Rhythmic gymnastics was originally considered a special sport. Even at the current chronological moment, there are disputes about what it would be more accurate to call his art. Anyway, Irina Ivanovna Deryugina is an outstanding gymnast.
Childhood
To achieve high results in any sport, it is necessary to start exercising at an early age. Today, even people far from sports know about this. This approach is especially strictly observed in figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics. The future world champion was born on January 11, 1958 in a sports family. Parents at that time lived in the famous city of Kiev. Father, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Olympic champion and world champion in pentathlon. Mother worked as a rhythmic gymnastics coach.
From an early age, the girl attended the gym, where her mother trained. Not surprisingly, instead of dolls, she had to play with gymnastic attributes - a ball, ribbon, club, hoop. At the same time, for the time being, Irina did not express a desire to do gymnastics. She, among many of her girlfriends, wanted to become a ballerina. When Deryugina was ten years old, she was enrolled in a choreographic school. She danced no worse than other girls, but over time she realized that she would not be able to become the best among equals.
Sports career
Having weighed all the pros and cons, Irina decided to drastically change her future destiny. The girl asked her mother to become a coach for her. From that moment on, all forces and aspirations were devoted to achieving worthy results. Many gymnasts at that time had excellent physical and acrobatic training. However, Deryugina possessed a rare property, her ballet expressiveness of movements was clearly visible. At the age of fourteen, she was enrolled in the national team of the Soviet Union. Three years later, she became the absolute champion of the country.
If we evaluate the sporting achievements of Irina Deryugina through the prism of official reports, interviews and special programs on television, then a bright and cloudless picture emerges. In fact, quite often the situation did not develop very well. At the next world championship, which was held in Switzerland, Irina caught a cold and was diagnosed with radiculitis. There was simply no time left for a full-fledged treatment, and the athlete went out to perform after anesthetic injections. She performed and took the highest stage of the championship.
Recognition and privacy
In the late seventies and early eighties, Irina Deryugina became the champion of the Soviet Union five times in a row. And this is only a small part of the achievements that she has achieved. In 1982, Deryugina started coaching. Among her pupils have grown up world and European champions, Olympic medalists.
In Irina's personal life, not everything is so good. For almost twenty years she has been married to the famous football player Oleg Blokhin. They had a daughter. But circumstances developed in such a way that the stellar pair broke up. Today Irina Ivanovna continues to be engaged in coaching, participates in public events and is engaged in raising her granddaughter.
