There are many legendary athletes in Russian sports, one of them is the magnificent gymnast Irina Viktorovna Chashchina. For our country, she won many awards and, although she was known as “Princess Nesmeyanoy”, she was really a sparkling star of rhythmic gymnastics. However, Irina remains a bright personality today.
What was childhood Chashchina
The city where Irina Chashchina was born in 1982 became Omsk, a very large Siberian metropolis. The girl’s mother was in love with music. Being a teacher of a music school and working as a concertmaster, Tatyana Vasilievna wanted to instill in her daughter the same love for her work. But Ira and her beloved grandfather and grandmother. Grandfather preferred sports, Tamara Valentinovna supported him. Taking into account the character of Ira, a rather energetic child, and the preferences of her mother, the family council decided: the girl will be engaged in swimming, music and gymnastics.
Despite the fact that Ira was more muscular and well-fed than was supposed for rhythmic gymnastics, she refused to engage in her sports direction. At the age of 6, grandfather took her to the first training session, and then the granddaughter accompanied her granddaughter to classes, who was the most devoted fan of the future gymnast named Irina Chashchina. The photos mainly show the athlete with a smile, but her focus on the classes was so strong that during the performances Ira smiled extremely rarely, for which she was nicknamed “Nesmeyannaya”.
The first coach Chashchina became Elena Arais. It greatly contributed to the development of the child's desire for excellence, perseverance in achieving the goal and tirelessness in training. Without them, she had nothing to do with the physical data of the girl in rhythmic gymnastics. At eight, Ira won her first victory in competitions in the Omsk region. And two years later, Vera Shtelbaums, the honored coach of our country, began to lead her.
Although Irina’s life consisted of many activities: music - gymnastics - swimming - school, she managed to play with the guys in the yard. In an interview, she always says that she had a childhood. And remembers him with kindness and tenderness.
Chashchina in the Russian team
Vera Efremovna, training her pupil with complete dedication, as Irina Chashchina herself admits, became her second mother. At age 12, the athlete was in the youth team of Russia to represent our country in world competitions in the discipline of "rhythmic gymnastics." She obeyed the Spartakiad of the Union of Independent States and the women's championships of Russia. At the age of 14, training became so intense that I had to abandon their combination with swimming. Ira graduated from music school externally.
1999 was a new milestone in what Irina Chashchina did. The personal life of seventeen-year-old gymnastics was completely subordinated to his favorite sport. And not in vain. The inclusion of the Olympic Training Center, the mentoring of Irina Viner, led Chashchina to enter the world arena. In 1999, she, with her stubbornness and willpower, went to her first personal gold medals won in 2001 at the World and European Championships. In the team, Irina Chashchina became the world champion in the first year of training with Wiener. Since then, she won many team and personal silver and bronze medals at various championships, won world cups and won international tournaments, and became the country's absolute champion.
Achievements in Sports
Undoubtedly, to visualize the beauty of what Irina Chashchina chose as her lifestyle for many years, photos can best. But the importance of the work done by the “artist” can be realized only by seeing a list of all her achievements.
When Yulia Barsukova left the world sports arena in 2000, Irina managed to make her second place after A. Kabaeva in the ranking of the planet. In 2001, she submitted to the Spanish World Cup, the 4th World Games held in Japan, the World Tournament in Bulgaria and the Australian Goodwill Games. These were the absolute championships and gold medals. Unfortunately, Chashchina was deprived of these awards in connection with the doping scandal. But she retained the gold of the European Championship, the championship in international tournaments in France and San Francisco, won in the same 2001.
The athlete did not break the disqualification, and already in 2002 at the Grand Prix in the Netherlands (Deventer) and Berlin she won first places in all-around and exercises with a rope, a hoop and maces.
Silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens could be a bright final stage of the gymnast’s sports career, but she decided to stay. Unfortunately, the world championship in Baku the next year brought her only a bronze medal, after which Chashchina nevertheless preferred to take the path of "turning" off the sports track. At 25, she faced the problem of choosing a future life scenario.
Life after sports
When the sports career came to an end, the former athlete was not left without attention - she received many attractive offers. But Chashchina was not yet ready for them. Firmly convinced that life does not end, and new goals must be set, she, nevertheless, has not yet seen her goals.
Trying to start something exclusively her own, Irina started preparing a new fitness program (introduced in 2007 under the name "Flexible Power").
In general, realizing that life is no longer directly connected with sports, Irina accepted the opportunity presented by fate, and since 2008 she has occupied a significant position in the prefecture of the northern district of the capital for tourism and sports. This activity encouraged the girl to enter the Academy of Public Service, where she learned many nuances of the civil service. In the chair of the deputy prefect Chashchina sat until 2010, she left there of her own free will.
As Irina Chashchina dreamed at age 17, children were to become the main visitors to the gymnastics center she created. It was not possible to realize the dream immediately, but the former gymnast did not back down from her. In 2013, in Barnaul, in the regional children's and youth sports school, its own branch of Chashchina in rhythmic gymnastics was opened. And since 2012, open regional tournaments of her name called “Hopes of Siberia” have been held in this sport since 2012.
Today, Irina Viktorovna is the vice president of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics.
What else was the “artist" doing
While still a gymnast, Irina Chashchina was fond of singing, dancing, participated in photo shoots for glossy magazines and even acted as a model at High Fashion Weeks.
In 2005, the book “Become Yourself” was released, which the athlete dedicated to everyone who doubts their own abilities, but is still ready to strive for the goal. The success of the book is largely due to the fact that it contains excerpts from Irina’s personal diary, which makes the story alive and real.
For three years after leaving sports, Ira was pleased to take part in numerous television shows, such as "Dancing on Ice", "Circus with Stars" and others. She was interested, but over time, she realized that "not her."
Already in the public service, in 2009 Chashchina accepted the invitation of director V. Pasichnyk to star in the movie "The Way". In the film, one of the main roles was intended for her - a gymnast, forced to make a choice between her unloved husband and her beloved young guy. And although, in fact, the film was an action movie, for Irina it was a completely new experience, for which she even refused the opportunity to become a deputy of the Omsk Legislative Assembly.
Family life
In 2011, Chashchina accepted a marriage proposal from businessman Evgeny Arkhipov, whose first two attempts were unsuccessful.
Young people have been dating for two years, but busy schedules did not give the opportunity to develop relations fully. According to Irina Chashchina, her husband was not in a hurry with the proposal, disappearing for a long time on his business affairs. This was the reason that he was twice refused.
Today, the life of the spouses has not become less eventful, but this makes it possible not to get tired of everyday life and miss each other. Of course, Ira and Evgeny also have common interests - this is sport. Eugene is at the head of the All-Russian Federation of kayaking and canoeing.
Purposefulness, the will to win, stubbornness and incredible charm - this is what made Irina Chashchina a recognizable and very significant person in the sports history of our country. Surely we will hear more than once about her achievements and new projects.