Olga Fatkulina, whose biography and sports achievements are presented in this article, is rightfully considered the leader of the Russian national speed skating team. He is the world champion, Olympic medalist and reusable record holder of the country.
Athlete Biography
Olga Fatkulina, whose photo can be seen below, was born in early 1990 in the metallurgical capital of Russia - Chelyabinsk. Until the third grade, the girl absolutely did not dream of a sports career, until Svetlana Zhuravleva came to work in her school as a coach. It was under her leadership that a new star of Russian speed skating was born.
Initially, Olga did not take these training seriously. But over time, when the first successes and awards appeared, I realized that speed skating for her took first place in life.
Today, the athlete has many Russian and international titles. Also, Olga Fatkulina is the author of Russian national records at distances of 500 and 1000 meters, as well as in the sprint all-around.
First professional success
In 2008, Olga Fatkulina for the first time took part in the Junior World Championships, where she performed at four distances at once - 500, 1000, 1500 and 3000 meters. The kilometer race was the most successful for the young Russian woman - she won the bronze medal.
This result allowed Fatkulina to compete in the Russian Championship in 2009. And Olga acted sensationally, being able to take a high 4th place in the fight against older and more eminent rivals. In the same year, she brings three medals at once from the Junior World Championships: two bronze medals for distances of 1000 and 1500 meters, and also gold for 500 meters.
Since 2010, Olga Fatkulina is one of the leaders of the Russian team. At the same time, the athlete made her debut at the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, in Vancouver Olga at distances of 500 and 1000 meters failed to rise above 20 places.
In 2011, Fatkulina wins the Russian Championship gold at both distances and wins sprint competitions. She shows all the best results, and some of them have become new national records.
2013 brought the Russian athlete new achievements and titles. Unexpectedly for everyone at the world championship in the future capital of the Sochi Olympics, Olga Fatkulina won the first gold medal in the kilometer race since 1996 for her team. She was able to overtake the most famous skaters in the world, including Wust from the Netherlands and Nesbit from Canada.
In addition to this triumph, bronze for the 500-meter distance was added to the collection of Olga's awards.
2014 Olympics
Olga Fatkulina as part of the Russian team began preparing for the Olympics in the spring. The athlete had a difficult task - in the home arena it was necessary to perform at the highest level. Moreover, the “Adler Arena” was lucky for her - it was here a year earlier that Olga became the world champion.
According to the results of the competition, Fatkulina became the ninth in the 1500 m race, and at a kilometer distance she stopped a step away from the pedestal, taking fourth place. But Olga did not stay without a medal - at a 500-meter distance, she managed to win a silver medal, losing only 0.36 seconds to the South Korean athlete in the final.
Post-Olympic recession
After a successful performance at the Sochi Olympics, the next two seasons, unfortunately, did not bring Olga Fatkulina new titles and high-profile victories. In 2015, she was satisfied with fifth place in the World Cup and twelfth in the World Cup. The following season, Olga took only sixth place in the sprint at the World Cup.
Fatkulina fans believe that this is a planned inter-Olympic recession of the game form, and closer to the Games of 2018, the leader of the Russian speed skating will begin to show those results that will allow the Russian athlete to win medals again in various competitions.