Elena Panchenko is a young and talented alpine skier. Repeated winner of all-Union and international competitions, her life has lived a very bright, albeit short-lived.
Elena Nikolaevna Panchenko was born in Mezhdurechensk in 1963, on November 11. The girl studied well, at the same time she received additional education in the piano class of the music school.
The road to big sport
At the age of seven, Lena became interested in alpine skiing. Her father, a lover of downhill skiing, brought his daughter to the Yugus Mountain. Since that time, the girl has visited the Caucasus, the Sayan Mountains, mastered the tracks in the Urals, then in the Balkans, the Alps.
In 1971, Lena decided to go in for the sport she liked at a ski school. Valentina Tikhonovna Zakharchenko became her first coach. She was in no hurry to overload the new student. Throughout the whole winter, Panchenko mastered the basics of skiing in an easy and playful way for a child.
The coach chose the right tactics. Valentina Tikhonovna gradually increased her workload. The girl developed harmoniously. Two years later, Panchenko was transferred to another coach, Valery Dmitrievich Zakharchenko.
Thanks to his work, the young skier revealed her talent. The mentor made a significant contribution to the development of mobility, flexibility and speed of reaction with the endurance of the student. He noticed all the qualities invaluable for an athlete in the student and helped to improve them.
For a very long time Panchenko successfully combined musical creativity and sports. In the end, she had to face a choice. Elena chose skiing. The hard work began.
In the girl's life, the training camp was replaced by training, trips to competitions. On the difficult path to victories, the coach always told the student that she needed to fight, and not give in to difficulties.
Rapid start
The young skier was distinguished from many of her peers by perseverance and amazing dedication. At the competition in Tashtagol, the eleven-year-old athlete decided to argue for victories with Alla Askarova, one of the country's strongest skiers.
After losing, the girl decisively stated that next time she would definitely win. Since 1974, the girl took part in republican and union competitions, became the winner in the championship of the country's trade unions among girls.
Elena received the candidate title of master of sports of the USSR at thirteen, and from the age of fourteen she was already a master of sports. In the new status, Panchenko won in 1978 at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR among girls. Since that moment, Elena has become a full member of the national team.
The Socialist States Cup held in Bulgaria ended with a real sporting triumph for her. A young skier from Mezhdurechensk happened to climb to the very top of the podium in Sofia three times. It was in her honor that the country's flag was raised several times, the anthem sounded.
Lena brought home three gold medals and the same number of cups. According to the team members, Panchenko had the best chances of becoming a world leader. A sincere and sympathetic girl was loved by everyone in the team. Never when and for no reason did the girl miss training.
Once at home, Panchenko hurried to tell her friends and family about new impressions, successes, failures. Often she wrote letters to them from training camps and competitions.
Leap into eternity
The good-natured and open classmate was very loved at school. She attracted people, charging them with positive and cheerfulness. The girl always showed the initiative, but she did not impose her own ideas either during training or on vacation. In the impetuous biography of the Mezhdurechensk student-athlete, there are many victories.
She received certificates of honor, champion ribbons, honorary cups, medals, and commemorative badges. However, the burden of fame did not make the girl bend over and catch star fever. The life of a talented athlete tragically ended in a car accident. In 1980, Soviet skiers and Austrian slalom skiers trained together.
After the conference on October 3, everyone returned to the hotel. The translator, who got on the bus, offered Elena a seat next to her. A few minutes later, a tram crashed into a minibus with athletes at an intersection. Both the translator and the sportswoman were killed on the spot.
The rest of the participants received various degrees of trauma, but survived. Few people knew the details of the tragedy. The newspapers published a short obituary. The best monument to Panchenko was the ski native Mezhdurechensk.
Elena did a lot to develop her favorite sport. The sports life of a skier has also become one of the rays of glory.
In memory of the skier
The memory of the famous young skier lives in the city. A memorial plaque is installed on the house where Elena lived. In 1981, by the decision of the State Committee for Sports of the country, a competition was established in memory of the master of sports of international class Elena Panchenko.
Traditionally, in the girl's hometown, the country's alpine skiing championship is held for the Panchenko Prize. The only exception was the postponement of the competition due to insufficient snow cover to Tashtalog.
Among the main alpine skiing disciplines among teenagers under fourteen years of age are slalom, giant slalom and super-giant. The tournament is held every year in late January and early February. One hundred and sixty athletes born in 1964-1969 took part in the first competitions in memory of Panchenko in 1981 in Yugos. The memorable cup was received and taken to Leningrad by Ageeva Evgenia, a member of the national youth team.
Panchenko could become a real star in her sport. She was predicted a splendid future. However, fate decided everything differently. The talented athlete left without having time to arrange her personal life, start a family, and reach her heights.
