Vera Vladimirovna Shimanskaya. She was born on April 10, 1981 in Moscow. Russian rhythmic gymnast, Olympic champion (2000), golfer. Honored Master of Sports of the Russian Federation (2000).
WITH early years she was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics, where her mother took her.
Vera herself said: “Mom first brought me to the gym as a four-year-old girl - a thin girl, indifferent to food, so that I, tumbling on the carpet,“ fattened up ”my appetite and recovered. Over time, sports for health grew into a serious hobby for rhythmic gymnastics. it is supposed that daily and persistent training for sixteen years brought me to the Russian national team. "
Since 1996 she has become a member of the Russian national team. She performed in group exercises... The first major competition for her it became world championship in Seville, Spain in 1998, where they finished third.
In 1999 she became the world champion in Osaka.
The athlete had a serious knee injury, but she was able to recover and return to the national team. In 2000, at the Sydney Olympics, Shimanskaya, together with the team, won gold in group exercises. After that, she was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the Russian Federation.
In 2001 she became the European champion.
In the same 2001, she was awarded the Badge of Honor "For Merit in the Development physical culture and Sports ”and the Order of Friendship.
She ended her sports career in October 2001.
Vera Shimanskaya - rope exercises
In 2002 she established her own children's rhythmic gymnastics school and sport Club"Faith".
In 2003, she decided to reflect the intricacies of this complex and beautiful sport in a film for young gymnasts conceived as Toolkit for beginner athletes. The film "Five Elements of Rhythmic Gymnastics" won the international festival sports cinema in Milan (2004).
Vera Shimanskaya was going to perform in a group at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. But her plans were canceled out by a dramatic episode that happened in Spain.
Detention scandal in Spain
In 2003, Vera Shimanskaya found herself at the center of a scandal in connection with her detention in Spain. This happened in the casino "Monte Picaio" in the vicinity of Valencia. The Spanish police accused the athlete and her friend Vladislav of cheating. They allegedly cheated the casino. As the Spanish "Pais" wrote, Shimanskaya and his partner began their cheating activities in the fashionable Spanish resort of Marbella. Then we moved to the town of Puzol (25 km from Valencia), where the famous gambling establishment "Monte Picaio" and the 5-star hotel of the same name are located.
According to the NTV television company, during the arrest, the police officers who arrived on call found a map of Spain on the Russians, on which were marked many casinos operating in the resorts of the Mediterranean. The very same arrest was made immediately after the security service "Monte Pelayo", suspecting something was wrong, analyzed the video recording the game at the poker table. The security agents contacted the police after they suspected Shimanskaya and her companion of marking cards during the game.
A photo of Vera Shimanskaya in handcuffs then went around all the Spanish media.
Vera Shimanskaya in handcuffs
Later, by a decision of a judge of the city of Sagunto, the detainees were released on bail of 3 thousand euros each.
Shimanskaya herself explained that she traveled around the casino, planning to start organizing the performances of her club team... “As you know, many nightclubs and casinos often buy high-quality sports shows. For athletes, this is a good and completely legal way to make money. My club and I have repeatedly visited Las Vegas casinos, and I was not accused of any fraud there ... We had a clear plan for visiting such establishments, which was prepared back in Moscow, "she said.
As a result, the charges were dropped. "The case fell apart, and did not reach the court. The Spanish authorities decided to return the withheld amount of the bail, as well as the entire sum of money and other items that Vlad and I were confiscated," said the athlete.
But despite the fact that the charges were dropped, the athlete was expelled from the Russian national rhythmic gymnastics team and she could not take part in the 2004 Olympic Games.
In 2005 Vera Shimanskaya tried her hand at golf for the first time - at the festival of the TV channel "SPORT". And since 2007, she has become a professional golfer. And already in 2009 she began to participate in tournaments.
Vera Shimanskaya's growth: 174 centimeters.
Personal life of Vera Shimanskaya:
She was in a civil marriage with Vladislav Lunev (it was with him that she was detained in Spain in 2003). We met in 2001 at the office of the Arena sports agency, where he worked as a director. Vladislav said: "Vera came there together with other athletes. Later it turned out that we have common interests, mutual sympathy arose, which grew into real feelings."
At the end of 2015, she gave birth to a son, Elisha.
Sports achivments Vera Shimanskaya:
Gold - Sydney 2000 - Group Exercise
World Championships:
Gold - Osaka 1999
European Championships:
Shimanskaya Vera Shimanskaya Career: Gymnast
Birth: Russia, 10.4.1981
Three weeks have passed since the arrest in Spain of the famous Russian athlete, Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Vera SHIMANSKAYA in 2000. On September 5, Izvestia was informed that she and her husband Vladislav Lunev were detained in a casino on suspicion of cheating - playing with marked cards. The only journalist to whom Shimanskaya told the details of the misadventures was Izvestia's correspondent Andrei MITKOV.
The story that happened to you, we know only from the report of the Spanish media. Tell yourself what happened?
It all started as a misunderstanding. It was a day off and we decided to go to the casino. You probably know I have my own club. Preparing the numbers with which we participate in demonstration performances... So we decided to take a look at which Spanish casinos have sites of suitable size. We took a map of the coast, marked all the casinos, began to go around ...
Sorry to interrupt ... What did you do in Spain?
Was on training camp in Marbella with our national team in group exercises. Now everyone says that after the 2001 World Cup I left the sport, but I actually decided to take a break easily. Rest sparsely ... I rested - and began to prepare for the Olympics in Athens. For three months now I have been skating wherever I go for the team. Naturally, at their own expense. Although the coaches had already praised them, they said that I would be able to gather competition for young girls, but I was somehow embarrassed to ask the federation to reimburse my expenses ... There was a target, and I tried to achieve it. Trained for eight hours a day. Then the team from Marbella went to the Dutch Deventer for the tournament. We were supposed to meet in Italy, and then together move to Moscow, for the final training camp before the World Championship (it starts in Budapest tomorrow. - Izvestia). Actually, we decided to use these few days to find contracts for the club ... There is nothing unusual in this, last year we examined all the casinos in Las Vegas in exactly the same way. Then they sent suggestions to those that approached us, tapes with recordings of performances ... Invitations are still coming!
But back to your story ...
In general, at the entrance to the casino in this small town - moreover, I forgot what it is called, not far from Valencia - we showed our Russian general civil passports (foreign ones left them at the hotel - at the reception). They rewrote numbers, names, surnames ... Since the Cyrillic alphabet is used in civil passports in Russia, they thought that we were illegal emigres. Then they told me that in the southern regions of Spain there are a lot of illegal immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, but at that time we did not know anything about it ... In short, when we got to the next casino, apparently we were already there " tip ": illegal immigrants from Russia.
And where does the cheating, marked cards and everything else?
Well, because the Spaniards had to somehow get out! at once the whole story was invented. This is true, the husband played in the casino. Do you know how I feel about men? Small children! He began to beg: well, let's play a little. I didn't argue, I say: "Play." But just started - came up: "Come on."
But they write, there is material evidence for your violations - video recording, for example ...
I saw this video - I laughed! Well, they show me for five minutes from the back ... So I don’t play anymore! .. I don’t know how to play cards at all! .. Yes, I didn’t hold any cards, apart from medical ones, in my life! Then they brought the actual cards - three pieces, all bent, crumpled, like a tractor crawling back and forth on them. I say: "Well, what are you showing me? And why three, and not the whole deck?" By the way, I was especially outraged that they didn’t provide an interpreter or call the consulate before they could carry out any actions. The search was arranged, sorry, to the very underwear ... In principle, the lawyer advised us, in particular, not to dwell on all the nuances. But whatever you may think, I will say: we imported 15,000 euros into Spain - they are all declared. At the moment of withdrawal, 7900 remained. By the way, not only all euros were withdrawn, but also 4 dollars and 290 rubles! Fortunately, there was still gas in the car, only as a result of this we managed to reach Barcelona without money and without documents - to the Russian consulate. From there, they began to ring their parents and friends to send money to post a deposit ...
Did you have a hard time going through this whole story?
It was not easy - it was apt. Thank you, my coaches supported me. Ivanitskaya, Vasilyeva, with whom we are in the team and the flame, and water, and copper pipes passed. They asked not to pay attention to the publications in the yellow press. But okay yellow media! I read here in "Soviet Sport" the point of view of the vice-president of our Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics Nina Vladimirovna Shibaeva - tears flowed. She, you see, then in 2001 about such a gymnast as Shimanskaya, and did not know anything. Doesn't know that I organized a club in which girls from the Russian national team perform and the choreographers of the national team work. Doesn't know that the club finished second in the World Cup. He does not know that we perform at all events held by the federation. Doesn't know that I have been preparing for the Olympics for three months at my own expense! Have you decided to disown me? Do me a favor! I'm not asking for help. At least don't interfere. Thanks to the leaders The Olympic Committee Russia was supported.
What is the location at the current time?
Good! We are under the protection of the Russian consulate in Barcelona. Actually, the case is being dealt with by a seasoned legal defender Paul Molins Amat. He says that all this is not worth a damn, we will win it! .. Now we are forbidden to leave the territory of Spain, but the lawyer hopes to "pull out" the passports and send us home. I train on Olympic stadium Barcelona - this was helped by our coaches who work in Spain. And in the first days, while I could not get in touch with them, I did more than that in kindergarten! .. Now I dream of only one thing - to return to Russia as soon as possible, to continue preparations for the Olympic Games as part of the national team. I understand that gymnastics has finally become youthful appearance sports. But I want to prove: rhythmic gymnastics- at one time all femininity. You will see, I'll be back!
Three weeks have passed since the arrest in Spain of the famous Russian athlete, Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Vera SHIMANSKAYA in 2000. On September 5, Izvestia was informed that she and her husband Vladislav Lunev were detained in a casino on suspicion of cheating - playing with marked cards. The only journalist to whom Shimanskaya told the details of the misadventures was Izvestia's correspondent Andrei MITKOV.
- The story that happened to you, we know only from the report of the Spanish media. Tell yourself what happened?
It all started as a misunderstanding. It was a day off and we decided to go to the casino. You probably know, I have my own club. We are preparing numbers with which we participate in demonstration performances. So we decided to see which Spanish casinos have sites of suitable size. We took a map of the coast, marked all the casinos, began to go around ...
- Sorry to interrupt ... What did you do in Spain?
Was at a training camp in Marbella with our national team in group exercises. Now everyone says that after the 2001 World Cup I left the sport, but I actually just decided to take a break. To rest a little ... I rested - and began to prepare for the Olympics in Athens. For three months now I have been skating with the team everywhere. Naturally, at their own expense. Although the coaches had already praised them, they said that I would be able to compete with young girls, but I was somehow embarrassed to ask the federation to reimburse my expenses ... There was a goal, and I tried to achieve it. Trained for eight hours a day. Then the team from Marbella went to the Dutch Deventer for the tournament. We were supposed to meet in Italy, and then go together to Moscow, for the last training camp before the World Championship (it starts in Budapest tomorrow. - Izvestia). Actually, we decided to use these few days to find contracts for the club ... There is nothing unusual about this, last year we examined all the casinos in Las Vegas in the same way. Then they sent suggestions to those that approached us, tapes with recordings of performances ... Invitations are still coming!
- But back to your story ...
In general, at the entrance to the casino in this small town - I even forgot what it is called, not far from Valencia - we showed our Russian general civil passports (foreign ones left them at the hotel - at the reception). They rewrote the numbers there,
names, surnames ... Since the Cyrillic alphabet is used in civil passports in Russia, they thought that we were illegal emigres. Then they told me that in the southern regions of Spain there are a lot of illegal immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, but at that time we did not know anything about it ... In short, when we got to the next casino, apparently we were already there " tip ": illegal immigrants from Russia.
- And what has to do with cheating, marked cards and everything else?
Well, after all, the Spaniards had to somehow get out! history and came up with. It's true, my husband played in the casino. Do you know how I feel about men? Small children! He began to beg: well, let's play a little. I didn't argue, I say: "Play." But just started - came up: "Come on."
- But they write, there is material evidence for your violations - video recording, for example ...
I saw this video - I laughed! Well, they show me for five minutes from the back ... So I don't even play! .. I don’t know how to play cards at all! .. Yes, I have never held any cards, except for medical ones, in my life! Then they brought the actual cards - three pieces, all bent, crumpled, as if a tractor was crawling back and forth on them. I say: "So what are you showing me? Why three, and not the whole deck?" By the way, I was especially outraged that before carrying out any actions, they did not provide an interpreter, nor did they call the consulate. The search was arranged, sorry, right down to the underwear ... In principle, the lawyer advised us not to talk about all the nuances especially. But whatever you may think, I will say: we imported 15,000 euros into Spain - they are all declared. At the time of the seizure, 7,900 remained. By the way, not only all euros were seized, but also 4 dollars and 290 rubles! Fortunately, there was still gas in the car, only for this reason we had no money and no money.
documents managed to get to Barcelona - to the Russian consulate. From there, they began to call their parents and friends to send money to make a deposit ...
- Did you have a hard time going through this whole story?
It was not easy - that's for sure. Thank you, my coaches supported me. Ivanitskaya, Vasilyeva, with whom we are in the team and fire, and water, and copper pipes. They asked me not to pay attention to the publications in the yellow press. But okay yellow press! I read here in "Soviet Sport" the opinion of the vice-president of our Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation Nina Vladimirovna Shibaeva - tears flowed. She, you see, after 2001, did not know anything about such a gymnast as Shimanskaya. Doesn't know that I organized a club in which girls from the Russian national team perform and the choreographers of the national team work. Doesn't know that the club finished second in the World Cup. He does not know that we perform at all events held by the federation. Doesn't know that I have been preparing for the Olympics for three months at my own expense! Have you decided to disown me? Yes please! I'm not asking for help. At least don't interfere. Thanks to the leaders of the Russian Olympic Committee - they supported me.
- What is the mood now?
Good! We are under the protection of the Russian consulate in Barcelona. Actually, the case is handled by an experienced lawyer Paul Molins Amat. He says that all this is not worth a damn, we will win it! .. Now we are forbidden to leave the territory of Spain, but the lawyer hopes to "pull out" the passports and send us home. I train at the Olympic stadium in Barcelona - this was helped by our coaches who work in Spain. And in the first days, until I could get in touch with them, I even studied in kindergarten! .. Now I dream of only one thing - to return to Russia as soon as possible, to continue preparations for the Olympic Games as part of the national team. I understand that gymnastics has become a very young sport. But I want to prove that rhythmic gymnastics is, first of all, femininity. You will see, I'll be back!
Vera Shimanskaya was born on April 10, 1981 in the capital of Russia - Moscow. Honored Russian gymnast and Olympic champion... At the peak of her career, she was 174 cm tall, and the athlete's weight was 48 kg. Among the most honorable achievements of Vera, it should be noted her championship at the 2000 Olympic Games in group exercises, in the same year she was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports. She was twice World Champion in 1998 and 1999, and 2001 was marked by the title of European Championship.
Vera Shimanskaya was brought to rhythmic gymnastics by her mother, "so that her daughter could gain her appetite." Then no one even suspected that this decision would be the beginning of the career of a great athlete. The first important competition in Vera's life was a team performance in Seville. There they were able to take only bronze.
In 2000, Shimanskaya, together with the team, already took gold at the Sydney Olympic Games. Such a victory might not have happened if Vera had left the sport after a serious knee injury, but willpower helped the athlete to get back into the ranks of the national team. After gold in Sydney, her career as a rhythmic gymnast ended. But in 2003 she already opened a personal gymnastics school in the capital of Russia - Moscow.
Golf and sports school
Rhythmic gymnastics is a very young sport, so the careers of female athletes usually end before the age of 25. Vera Shimanskaya, even having opened her own school, could not put up with the end of her sports career, as they say, she could not sit still. So in 2005, she first tried herself in golf. The new kind sports like former gymnast, and in 2009 she is already participating in the Women's European Golf Tour.
2003 - Vera Shimanskaya finds herself in the center of a scandal with Spanish casinos. She, along with her partner Vladislav Lvov, was detained by the local police on suspicion of fraud with playing cards. But everything worked out, in court it was up to the Russian athlete, and the whole scandal turned out to be just a successful PR move on the part of two casinos. But such an unsuccessful advertisement closed the athlete's road to the Sydney Olympics.
The life of an athlete is very active and eventful even after the end of her career, which is good news. The Vera Shimanskaya School of Rhythmic Gymnastics is very revered in sports circles. Raising the younger generation as a true master of their craft is a very important occupation, so let's together wish Vera creative inspiration and more strength to make her plans come true!