Liliya Podkopaeva: biography, personal life, achievements and interesting facts

Lilia Podkopaeva, whose biography is described in the article, is a woman whose name has gone down in history. The victories of the sportswoman will be proud of more than one generation. The genius stunts of the gymnast will not be repeated soon after by her followers.

Childhood

Podkopaeva Lilia Alexandrovna was born (the biography is set out below) on August 15, 1978 in the city of Donetsk in Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR). Her family was not rich. Educated future Olympics mother and grandmother, as his father abandoned them, just a little Lilia had time to be born. From the very childhood the future gymnast was very restless, the energy in the little girl was beating with the key. As Lilia herself later told: "My mother did not know what to do with me, all the time I ran away from the kindergarten, chased a race on a bicycle, I had to often take off the tops of trees, I kept running around the roofs, playing with the boys In catch-up and could not sit still for a second in one place. "

Having conferred, the family of Podkopaeva decided that it was impossible to waste such energy. Therefore, the girl decided to give in the sports section. In 1983, when the little Lila was already five years old, her grandmother Evelina Mikhailovna took her granddaughter to the sports club Dynamo in the gym. It was from this day began the sporting life and biography of Lilia Podkopaeva. "When I first entered the hall, I felt that it would become an integral part of me," Lilia recalls. "We came to work hard for the result," the grandmother of the future champion turned to the coach with these words. Hearing these words, the little girl took them to heart and promised herself in no case to betray the hope and faith of her relatives in her.

Training and Sports

Lilia Podkopaeva, whose biography interests her fans, is a Lion by the sign of the zodiac. A distinctive feature of Lviv is the desire to be the first, the desire of all to win, to prove to everyone that they are the best, to occupy a pedestal in life. It is these qualities from the earliest childhood that Lilia Podkopaeva possessed, her biography confirms this. She always collected her will into a fist and tried to achieve her goal.

Although the little five-year-old girl, who came to her first gymnastics training, did not surprise the coaches with talent, but soon struck everyone with her diligence and perseverance. After a very short time, sport became one of the main components of a gymnast's life.

Everyone knows that the life of athletes is incredibly complex, and the biography of Lilia Podkopaeva was no exception. Every day the girl was forced to wake up at five in the morning, in a hurry to assemble and run for morning exercise, then breakfast on the run and run to school. After school, the girl dined in the school cafeteria and ran for the evening training. Home, tired and exhausted, she returned only by nine in the evening, and yet it was still necessary to do school homework. Lilia went to bed late in the evening, and from early morning everything ran around in a circle again. Many of the teenager's then surroundings were amazed: "How has she still not fallen down from such loads, where does it contain so much restraint and perseverance?"

Later, the gymnast admits that she herself does not know how she managed to combine so many things, but perseverance and diligence invariably led her to success. Lily Podkopaeva worked at the Olympic base, which was not only very honorable for any athlete, but also very difficult. Only on New Year's the athletes were allowed to rest. For a week they were allowed to go home and spend time with their relatives. But it was the only weekend of the year.

All the rest of the time, Podkopaeva was training. Training lasted for 8 hours a day, but the future champion, clenching her teeth, went to her goal. At a time when her one-year-old started the summer vacation and carefree holiday, the young athlete went to the sports base in the cultural capital. She was very fond of St. Petersburg gathering. For this period the girl had a birthday. The coaches took the group through the museums of the city, walked and admired the beautiful St. Petersburg architecture.

Debut

She made her debut on the big sports arena in 1993 Lilia Podkopayeva. Her biography was enlarged with a new significant event. It was an international competition in gymnastics. There for her for the first time large horizons opened, she first appeared before the big public and proudly, with dignity, presented herself at these competitions. What else will the brief biography of Lilia Podkopayeva tell? Interesting facts from her life are described below.

Achievements and awards

In 1995, Lilia Podkopayeva became the owner of the European Cup and won the title of absolute world champion in artistic gymnastics.

In 1996, this Ukrainian gymnast won gold at the European Championships.

After all these accomplishments and victories, Lilia set herself the following goal: the Olympic Games. The goal of the young athlete was supported by her coaches: Lilia Pugacheva, Galina Losinskaya, Oleg Ostapenko and Svetlana Dubova. This was a very serious step. After all, Lilies had to represent on the world stage not only themselves, but also their own country. To this great achievement gymnast was 13 years through hard training, hard work on yourself and huge moral and physical costs.

The XXVI Olympic Games were to be held in Atlanta, USA. For a young athlete this was the most important accomplishment in life. But a month before her departure to Atlanta, Lilya Podkopaeva died a grandmother. It was Evelina Mikhailovna who brought the five-year-old girl into a big sport 13 years ago, she believed most of all in Lilya and supported her all the way, and it was she who, no less than the sportswoman herself, waited for her granddaughter to go to the Olympic Games. Despite the family tragedy, Podkopaeva did not give up, she still got ready to go to the USA. In the "Georgia Dome" hall, where the competitions were held, the young Olympians were greeted by a standing ovation of 45 thousand spectators, among whom was US President Bill Clinton with his family.

At the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Liliya Podkopaeva won two gold medals. Exercise "double somersault forward with a 180 ° turn" - this is the crown exercise of Lilia Podkopaeva. Until now, no athlete in the world can not repeat it! Standing on the pedestal, the gymnast thanked her late grandmother for her success, hoping that she saw from heaven her triumph.

Life after sport

What does Lilia Podkopaeva do after the departure from the sport? Biography, the personal life of a famous athlete is interested in very many. It is known that she began to work as a coach. She teaches children gymnastics in different countries of the world. Among her students were the children of Madonna and Antonio Banderas. She brings up in children not only sports skills, but also will power and spirit.

Lily has released her brand of sportswear in America. She was recognized as the "Woman of the Year". Also, the gymnast takes an active part in the fight against AIDS and became the UN Goodwill Ambassador.

On TV

Lilia Podkopayeva starred in the entertaining television series Lesya + Roma. I played myself in the movie "Hold me tight".

Personal life

Was married to businessman Timofey Nagorny. Liliya Podkopaeva has two children. The adopted son Vadim Nagorny and his daughter Karolina Nagornaya. Little Ancient Lorraine became Ani Lorak, as they have long been friends with the gymnast. Children athletes from 3 years began to engage in gymnastics, in addition to studying foreign languages and are engaged in dancing.

That's who Lilia Podkopaeva is. A brief biography, family, sports achievements - all this is written in the article.