Anastasia Kapachinskaya - one of the fastest Russian women

In the world of athletics for a long time there was an unofficial distribution of forces. In the race for long distances, no one is equal to the athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia. The sprint is dominated by black athletes from North America. Even in their natural physical characteristics, they have a notorious advantage over their light-skinned rivals. Nevertheless, from time to time there are exceptional, phenomenal athletes who challenge nature and compete on an equal footing with undefeated athletes from the United States and Jamaica.

One such unique is Anastasia Alexandrovna Kapachinskaya. The biography of this athlete is quite complicated, is a series of ups and downs.

Childhood, the first steps in sports

Kapachinskaya Anastasia Alexandrovna - native Muscovite. Was born in 1979 in a sports family. Her mother was a well-known athlete, specialized in high jumps. The Pope earned the title of Master of Sports in short-distance running. With such parents, Anastasia could not help going to the athletics section.

Mom seriously loaded her daughter with training, sometimes even forced to overcome laziness and reluctance to train. Since 10 years Kapachinskaya goes to training camps with her mother's pupils, she is engaged in a general group of athletes.

The athlete gradually went to the choice of her favorite distance. Initially she specialized in ultrashort segments. At a distance of 60 m, she installed several youth records of the country. Then she switched to a hundred-meter, but did not achieve high results, because she did not possess the necessary explosive speed for this short section.

The trainers advised her to pay attention to the 400-meter distance, but this did not work out well. So she came to the golden middle - 200 m. Anastasia Kapachinskaya will return to the long sprint, but 200 m will become her crown discipline for the next several years.

Sport of high achievements. Unexpected victory

Almost immediately, with high results, her sports biography begins. Anastasia Kapachinskaya takes part in the world championships for the first time in 2001. In Edmonton in the relay team she wins a bronze medal.

Victory in the team, and even in a non-discipline discipline, could not satisfy an ambitious athlete. The most important victory in her life happened two years later - in Paris. Surprise was the very hit in the final to no known athlete. Opponents of Anastasia were the most serious. Among them were Jeanne Blok, who had already won a bronze medal at a distance of 100 m, the hostess of the stadium was the Frenchwoman Muriel Yurti, the silver medalists of the world championships from Jamaica. At the same time, many experts noted shortcomings in the run of Anastasia. Possessing less explosive speed, she "sat up" at the start, not so confidently passed bends, as rivals.

On the other hand, all this provided an opportunity for further progress and improvement of results. In general, Anastasia Kapachinskaya outperformed all rivals at the finish, with the exception of Kelly White. However, after a while, an American woman was caught doping and deprived of a gold medal. Thus, Anastasia Kapachinskaya became the world champion, becoming one of the few athletes from Europe, ahead of the strongest black runners.

Scandal with doping

Anastasia was preparing for the Olympics in Athens 2004, but she was destined by Kelly White. The doping test, taken after the competition in Budapest, gave a positive result. This was followed by a disqualification until 2006.

Many noted that the examination was conducted in violation of the procedure, but this decision was not challenged on time, and the athlete stayed out of the big tournaments for two years.

Again in the arena

Return to the big sport after an unplanned rest was not easy. The competitors did not stand still and at the favorite distance of 200 m. Nevertheless, Anastasia Kapachinskaya always spent time in the gyms and deserved a challenge to the national team for the Olympics in Beijing. Speech at the Olympic Games is the crowning of a career for every athlete. It was in Beijing that Anastasia reminded the world of herself. As part of the relay team, she won silver at a distance of 4 x 400 m.

After that, Kapachinskaya concentrated her attention on the distance of 400 m. Four subsequent seasons she consistently ranked among the ten strongest in the world with her results.

For the World Cup 2011, she even came in the status of the leader of the season and seriously counted on winning. Nevertheless, the bronze medal was a success for the athlete, which many have already written off. To the personal award Anastasia added team bronze. The Olympics in London became a repetition of Beijing. Again - silver in the relay 4 x 400 m.

The end of the sports career was smeared with regular doping problems. In 2016, violations were found in the sample taken in 2008. Anastasia was deprived of all the awards won this season, including the bronze medal.

Personal life

Anastasia devoted most of her life to professional sports. Only at the end of her career did she seriously think about the family. At the age of 35, her long-awaited son Fyodor was born.

Finally she was able to devote more time to her favorite cooking and not to think about the intense starts.

Not everything went smoothly in the life of Anastasia. There were doping scandals, insulting misfires in the competitions. However, she remained in the memory of the fans as a unique athlete, able to compete on an equal footing with unbeaten sprinters from North America.