Elena Ivaschenko began to play sports from childhood. She was good at sports games. The young athlete also achieved success in athletics: Ivashchenko successfully performed in the shot put competition. However, in the end, Elena gave preference to judo. Elena's life was tragically cut short at the very peak of her sports career.
From the biography of Elena Viktorovna Ivaschenko
The future Russian athlete was born in Omsk on December 28, 1984. Elena began to play sports at a young age. She enjoyed playing rugby and basketball, pushing the shot. In 2001, at the World Championships in Athletics among boys and girls, Elena took fourth place.
Elena tried to be at home less. Her family could not be called prosperous: her father abused alcohol, and doctors gave her mother a disappointing psychiatric diagnosis.
In high school, a friend called Lena for judo training. The girl was seriously interested in wrestling. Soon came the first successes, prizes and awards in the competition. Coach Viktor Ivashchenko became Elena's adoptive father, she even took his last name; her former surname is Schleise.
Elena Ivaschenko's sports career
Elena performed in the weight category over 78 kg. In 2002, she became the world champion in sambo wrestling, held in Serbia. Three years later, she won the champion title at the Russian judo championship. In this sport, Ivashchenko became the European champion four times.
In 2012, Elena for the first time in her life took part in the Olympic Games held in London. In the second round of the competition, Ivaschenko defeated Melissa Mojica (Puerto Rico), but in the next fight she lost to Cuban Idalis Ortiz, who eventually won the title of Olympic champion.
Some fans considered Ivaschenko's performance at the Olympics a failure. Other admirers of her undoubted talent believed that this temporary failure would give Elena a new impetus, force her to work on herself and allow her to surpass her previous achievements.
Tragic ending
Elena Ivaschenko tragically passed away on June 15, 2013. She threw herself from the balcony of the fifteenth floor of a residential building in Tyumen. The athlete left a note in which she asked not to blame anyone for her death. However, later, an entry was made public, made by Elena directly on the pages of her passport, from which it followed that she had no claims to anyone except V. A. Yurlov (he headed the Tyumen Judoka Training Center). During the inspection of the incident, the investigating authorities considered the issue of initiating a criminal case for driving the athlete to suicide.
Among the possible reasons for the suicide, Ivashchenko's unsuccessful performance at the Olympics was named. They also said that unhappy love could be the reason: Elena was very worried about the upset wedding. The athlete also had health problems.
Tatiana Ivashina, Elena's coach, named emotional overload, accumulated internal contradictions and problems in her personal life as the reason for her suicide.
However, many details of the tragic incident suggest that the death of the judoka could have been violent. In particular, the fact was established that on the day of her death, Elena's bag with things disappeared.
