Valery Lukin Biography

Comments now Valery Lukin are more engaged in business. The Olympics became the star hour of the male team of the USSR. In eight types of the program, Soviet athletes won eight gold awards, three silver and one bronze. And this is taking into account the complete absence of medals on the supporting jump. One of the participants in the “golden” team was Valery Lukin, who, after the end of his career, raised three Olympic champions in the United States and founded an elite gymnastics school.

Young Valera began to engage in gymnastics in his native Kazakhstan. In the year, the elder brother Alexander went to the sports gymnastics section, and the seven -year -old Valera got up to his training. The coach attracted the abilities of the younger Lukin - the boy was able to easily sit on any twine. I already said then that this guy will at least be in the USSR national team.

He had unique data, ”Yuri Gorelnikov later recalled. Four years later, the athlete moved from Aktobinsk to Alma-Ata to study in a sports boarding school. He easily managed to win local tournaments. Gradually, Lukin was fixed in the national team - first in the youth, and then in the adult team. Large successes did not come to Valery right away, the gymnast won the first medals at the European Championship at 20 years old.

But what! Four victories, two silver and two bronzes. A year before the Olympic Games, it was a cool application. At the top-level Lukin spent five years. At the games in Seoul, he helped the USSR national team win the team championship, and in the personal standings it became the best in exercises in the crossbar, sharing victory with Vladimir Artemov. Also, in the collection of medals, Valery was silver in the all -around and on parallel bars.

In addition to a large number of sporting achievements, Lukin also went down in history for the performance of several new elements that were named in his honor. The most difficult of them is a triple somersault back in free exercises. Almost immediately after the Olympics, Anna Kochneva, the world champion in rhythmic gymnastics, gave birth to Valery's daughter. At first they settled in New Orleans, but soon found that the atmosphere is incompatible with their goals to create a successful gymnastics school.

Together with a friend, Yevgeny Marchenko worked for a long time to create his own business - there were problems with financing and selecting locations. Then people, including coaches, received 50, or even $ 25 per month. How do you imagine the life of a young family with that kind of money? But the matter is not only in money. We loved gymnastics then, understand?

Since Valery and Anna could not afford a nanny for the baby, little Nastya began to spend time in the hall where her parents trained. Gymnastics was gradually interested in the girl, and she insisted on continuing training. After the conflict with one of the coaches of the club, Lukin decided to keep his daughter on his own. In the year, the family received American citizenship, and Nastya began his career in the US team.

The daughter of the Soviet champion became an American and won everything for the Games Valery prepared the first top scientist.

In Athens, Karly Patterson lit then-Nastya could not claim the Olympics because of her young age. Lukin nevertheless received her moment of fame, but already in Beijing four years later. The successes of the daughter Valery are proud even more than his own. The Great Horkina never won the main gold of the Olympics. I was, so to speak, on both sides of gymnastics, and you begin to understand and appreciate it later in life.

I performed at the same Olympics and was more than once a coach at the Games. And he simply came to the conclusion that the traffic of the Olympic champion is much harder than becoming an Olympic champion, ”the coach explained. To the mu piggy bank of the titles of the Lukin Academy was replenished with several victories at the world championships, as well as the smaller tournaments.

The students of the Valery school and now regularly fall into the American elite. The last major success is the world champion Sky Blakeli. In addition to the leadership of their own school, Valeria was attracted to work in the national team. In the year, Lukin became the coordinator for working with the future sports elite of the United States, that is, he completely engaged in junior gymnasts, and with Go began to lead the main composition, replacing Marta Karaii.

In this position, he failed to linger for a long time. When a scandal associated with sexual harassment from the doctor Larry Nassar flared up, Valery resigned. Around the women's team there was a large amount of negativity, and Lukin did not want associations with violence.