In 1974, on March 15, the world famous Dmitry Sautin was born. His biography began in the city of Voronezh, where there is no person who has not heard this name. But he is popular not only in his homeland, because the whole world knows Dmitry Sautin, who has become a symbol of diving.
Childhood and youth
Dmitry was born into the family of Ivan Petrovich and Anna Mikhailovna Sautin. The child was gifted with excellent physical properties, but was not at all flexible. The future champion entered the section for the first time at the age of 7, by the age of ten he was already competing in diving competitions, and at the age of seventeen he was included in the USSR national team. And having barely gained a foothold in the main team, Dmitry Sautin won gold at the European Cup. Diving eventually brought the young athlete the title of king of this sport.
Honored coach of the USSR Tatyana Aleksandrovna Starodubtseva recognized the future champion in the strong boy. An interesting fact is that from the first days to the end, Tatyana Aleksandrovna was Dmitry’s only coach.
Path to glory
Dmitry Sautin burst into big sport with lightning speed, like a diving board jumper entering the water. The young athlete immediately attracted the attention of many professionals. His jumping technique amazed the country's leading experts. The national team coaches were so impressed by the successes of the young Voronezh resident that they sent the young man to his first international competitions, without paying any attention to Then the European Cup ended for Dmitry before it began, because he was too young for these competitions, and the organizers simply did not allow him .
Steep climb
In 1991, Dmitry Sautin joined the national team. During the same period, at the European Cup, the young athlete won gold in the 10-meter platform diving. Then at the European Championships in Athens he became a silver medalist.
- in 1992, gold at the European Cup in Milan;
- in 1993, gold on the 10-meter platform and silver on the 3-meter springboard at the European Championships in Sheffield;
- in 1994, silver on the 3-meter springboard at the World Championships in Rome, as they said then, had a golden tint, because no one expected that the Russians would be able to impose a fight on the Chinese “kings” of diving. And then a real sensation occurred when, having barely made it to the final of the 10-meter jump, Dmitry defeated Sunn Shuey, who “reigned” on the tower at that time;
- in 1995, gold at the European Championship in Austria. In the same year, for the first time in the history of domestic jumping, Dmitry Sautin became the winner in the 3-meter springboard competition at the World Cup in Atlanta;
- in 1996, gold at the Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA);
- in 1997, gold at the World Championships in Spain;
- In 1998, the overall championship was won at the World Championships in Australia. Sautin beat his closest pursuer by as much as 90 points and then became the first jumper in the world to score more than a hundred points in one jump;
- in 1999, gold at the World Championships in Turkey;
- in 2000, the Olympics were held, which made Dmitry a prize-winner in absolutely all disciplines of men's diving. He became first together with his partner Igor Lukashin in platform diving, second with Alexander Dobroskok in ski jumping, and earned bronze medals in individual platform and springboard diving;
- in 2001, gold at the World Championships in Japan;
- in 2002, gold at the European Championship;
- in 2003, gold at the World Championships in synchronized diving from 3 meters;
- in 2004, Olympic bronze in Athens;
- in 2006, Sautin again became European champion;
- in 2007 at the World Championships Dmitry won 3;
- in 2008, the hero of our story earned Olympic silver in Beijing together with Yuri Kunakov.
Other achievements, titles and awards
- In 1995, he was awarded the Order of Honor for his high sporting achievements.
- In 2001, Dmitry Sautin was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.
- In 2006, he received the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st class.
- In 2008, Dmitry received the insignia “For Services to Moscow”
- In 2009, the athlete was awarded the Order of Friendship.
- Dmitry Sautin is an honorary citizen of the city of Voronezh.
- The athlete has the Order of the Government of the Voronezh Region “Gratitude from the Land of Voronezh”.
- Dmitry is the best Russian jumper of the twentieth century.
- Another informal achievement is the fact that he was the first in the history of diving to score more than 100 points for a jump.
- Sautin is also a deputy of the Voronezh Regional Duma.
Through hardship to the stars
Not everything went smoothly for Dmitry Sautin, as it might seem at first glance. With his build, the future champion looked more like a thunderstorm in the gateways, and only Tatyana Aleksandrovna Starodubtseva knows how she guessed the diving star in this stocky boy.
Many admired his technique and manner of performing jumps, his furious spin in the air. But there were also skeptics, convinced that nothing good would come of a boy with such jumps.
In 1995, the athlete developed problems with his hand. This is a typical injury for all professional jumpers, caused by constant stress on the hands when entering the water. And this illness happened on the eve of the Olympic Games. Dmitry simply could not afford the operation and subsequent months-long rehabilitation at that moment. He continued to train and prepare, despite the fact that every jump and entry into the water turned into real torture. Then a Soviet doctor who emigrated to America, Semyon Stebunov, came to the rescue. Dmitry was offered to undergo a month-long course of treatment. This allowed the jumper to compete at the Olympics and win with a colossal advantage. But the pain did not allow me to enjoy such an important victory.
In 2000, synchronized jumping was included in the Olympic Games program for the first time. Then a completely reasonable question arose about whether Sautin would be able to take part in this type of program. After all, the Voronezh athlete’s style of performing jumps was unique, and fears arose that it would be unrealistic to find a partner for him. However, the coaches took a chance and made the right decision. That year, Sautin won medals wherever possible, and he jumped synchronously from the platform and from the springboard with two different partners. There in Sydney, Dmitry lost the individual gold because of his desire to perform a super difficult jump, but this did not stop him from becoming a sensation in those games.
Family and personal life
One day, while walking around Voronezh, Dmitry met Ekaterina Bakhmetyeva, who had no idea that the bald guy, reminiscent of Bruce Willis, was an Olympic champion and a world-famous athlete. Five years later, the young people got married. In the same 2008, Dmitry Sautin became a happy father. The athlete's family grew even larger three years later. Then the couple had a second son.
Dmitry Sautin, whose personal life is very eventful, is a loving father and husband, and, according to friends and acquaintances, he is a very sociable and cheerful person who loves outdoor recreation. And in addition to water sports, the hero of our story is interested in trampoline, freestyle, and hockey. He also loves music and Soviet films.
And World Championships. The essence of this sport is jumping from towers 5 meters high, 7.5 meters and 10 meters high, from a springboard 3 meters high, while simultaneously performing various rotations and entering the water with your head or feet. Jumping into water differs in the starting position - with a handstand, from the front and back stances; by difficulty of execution - the number and complexity of rotations is determined by the difficulty coefficient; in the direction of rotation - forward, backward and with screws. The quality of the jumps (entry into the water with the least amount of splashes, height of takeoff, etc.) is assessed by the judges using a 10-point system.
The training process uses elements of acrobatics and gymnastics. During a jump, all the athlete's muscles are involved. Qualities such as flexibility, strength, coordination and grace are developed.
In 2000, the Olympic Diving Games took place in Sydney. The program included four new disciplines: platform and springboard jumping, as well as synchronized diving from these apparatuses. Russian athletes received 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals. Dmitry Satin won medals on all four apparatuses, gold for the 10-meter platform jump, silver for the 3-meter springboard and 2 bronzes in single jumps.
The leaders of the Russian team in Athens were Dmitry Sautin (synchronized diving from a 3-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard), Vera Ilyina and Yulia Pakhalina(3 meter springboard - synchronized and individual jumps), Alexander Dobroskok(synchronized diving from 3-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard), Svetlana Timoshinini(individual jumping from a 10-meter platform). The debutants were Yulia Koltunova (10-meter platform: individual and synchronized diving), Natalia Goncharova (10-meter platform: synchronized diving) and Gleb Galperin.
The Olympic Games in Athens showed that there are no weak opponents and that each team strives to show its highest achievements.
Currently, Dmitry Sautin is one of the most titled jumpers in the world. He is a Grand Prix winner, a champion of the Goodwill Games, a multiple world and European champion, and a winner of the World and European Cups. His collection includes three Olympic bronzes and a gold in individual and synchronized jumps, as well as a silver in synchronized jumping.
Gleb Galperin is an Honored Master of Sports of Russia and a two-time bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in platform diving (individual jumping and also in pairs with Dmitry Dobroskok). He is a world and European champion, as well as a Russian champion (2003 and 2004).
Vera Ilyina is a Russian diver, winner of the World and European Championships. Honored Master of Sports of Russia and Olympic champion. At the 2000 Olympic Games, Vera Ilyina, paired with Yulia Pakhalina, showed excellent results. The gap from second place was 11 points. At the World Championships in Barcelona, this couple won silver. At all Olympic Games, Vera Ilyina participated in the final jumps in the three-meter springboard competition.
Yulia Pakhalina has been playing for the Russian national team since she was 15 years old. She won the European Championships three times in synchronized diving and five times in individual diving, as well as the World Championships once each in both disciplines. At the Olympics in Sydney, Pakhalina won a gold medal in the synchronized jump, and in Athens in 2004 she twice became a silver medalist. In 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, performing in a duet with Anastasia Pozdnyakova, she became second in synchronized diving.
Alexander Dobroskok
famous athlete, two-time World champion, vice-champion of the 2000 Olympic Games. In 2000, in Sydney, he won a silver medal in synchronized diving from the 3-meter springboard. His finest hour is considered to be 2003, when he won two gold medals at the World Championships in Barcelona. He is the winner of the Grand Prix (2003) in 3-meter springboard jumping.Dmitry Dobroskok- Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Speaking in tandem with Gleb Galperin at the 2008 Olympic Games, he became a bronze winner. He is the world champion in 2005 and Europe in 2006, multiple champion of Russia. The first success was achieved in 2005, when at the age of 21 the Russian jumper became the world champion.
Currently famous Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who took second place at the 2011 European Championships in synchronized diving from a three-meter springboard, losing to athletes from China. This allowed the Russians to get to the Olympics in London. Ilya Zakharov began his professional career in 2007. In the German city of Aachen, he took first place in individual performances. Playing in tandem with Kuznetsov, he won silver. At the moment, he and the Russian national team are preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Russian diving athletes are a worthy team, capable of remaining among world leaders and glorifying the great traditions of domestic sports at international competitions at all levels.
Kirill Stadnichenko
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Interview
On the eve of March 8, UNIAN spoke with one of the best Ukrainian diving athletes - European champion and world championship medalist Yulia Prokopchuk, who spoke about the peaks of her career, motherhood, how diving became popular after the European Championships, and how strong she remains competition with rivals at the most prestigious world competitions.
Diving is not the most popular sport in Ukraine. At the same time, for many years, Ukrainian athletes have regularly brought medals to the country at world and European championships. And if earlier Zaporozhye was unconditionally considered the “base” of domestic diving, now talented athletes are increasingly appearing in other cities.
Kiev resident Yulia Prokopchuk has been delighting the public with successful performances at the World and European Championships for 10 years. From bronze at the 2006 European Championship in Budapest to gold at the 2016 European Championship in London. The last Olympic cycle was also marked by two World Cup medals - bronze in the individual tournament in Bracelona 2013 and silver in the team tournament in Kazan 2015.
It is curious that Yulia Prokopchuk’s specialty is jumping from a 10-meter platform. And as a child, as the athlete herself admitted, it was very difficult for her to overcome her fear and jump... from the side of the pool.
Multiple European champion and world championship medalist Yulia Prokopchuk spoke in an interview with UNIAN about the highs in her long career, the increase in popularity of this sport after last year's European Championships in Kiev and the prospects for its development, as well as about rivalry with representatives of China at the most prestigious world competitions.
My husband and I have such a tradition - we always celebrate Women’s Day at the Japanese restaurant “Murakami”. At the same time, we go to the same establishment - to the same address. The tradition has been going on for three years now. And I think that this year we will not change our tradition; we will go to celebrate. Only the three of us, with the child.
Do you have any food preferences?
Traditional Japanese dishes - sushi, salads... Nothing special or impressive.
Do your family generally like holidays?
Yes. I really love the holidays. I like it when a company gathers, everyone is walking, having fun, everyone is smiling and happy.
What surprises is your husband preparing?
Trains. I don’t know yet how it will be this time. Let's see how the day starts.
Do you often have “after-hour” holidays on regular weekdays?
Now, to be honest, it’s a little time for that. The child takes up a lot of time in our lives - there are more surprises and attention to him than to each other. In general, we like to pamper ourselves with gifts, give each other something unusual, surprise each other.
At the height of your sports career, you didn’t see your husband as often as you would like?
Of course, there wasn’t much time, but, for example, the tradition of celebrating in “Murakami” appeared when I was an athlete. That is, I tried to spend more time with my loved ones during my sports career. Now, of course, I am completely immersed in my family.
You have stepped away from active performances since your son was born about a year ago. I heard that they are already teaching him to swim...
Certainly. For now he is in the bath, but we are already teaching him to dive, swim, and developing him physically. We try to make him a strong man.
Are you preparing a sports career for your son?
In any case, I want him to play some kind of sport, sport is in our blood. I don’t know what kind of sport he wants to do - diving, football, something else. It’s too early to talk about it now, he’s still small. But he should play sports in any case.
We are not thinking about a professional career yet. In general, I’m not a fan of making plans for the future. Everything has its time.
Is your husband an athlete?
No, he has nothing to do with professional sports.
When do you think about returning to big-time sports? Or will the fan no longer see Yulia Prokopchuk on the springboard?
I haven’t thought about it yet. I spend time with my child and I like it...
And still?
Return to sports?... I think it’s unlikely.
Will you be a coach in the future?
I want to be a coach. I like it. But as a jumper... I want to devote myself more to my family...
But can’t you imagine life without sports?
You know, the first six months were very difficult... I constantly wanted to climb the tower, jump, I missed my old lifestyle. But now I like spending time with my child and family more...
In the future, I would like to train children, teach them how to dive, and pass on my knowledge and experience. But, again, I won’t make any guesses. What if in a month, in a year, something completely different turns up. Therefore, it makes no sense to say firmly that I will be a coach. But, naturally, I want to do something extra besides family.
Over the course of ten years, you have consistently won awards at European championships and then at the World Cup. Can you name the best year of your career, the peak?
It's hard to name a specific year. The peak of my form is, rather, individual competitions in which I showed good results. And throughout the year there can be both downs and ups in your career, this is a very long period of time.
Then let's highlight a separate tournament, where you showed the brightest jump in your career, or achieved a significant result?
The most memorable tournament was the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, where I won a bronze medal. Then I felt something like euphoria inside. I was very pleased with my performance. And from this comes the reward. That bronze was akin to gold for me. The emotions were so vivid, simply indescribable.
Best result? Perhaps this is the 2016 European Championships in London, when I took gold. Then I had a record amount of points, I set a personal record. I felt like I was jumping lightly, everything was going so well.
By the way, shortly after the tournament in London there was Rio 2016, where you were left without a medal. The same as at other Olympics. What was missing from the Olympic Games?
Confidence... Skill and desire, a great desire, were always with me. I think this is a purely psychological condition. Games are always a huge stress.
You also did not win the world champion title, unlike the European Championship gold medal...
We had very strong athletes from China. If at ordinary tournaments you can fight with them and win, then at the world championships there are no options. They know how to prepare themselves psychologically for the most important starts. I repeat once again, for me, bronze at the World Cup in Barcelona 2013 was like gold.
Now, judging by the results of recent major competitions, the Chinese are no longer so stable. They don’t always jump clearly and perfectly. But a few years ago, in my time, unfortunately, it was almost impossible to fight them.
The last Olympic tournament in Rio was held outdoors. There is also the famous outdoor ski jump in Barcelona, where you won your bronze medal. Are competitions very different in an indoor pool and outdoors?
Yes very much. In an indoor pool there are four walls, a roof over your head - no wind, no sun, no rain. In the pool there are more comfortable conditions for competitions, where you can concentrate on the jump and fully feel it. Nothing bothers you, nothing distracts you.
On the street, the sun may shine in your eyes, you are already distracted, somewhere a breeze will blow... You cannot fully concentrate, your thoughts are constantly “wandering.”
So you prefer to compete indoors?
Personally, I love indoor pools. For complete confidence in your jump. It, of course, sometimes gets lucky in the outdoor pool. You jump back and everything is great. But it’s better when you are completely confident in your jump.
How do rivals react to different pools?
It's all individual. It comes down to the little things. If you jump in the same pool all the time, everything is fine. You come to another one and realize that you are doing absolutely nothing. It happens that there are different types of concrete in different pools. Where it is tougher, in another pool it is softer. Something else happens... There are a lot of nuances that can affect an athlete’s performance in the most unexpected way. And he didn’t necessarily show a bad result because he’s in bad shape at the moment.
Diving is a fairly extreme sport for the average person. At what age should children start practicing this sport “according to science” in order to achieve results over time?
As they say, the sooner the better. It is advisable to bring children at the age of five, when they can still be “stretched”, to give them the professional stretching necessary when performing jump elements. It is also important to lay down the “physics” at the initial stage. And only then you can go jumping, to a more professional level. Therefore, at 5-6 years old you can bring children. The later, the harder it will be to go through all this and “catch up” with your peers.
How long does it take between the start of training and the first jump?
In principle, elementary jumps can be started from the very beginning, gradually moving to more complex ones. But this is still purely individual. There is a child who is afraid to do jumps, and he needs a gradual approach; the coach must prepare him for this jump. And there is a child who you ask to make a jump, and he went and jumped without any problems. That is, here, too, a lot depends on the child himself.
Do the jumps start from a meter springboard?
First of all, children are taught to swim. And then the youngest children first jump from the side, and then there is a meter-long springboard, etc. - increasingly. From a height of 3 meters and above.
Yulia Prokopchuk won the gold medal at the European Championship / photo Xsport
I remember during a tour for journalists, in the training room near the pool there were some kind of foam rubber mats. Are they used in beginner training?
They are used by both adults and children - equally. This is preparation for a jump in the gym. First there is a warm-up in the gym, acrobatic training, trampoline training, then the athlete performs certain elements of jumping in the gym when he jumps into the foam rubber. And then already in the pool - he jumps into the water. The difference is that you need to land in the foam with your feet, and in the water with your hands, you need to “spin” the jump. This is all done in order to learn how to navigate in space.
Admit it, did you personally have fear before the first jump in your life?
Of course it's scary. It was very scary, I was generally a coward. And I was very afraid to jump.
That is, you and the trainer had certain psychological tests, classes...
You know, I will say this, of course, a lot depends on the coach, but until the athlete himself readjusts, until he is ready for the jump morally and psychologically, little can happen.
At what age did you personally start training? Where? And who was your first coach?
In general, I have been doing rhythmic gymnastics since I was 4.5 years old. When I came to the diving section at the age of 8, I was already prepared physically, in terms of stretching. I was only taught to swim and jump from the side. Therefore, I smoothly went through the initial stage [of preparation] in the previous section and paid more attention to jumping.
I had my first coach - Grigory Ivanovich Morgun, who taught me the basics of jumping. Then, unfortunately, he passed away. I switched to Andrei Vasilyevich Rudenko, who trained me almost until the end of my career and with whom I won all my medals, for which I am very grateful to him.
Last year the European Championships took place in Kyiv. It turned out to be a very bright and colorful show. The everyday life of Ukrainian divers is also filled with training in such excellent conditions as in the LIKO pool? Or does everyone have their own problems? To what extent do other swimming pools meet international standards - in Zaporozhye, Kharkov, and other cities?
Leading jumpers, members of the Ukrainian national team, train in this pool, it is used daily. The difference is that before major international competitions they “make him beautiful” so that he “shines” in the television cameras. Regarding standards, since the European Championship was held here, it, of course, meets all international standards. The only thing that the organizers of the European Championship lacked was seats for spectators. Nobody expected that there would be such a big rush and problems constantly arose with a lack of places. If we compare our pool in purely sporting terms with others where international competitions are held around the world, we have a similar pool. Meets all standards.
As for other cities of Ukraine, I haven’t competed in Ukraine outside of Kyiv for a very long time, I haven’t traveled around the country. Therefore, it’s difficult for me to say what has changed there and in what direction - has it become radically better or worse...
As for the capital, I personally started training in the Kiev swimming pool of CSKA on Vozdukhoflotsky Prospekt. Now I train at LIKO. By and large, only these two pools use water for jumping training in Kyiv.
Has the excitement around diving increased since the European Championships in Kyiv? Did people come, watch the beautiful competitions, and start bringing their children to the diving sections?
Yes, we took children around a lot, there were queues. People even called me and asked me for advice on which coach was best to go to. The main thing is that all this does not disappear. So that the excitement remains and diving is as popular as it was six months ago, when the European Championships just ended.
Does the state, represented by the Ministry of Youth Sports, somehow help Ukrainian divers? Is there attention and financial support?
Of course, the state does not stand aside. We are paid for numerous trips to competitions abroad. The state pays scholarships to the winners and prize-winners of the World and European Championships, which is also a good help. At the same time, our Federation pays fees here, within the country, when we are preparing for international competitions. Leading athletes are given discounts on housing purchases, which is also important.
What kind of attention does the NOC give, given that diving is an Olympic sport?
The National Olympic Committee also constantly supports us. In particular, it’s very nice when you are recognized as the best athlete of the month. I myself have received such awards. This is pleasant not so much from a material point of view (although this, of course, is very important), but from a moral one. You are loved, appreciated, respected, and your successes are followed. Believe me, this is very important for an athlete.
Plus, I cannot help but note such a fact as the very good personal attitude of the head of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Sergei Nazarovich Bubka towards the athletes. I had a problem with my arm, the injury turned out to be serious, and the NOC president found the opportunity to put me in touch with a doctor, who helped a lot, gave me a massage course, went with me to Rio and “led” me directly to the start of the competition. As a result, I was able to recover and fully participate in the Olympic competitions. The human factor is very valuable in the relationship between athletes and the NOC.
Kirill Stadnichenko
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Diving is one of the most technically difficult and traumatic sports. It is rare that an athlete can maintain a high level here for more than ten years. All the more admirable are the sporting achievements of Dmitry Sautin, who began participating in international competitions as a member of the USSR national team and ended his active career only in 2012, after the death of his first and only coach. For twenty years he became a multiple Olympic champion, winner of the world and European championships.
The lucky accident of the boy from the left bank
Dmitry Ivanovich Sautin was born back in 1973 in Voronezh. He was a short, stocky boy, could not swim at all and seemed very angular and inflexible. At the same time, Dima did great pull-ups on the horizontal bar and was well developed physically. The combination of these contradictory qualities led him to the diving section.
He got into sports thanks to the system of selection into sports schools that existed at that time. Young coaches, who had just graduated from college, often went through all the schools and selected the most promising guys for their sections. Tatyana Starodubtseva, a diving coach, also recently received a diploma in sports coaching and was conducting her second selection. Dmitry Sautin also got into this group, being among the sixty lucky ones.
Subsequently, besides him, only one student of Starodubtseva grew up to big sports - Lyudmila Shiryaeva. However, after breaking her leg, she ended her career.
Thus began the formation of the legendary Voronezh athlete, which coincided in time with the coaching activities of Tatyana Starodubtseva.
First victories
The Voronezh athlete progressed rapidly, all specialists were amazed by Dmitry Sautin’s jumps. Even as a young man, he did not really know how to fly, but he rotated at incredible speed and entered the water almost perfectly. For this he was even nicknamed “the guy with lead in his head.”
In the biography of Dmitry Sautin there is an interesting fact about how he was included in the adult national team. A junior from Voronezh, who attended a children's match between the USSR and the GDR, made such an impression on the coaches that they included him in the main team's entry for the European Cup. Without bothering to carefully read the tournament regulations, the mentors lost sight of the point of the rules, according to which the age limit was set at thirteen years for competition participants.
Nevertheless, Dmitry Sautin’s first victories were not long in coming. Already in 1991, a seventeen-year-old schoolboy won the European Cup, having perfectly performed his jumps from a ten-meter platform. Soon he competes at the continental championships in Sheffield, from where he takes away a silver medal.
However, in the same year, Dmitry Sautin becomes a victim of the difficult criminal situation of the early nineties. On the street he gets stabbed, and only timely help provided to him thanks to a friend helped save him for big-time sports.
Barcelona 1992
At the age of 18, Dmitry Sautin was an ironclad candidate for a trip to Olympic Barcelona in 1992. By this time, he had already decided on his priorities in diving and showed the best results on the three-meter springboard.
In those years, Chinese jumpers were rapidly progressing, but Dmitry Sautin was able to wedge himself into the fight for awards and took his first Olympic medal, which became bronze.
Here an incident occurred with the athlete, which at a high level could only happen in the strange CIS team, which already consisted of athletes from different countries and was controlled by practically no one.
At the finals of the Olympic diving program, it was discovered that Dmitry Sautin did not have swimming trunks, which he either forgot or were stolen from him. Counting on the solidarity of his fellow craftsmen, the native of Voronezh asked the Mexican Fernando Platas for help.
The Latin American did not abandon his Russian rival in trouble and lent him his spare swimming trunks. In Mexican attire, Dmitry Sautin performed brilliantly for a debutant and took third place. Then he tried to return the equipment to Platas, but he allowed the Russian athlete to keep the triumphal swimming trunks.
Trials for the world champion
The knife injury that Dmitry received was not the last test for the Russian athlete. The most successful period in his sports career coincided for Sautin with difficulties associated with physical injuries. For divers, problems with the hands become an unpleasant injury. The native of Voronezh did not escape this either.
However, first there was a successful World Championship in Rome in 1994. By that time, Chinese divers occupied the top positions of this sport and dictated their terms to the whole world. Therefore, Dmitry Sautin's second place on the three-meter springboard was perceived by his fans as equal to victory, because it seemed that it was simply impossible to surpass the Chinese.
However, in the next type of program, the Russian did the almost impossible. On the ten-meter platform, the main fight was supposed to take place between the Chinese Seng Shuei and Xiong Ni, with whom four-time Olympian Gregory Louganis was trying to fight.
Dmitry Sautin was in 22nd place before the final jumps. However, he did the impossible and managed to show decent results in his last attempts and reach the finals. Here the Russian, who had caught the courage, had no equal and took his first gold at the World Championship.
iron Man
After the World Championships in Rome, Dmitry suffered an unpleasant hand injury. All the doctors vying with each other advised him to have an urgent operation, but this meant a serious disruption in preparation for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. The courageous army man decided to risk his health for the sake of his second Olympics and bravely endured the aching pain in his hands.
A simple sprain of the ligaments has developed into inflammation of the tendons, and again his direct competitors come to Dmitry’s aid. At the pre-Olympic competitions in Atlanta, medical treatment at the expense of the American side is offered to Sautin by Semyon Slabunov. Previously, he worked as a sports psychologist for the USSR national team. Later he emigrated to the USA and became a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
A month-long recovery course helped Sautin a lot and allowed him to forget about the debilitating pain in his hands. After treatment, the athlete performed powerfully in all the pre-Olympic competitions and secured a place in the elite of diving.
Atlanta
At the 1996 Olympics, Dmitry concentrated on the ten-meter springboard, where he was opposed by the Chinese Tian Liang. After the mandatory exercises, the Russian athlete was four points behind, but in the first final attempt he eliminated the Asian athlete's advantage.
Then the Voronezh diver increased his superiority until he brought it to 40 points in the last attempt.
After his triumphant return from Atlanta, Dmitry Sautin decided to take charge of his health and agreed to undergo surgery on his carpal tendons. After recovery, he took up work again and for several years had no equal in diving.
Sydney records
The next four-year cycle for Olympic champion Dmitry Sautin turned out to be especially successful. He broke one record after another, cementing his status as a sports legend. At the 1998 World Championships, the athlete beat his main rival, Chinese Tian Liang, by 90 points, breaking the unofficial record of the American athlete.
Here the Russian became the first diver to score 100 points in one jump. The experts were most impressed by his series of 11 maximum scores during the free program.
In general, Dmitry Sautin approached the Olympic Games in Sydney with the status of a superstar and a favorite in several types of programs at once.
Here he took part in single and synchronized diving from the platform and springboard.
The Chinese, preparing for the future home Olympics, approached the main competitions of the four years as mobilized as possible. In the individual events they managed to get ahead of the previously invincible Dmitry Sautin. However, he managed to earn bronze on both the platform and the springboard.
His experiment in synchronized events was more successful. The coaches did not fully believe that any athlete would be able to adapt to Dmitry’s unique style. However, together with Gleb Galperin, he became the Olympic champion in platform diving, and then took silver with another partner, performing the most difficult springboard jumps.
Athens
Having won medals in all four types of the Olympic program, Dmitry Sautin became the first athlete in history to reach this peak.
By 2004, the legendary athlete was over thirty years old, which was considered a critical age for diving. The sport that Dmitry Sautin practices does not provide for such longevity. Athletes lose flexibility and sharpness, the body is worn out by constant overloads and injuries.
However, the native of Voronezh did not obey the usual laws of nature and won another medal at the Games in Athens. At his fourth Olympics, Dmitry Ivanovich Sautin became a bronze medalist in ski jumping. And before the main tournament of the four-year cycle, he repeatedly achieved success at the world's largest forums.
Recent years in big sport
The tireless Sautin did not age and qualified to participate in the 2008 Olympics, which was his fifth. Before this, such a unique achievement had been achieved by only a few. There were even fewer athletes who left with medals after each tournament.
This time his partner in synchronized diving from a three-meter platform was young Yuri Kunakov. Despite being late for the training camp due to the birth of his son, Dmitry Sautin confirmed his special status and approached the Games in China in fighting shape.
Against the backdrop of the undivided dominion of local athletes, the performance of the Russian and his young partner, who managed to win silver on the three-meter springboard, was especially impressive.
The iron athlete was not going to stop, in 2012 he tried to qualify for the Olympics in London, however, exhausted by countless injuries, he was unable to surpass the young and greedy young competitors at the national selection.
The final impetus for ending his career was the untimely death of Tatyana Starodubtseva, the coach with whom Sautin spent thirty years in big-time sports.
Social activity
The legendary athlete had unquestioned authority in his native Voronezh, unspoiled by the abundance of Olympic champions. Returning to his small homeland, Dmitry Sautin plunged headlong into social activities and became a deputy of the city parliament.
Sautin’s activities are not limited to the functions of an official. He oversees a charitable foundation and organizes work at his own diving school.
Playing for CSKA for many years, he also rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, becoming the highest-ranking military athlete.
State awards of Dmitry Sautin
The Order of Honor, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Order of Friendship, as well as numerous regional awards are evidence of the state’s recognition of Dmitry Sautin for his services to the country.
However, the status of the best diver of the 21st century, officially assigned to him by the International Aquatics Federation in 2010, can be considered especially prestigious. Here, according to the voting results, he beat the no less legendary Chinese Tian Liang.
Family
The modest, hardworking athlete met his wife only towards the end of his long career. The personal life of Dmitry Sautin has always been hidden from outsiders, only after the birth of his son Ivan in 2008 did the public learn that the iron athlete is a person like everyone else.