgeny Lukyanenko is an Honored Master of Sports, and, as mentioned earlier, he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.

Today the athlete is thirty-one years old. Experts are confident that his best years are behind him, and there will be no further significant victories. But the athlete himself, Evgeniy Lukyanenko, continues to train hard and believes that he has not yet fully revealed his potential. Whether this is true or not, only time will tell.

Silver medalist of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in pole vault, world champion, two-time national champion Evgeniy Lukyanenko, while drunk at the wheel, killed a man and persuaded his friend to take the blame.

Two years ago, an accident occurred in provincial Slavyansk-on-Kuban: one person died, the second was left disabled. According to the investigator and eyewitnesses of the tragedy, a drunken Lukyanenko lost control. He was threatened with 7 years in prison. But, as you know, winners are not judged. The athlete’s friend took the blame for the death of the man. Meanwhile, Evgeny Lukyanenko is packing his bags for the Olympics in London.

The country learned the name of Evgeniy Lukyanenko in 2008. This happened at the Beijing Olympics, where a guy from Kuban took silver in the pole vault competition.

Residents of the Krasnodar Territory rejoiced in front of their TV screens - a fellow countryman brought a medal to the country's treasury. The mayor of the athlete’s estate gave the command to urgently print portraits of the winner and cover useless billboards with them. In maternity hospitals in Kuban, newborn boys began to be called Zhenya in honor of the champion. In short, Lukyanenko returned to his homeland from Beijing as a hero.

Upon Evgeniy’s return, he was greeted at the airport by a crowd of journalists, an army of new fans and his fiancee Anna. “This is a victory for you,” Evgeniy whispered and hung the medal on the girl’s neck.

...A year after the events described above.

August 2009. Zhenya is the guest of honor at his best friend's wedding. That same Anna is the bride's witness.

On the third day, the newlyweds continued to celebrate the event with a picnic.

In the evening the friendly company returned home. A tipsy Lukyanenko took it upon himself to give the young couple a lift home. Anna was also in his car. Not having driven even half an hour, the car flew into a ditch.

The pregnant bride died without regaining consciousness.

Anna became disabled after that accident. The doctors unanimously repeated: “She will never get back on her feet.”

The person responsible for the accident was also named. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be one of the passengers of the crashed car.

And Lukyanenko went to the next competition to win awards.

True, no longer for Anya.

“He returned from the Olympics a different person”

Anna Klimenko is learning to walk again today in a rehabilitation center in Ukraine. She remembers that terrible evening reluctantly, but understands that it is necessary to talk about it, otherwise the culprit will escape punishment.

Anna Klimenko at the grave of Irina Kovalchuk, who died in an accident.

In front of me is a whole heap of photographs from the past, where Anna and her fiancé Evgeniy Lukyanenko smile carefree and make plans for their future together.

We knew Zhenya since school, but we started dating later - I was finishing my 5th year at the institute then,” Anna began. - Lukyanenko seemed like a decent, kind person. He was a gallant gentleman - he courted, gave flowers, spoke beautiful words. We even lived together for some time. At that moment I had no doubt that we would definitely get married. But then Zhenya was not yet a champion, he did not earn crazy money. It’s true what they say, love is blind - I couldn’t even think that my chosen one was capable of terrible betrayal.

2008 was a turning point in the lives of Evgeny and Anna. Then the young athlete went to the Olympics in Beijing.

We often called each other and corresponded,” the girl recalls. - On the day of Zhenya’s performance, I held my fists for him and prayed for victory. When he climbed onto the pedestal, he beamed with joy, he was overwhelmed with emotions, and he could not restrain himself, shouting at the camera: “Anyuta, I love you.” True, later I tried to find this story on the Internet. Did not find…

“Lukyanenko won by a miracle,” commentators later assessed the athlete’s achievements. So what was it? Did Anna's prayers help?

Now I know for sure that you need to be careful with your desires, they have the unpleasant feature of coming true,” the interlocutor blames herself. - Zhenya returned from Beijing a different person. Fame and money ruined him. No, he didn’t do anything bad to me, but it became unbearable to communicate with him after the Olympics... For a long time, the entire local press wrote about him, he couldn’t calmly walk down the street of our city - people took pictures with him, took autographs from him, the whole of Slavyansk -on-Kuban was hung with giant banners and posters with his image. At one point, he became the pride of the entire Krasnodar region. Children who were just beginning to take their first steps in athletics dreamed of being like Lukyanenko. And at school, students wrote essays dedicated to the winner.

“This is a victory for you!” - Evgeny Lukyanenko whispered upon returning from the Olympics and hung the medal on the neck of his girlfriend Anna.

The sudden fame turned the champion's head. Crowds of fans did not allow Lukyanenko to pass. And why does he need Anya now? A girl from the past... The young people broke up. Without scandals, tears and hysterics. Even without banal promises “we will remain friends.”

...The paths of Anya and Zhenya crossed again only a year later. They ended up at the wedding of mutual friends Sergei and Irina.

It’s customary for us to celebrate a wedding for three days,” recalls Anna. - For the first two days, Zhenya didn’t drink - it seemed like he shouldn’t have. Shortly before the event, he underwent serious surgery; doctors strictly forbade him to drink alcohol. On the third day, Lukyanenko lost his temper.

The final day of the wedding was celebrated on the river bank. When it began to get dark, the guests began to get ready to go home. The champion, without hesitation, offered to give the young couple a lift to the city.

Five people crowded into Zhenya’s car - the bride and groom, another guy and me. Lukyanenko was driving. I didn’t immediately realize how drunk our driver was. It became alarming after he started abruptly, then pressed the gas pedal to the floor, and the car literally took off. What was it? Who did he decide to show off to? He raced along the highway at such speed that I’m still surprised we didn’t crash in the first seconds. At some point, I suggested that Lukyanenko change places - I had my driver’s license with me. He didn't allow it. I just turned up the music louder. And then Zhenya, without slowing down, completely turned towards us and began to tell us something. He no longer watched the road. I, in turn, did not take my eyes off the highway, as I felt that trouble was inevitable. And at the first sharp turn the car started to spin. I only managed to shout: “We are flying into a tree.” Zhenya tried to turn the steering wheel, but it was too late.

Anna vaguely remembers further events: “I lost consciousness and came to, but my memory still recorded most of the moments of that night.” Eyewitnesses to the tragedy helped the girl completely restore the picture of the incident. True, it took two years.

“Please don’t say I was driving.”

The bride did not die immediately. It seems they managed to take Ira to the hospital. But the doctors were powerless to help her. In the first seconds after the accident, I looked at her and was horrified - Irina was lying unconscious, her blond hair was covered in black blood, her face was disfigured. I also remember well how Zhenya was the first to jump out of the car and start calling his father. He didn’t tell my parents anything, and he didn’t call an ambulance either. He was in a state of shock, running around the field and shouting something into the phone.

The ambulance was called by strangers - local residents who came running in response to the noise.

Of the five people in the car, only two were not injured - Evgeniy Lukyanenko and fiance Sergei Kovalchuk, who was sitting next to the driver's seat.

They pulled me out of the car and laid me on the ground,” Anna continues. - I remember the hellish pain. And I also screamed loudly, calling Zhenya, the only close person of all who was nearby. He came up to me literally for 30 seconds. He took my hand and put it on some boy’s knee with the words: “Let him think it’s me.” And left. Complete strangers from a neighboring village stayed with me. I kept telling them: “I’ll sleep now.” Apparently I was going to die. They distracted me, talked about some unrelated topics and kept repeating: “Just don’t try to close your eyes, hold on.”

After some time, ambulances began arriving at the scene of the accident. The hardest victim, the bride Irina, was taken away first. Then one of the guys, Alexey Lyashenko, was sent to the hospital, shouting at the top of his lungs: “I’m dying.” Anna was taken away from the scene more than two hours later.

I had practically no open fractures, I was completely broken inside. Therefore, outwardly she looked normal. There was no blood on me either. Perhaps that’s why the doctors decided that I would hold out a little longer, and they took me last. When they loaded me onto the stretcher, I could no longer feel my legs and arms.

Anna Klimenko. Photo: Vladimir Anosov/RG

Anna was kept in a rural hospital for a day. Apparently, the doctors had no doubt that the girl would not live until the morning. Her parents were made clear: “Your daughter has injuries that are not compatible with life.” And what’s the point of taking a patient to a Krasnodar hospital tens of kilometers away? It's just a waste of gasoline...

But my body coped, I lasted a day. But in Krasnodar, the doctors also did not console my mother: “We need to do an urgent operation. One percent that your child will survive. Otherwise, he will definitely die.” I didn’t come out of the coma for three days. The first operation lasted all night. Subsequently, I underwent eleven surgical interventions. It felt like hell. I only managed to recover from one anesthesia, and they immediately took me to the operating room again.

From the Krasnodar forum:“When Anya was discharged from the hospital, the patients cried! We will never forget the picture of how this girl’s mother spent the night under her bed in the hospital - there were no more places, and Anyuta was choking on blood! The parents of this girl gave their last money to somehow help their child! Does the Lukyanenko family have any idea how much this treatment cost?! Apparently not..."

When I came to my senses after the first operation, I immediately called Zhenya. Despite everything, I was worried about him,” the interlocutor continues. - His voice was calm: “I’m fine.” Later he arrived at the hospital. He visited me twice in total. And all these meetings boiled down to one thing, he literally begged me: “Please don’t say that I was driving.” He managed to lull my vigilance. I felt sorry for him, and I agreed: “Don’t worry, I’ll say that I don’t remember anything.” I don’t know why I did this - I probably wanted to help him. In turn, I had no doubt that he would help me with treatment. For six months, his father knocked on the threshold of my house, communicated with my parents, but my loved ones never heard words of compassion from him. He just needed to get his son out of jail time.

Lukyanenko’s father donated 160 thousand rubles for Anna’s treatment. After which he took a receipt from the victim’s parents. This amount was enough for the girl for a month. And when Anna’s parents again turned to Lukyanenko for financial assistance, the head of the family wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office, where he accused Klimenko’s father of extortion.

Meanwhile, the girl had already given her first testimony to the investigator. To the question: “Who was driving?” - Anna answered: “I don’t remember.” This turned out to be enough to divert suspicion from Lukyanenko.

And soon the culprit of the tragedy emerged. It was Alexey Lyashenko, the same guy who was sitting in the back seat of the crashed car.

“Boy, come to your senses, you face 5 years in prison!”

Surely the champion would have gotten away with it if Anna had not changed her testimony. During repeated interrogation by the investigator, the girl seemed to see the light: “Lukyanenko was driving.”

But proving the correctness of these words has now become much more difficult.

To begin with, we tried to find a lawyer for me, but this turned out to be an impossible task. While three people are protecting Zhenya, no one wanted to take on us. Hearing Lukyanenko’s last name, the lawyers waved their hands: “We don’t want to get involved with the champion’s father.” Only two years later we managed to hire a lawyer.

The athlete’s father is indeed not the last person in Kuban, to say the least. Yuri Vasilyevich Lukyanenko occupies the chair of the head of interdistrict criminal-executive inspection No. 9 of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnodar Territory.

This significant fact explains a lot in the high-profile Lukyanenko case.

One day I was called to a confrontation with Alexey Lyashenko, the guy who took the blame upon himself,” says Anna. - He, looking into my eyes, without a shadow of embarrassment, declared: “I was driving.” I couldn’t believe my own ears - I saw everything! Then the investigator took the floor: “Boy, come to your senses! You are facing 5 years...” These threats had no effect on Lesha; it was as if he was programmed with one answer: “It’s my fault.” I have no doubt that Lukyanenko’s father promised Lyashenko to provide comfortable conditions for his detention in the colony. Perhaps Lesha was paid well for his false testimony. Of course, the investigator understood everything immediately. Last year, he put an end to the investigation and took the case to court.

Evgeny Lukyanenko and Anna Klimenko

The case was brought to the Slavyansky District Court in November last year. However, it has not yet been considered on its merits: at the preliminary hearing, federal judge Alexander Yarovoy decided to return it to the prosecutor “to remove obstacles in the consideration.”

The high-profile case is not allowed to proceed in court. Although this accident is an ordinary case, it would seem that everything is easy and simple. And most importantly, it is clear to the judge, prosecutor, and investigator who is to blame for the accident. But now everything is coming to the conclusion that the cause of the accident was an uneven road,” says Klimenko. - And on the website of the city prosecutor’s office a slogan appeared: “The Pride of Slavyansk-on-Kuban.” Below is the name Lukyanenko.

...Today, the once quiet and peaceful Slavyansk-on-Kuban is divided into two opposing camps. Anna has a clear advantage.

It’s scary that the fiance of the deceased Irina Sergei Kovalchuk took Lukyanenko’s side; moreover, they maintained a strong friendship with the champion. Seryozha, of course, came to the funeral of his bride, and then chose to forget about the tragedy. Over the past years, he never called Irina’s parents, did not come to her grave, but he bought himself a car with the money donated at the wedding. And soon after the accident he began dating a girl. Life goes on…

Life goes on for Evgeniy Lukyanenko. His posters still hang in many cities of the Krasnodar Territory, he continues to train, and plans to go to the Olympics in London. And recently the champion got married. True, he did not play a magnificent wedding - he married the bride quietly, without noisy feasts.

Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased Irina could not come to terms with the death of their daughter and the fact that the culprit is still at large.

Lukyanenko’s parents provided the family with financial assistance in Irina’s funeral - by the way, they also gave the money to the father of the deceased against a receipt, adds Anna. - It turns out strange: if their son was not guilty of anything, why did they provide financial assistance and, moreover, demand a receipt? By the way, Zhenya himself did not offer them condolences, did not apologize, did not appear at the funeral, and to this day avoids communication with this family in every possible way. I constantly call them, and, you know, they don’t believe that time heals. I also try not to go out onto the city streets, I’m afraid to run into Lukyanenko. During all this time, we only crossed paths with Evgeniy once, when he drove past in a car. When he saw me, he did not turn away, did not hide his eyes - he looked at me point-blank and grinned. But the world is not without good people - lately I have found many friends who pray for my health. Children in Kuban schools hold events in my support - they make crafts, and the proceeds are transferred to my account. And this faith in me helps. Recently I finally learned to sit. Now I’m trying to take my first steps... And I’m doing well.

“My son has caused trouble again!”

Perhaps Anna Klimenko’s version could be regarded as a woman’s revenge, a resentment against her ex-fiancé.

It would have been possible... If her version had not been confirmed by dozens of people.

Yulia LEBEDEVA is an investigator who went to the scene of the tragedy immediately after the incident:

I arrived at the scene a few hours after the accident. I needed to take statements from witnesses to an accident. At that time, I was a young investigator, so at first none of those present paid attention to me. From the conversations in the crowd, I understood that Evgeniy Lukyanenko was driving. Zhenya himself looked terribly frightened, he fussed, ran around the mangled car, and was noticeably nervous. When I asked who was driving, no one gave me a clear answer. And a little later a boy came up to me: “I was driving.” While we were talking with him, information came from the hospital that one of the victims had died, the second was in serious condition. Soon Father Lukyanenko arrived. He kept calling someone: “My son has done something wrong again.” And then Lukyanenko Sr. took me aside and asked: “How should one behave in this situation?” I explained that participants in an accident can take advantage of Article 51 and not testify against themselves and their loved ones. And then the champion’s father gave an order to everyone present - not to give any evidence, referring to this article. The same guy who initially took the blame did just that - he refused to talk to me. And later he admitted that he had lied during the first interrogation. Later, he was not even involved in the case; he was never interrogated again.

On the day of the tragedy, I was able to talk a little with Zhenya Lukyanenko himself. He did not deny that he was also in the car. But he answered all my questions with uncertainty and floundered in his testimony. His father constantly reprimanded him, saying that he shouldn’t talk to me without a lawyer. Afterwards we went to the hospital to examine Zhenya for alcohol intoxication. Alcohol was found in the champion's blood. Lukyanenko’s father accompanied his son everywhere and never left his side. Zhenya himself practically did not speak.

On the day of the tragedy - Irina with her husband Sergei and Alexei Lyashenko (from left to right).

Now Alexey Lyashenko is taking the blame. This guy is a close friend of the champion, also an athlete, engaged in wrestling. But personally, I have no doubt that Zhenya was the culprit of the accident. I saw Lukyanenko in the first hours after the tragedy, believe me, innocent people do not behave like that. He was scared and grabbed his father. An innocent person will not think about what is best for him to do, he will tell how everything happened.

I also had the opportunity to attend the confrontation between Lukyanenko and Anna Klimenko. Words cannot describe how Zhenya humiliated his ex-girlfriend, insulted him, shouted: “Shame on you! Why are you lying, girl! You haven’t seen anything and you don’t know anything!”

Anastasia OGORODOVA, CCM in athletics, met with Evgeniy Lukyanenko after the fatal accident.

Zhenya and I started dating 2 months after the accident. Of course, I heard about this tragedy, but at the time of our acquaintance I did not know all the details. Zhenya himself always suppressed conversations on this topic: “I don’t want to talk about it.” He pretended that nothing had happened. I learned the details of the accident from his friend Lesha Lyashenko, who took the blame upon himself. He told me in detail who was driving and what stories they later came up with to get Zhenya off the hook. After all, at first they wanted to make the deceased Irina the culprit of the accident. It didn’t work out only because the examination showed: if the girl had been sitting in the front seat, she would not have died - the airbags would have killed her. As a result, Lesha took the blame. According to him, for saving Zhenya, Lukyanenko’s father gave him a car and promised to provide comfortable living conditions behind bars. When I met the athlete’s ex-girlfriend Anya and found out how Evgeniy behaved after the accident, I was in shock. Soon Zhenya and I separated.

Alexey LYASHENKO is a friend of Evgeniy Lukyanenko:

- Why did you take the blame on yourself?

Because I was driving.

- But the whole city says that the car was driven by a drunken Lukyanenko.

Only Anna Klimenko speaks about this. Do you know the details of Zhenya and Anya’s relationship? I advise you to find out. Did they tell you how Klimenko’s parents blackmailed Lukyanenko, literally extorting money from him for the treatment of the victim? And what tales did the Klimenko family make up, as if Lukyanenko’s father paid someone money to get rid of his son? All this is a lie invented by an offended girl! Let's finish the conversation. I was driving the car. And period.

Anna Klimenko

- What are you doing now?

At the moment I am visiting a party. You're really distracting me.

- Lukyanenko is next to you. Could you pass the phone to him?

Do you want me to give the phone to Zhenya? This is absurd! All the best…

Nikolai KOLONITSKY - investigator who led the case:

When the investigation was completed and the case was sent to court, Lukyanenko’s lawyers insisted that the case be returned for further investigation. The version currently being considered is that the cause of the accident was a hole in the road surface. For me, everything in this case is extremely clear, but if everything were so simple... Understand, there is no direct evidence of who was driving and through whose fault the tragedy occurred. And that's the rub. Of course, we could send Lukyanenko to a lie detector, but polygraph testimony is not evidence in court. A person who wants to take the blame faces up to 5 years in prison and serious lawsuits from victims. If Lukyanenko is found guilty, he will face up to 7 years in prison, as he was intoxicated.

Evgeniy LUKYANENKO declined to comment.

At the World Championships in Osaka, Evgeniy Lukyanenko came sixth, although he showed a personal best of 5.81. He later won the world indoor championship with a score of 5.90, and at a tournament in Poland he became the sixteenth jumper in history to overcome the 6-meter mark, soaring to 6.01. Then there was the Olympics in Beijing, where the Russian pole vaulter became a silver medalist, clearing the bar at a height of 5.85 meters.

Today, all these Lukyanenko records are far behind. After the tragedy, it was as if the athlete had been jinxed. Over the past year, it has never reached above 5.75. Evgeniy himself, in numerous interviews, sees the reason for failure in the injury received after an accident. However, Lukyanenko’s acquaintances have no doubt that this is retribution for the sin that the champion has taken upon himself.

LUKYANENKO VENTED 6.01

On Tuesday, the 2008 indoor world champion, Russian Evgeny Lukyanenko, won the pole vault competition at the traditional European athletics festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland, with an excellent result of 6.01. Lukyanenko started the tournament with a height of 5.61. Then on the second attempt I took 5.81 and 5.91 (repeating my personal best) and, already in the rank of winner, on the first - 6.01. After this, the Russian unsuccessfully stormed height 6.05. Although, according to experts, in the second of three attempts he was very close to success.

SE correspondent Elena ROERICH called the jumper's coach Sergei Gripich.

- Did you feel that Lukyanenko was ready to jump 6 meters?

I saw him jumping on the Znamensky Brothers Memorial. There the jump of 5.91 was very good. This gave reason to believe that Evgeniy was ready for six meters.

- Is jumping 6.01 a good tactical move before the Olympics?

It is still difficult for me to judge this.

- But shouldn't such a result put psychological pressure on the opponents?

I can say that American Brad Walker did not put any pressure on Zhenya with his jump of 6.04 in early June. As you can see, Lukyanenko has now answered him.

- We must assume that the upcoming competition is the Russian Championship. And after this, Evgeniy will still compete before the Olympics?

I don't know yet. It depends on what proposals there are. It all depends on the manager.

- Do you think Lukyanenko is at the peak of his form now?

Its form is still under development.

- Does he need to jump even higher to Beijing?

Much will depend on the circumstances. From the weather, the state of the sector, from the height to which its rivals will “drive” it. And from my own mood, in the end. But I think it’s still not worth jumping higher.

Bydgoszcz Men. 200 m. 1. Fifton (UK) - 20.83 (wind +0.8 m/s). 2. Osovnikar (Slovenia) - 21.30.

800 m. 1. BORZAKOVSKY - 1.45.56. 2. Al-Salhi (Saudi Arabia) - 1.46.57. 3. Milkevich (Latvia) - 1.46.72. 4. BOGDANOV - 1.46.93.

110 m s/b. 1. REWIND - 13.65. (wind +1.7 m/s).

3000 m s/pr. 1. Khashlaf (Morocco) - 8.28.27. 2. POTAPOVICH - 8.29.08. 3. Parshinsky (Poland) - 8.29.46... 11. OLSHANSKY - 8.34.57.

Pole. 1. LUKYANENKO - 6.01. 2. 2. Hooker (Australia) - 5.81. 3. Yeung (Sweden) - 5.71. 4. Lobinger (Germany) - 5.71. 5. Lewis (Great Britain) - 5.71.

Triple. 1. Idowu (Great Britain) - 17.36. 2. Tsamis (Greece) - 17.05. 3. Valyukevich (Slovakia) - 16.91. 4. Friedek (Germany) - 16.77.

Core. 1. Kurty (Hungary) - 19.97.

Hammer. 1. Pars (Hungary) - 80.03. 2. Lingua (Italy) - 79.97. 3. Tsiolkovsky (Poland) - 77.95. 4. Charfreitag (Poland) - 77.57.

Disk. 1. Kanter (Estonia) - 68.82. 2. Malakhovsky (Poland) - 66.43. 3. Kovago (Hungary) - 65.61.

Women. 100 m. 1. Laverne (Virgin Islands) - 11.27 (wind +1.7 m/cm). 2. Turner (Great Britain) - 11.33. 3. Douglas (Great Britain) - 11.35.

200 m. 1. Laverne - 22.62 (wind +0.5 m/s). 2. Mothersill (Cayman Islands) - 22.94. 3. Diaz (Cuba) - 23.06.

800 m. 1. Okoro (Great Britain) - 1.59.91. 2. Hradzki (Germany) - 2.00.51. 3. Rostkowska (Poland) - 2.00.64.

100 m s/b. 1. DEKTYAREVA - 12.81 (wind /2.2 m/s). 2. Tryjanska (Poland) - 12.82. 3. Claxton (Great Britain) - 12.95.

400 m s/a. 1. Yesien (Poland) - 54.86. 2. Rawlinson (Australia) - 55.94.

Height. 1. Vlasic (Croatia) - 2.05. 2. SAVCHENKO - 1.92.

Core. 1. Zabawska (Poland) - 18.68.m.

16 Pole JUMPERS WHO CAME TO A HEIGHT OF 6 METERS

LR- personal record, * - in the hall.