Natalia Sergeyevna Ishchenko

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Natalja Sergejewna Ishchenko medal table

Synchronized swimmer

RussiaRussia Russia
Olympic rings Olympic games
gold 2008 Beijing team
gold 2012 London duet
gold 2012 London team
gold 2016 Rio duet
gold 2016 Rio team
Fédération Internationale de Natation World championships
gold 2005 Montreal Free program - combination
gold 2005 Montreal team
gold 2007 Melbourne Free program - combination
gold 2007 Melbourne Technical program - solo
gold 2007 Melbourne Technical program team
gold 2007 Melbourne Free program - team
gold 2009 Rome Technical program - solo
gold 2009 Rome Free program - solo
gold 2009 Rome Free program - duet
gold 2009 Rome Free program - team
gold 2011 Shanghai Technical program - solo
gold 2011 Shanghai Technical program - duet
gold 2011 Shanghai Free program - solo
gold 2011 Shanghai Free program - combination
gold 2011 Shanghai Free program - duet
gold 2011 Shanghai Free program - team
gold 2015 Kazan Technical program - duet
gold 2015 Kazan Free program - solo
gold 2015 Kazan Free program - duet
silver 2005 Montreal solo
silver 2007 Melbourne Free program - solo
LEN logo European championships
gold 2006 Budapest solo
gold 2006 Budapest team
gold 2006 Budapest combination
gold 2010 Budapest solo
gold 2010 Budapest team
gold 2010 Budapest duet
gold 2010 Budapest combination
gold 2012 Eindhoven solo
gold 2012 Eindhoven duet
gold 2016 London Technical program - duet
gold 2016 London Free program - solo
gold 2016 London Free program - duet
silver 2004 Madrid solo
silver 2008 Eindhoven solo

Natalja Sergejewna Ishchenko ( Russian Наталья Серге́евна Ищенко ; English transcription: Natalia Sergeyevna Ishchenko ; born April 8, 1986 in Smolensk , Russian SFSR , USSR ) is a Russian synchronized swimmer . She is 16 times world champion, nine times European champion and five times Olympic champion. In the years 2010 to 2012 she was chosen by the FINA three times in a row as the sportswoman of the year in the category "synchronized swimming", of which in 2011 together with her partner Swetlana Alexejewna Romaschina . She was also a synchronized swimmer in 2009, 2010 and 2011; the prize was awarded by the European umbrella association for water sports, the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). Furthermore, she has been the holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland since August 2012 . Her height is 1.78 cm.

She is married to the silver medalist on the 3-meter board at the 2004 European Swimming Championships, the Russian Sergei Anikin . Their son was born on November 3, 2013.

Athletic career

Ishchenko (right) with her partner Romaschina (center) at an award from the Russian President after the Olympic Games in London on August 16, 2012

Ishchenko, who was born in the then still Soviet city of Smolensk, began swimming at a young age and specialized in synchronized swimming at an early age . When she first trained in this sport at the age of five, no glorious future was predicted because she was simply too clumsy. After she was initially sent by her parents to do rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, she had to choose one of the two sports at an early age, as both were no longer possible (because they were very time-consuming). Her older sister Olga, herself a synchronized swimmer, supported her from the beginning of her career. At the age of 14, she finally came to a sports school in Moscow, which specializes primarily in synchronized swimming, and trained for the first time under Tatyana Danchenko. Parallel to her sports career, she started studying sports science at the Baltic Federal University of Immanuel Kant in Kaliningrad , which she also graduated later. Her first major international successes in synchronized swimming were in 2004 when she won silver in the synchronized swimming solo freestyle at the 2004 European Swimming Championships behind French woman Virgine Dedieu .

Bigger successes finally followed the following year at the synchronized swimming competitions of the 2005 Swimming Championships in Montreal . She won the silver medal again in the solo freestyle in front of the Spaniard Gemma Mengual Civil and behind Virgine Dedieu. In the "Free Program - Combination" discipline, as well as in the team discipline, Ishchenko won the gold medal with the Russians. In 2006 she continued her successful run with a gold medal each in the disciplines "Solo", "Team" and "Combination" at the 2006 European Swimming Championships . 2007 was even more successful with participation in the 2007 World Swimming Championships . A novelty at the World Championships was the award of separate medals for the technical and the free program; the combination was also included in the world championship program. Ishchenko was able to fight for four gold and one silver medal in the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne .

In 2008 she won the silver medal in the solo discipline during the European Swimming Championships in Eindhoven . About five months later she took part in synchronized swimming for her home country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ; there she reached the gold medal in the team discipline with her team. With an Olympic medal in her luggage, she went to the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome almost a year later , where the young Russian won four gold medals. Just one year later, she made history when she became the first synchronized swimmer in the history of the European Championships, which had been held since 1926, to win all four disciplines at the 2010 European Swimming Championships in Budapest . This year she was also voted Sportswoman of the Year in the “Synchronized Swimming” category by FINA for the first time . Furthermore, after 2009 she received the award for " LEN Synchronized Swimmer of the Year" for the second time in a row . The leader and the face of the Russian synchronized swimmers continued her successful run in the following year, when she won six of the eight Russian gold medals of the entire tournament at the 2011 World Swimming Championships in Shanghai . Further awards followed with the renewed award of “FINA Sportswoman of the Year 2011” and the award as “LEN Synchronized Swimmer of the Year 2011”, whereby she shared the first prize with her team colleague and partner Swetlana Alexejewna Romaschina .

Four years after her first gold medal at the Olympic Games, the now 26-year-old Russian took part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London , where she was listed with a height of 1.78 m and a weight of 55 kg. Before that, in May 2012 she took part in the newly introduced European Championships in synchronized swimming 2012 in Eindhoven , where she won a total of two gold medals (solo & duet). At the Olympic Games, together with Romaschina, she was able to prevail in the "Duet" discipline, followed by another gold medal in the team discipline. After rumors about a possible end of the career of the 26-year-olds surfaced in October and November 2012, these were destroyed with the nomination of Ishtchenko in the Russian squad for the 2013 swimming world championships . After 2009 and 2011, Ishchenko was voted “Russia's Sportswoman of the Year” for the third time by the Association of Russian Sports Journalists.

Natalia Sergejewna Ishchenko, who holds the record with 16 gold medals at world championships, had to jump early before the start of the world championship in Barcelona because she was expecting a child from her husband, the silver medalist on the 3-meter board at the 2004 European swimming championships, Sergei Anikin and do not want to endanger their health and that of their unborn child by participating. Her role as team leader was taken over by her partner Swetlana Alexejewna Romaschina, who followed the record holder with a total of 14 gold medals won at world championships. As early as May 2013 it was announced that the three-time Olympic champion would like to take a year off, a so-called sabbatical , and will therefore not take part in the World Championships in Barcelona. At the beginning of June 2013 it was announced that Ishchenko had been nominated by Kaliningrad Oblast as torch-bearer for the torch of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi . On November 3, 2013, the son of the two top athletes was born.

At the 2016 Olympic Games she was able to prevail again together with Romaschina in the "Duet" discipline, followed by another gold medal in the team discipline.

Honors

In 2018, Natalia Ishchenko was made an honorary citizen of the city of Kaliningrad.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b olivia2010kroth: Olivia Kroth: Olympic gold for Russia at the Rio 2016 Summer Games. In: olivia2010kroth.wordpress.com. August 17, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018 (Russian).
  2. 1-2-3: Solo Free Synchro repeats the Technical Podium ( Memento from October 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 28, 2013
  3. Three-time Olympic champion Natalia Ishchenko may run with the torch in the Olympic Torch Relay , accessed on November 28, 2013
  4. ^ Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung , August 10, 2018