Hello dear
Like every boy of the late 80s who absolutely and selflessly fell in love with basketball, I quickly found people worthy of emulation. Not idols, for this has never been characteristic of me, namely worthy of imitation. And not just in the NBA. Our and European basketball has always attracted me very, very much.
Moreover, it is interesting that despite the position, and I played the role of a small forward, usually, with little result, but aimed at rebounding and passing (hence one of my favorite basketball players is Dennis Rodman), I was interested in extremes. The players are the tallest, and vice versa, the shortest.
Of course, I adored the genius of Soviet basketball Arvydas Sabonis. I still think that due to injuries, this smart and good-natured person could not reveal his potential by more than 60%. For me - potentially - this is one of the greatest players in the history of basketball. When I first saw him on the site in person, I was stunned of course. 220 centimeters, despite the fact that it was proportional and looked very light and elegant, I was simply amazed. 220(!)
His eternal friend-rival Vladimir Tkachenko looked no less powerful. His height was the same, and although he was not as elegant as the Lithuanian, he made some kind of monumental impression. Together for the national team of the Union, they played great, and in general were friends. And their spree and tomfoolery went down in history as anecdotes :-)

But there were also the explosive giant Belostenny (216 cm), the talented Goborov, the reliable Grishaev and several other good centers. But they were shorter.
When I started watching the NBA, I paid attention and supported Gheorghe Muresan personally for some time. How was it not to notice him, if his height for a second ... 231 cm. Can you imagine? At first, he didn’t succeed at all, but then it more or less went off and on. And in principle, given the degree of his skill, he may well be satisfied with his career.


Without tears, I couldn't help but look at another NBA player with the same height of 231 centimeters - Manute Bol from Sudan. Given the structure of his body, the lack muscle mass, I could not understand at all how he can play, and how he is not broken in half. Nevertheless, the “king of block shots” (sometimes called him that) played a lot in the League - as many as 626 games.

If Bol gave the impression of a very sick person (which, in principle, corresponded to the truth), then the pride of China, the huge 226 cm Yao Ming was a real athlete and generally a good center.

It is a pity that his chronic leg injury did not allow him to realize himself fully. By the way, you all know Yao Ming. Don't believe? Here is a picture taken from it:

The Dutchman Rick Smits and the German Sean Bradley had about the same height. Both were quite good players and should be happy with their careers. However, I remember Mark Eaton. I used to watch Utah Jazz games a lot, and I think Mark was probably the most helpful assistant to the Stockton-Mallon pair in their entire career. Good game in defense and a large number of block shots. His height was 224 cm.

And I don’t remember one more giant who entered the hall of fame (besides him, only Sabonis was honored with such an honor) Ralph Sampson in the game, so I didn’t mention it at all.
If you think that the giants I have listed were the biggest in the history of the game, then you are mistaken. There were bigger and bigger people.
Fans of the yoke with great experience remember the giant center, whom everyone called Uncle Vasya, or Vasya Chechen. This is Uvais Akhtaev, who played for the Almaty Burevestnik. The growth of this giant was 236 (!) Centimeters, and the weight reached 187 (!) Kilograms. very correct, they say, there was a man in his life and did a lot to popularize basketball.

Another of our compatriot Alexander Sizonenko played a lot for the Leningrad "Spartak" and for the team from Kuibyshev. At the time of his playing career, his height reached 238 centimeters. After he finished playing, he continued to grow and by the end of his life his height was 243 centimeters. He was one of the most tall people on the ground. This is how it happens.

Paradoxically, even he is not the most high player in the world. And this is a certain Lebanese Suleiman Ali Nashnoush. His height when he entered the court was ..... 245 centimeters. I can't even imagine what it was like...

Unlike the giants, there was always less attention to the kids in basketball. But in vain. For it was people of ordinary height who popularized the game more, made it clear that the head, speed and thinking are important in basketball, and not only and not so much physical condition and high growth.

If there's anyone who doesn't respect and love a player like Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues. Great player, great guy who made it clear for the first time that basketball is a game for everyone. Muggsy played almost 900 games in the League at a height of .... 160 cm. Can you imagine? It's funny that for a while they played together with Manute Bol in Washington. Funny spectacle. It looked something like this:

Muggsy Bogues is the smallest basketball player in the League in history.
More recently, Earl Boykins played in the NBA. A very good sniper who scored 32 points in one match 10 years ago. Well, so - his height was 165 centimeters, and he weighed 62 kilograms. It is interesting that at the same time he possessed simply enormous power. Teammates said that it was the norm for him to press a barbell weighing 140 kilograms from the chest. Given his modest data, I can’t even imagine how it is.

Of course, I can't ignore Spad Webb. This is the only player in history, having a height of 170 centimeters, was able to win the competition in throws from above. Here's what it looked like:

Let me remind you that the basket is fixed at a height of 3.05. Worthy of respect, right?
And finally, one more video introducing my current pet baby Nate Robinson. He is generally a very high quality and useful player. But this one is remembered for a long time, especially considering that Robinson's height is 175 centimeters:

Have a nice day!

With the cheerful, charming Ulyana, who has been heading the social fund for helping veterans of sports for 16 years, the concept of "disabled person" does not fit in any way. Only a heavy cane behind a chair in her office reminds her of this. The famous athlete in June underwent the most difficult operation to replace the hip joint. Two more operations on the leg are coming up in the winter...

Of course, I am very grateful to the girls from the national team for their desire to help,” she says. - But only a small percentage of the money will go to my rehabilitation, the rest of the funds will go to my social fund. It has a lot of basketball veterans who also need treatment and help. And why didn't the girls pose naked? Look, what beauties - and not an ounce of vulgarity!

The famous Raimonds Pauls also went to Semenova's admirers (photo: from the archive of the LATVIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE) Ulyana herself has not picked up the ball for a long time. Played enough, she says, and old injuries do not allow. And she does not favor herself in newsreels - she has seen enough video replays during the analysis of mistakes in the old days. But he does not miss the broadcasts of the current basketball competitions, tracking matches among both women and men. After all, basketball is her whole life. Therefore, she did not marry: there was no time. Even the Colombian millionaire who was wooing was eventually refused. But he loves children very much. He keeps a photograph of his 5-year-old great-niece in his purse. And in his three-room apartment in Riga, he gladly welcomes relatives from the Old Believer family of the Semenovs.

Ulyana's name appears in two American Basketball Halls of Fame - in Springfield and Knoxville. The first even has an imprint of her sneakers on the Avenue of Stars. When Ulyana was invited to Springfield as the first European basketball player in 1993, she was greeted by her American colleagues. They hugged and cried.

Although in 1983, in the game with these Americans in the World Cup finals in Brazil, we were almost sued. The same Donnovan and Mayer were the main fighters, - Ulyana recalls with warmth.

And already on September 12 of this year, Semenova was accepted into the Basketball Hall of Fame International Federation basketball (FIBA) in Spain. But our heroine could not go to the ceremony due to injuries.

I never felt sorry for myself, - says Ulyana. - I was glad when I managed to achieve results: both in the USSR national team and in the Riga TTT. And then ... Here in the traumatology department there are a lot of people of normal height who have never been involved in sports. But they have the same problems as me. Who knows, if I didn’t play sports, maybe my health would be even worse.

Of course, she has nostalgia for the old days. By old friendship. On the Olympic Games the Union team lived as a single family. And there was no thought: this one is from Latvia, and this one is from Georgia or Ukraine.

Best of the day

At work, Semenova is in a good mood. I remember how happy we were when our athletes in Montreal road race won the first gold awards, - Ulyana smiles. - We kissed the champions, looked at the medals. Then we swore that we would win the same ones. And they won! For the first time in history, because before women's basketball was not included in the Olympic program.

With their state awards Ulyana is also proud of that time:

All of them are hard-earned. By the way, I am the only athlete in Latvia who has been awarded the Order of Lenin. And the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in wartime was equated with combat. I also have the highest award in Latvia - the Order of the Three Stars.

In December last year, Semenova also received Russian order Friendship - with an award book signed by Putin. In the same place, in St. Petersburg, she was also awarded the prize of the best center of Russian basketball of the twentieth century. But the most important thing for her was the meeting with her teammates, whom she had not seen for 20 years.

An outstanding athlete, whose height is 2 meters 10 centimeters, celebrated her 55th birthday

From the FACTS dossier

Uliana Semenova - two-time Olympic champion (1976 - Montreal, 1980 - Moscow). Three-time world champion (1971, 1975, 1983), 10-time European champion (1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985), 15-time champion of the USSR. Multiple winner of the European Cup (1968-1979, 1981-1983, 1987). She played for the teams "TTT" (Riga, USSR) - 1967-1987, "Tintoretto" (Spain) - 1987-1988.

Personal record for the number of points scored in one match - 54 (1975, against "Geas" (Italy) in the European Cup).

She was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples and Friendship.

Member of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield (USA) and the Women's Hall of Fame (Tennessee, USA). Listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Recognized as the best Latvian basketball player of the 20th century.

Gennady PIOROR

"FACTS" (Riga-Kyiv)

Two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, 10-time European champion, center of the Soviet Union basketball team and captain of the legendary Riga TTT team Uliana Semenova needs no special introduction. Her name is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest (height - 2 meters 10 centimeters) female basketball player. Semyonova is remembered and loved by people of the middle and older generations in many countries of the world, including Ukraine. Recently, the most titled basketball player in the post-Soviet space celebrated her 55th birthday. With Swallow (as Ulyana was called in the USSR national team), the FACTS correspondent met in the office of the Latvian Olympic Social Fund, which is headed by an outstanding athlete.

“At 24 years old after the Olympics in Montreal, I thought: that’s it, I’ll leave the sport, I can’t take it anymore, I’m tired!”

I came to the meeting with Uliana Semyonova with a bouquet of bright yellow-orange tulips.

Thanks for the bouquet. Flowers are the best gift for me! - admitted Ulyana. - And you guessed the color: yellow is my favorite. When it's my birthday, flower sellers know they'll sell out all the yellow flowers. They bring a lot of them - the whole living room is lined with vases at home. In the morning, when I leave the bedroom, it seems to me that the sun is shining in the room, and I bathe in its rays.

Putting the flowers in a vase, Ulyana sat down at the table. They lay down on the table beautiful hands, however, somewhat different from ordinary women's brushes in their size. On the long fingers three golden rings gleamed.

You have beautiful hands, - I could not resist.

Thank you, - the hostess of the office smiled embarrassedly. - But since childhood, these hands had to work hard, then all my life basketball knock. I come from a small Latvian village Medumi, from a family of Old Believers. Our parents had six of us: two daughters and four sons. Dad has been gone for a long time, mom died three years ago. Two siblings are no longer alive

Ulyana, did you stand out among your peers from childhood?

No, I was born normal: weight - 3.5 kilograms, height - 51 centimeters. But at school, by the age of 11, she stretched out, somewhere 1 meter 80 centimeters became. If I sat at a desk, and my classmates stood nearby, I was still a little taller. Everyone in our family was of average height, so when I began to grow rapidly, my father thought that it was caused by some kind of illness, and took me to Riga for an examination. The doctors reassured him: they say, such a healthy child still needs to be looked for.

How did you get into basketball?

Since childhood, I have been a very athletic girl: I ran skiing, went in for athletics, played volleyball and even pushed the shot. Enter the Riga Nursery sports school I was persuaded by the physical education teacher. I persuaded for a long time ... When I was escorted to Riga, there were barrels of tears, probably! Everyone was crying, including me. Didn't want to leave home.

Did you have any problems getting into the sports school?

What do you! They took it with arms and legs, because I had the physical data for this. It remained only to learn the throws and tactics of the game. It was very difficult for me to be separated from my relatives: I lived in a sports boarding school, everyone left for the weekend, and I was left alone. Several times I even tried to escape, once the coach had to literally take me off the train. Then he began to take me to his place for the weekend, so as not to get bored.

At the age of 14, I was taken to the Latvian school team, and at 15, I already played in the youth basketball team of the Soviet Union at the European Championship in Italy. We then won the gold. By the way, I am the only three-time European champion among juniors in the former Soviet Union. She won this title for the first time at the age of 15, then at 17 and last time- at the age of 19.

My sports career you completed double Olympic champion?

The first time I received Olympic "gold" after the victory of the USSR national team in 1976 in Montreal (by the way, for the first time in the history of the Olympics, women entered the basketball court), the second - in 1980 in Moscow. There was another opportunity to win the Olympic title in 1984 in Los Angeles. But after the Americans boycotted the Moscow Olympics, the socialist countries decided not to participate in the Los Angeles one.

To be honest, after the Olympics in Montreal (I was 24 then), I thought: that's it, I'll leave the sport, I can't take it anymore, I'm tired! I even skipped training for a couple of weeks. I had the Institute behind me physical culture. I decided that I would go to work either as a physical education teacher or as a coach. But they told me: “Are you out of your mind? Come on, get ready for the Moscow Olympics.” On reflection, I decided that I would try. So she made it to almost 24 years. active life In sports.

“A week before the World Cup, they told me: “Ulya, the team no longer needs you”

Is it true that in 1986, when you were preparing for the World Cup, you were treated, to put it mildly, ugly, not taking to the games?

Unfortunately it is so. Great Main coach, with whom we worked for 18 years in the USSR national team, Lidia Vladimirovna Alekseeva, left. Or rather, it was removed. She was replaced by Leonid Yachmenev, Dynamo Novosibirsk coach. He was very angry with me: in allied competitions, our "TTT" constantly won against his team. I was later told that when Yachmenev was appointed, he said: “Either I am the coach of the national team, or Semenova is in the team. Choose!” They chose him. I had a ticket in my hands to fly to Belarus for the last training camp before the World Cup, when our doctor called. Not the coach, not representatives of the sports committee, but it was she who told me the unpleasant news. "How?! I worked more than all the training camps, and only a week remained before the competition. This is my last championship and I want to win it!” I screamed into the phone. “Ulya, the team no longer needs you,” she heard in response.

For three months I was in shock. And not only me. In the Latvian sports committee, where I came to hand over tickets, they could not understand anything either. But I continued to play for my team, in the championships of the Union I was the best center ... And suddenly - a phone call. They say: "Ulyana, come to the training camp, you will prepare for the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988 - Auth.), We need you." But even then I firmly answered: “No!”

If I'm not mistaken, sports officials have treated you unworthily more than once.

The second time this happened at the end of my sports career, in 1987. I never thought about money, it's not the main thing in life. Speaking for the USSR national team, she received 300 rubles a month. If we won the world and European championships, won prizes at the Olympics, we were given prizes. For example, for the first place at the Olympics - 4 thousand rubles. At the time, that was a lot of money. But when the time came to leave the sport, I realized that I had nothing but an apartment in Riga.

Officials from Moscow offered me a contract, according to which I had to play for the Spanish team Tintoretto for six months. Under this contract, I was promised to pay 45 thousand dollars. But… all the money went to Moscow. Every month I went to the Soviet embassy in Spain and received 400 dollars there. Even the embassy employees wondered how they could live on these pennies. Although I lived in a luxurious two-story mansion with three baths, I didn’t have enough money for food: by Spanish standards, I lived from hand to mouth. It’s good that I took canned food, sausage with me from home ... But when the supplies ran out, it became very difficult. If it wasn't for the president of the club, Antonio, who started giving me $500 a month out of his own money, it would have been really bad.

How did the Spaniards treat you?

Without me, Tintoretto was losing, but with my arrival, the team began to win. Every time I came to a training session or a game, the fans were waiting for me. As soon as I opened the car door, they literally pulled me out of the passenger compartment, picked me up and carried my 130 kilograms to the locker room. I asked Antonio not to allow this before the start of training or matches - I was afraid that they would drop me and I would get injured. “But after the match, let them carry it!” - I told him. Almost every Spanish newspaper wrote about me every day. Journalists kept asking the president of the club how much I was eating. "Just as much as I do," replied Antonio. In fact, I eat very little.

By the way, according to the results of a survey conducted at that time, the Spaniards named the singer Sabrina and the basketball player Semyonova the most popular people in the country.

However, in Spain, a disaster happened to me: I broke my heel bone. But despite this, she continued to play. Before the matches, they put a bandage on my leg, I took painkillers and went to the site. When my contract ended, all the athletes, coaches, doctors of the Spanish team knelt down in front of me. I burst into tears at this expression of gratitude.

In Spain, I met our outstanding goalkeeper Lev Yashin, who was supposed to receive some kind of award in Madrid. He arrived even though he was already very ill. The Spaniards entrusted me to present this award to Lev Yashin. Seeing me, he asked: “Oh, Ulechka, is that you?” - and hugged him tightly.

“When I was returning from abroad to Riga, the path from the plane ladder to the airport building was covered with flowers”

Are you having trouble finding clothes?

None. I used to knit and sew my own clothes. When I began to travel abroad, I bought fabrics there, and a dressmaker sewed for me. I also bought ready-made things abroad - it's not a problem there. Every day, leaving the house, I try to dress in a new way, so as not to repeat myself. I have several closets full of clothes. My shoes are all low. When I see women in high heels, I only think about how their legs are injured.

In general, because of my height, I was worried only in my youth. For a long time she walked stooping, pulling her neck into her shoulders to appear lower. Once the coach of the national team said: “What are you doing with yourself, stupid? Who are you ashamed of? You are the queen of basketball! So wear the crown like a king!” Now there are inconveniences only with the front doors: in my apartment there are standard doorways, and to enter, I have to bend down.

Do you feel the love and respect of your compatriots?

I felt it only abroad and in my native Riga: when I returned here, the path from the plane ladder to the airport building was covered with flowers and a brass band played. Until recently, there was a wax museum in Riga, where my copy stood. In Moscow, after the victories, I was met very discreetly, at best they gave me one flower.

My name was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 in the US city of Springfield. As a memento of this event, I have a magnificent gold ring with a diamond engraved with my name. True, the ring turned out to be too small, and when I arrived in Riga, I gave it to a jewelry factory to have it made to size. Then they told me that the craftsmen ran to look at him and admired: “We don’t make such people!” And in 1999, my name was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame in the US state of Tennessee.

Knowing about your achievements, people abroad probably thought that you were a rich person.

I never denied it. Moreover, before each trip abroad, I was called to the Central Committee of the party and instructed what to say in an interview with foreign correspondents. So I lied that I didn’t have a hut on a farm, but a chic house, not a cart, but a snow-white Chevrolet.

Were you not invited to play in foreign clubs at the beginning of your career?

Of course, they were invited, but in those days it was impossible to even think about it. I was first invited to France when I was 20 years old, but that invitation was not even shown to me. The French offered me university education, a lot of money. Later, when I was at competitions in France and they approached me with similar proposals, I refused. Although I like France, I would love to live in this country, learn its language.

Do you live alone?

Life so happened that after the death of my mother, the person closest to me, I was left alone. I still can't come to terms with this loss.

Haven't met your man yet?

Alas. Although I have always enjoyed the attention of the opposite sex, I have been made proposals more than once. There were also quite wealthy foreigners among the suitors. When I was 18, a 63-year-old millionaire from Colombia fell in love with me. He beautifully looked after me, sent flowers to hotels, paid for me in stores, beauty salons. But then I thought: “Why do I need such an old one?” Compatriots also declared their love, but I always thought that because of my sports career, it would not be easy for my husband. After all, I was at home only a couple of months a year. In addition, looking at our girls, I noticed that they are not very happy in family life. And she herself was afraid of becoming unhappy in marriage. Sometimes I was scared off by interest in me as a famous person, and no more. And the height of the men who wooed me did not matter to me.

Now I am not alone: ​​I have many friends, acquaintances, relatives. So I'm almost never alone. It often happens that I come home only to spend the night. I am constantly in business - from morning to evening, only my health began to fail. At one time in training and during competitions, I fell. Can you imagine with my height? But she always knew how to group, and the fall seemed painless. And only now they are making themselves felt. I have a big problem with my left hip joint - I can hardly walk. Abroad, they make a special prosthesis for me, and then I have to have an expensive operation. Our doctors decide what to do. Maybe soon I will come for a consultation at the Kyiv Institute of Orthopedics. They say you have very good doctors.

You are the head of the Latvian Olympic Social Fund, which provides assistance to former athletes. Can you help yourself?

In 1991, when I had already retired, I was invited by the President of the Latvian Olympic Committee and offered to organize a social fund. She refused for a long time, even hid when they came from the committee. In the end, I was nevertheless persuaded, and now I am glad that I can help those who once brought glory to Latvia in the world sports arenas. Olympic champions, Olympic medalists, winners of European and world championships, we pay extra from 200 to 400 dollars a month. We help other sports veterans with medicines, medical services, and food. I myself receive a pension as a disabled person of the second group. This is 90 lats - about 180 dollars. In addition, I get paid a premium for sports achivments and salary as the head of the fund. There are a thousand dollars in total. Of these, 325 dollars I pay for my three-room 100-meter apartment.

Do you have free time and how do you spend it?

In winter, there is practically no such time. In the summer I try to escape to the dacha or sit somewhere in the park. I love the forest very much. When I go on business past the forest, I always ask my driver to stop in order to breathe in the forest air for at least a few minutes. Sometimes I’ll go up to a tree, hug it and think: “How good you are!” It gives me energy, nourishes me. And most of all I like to collect mushrooms. And I salt them according to my mother's recipe. True, my mother had wooden barrels for this, and I use clay pots.

Do you feel like a happy person?

Yes, I am very happy. I have a job that brings me joy Good friends. Although I live in a small country, I love it very much. And our love is mutual.

Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, ten-time European champion, fifteen-time champion of the USSR, four-time winner of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, eleven-time winner of the European Champions Cup, winner of the Lilian Ronchetti Cup

She was rightfully considered the queen of women's basketball: she did not lose a single match in international tournaments. Russian Federation basketball is recognized as the best center of the twentieth century.

Ulyana Semenova was born on March 9, 1952 in a family of Russian Old Believers from the Paberzhi farm in the Medum parish of the Daugavpils region of Latvia. When the time arrived for Ulyana to be born, her mother was taken on a sleigh to the nearest hospital in Zarasai, Lithuania. The girl was baptized Juliana, but they made a mistake in the metric - “Juliac”; did not change.

Mom after the birth of six children was often sick. Ulya washed, cooked, went after the cattle. The school was five kilometers away, but Ulya managed to study and play sports at school. At the age of 12, she unexpectedly grew to a meter ninety. (“Dad even took me to the examination. But the doctors said that such a healthy child is still to be looked for”). The rarest case of "non-pathological gigantism" - they will write later.

At the prompt of her sister's husband, an athlete, coaches from Riga came to Medumi for her. “The first time I saw them, I ran into the forest,” she laughs. - It was difficult to tear myself away from my mother's skirt. But I was persuaded." In Riga, she lived in a boarding school. Then they gave me an apartment.

Having trained hard, Ulya began to quickly show results, and already at the age of 13 she played as a center player for the Riga TTT club, at 14 and a half - for the USSR national team among juniors, and at 16 - entered the adult team.

Ulyana grew to 210 centimeters, although she was also credited with 228. “They assured me that I was half a head taller than center Vladimir Tkachenko (220 centimeters - ed.). But we took pictures together, and I only got him up to the shoulder, ”she says. “Everyday inconveniences were still enough - all my life I went to hotels with screwdrivers to unscrew the headboards.” She was worried. But the head coach of the USSR national team, Lidia Alekseeva, told her: “Who are you ashamed of? You are the queen of basketball! So wear a royal crown on your head up!

The first for her were victories in 1967 at the IV Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR - as part of the Latvian SSR team, and winning the European Champions Cup - as part of TTT. They said that this most titled club in Europe, the USSR and Latvia was invincible because of the tall Semenova. But the club has won the USSR championship every year (and almost every year - the European Champions Cup) since 1960, and Ulyana came only in 1967. She herself also claimed that it was not about her, but about the cohesion of the team and the excellent coach Raimunds Karnitis. The same can be said about the USSR national team: even before Ulyana's participation, the USSR national team won, starting from the 1957 World Cup.

At the 1968 World Cup in Italy, Ulyana earned 9 to 15 points for the team in every match. A year later, she became the owner of the USSR Cup as part of TTT. At the 1970 European Championship in Holland, Ulyana brought the team an average of 12 points per game, and in the game with France (77:41) - 18 points. The 1971 World Cup was held in Brazil; Ulyana earned maximum in games with Korea (89:67) - 36 points, Czechoslovakia (88:69) - 24, France (80:52) - 26, in the final with Brazil (82:49) - 35 points. In the same year, TTT won the V Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. Ulyana became the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

At the 1972 European Championship in Bulgaria, Ulyana was the most productive in the matches with France (63:41, 26 points) and the final - with Bulgaria (79:48, 22 points). On VII Summer Universiade In 1973, the USSR national team also won. In the same year, Ulya graduated from the Latvian GIFK (State Institute of Physical Culture).

The 1974 European Championship was held in Italy, and Semenova earned the most in matches with Hungary (80:64) - 27 points, with Czechoslovakia (104:58) - 31, with Bulgaria (95:69) - 34.

They wrote about her: “Girlfriends loved her for her kind heart, open character, sociability, readiness to always come to the rescue, ingenuity and sweet village naivety. Angular and a little awkward in life, Ulya transformed on the court, turning into a basketball ballerina. The team called her Swallow.

But the rivals believed that the game in her presence ceases to be beautiful - she puts the balls in the basket too easily. According to David Berlin, it was because of her that FIBA ​​did not include women's basketball in the program of the Olympic Games for a long time: “As long as the Russians have Semenov, there is no interest in women's basketball - the outcome of the tournament is a foregone conclusion; remove Semyonov, and the issue of the Olympics will be resolved.” “Ulya is an excellent, kind person,” says two-time Olympic champion Nelly Feryabnikova. - We always communicated warmly. But, probably, Ulya herself understood that it was not very interesting for us to play in the national team. All tactics were built through Ulya. We had to deliver the ball to her under the basket, and she was already throwing there almost without interference. When asked by a journalist if she had ever scored “from above”, Ulyana replied: “No. There was not enough jump height, and there was no need. After all, any opponent was already much lower than me.

In TTT, she was a captain for many years, but not in the national team; Alekseeva's captain has always been a little point guard. In addition, in the national team, Ulyana was "held back" - the coach did not like that the team was called "Semenova's team." Ulyana Larionovna recalls: “It hurt me. But as soon as we were in the red, the girls ran to me: “Lasta, Swallow, come on!”, I forgot everything and went to the site. In the evenings, the girls gathered in my room: ha ha, hee hee ... The doctor goes through the rooms to write down the procedures, but everywhere is empty: “Well, of course, they are sitting with Ulyashi ...” I was a magnet in the team - I have such a nature I like to have good relations with everyone.” She was in the national team and a Komsomol organizer: arriving in Moscow, she was immediately called up to the Central Committee of the Komsomol. Laughs: “Everyone is resting after training, and I am preparing for political information, studying the press.”

Her personal best score in a single match is 54 against ASD Geas Basket (Italy) in the European Cup in 1975. In the same year, she became the champion of the VI Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and the world champion in Colombia, where she brought the team maximum in matches with Czechoslovakia (62:50, 31 points) and Japan (106:75, 25 points). At the 1976 European Championship in France, Ulyana's best match was with France (83:56) - 22 points.

Finally, women's basketball entered the Montreal Olympics in July 1976. Uliana put all her strength and skill into the victory: in the match with Czechoslovakia (88:75) she earned 26 points, in the match with the USA (112:77), which decided the outcome of the games - 32 points, with Japan (98:75) - 20 points . At the 1977 Universiade, the USSR team won again.

At the 1978 European Championship in Poland, Ulyana was the most successful in the match with Bulgaria (89:63) - 18 points. Together with the national team, Ulyana also won the 1978 Friendship Cup International Basketball Tournament in Cuba.

At the XXII Summer Olympics-80 in Moscow, Soviet athletes defeated everyone with a huge margin in each meeting, and in the final they easily defeated the Bulgarian team. Ulyana was great: in the match with Yugoslavia (97:62) - 16 points, with Bulgaria (122:83) - 32 points, with Italy (119:53) - 22 points, with Cuba (95:56) - 16, with Hungary (120:62) - 18, with Bulgaria (104:73) - 27.

At the 1980 European Championships in Yugoslavia, she earned the most points in the semi-finals with Czechoslovakia (94:62) - 20; at the Continental Championship next year in Italy in the final with Poland (85:42) - 22 points.

In 1983, Uliana, as part of the Latvian national team, won the VIII Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, and immediately the World Cup was held in Brazil. The fights with the USA were the most difficult: in the final round (85:84, Ulyana got 4 fouls in a few minutes, earned 31 points) and the final (84:82, 5 fouls, 23 points). She considers this victory the most valuable in her life: “The whole tournament, and especially the final, turned out to be very difficult. The refereeing was biased, the referees frankly dragged the Americans to the gold medals, although the hall was rooting for us. By the end of the match, all the players of the main team received five fouls, very young girls remained on the court. But they did not fade away, and we snatched the victory two seconds before the final siren. After the match, I sobbed uncontrollably. From happiness."

The 1983 European Championship was held just a month later in Hungary. AT final match with Bulgaria (91:70) Ulyana brought the team 37 points.

In 1984, the USSR national team was preparing to compete at the Olympics in Los Angeles; she was much stronger than all the competitors. “I can’t put into words our disappointment when we learned about the boycott,” recalls Ulyana Larionovna. For us it was the last chance win Olympic gold. The skill of the American women grew rapidly, and they would not have given us more victories ... ".

Then Lidia Alekseeva left the national team. She was replaced by the Dynamo Novosibirsk coach Leonid Yachmenev, who was negative towards Semenova. Ulyana was about to fly to the last training camp before the World Cup, when the national team doctor called her with the news that they were not taking the team. "How?! Just a week before the competition. This is my last championship and I want to win it!” I screamed into the phone. At that time, she was the best in points, free kicks, and ball rebounding. She took the situation as a serious insult, but still went to watch the competition. “When the Americans saw me and found out that I would not play, one of them jumped for joy: “That's it, we are champions!” She says bitterly.

The blow was cruel, but Ulyana, along with her TTT, brilliantly won the 1987 Lilian Ronchetti Cup in the final game with B.F. Deborah (B.F. Deborah, Milan). And in 1988, she was again invited to the USSR national team for the Olympics in Seoul. But she, offended, firmly refused.

In 1987, Ulyana became the first Soviet basketball player to leave under a contract abroad. With her arrival, the Tintoretto club in the Spanish championship moved from 12th place to 2nd, there were real chances to become champions. They literally prayed for Ulyana. But there was an unusually hard surface - concrete with linoleum, the repeatedly injured ankle could not stand it completely. I had to leave. “At the airport, they saw me off and cried, the president of the club said:“ You made everyone fall in love with you, ”she recalls. According to the results of a survey conducted at that time, the Spaniards named singer Sabrina and basketball player Semenova the most popular people in the country. After receiving treatment, she signed a contract in France, but after a few months she realized that due to injuries she still could not play.

She was inducted into the Springfield Hall of Fame in 1993, the Tennessee Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999, and the FIBA ​​Hall of Fame in Spain in 2007. She recalls: “In Tennessee, one basketball player came on stage, they ask her:“ What prevented you from becoming an Olympic champion? She shows: “Yes, Ulya Semenova is sitting in the front row - she interfered!”

She played 18 years in the USSR national team and 22 years in TTT; played more than 5 thousand games, gaining 15 thousand points. The Russian Basketball Federation recognized Ulyana Semyonova as the best center of the 20th century. Vladimir Putin awarded her the Order of Friendship.

In 1988-1992, she was Vice-President of the Latvian NOC. Since 1991, she has been the chairman of the Latvian Olympic Social Fund, which helps former athletes in difficult situations. In 1996, she received a scholarship and disability allowance. Money for surgery hip joint brought together the national women's team, releasing sports calendar- Nude photo session. But she doesn't give up. Youth Basketball Cup named after Ulyana Semenova is held in Riga. There is an exhibition “Basketball opened my way to the world”: awards won by the athlete and three famous rings presented at the introduction to the Basketball Hall of Fame; shoes, sportswear and a wax figure of Semyonova.

“Nature decreed that all my life I look down on people,” she says. But he loves simple things: the forest, picking and salting mushrooms according to my mother's recipes. She dresses in America, and in Latvia she is individually sewn clothes and shoes of the 58th size. She sews and knits beautifully herself, and together with the underwear brand New Rosme she created her own collection, designed for the proportions of female basketball players. Single: “I was offered offers, but I refused: there were no strong feelings. Among the suitors were millionaires. But how could I leave, leaving my mother, relatives and my beloved country?

W.L. Semenova - Olympic champion (1976, 1980), world champion (1971, 1975, 1983), European champion (1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985), USSR champion (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984), silver medalist of the USSR Championship (1974, 1978), winner of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR (1971, 1975, 1979 1983), winner of the European Champions Cup (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1982), winner of the Lilian Ronchetti Cup (1987) and the USSR Cup (1969), winner of the Universiade (1973) .

She played for the TTT teams (Riga, USSR) (1967-1987); Tintoretto (Spain) (1987-1988); Valenciennes Orchies (France) (1989).

Team player career: USSR Olympic team (1976, 1980); USSR national team (1968–1984); Latvian national team (1971, 1975,1979, 1983).

She was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples, Friendship, Three Stars (the highest award in Latvia).

Member of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Tennessee, FIBA ​​Hall of Fame in Spain. Included in the Guinness Book of Records. Recognized as the best center of the 20th century, the best Latvian basketball player of the 20th century.

The legendary basketball player, recognized by the Russian Basketball Federation as the best center of the 20th century, Uliana Semenova celebrated her 60th birthday. Two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, ten-time European champion, she is loved and in demand in her native Latvia and abroad. From the height of her unique height (2 meters 10 centimeters) and the years she lived, she appreciated the sports past.

Ulyana, first of all, please eliminate the contradictions about your name and place of birth: it seems that you are not Ulyana and were not born in Latvia, but in Lithuania?

My parents were Old Believers, at birth they named me Ulyana and I was supposed to be baptized as Juliana. But the father, when he wrote the name, instead of "n" wrote "k" - it turned out to be Iuliyaka. My parents are not very literate, they did not pay attention to this, until I suddenly noticed the mistake myself. When I was 16, I wanted to change my name. But everyone around began to dissuade: why, such an unusual name! Since then, when I present documents, everyone is surprised. Recently, a bank clerk asked: “Do you have the right name here?”

And with the place of birth turned out such a story. When it was time for mom to give birth, dad took her to the nearest maternity hospital - it was in Zarasai, Lithuania, while Daugavpils, Latvia, was 25 kilometers away. The father did not think about which republic the mother would give birth in, and it did not really matter. But it is interesting that this made itself felt many years later. The fact of my birth became the basis for the coach of the Lithuanian basketball team to make a statement that I should play for them.

Ulyana with her brother Semyon in the village (from Ulyana Semyonova's personal archive)
- Is your phenomenal growth a family thing?

My relatives are not tall: my father is 1.76, my brother is 1.78 ... Mom, however, said that her cousin was under 2 meters tall - maybe I’m into him. Already in the first grade, I stood first in physical education. At the age of 13, when I took up basketball, my height was 1.88. By the way, I never had higher than 2.10 - they exaggerated in the press. I remember the doctor measured my height and said: “Ulya, don’t raise your head, don’t do 2.12, don’t ascribe.” I am not at all the tallest among basketball players: I heard about girls with a height of 2.13, 2.16 and even higher. Of course, there were enough domestic inconveniences with such growth - all my life I went to hotels with screwdrivers to unscrew the headboards.

- How did you get into the sport? Is this an accident or did the Soviet talent search system work?

In principle, I was a trained girl, physically developed, because I grew up in the village, I went to school on foot 5 kilometers, and, of course, I had to help my parents around the house. There was no basketball section at school, but I went in for other sports - handball, volleyball, athletics, skiing. In those days, coaches traveled around the republic and selected promising guys. My sister's husband played a big role in my getting into basketball: being an athlete himself, he understood that I had good data, and at his prompting, coaches from Riga came to our house to persuade my parents to let me go to the capital, where I could seriously train. The first time I saw them, I ran into the forest. It was difficult to tear myself away from my mother's skirt, I could not imagine myself away from home. But still they persuaded me, and in 1965 I got into the world of basketball. Of course, I have a great height for basketball, but in order to achieve results, it is not enough. I didn’t want to be a bear on the court, who is only given the ball in his hands, and he puts it in the basket. I had to work very hard, training went on for six hours a day, I gave it my best - sometimes I lost 2.5-3 kilograms during training. At first I lived in a boarding school, where I finished the 7th and 8th grades. Of course, sometimes it was hard. Then she moved to the family of her sister and her husband. And three years later, as a promising athlete, they gave me an apartment, settled down comfortably.

Center Ulyana Semenova was a key figure on the court, many game combinations kept on her
I quickly began to show results and already at the age of 14.5 I was playing for the USSR national team among juniors. And at 16 she entered the adult team of the Union. In total, she played 18 years in the national team, 22 years in the Latvian club team TTT.

- In the last one, you were the captain for many years, but in the national team you didn’t have to. Why?

I would have been chosen unanimously, but the coach Lidia Alekseeva did not want to. She had a principle: the little point guard was always the captain. Luda Bazarevich, Nadya Zakharova, Angela Rupshena… I always remember the national team warmly - the girls loved me very much, they knew that I would help out in difficult times. “Ulechka, Swallow, go to the playground, lifesaver! We need gold medals!” That's what they called me - Swallow. When the national team played, I was never allowed on the field in the first team. Alekseeva really didn’t like that everyone around was saying: “The USSR is Semenova’s team.” That's why she held me. But as soon as we were in the red, the command was distributed: “Ulya, undress!” It hurt me: they call when you need to catch up. But when the girls ran to me: “Lasta, Swallow, come on!” - they helped me to change clothes, I forgot everything and went to the playground. At the end sports day the girls used to gather in my room. When we lived at the training camp in Serebryany Bor, after dinner everyone sat with me: ha ha, hee hee ... The doctor goes from room to room to write down the procedures, but all the rooms are empty. “Well, it’s clear, they’re sitting with Ulyashi ...” I was a magnet in the team - I have such a nature, I like to have good relations with everyone.

In the status of a basketball star, Semyonova hands an autographed ball to maestro Raymond Pauls
And I was also a Komsomol organizer in the national team, but this position brought only a headache. I didn’t have time to fly to Moscow when they called me to the Central Committee of the Komsomol to tell me what meetings to hold, what topics to cover, how to analyze the party congresses and discuss Brezhnev’s books “Virgin Soil” and “Small Land”. Everyone rests after training, and I prepare for political information - I study the press. Inspectors came to see how Komsomol work was being done. It would be better to teach instead foreign languages- We went abroad. But no, it was not allowed! The girls taught on the sly in order to somehow communicate with foreigners. And so they pretended that we did not speak languages. As soon as there were competitions abroad, especially in countries such as China, Japan, the USA, I was called to the carpet. “You are our leading player. Firstly, we only need a victory, you must lead the team. And secondly, only you give interviews. This cannot be said, this is also ... "I ask again:" Wait, what language will I speak? I have a smart translator - he knows better what to translate and what is not necessary ... ”The translators were not easy, everyone was in uniform. In general, it was the hardest work for me to give interviews, it was probably better to move stones. I remember that before the Moscow Olympics, American television crews came to make a film about famous Soviet athletes. They rushed to my house. And we couldn't say that we professional athletes and we get paid for it. We could only be lovers. So I told you: I graduated from a sports institute, I work as a coach, after classes I go to train. The journalist asks: “Well, you have carpets at home, a color TV. Where?" I answer: “I can afford it. When we win the World Championship, the European Championship, we are entitled to a reward.”

When Latvia became independent, I remember there was a big press conference. Let's bombard journalists with questions: "Ulya, tell me how you are doing now?" “Oh,” I answer, “now I can tell you anything!” Journalists laugh: “Yes, we knew before that you are professional athletes, but you have never split!”

The time was difficult not only in sports. In 1984, they were preparing, preparing for the Olympics, and suddenly - a boycott! For us it was the last chance to win the Olympic gold. The skill of American women grew very rapidly, and more win they wouldn't give us. But it was not destined to happen. However, I already have enough medals.

- With unsportsmanlike behavior on sports ground frequently met?

In those sports where there are no electronic scoreboards that record the results - for example, as in athletics, is a common thing! Where there are judges on the court, there can always be a mistake, often intentional. How many cases! For example, at the World Championships in 1983 in Sao Paulo. At all world championships, our main rivals were Americans. And all of our main team in the first half of the game received 3-4 fouls, which were not in sight. I remember I got the ball, and a mulatto, number 10, sat on me, I passed, our guys went ahead, scored, and the referee whistles - the goal is not counted - and points at me - foul! My eyes darkened with indignation! Only escaped 6-7 points ahead! During the break, coach Alekseeva approached the FIBA ​​Secretary General and said as she cut him off: “If you judge like that, you will no longer be a secretary.” He spoke to the judges and they became softer. After all, it was clearly a task - to sue!

Yes, and in domestic competitions there were enough of such things! I sometimes freaked out, told the judges: “You are arguing, you are not letting me play basketball. If so, you will go to the USSR national team instead of me, but I won’t go again! In general, I played correctly, although they tried to put me out of action in a variety of ways: they beat me and pinched me. The legs were crushed so that the nails turned black. I even ordered shoes a size larger so that my feet got less.

- What qualities are important for a basketball player? Well, except tall, certainly…

You need talent and for the head to work well. After all, decisions have to be made in a split second, to think quickly. You know, I noticed that in the American team, at least before, the point guard was always a white athlete. Because dark-skinned people have good physics, they are strong, but white-skinned people think better. They may not be so good at throwing balls and running, but they have better possession of the ball in the process of drawing. AT women's sports especially important is not power techniques, but tactics.

- Did someone have to use cunning tactics to get into the Union team?

In the national team, of course, there was fierce competition - there was a queue of people who wanted to play in it. But those who were selected had to work up a sweat. I remember that we lived in Sukhumi at the training camp, where even in the evening the heat was 30 degrees. And you need to cut 20 laps around the stadium - and this is just a warm-up! We called the general physical training sessions “hot shop”. They tolerated it, because getting into the national team meant international competitions and travel abroad. Although it is now that athletes under contracts receive millions, and we left with practically no money. They flew to America for 20 days and received 20 dollars. And they were glad! I have always loved music - with this money I bought records for myself, at least one, for example, the Beatles. I still have a collection of sixty records. And, of course, they bought fashion magazines. I was returning - my friends and girlfriends were already waiting for me, they knew what I would bring, we would analyze the new items.

- It is quite difficult for you to choose clothes. How was this problem solved?

With my parameters, it was possible to dress only in America - there are many stores large sizes. Here, basically, the dressmaker sewed for me. After all, not everything in sportswear walk, there were receptions on highest level. For example, I am the only Latvian athlete who has three orders: the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Lenin. And all of them were handed over to me in Moscow in a solemn atmosphere. In independent Latvia in 1994 I also received the highest award - the Order of the Three Stars. And a year earlier, a letter unexpectedly arrived from America - draw up paperwork to be accepted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. The ceremony was very solemn. Each of the participants was brought in a separate limousine, then a walk along the red carpet. The escort helped me get out of the car, I took his arm - let's go, and everything floats before my eyes, and one thought: just not to fall. I’m standing at a buffet table and suddenly I understand: nature has decreed that all my life I have been looking down on people, and here, perhaps for the first time, I found myself among men who are taller than me. It was so unusual! Americans, of course, know how to organize celebrations - it's unforgettable! In 1999, I was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. American athletes don't dress up very much, and I was in a dress and looked like a queen among them. One basketball player stepped onto the stage, they ask her: “What prevented you from becoming an Olympic champion?” She points at me: “Yes, Ulya Semenova is sitting here in the front row - that’s who prevented me!”

IOC President Jacques Rogge during his visit to Riga presented Uliana Semyonova with a commemorative sign Olympic Committee
America loves me. I remember that in 2002 I was invited to another event, and my passport was expiring. They raised everyone to their feet, quickly made a new passport. I arrive in New York and at the control I give two passports, I explain: here is a new one, here is an old one, but here is a visa for 10 years. The border guard's eyes widened: “Why do you need two passports? I would have let you in without a passport and without a visa!” For them, people entering the Hall of Fame are something special. They recognized me on the streets, they approached me: Semjonova, Semjonova!

- In the Union you were also valued?

I still have some resentment towards the Soviet Union - for how I had to end my sports career in the national team. It was in 1986, I was preparing for the World Championships in Moscow. In the process of preparation, the national team coach changed: Lidia Alekseeva was removed and Yachmenev was appointed from Dynamo Novosibirsk. And our TTT in the USSR championship has always been the main competitor of Dynamo. We are the first, they are the second, and they could not manage to overtake us. For obvious reasons, Yachmenev did not like me. And when he was appointed, he immediately said: "Semenova will not be in the team." And I already bought a ticket for a plane to Moscow, the last fees remained. And suddenly the national team doctor calls and says: “Ulyasha, such a thing, the coach has changed. You don’t get into the squad ... ”I was shocked. At that time, in the USSR Championship, I was the best in points, the best in free throws, and the best in rebounding. And with such indicators, they did not take me to the national team! I went to take a ticket to the sports committee - they do not understand anything, in the eyes of a dumb question. I answer: "Call Moscow for an explanation." The representative of the State Committee for Sports tried to persuade me, he didn’t give me rest for two weeks: “Ulya, go to the training camp ...” I said: “No, thank you. I played in the national team of the Union for 18 years, and you kicked me.” At least they thanked us, presented a bouquet of flowers - it seems to me that this is how you need to see off the players. Nothing like this! They gave the task to the doctor to notify me ... Even now it is unpleasant for me to remember this. In general, at that time I went to watch the competition as a spectator - probably for the first time in my life in such an unusual role for myself. The Americans saw me, came up to talk, and when they found out that I would not play, one of them jumped for joy: “That's it, we are champions!” Of course, many sympathized. The Czech coach approached: “Yes, you always have a little something in Russia - the coach starts throwing players away ... Oh, if it were possible, they would take you away, they would play for us!” For three months I could not come to my senses, I was even shaking. Our then took second place - and then with great difficulty. The Americans still became the first!

- You left the national team, but did not leave big sport…

After that, she still played TTT. And in 1987 she became the first swallow - the first Soviet athlete who went abroad under a contract. I don't know why it happened. Played a role and the beginning of perestroika. When I began to seriously express my desire to play abroad, the State Sports Committee said: there is one place ... In general, through some of its channels, Moscow offered me Spain. How, what, what - no one knew the details. But everyone around me supported me: “That's right, Ulya, well done, come on!” I signed a contract and left to play for the Tintoretto club. With my arrival, the team has made great progress: in the championship of Spain it moved from 12th to 2nd place. It was a sensation, everyone was terribly happy. We had excellent chances to become champions of Spain. I don’t want to take credit for myself, because one player in the field is not a warrior, but sometimes he can turn the tide. You could say they were praying for me there. But it all ended in one moment. I used to play on a wooden floor, on parquet. And the Spaniards have concrete covered with linoleum. Now this coating has been abandoned, it is too hard. And then it was unusual, of course, it was, but I tried not to pay attention. And suddenly Achilles fell ill on the left leg. I thought I pulled during the morning cross. But suddenly, in training, as I remember now, on January 2, I jump, go down - and that's it, the ankle flew, the bone broke off. At first, she did not realize the seriousness of the injury, she still continued to play, then this bone was shattered into eight pieces. This injury forced him to leave the sport. At the airport, they saw me off and cried, the president of the club said: “You made everyone fall in love with you. How many Americans played with us, but there were no such warm relations. I myself was upset when I left: I spent these few months in Spain like in a fairy tale, I understood what it means to live and train in decent conditions. But I already knew that I would not return.

By the way, under the contract for the time of work in Spain, I was entitled to a decent amount, but Moscow took the money and sent only 400 dollars. I was paid for housing, but it was very difficult to live on this money - at that time the unemployment benefit was about the same. But I'm a woman, in addition to food, I need to buy perfume, some cosmetics, and clothes. I went, they say, to earn money. As a result, she returned to her homeland with zero in her wallet. True, the Spaniards gave me a video camera. But even that Moscow wanted to take away: I had the right to accept gifts only no more than $ 50, and if more, I had to hand it over to the Soviet embassy. Anything happened ... Familiar tennis players said: they were going to go to Switzerland for a tournament, knowing in advance the amount for the performance, and Soviet officials had already gone ahead and took the money into their hands. Abroad, when they understood this system, they stopped giving money to officials, they said: “We will pay off the athletes ourselves.”

And when, upon my return from Spain, I made a scandal because of lost fees, athletes from all sports called me: “Hold on, we support you!” Basically, I set a precedent. It was hard, I thought I could not stand it. But, probably, among other things, it also made me strong, I got a good hardening. Both on the court and in life.

They said about Soviet sports that victory at any cost was important in it, and therefore they experimented on athletes.

Heard about it. Now this is done even more often, because modern medicine provides a lot of opportunities. But when I was in basketball, it was strict about doping: at the European Championships, the World Championships and the Olympic Games, our coach forbade us even to drink Coca-Cola - suddenly they find increased caffeine. If the head hurts - only through the trainer the doctor gave a pill. We didn't need doping. We were a head or two taller and stronger than the rest. So why unnecessary problems? In other sports - yes, we knew what they were using. In rowing, in athletics, in weightlifting. Some were given conditions: if you don’t take doping, you won’t get into the national team. Many went for it voluntarily. If someone says that he did not know - this is cunning, this does not happen.

- Coaches controlled personal life - marriages, the birth of children?

Of course, if an athlete fell in love, it is immediately felt - it becomes soft, lyrical. To one, I remember, her boyfriend came to the European Championship in Hungary. We play the next day, and she is a complete zero. As for the birth of children, it is in individual types sports, an athlete can plan, but in team sports, they will find a replacement for you, and that's it. So everyone decides for themselves. Many of our girls were married. Sasha Ovchinnikova, for example, married Sasha Belov. She is under 1.90, very pretty, he is 2 meters, they were a beautiful couple. Unfortunately, he passed away early.

Of course, I also had fans, among them very wealthy foreigners. But, firstly, the question of my moving abroad was often raised, which is unacceptable for me. And secondly, I was not very sure that it was I who was needed, and not the famous athlete Uliana Semenova. In general, I think: is it really necessary, this personal life? I know many family people whose lives are far from happy. But fate gave me much more. I am not alone - I do not have time to respond to all the invitations that come to me. So I can’t call myself a failure in this sense.

- Did you know what you would do at the end of your sports career?

I finally left the big sport in 1989 - after Spain I also signed a contract in France, but after a few months I realized that I could not play because of an injury, I broke the contract ... The Latvian state helped me - they performed an expensive operation, assigned a personal pension. There is no need to complain.

Ulyana's favorite hobby is picking mushrooms. But even in this she loves to win - she must certainly score more than her friends ...
Called into politics. I only had time to deny: they say, not ready. In 1994, after all, I was elected to the Riga Duma from the Latvijas Celsh party, but I was not elected, and I ... was delighted. Then many acquaintances confessed: “Ulechka, we were afraid to lose you, so we didn’t vote for you!” If I were chosen, I would have to break myself a lot. I played sports honestly, and political games- that's not mine. On the coaching didn't want to either. By that time, I was tired of both basketball and sports. Nerves were on edge. Since the beginning of the 90s, I started working with the social fund of the Latvian Olympic Committee. At first I felt strange: after all, they always took care of me, and then suddenly I'm busy. At first I had 30 wards, then it became 50, then 80, now there are 180 of them - former Latvian athletes who need help. Since 2000, our fund has been paying Olympic champions 200 lats per month (about 12 thousand rubles. - "Results") - this is not bad. Once, the former president of the country, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, told me: “You have a difficult job, Ulya.” But I have no way back - only forward.

- Do you regret that you have devoted your life to sports?

Not at all. True, sometimes they tell me: in the current conditions, you would be a millionaire! Well, yes, I would be rich. But there are always two sides of the coin. My wealth in the soul and in my friends and relatives - this can not be taken away. I have traveled half the world. I have been in Italy forty times, in America - twenty-five times, I know Paris better than Old Riga. It’s better to go somewhere in Latvia or go to pick mushrooms - I really love this business ...