A terrible accident near Penza: Natalya Lavrova had no chance to escape. “One day my mother gave me a teddy bear...” Unknown details from the biography of the deceased Natalya Lavrova. Gymnast who died in a car accident.

History of Russian rhythmic gymnastics in last years rich in outstanding champions, outwardly easily defeating all their rivals. Many fans believe that the beginning of the golden times was laid by Alina Kabaeva, who won bronze and bronze medals in 2000 and 2004. gold medal Olympics However, almost everyone forgets that already in 2004 Kabaeva was surpassed.

At the Games in Athens, Natalya Lavrova became the first two-time Olympic champion in the history of rhythmic gymnastics.

And at the age of 25 she died tragically in a terrible car accident...

A fracture is a good omen

Natalya started doing gymnastics in Penza at the age of five. The girl was very lucky with her coach, and her mentor Olga Stebeneva was very lucky with her student. They worked with each other with pleasure, Natalya literally absorbed knowledge and progressed very quickly. The idyll was disrupted when the Mentor went on maternity leave. At some point, Natalya even wanted to give up everything, but her love for sports still forced the girl to continue going to training.

In 1998, when the young gymnast was only 14 years old, she was recruited to join the national team. It took a year to prove her worth, but Natasha managed to do it. In 1999, she went with the team to the World Championships and won her first major title. Before the Games in Sydney there were no longer any questions about getting into the squad. The athlete was firmly in the base.

After her first performances as a member of the national team, Natalya received the nickname “goldfish” from journalists. When she performed, the team group exercises always took first place. Moreover, it was a good omen, oddly enough, when something happened to the athlete herself. Coach Tatyana Vasilyeva said that in 1999 the girl was hit in the nose with a mace. After winning gold, this was jokingly considered a good omen. But then there was no time for jokes: at the Olympics in Sydney, Natalya competed with a broken toe, before the World Championships in New Orleans she twisted her leg, and before the Games in Athens, a tape got into the athlete’s eye. Needless to say, Russia won all these starts.

First double in history

In the four years that passed between the Olympic Games in Australia and Greece, the composition of the Russian team has changed almost completely. Only Natalya remained in the updated team. And she was the leader of the team: both as a champion who won many titles, and as a person strong in spirit, kind, responsive and reliable. Girls who had just joined the team could always turn to her for advice or help - Natasha did not refuse.

On August 4, on her 20th birthday, Lavrova flew to the Olympics in Athens for her second gold medal and the laurel wreath that was given to champions. The Russian team performed flawlessly in the group all-around, and Natalya became the first two-time Olympic champion in history rhythmic gymnastics. Considering how young the sport is, this is a remarkable achievement. Even in 2018, such athletes can be counted on one hand.

Having won the second gold of the Games at the age of 20, Natalya ended her career as an athlete and switched to coaching work. In that field, the talented girl also succeeded quickly: she became the coach of the Olympic training center and the head coach of the Dynamo sports club. The pupils were happy to go to training with Natalya Alexandrovna. With her talents and desire, she could very well raise an Olympic champion herself...

But everything ended in an instant.

There was no chance to survive

On April 23, Natalya was supposed to open a rhythmic gymnastics tournament in her hometown at the Burtasy Sports Palace. But she was not destined to get there.

Natalia was taken to Penza by her younger sister, 23-year-old Olga. She had recently gotten married and was pregnant. And the more tragic are the circumstances of the accident that occurred at about 10 am on the intercity highway. Olga lost control on the slippery road, the Lada drifted into the oncoming lane, and a Mazda crashed into the passenger side, where Natalya was sitting, at full speed. The girls had no chance of surviving the collision. Rescuers who arrived at the scene of the incident pulled out two lifeless bodies from the burning car.

Natalya was only 25 years old.

A street was named in honor of Natalia in Penza. A children's and youth tournament named after her is also held in her hometown. But the person cannot be returned. In 2018, she would have turned 34 years old.

She started playing sports at the age of 5, her first coach was Olga Stebeneva.

Studied at Penza high school No. 75. Graduated from Penza State Pedagogical University named after. V.G. Belinsky.

Member of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team since 1998. Coach - Tatyana Vasilyeva. In 1999, at the World Championships, she took 1st place in group exercises.

September 30, 2000 at Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) won a gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics competitions in group exercises. In 2004, in Athens, Natalya again won a gold medal, becoming the first two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

Repeated winner international competitions Grand Prix series in group exercises.

She was the head coach of the Dynamo sports club in rhythmic gymnastics, as well as a coach at the Olympic training center for rhythmic gymnastics.

On April 23, 2010, at the age of 25, she died in a car accident near Penza on the Penza-Shemysheika highway along with her younger sister, 23-year-old Olga. The accident occurred at 10:00 Moscow time; the champion’s sister was driving the VAZ-2114. The car in which Lavrova was traveling skidded into the oncoming lane, where it crashed into a Mazda car. The impact threw Lavrova's car off the road, after which the car caught fire. Lavrova’s sister also died at the scene of the accident; the driver of the foreign car was not seriously injured.

Natalya and Olga were buried together on the Walk of Fame at the New Western Cemetery of Penza.

On April 26, 2010, the Penza authorities announced that a monument to the deceased first two-time Olympic champion would be erected in the regional center, and it was also decided to organize a rhythmic gymnastics tournament in memory of Natalya Lavrova. It is likely that the competition will receive international status.

Awards

• Order of Honor - For great contribution to development physical culture and sports, tall sports achivments at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad 2004 in Athens
• Order of Friendship - For great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports and high sporting achievements at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000 in Sydney

“One day my mother gave me a teddy bear...” Unknown details from the biography of the deceased Natalya Lavrova [VIDEO]

Two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Natalya Lavrova

“If something happens to her, it means the team will be lucky...” So on October 16, 2004, our correspondent Vladislav Blagoobrazov began a note in the “Unfamiliar Star” column about Natalya Lavrova.

It just so happens that the life of the gymnast-“artist” is short-lived. Twenty-something and you're off the mat, a veteran. Therefore, participation in two or more Olympics is akin to a feat.

In 2004, Natalya Lavrova became the world's first two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

A student of a Penza school, whose portrait adorns the Honor Board on the central street of the city, received the title of “goldfish” from journalists - after Lavrova was included in our main team team I have never lost in group exercises. Moreover, our heroine’s “talismanism” manifested itself in a very unique way. We can say that she sacrificed herself for overall success. Team coach says Tatiana Vasilyeva :

– Before the 1999 World Championships, during one of the training sessions, one of the girls threw a mace, and it hit Natasha on the nose. Thank God there was no fracture. We were very worried, but Japan performed superbly and became world champions. Since then, paradoxically, if anything happened to Lavrova, it means we won. Natasha performed in Sydney with a fracture thumb legs, at the World Championships in New Orleans before the final she twisted her ankle, and finally, before the Athens Games, she got a tape in her eye. We are all already laughing: “This is for victory!” Natasha herself had her own talisman:

– When I was little, my mother gave me a teddy bear, and since then he has been with me at all competitions. I believe he is helping me. In rhythmic gymnastics, many people have talismans - soft toys. Fans give us them instead of flowers, and very often we bring a whole bag of “animals” from some tournament.

Winner of 25 gold and six silver medals at World Championships and Cups in group exercises Yanina Zatuliveter

At the end of 2004, having completed her historical mission, Natalya said big sport"Goodbye!". And she became the coach of the Russian national team. On April 23, this career was interrupted - in a terrible car accident in the Penza region...

GYMNASTS WHOSE LIVES WERE INTERRUPTED BY A TRAGIC ACCIDENT

On April 23, two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Natalya Lavrova died in a car accident in the Penza region. The car the gymnast was driving was driven by her pregnant sister, who also died from her injuries.

The tragedy occurred on April 23 at 10 am (Moscow time) on the Penza-Shemysheika highway, along which Lavrova and her sister were traveling. Their VAZ-2114 collided with a Mazda, the driver of which was not seriously injured.

August 16, 2005 at federal highway“Don” near Voronezh, the winner of 25 gold and six silver medals at World Championships and Cups in group exercises, Yanina Zatuliveter, died. The car in which the gymnast was traveling along with two other passengers collided with a bus. At that time, she was 33 years old.

On October 20, 2009, world all-around bronze medalist Yuri Ryazanov died. He was returning from Moscow to his native Vladimir after his triumph at the world championship and unexpectedly drove into the oncoming lane. His Chevrolet Lacetti crashed into an Audi and the 22-year-old athlete died from his injuries.

World all-around bronze medalist Yuri Ryazanov

Honored Master of Sports, member of the national team teams Russia in rhythmic gymnastics since 1999,

club "Dynamo" - MGFSO.

Champion Olympic Games 2000, 2004,

Natalya Lavrova was the first two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics. In 2000, at the Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia), a Russian woman won a gold medal in the rhythmic gymnastics competition in group exercises. In 2004, in Athens, Natalya again achieved the championship in group exercises. On this moment her success could only be repeated by Elena Posevina, who won Olympic gold in Athens and Beijing.

multiple world and European champion,

awarded the Order of Friendship.

« Soviet sport"Expresses sincere condolences to the family and friends of Natalia Lavrova.

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Today in Penza from 9 am they said goodbye to the first two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Natalya Lavrova and her sister Olga. Let us remind you that on Friday, April 23, a terrible car accident on the Penza-Shemysheika highway claimed the lives of both sisters.

23-year-old Olga was driving the “fourteenth” Zhiguli model. According to the preliminary version, the girl lost control, as a result of which the car ended up in the oncoming lane and collided with a Mazda (read more).

On the eve of the funeral, the president of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Irina Viner, flew to Penza. Irina Alexandrovna was unable to attend the ceremony itself, so she said goodbye to Natalya at her parents’ house. Wiener also prematurely stopped the rhythmic gymnastics championship, which started at the Burtasy Sports Palace on April 23. Irina Aleksandrovna seemed to read the thoughts of hundreds of people who thought that young athletes in this situation had no time for competitions.

Farewell to the famous gymnast and her sister took place at the Burtasy Sports Palace. The coffins were placed in the very center of the hall. From the very beginning of the ceremony, the stands began to fill with people. It seemed like the whole city was here. People carried flowers, lots of flowers...

The entire Penza elite arrived to honor the memory of Natalya Lavava and her sister Olga: regional governor Vasily Bochkarev, mayor of Penza Roman Chernov, mayor of the city Ivan Belozertsev, chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the region Alexander Gulyakov and many others. The coaching staff of the Olympic Training Center also flew to Penza, as well as coaching staff Russian national gymnastics team.

LAVROVA'S FRIEND ELENA POSEVINA "I STILL DON'T BELIEVE..."

Russian gymnastics has lost a Person, and a very good one at that, a titled gymnast who was an example for all “artists”, not only Penza, but also Russian. Natasha set an example of service to her favorite sport. “I’m not talking about the fact that she was also a coach,” says senior coach of the Russian national team in group exercises Valentina Ivanitskaya, holding back tears with difficulty. – How could this happen, why!? I found out this news when I was in the center of Moscow, and I needed to get behind the wheel. I began to imagine this whole situation. I am VERY sorry for the parents. I can’t imagine how they will bear it. I now have a dream for them to have another child. Now I just want to wish them patience.

Among those who came to see the sisters off last way, was a Russian athlete representing rhythmic gymnastics in individual exercises, multiple world champion and wife of Alexei Kortnev from the group “Accident” Amina Zaripova. There were also Natasha Lavrova’s friends on the national team.

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Elena Posevina about Natalya Lavrova. Sergey CHERNY

Natasha is a real person, sincere, truly the captain of the team, we will NEVER forget her. The whole world mourns and remembers. She will forever remain in our hearts,” the second (after Lavrova) two-time winner cries Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Elena Posevina. – My condolences to all relatives, friends and parents. I was informed about the accident an hour after it happened. I didn’t believe it, there was some kind of rejection of information, I still don’t believe it.

THE SISTERS WERE BURIED UNDER A THREE VOLLECTION

That morning everyone was crying: relatives, friends, athletes, officials, workers of the Burtasy sports complex, journalists and ordinary people who did not know Natalia and Olga, but simply came to pay tribute to them.

The farewell ceremony ended around noon. As the coffins were carried out into the street, a funeral march rang out, and passing motorists pressed their horns in unison.

At this moment, even the police officers who were keeping order could not stand their nerves.

And then there was a light rain, which ended as soon as the cars moved to the Assumption Cathedral, where the funeral service took place. The sisters were buried under triple salvo on the Walk of Fame of the New Western Cemetery, next to the prima of the Penza theater, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Lyudmila Lozitskaya.

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Natalya Lavrova was born on August 4, 1984 in Penza. She started playing sports at the age of 5, her first coach was Olga Stebeneva. She studied at Penza secondary school No. 75. She graduated from Perm State Pedagogical University named after. Belinsky.