The famous gymnast and people’s deputy organizes a festival for young sportsmen

For a short time, the town of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan became the capital of rhythmic gymnastics. Forty teams from Russia and the CIS gathered there for the “Alina” international selection tournament, organized by Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva. And on the eve of that competition, the RF State Duma deputy for Nizhnekamsk held a surgery for her voters.

A ceiling on which the state flags of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and South Ossetia literally seem to float. Walls decorated with strings of balloons. Tables on which the prizewinner cups and medals glitter. A jury featuring some of the most prestigious names in sport. Stands full to bursting with spectators…the Druzhba sports centre has never in its entire history hosted an event on this scale.

The young gymnasts from the specialized child and youth Olympic reserve school in Vladivostok were perhaps more nervous than anybody else. “Of course we were nervous”, admits trainer Svetlana Selezneva. “We’d flown a long way and we were the first to perform at the festival. I did what I could to calm the girls down. I told them they were opening the competition and that they had to perform well to put the judges and the spectators in a good mood.”

The opening was a great success: the little “artistes” from Vladivostok gave a superb account of themselves on the gymnastic mats. And after their success, the festive mood got better and better.  

From Kazakhstan to Nizhnekamsk is also quite a journey. But the members of the Kazakh team knew there was no way anyone serious about gymnastics could afford to miss this tournament.

“We had good reasons for wanting to be here. Where else can you see a competition at this level?” explains Lyubov Bronskaya, a trainer from Pavlodar. “And we’ve also dreamed about meeting Alina Kabaeva”

Every single spectator remembers eight-year-old Dayana Aderbekova from Chimkent. “I’ve been so lucky”, exclaims little Dayana. “I was hoping at the very least see Alina Kabaeva, but I also managed to talk to her. I even gave her a present.”

It was a truly sincere and beautiful scene, with which the Kazakhstan team marked the end of their performance. Dayana ran up to the table at which Alina was sitting and presented her with a red toy heart.

Everywhere you look at gymnastics festivals you see female faces, and a man amongst the spectators seems like an extraterrestrial. But Vyacheslav Fedorov came all the way from Penza region alone, without a team.

“We could never even dream of a tournament like this out in the sticks” he says, concentrating on his video camera. I’ll show the folks this when I get home. They’ll love it. Maybe we’ll open a club - my daughter will soon be the right age.”

“Alina” is a tournament of demonstration performances, open to anyone starting out in rhythmic gymnastics. And this is what makes it unique, because even complete beginners have an opportunity to display their abilities to world-class professionals.

Each demonstration performance lasts for a maximum of two-and-a-half minutes. But there’s plenty of scope for the trainers’ imagination! You can see sumptuous gypsy costumes here and bikers’ gear worn by gymnasts from Zvenigorod, just outside Moscow. And there are hockey strips worn by the girls from Nizhnekamsk. There were even some dancing birch trees on the gymnastics mat. Not surprisingly, that performance by the team from Sports School No.10 in Ulyanovsk was awarded the chief judge’s prize by chairman of the panel, world champion Vera Sesina.

Every one of the panel of judges is a celebrity: Zarina Gizikova, Yevgeniya Pavlina, Yana Batyrshina, Irina Zilber, Nataliya Lipkovskaya…They gave first place to the “Privolzhanka” sports school in Kazan; second place was shared by the “Zvenigorodochka” team from the Moscow region and the competition’s hosts – the Neftekhimik sports club. And the last of the lucky teams who won a trip to Moscow to take part in the “Alina” rhythmic gymnastics festival was from Rostov region. But even those who failed to win these nominations left with prizes. Every participant in the competition got a prize.

“There are no winners or losers in our tournament”, says Alina. “You don’t need to be a world champion or an Olympic champion. If that’s what you dream about, that’s fine. But the very fact that they’re enjoying rhythmic gymnastics is a victory in itself.”

Sport as a way of life, a goal that helps you become a better person – that’s what we all want for our young people. It’s just that we can’t work out a way of dragging kids away from their computers, of keeping them away from bad company and getting them interested in something. No effort, time or imagination should be spared, and you’ll need plenty of all of them. But if you succeed, you’ll end up with a festival called “Alina”. It’s an unforgettable experience for anyone who takes part. And it’s a truly radiant event in the daily round of serious business that people’s deputy Alina Kabaeva has to attend to.

…A young married couple patiently awaits a break in the competition, a huge bouquet of roses in the man’s hands.

“My wife had health problems. We went everywhere trying to find help – Ilfat is still traumatized by that terrible experience. In one place they said they couldn’t help, because her tumor was inoperable; in another hospital they said Tatarstan had a problem with its state allocation. We’d lost hope, but then we ended up in Alina Maratovna’s voters‘ surgery. She helped my Guzel get a referral to the Professor Polenov Neurosurgical Institute, where they operated her. Ilfat waited until Alina was free and then handed over the bouquet of flowers. He quickly tells her that things are going well: Guzel is recovering and the prognosis is good. Kabaeva was aware of this, of course, and is keeping an eye on the situation. Yet this is just one individual case. Nobody comes to her surgery happy…they only come to ask for help. And that’s what happened the other day, during Alina’s latest voters’ surgery in Nizhnekamsk, when she heard about yet another real misfortune.

Last summer, Nizhnekamsk resident Nail Sadriev sent his 23-year-old son Lenar off to the army. There, he fell ill and was misdiagnosed. He was actually suffering from cancer, a terrible disease that quickly spread, turning Lenar into a paralyzed invalid. Only two clinics abroad agreed to help him.

“In one of the Moscow clinics they said “Why would we want a case like that? He’ll only die here”, the father laments. “But for some reason the foreign clinics didn’t refuse him. There’s no guarantee, of course, but they say there’s a chance.”

The Nizhnekamsk administration found a sponsor to pay for treatment in Turkey, but there was a hitch with the transportation arrangements for the patient.

“We’ve done everything we can to sort this out”, says Alina in reply to my question about whether they will be able to help Lenar. “I’ll say it’s been sorted only when I’m one hundred per cent sure”.

The very next day, when Alina had flown back to Moscow, I found out that the problem was being solved and there were just a few details to be clarified. It looks like they’ll sort things out.

“Izvestiya” newspaper

Yuri Sanin

22nd March 2011