Irina Soldatova is a Soviet and Russian athlete. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in archery was the champion of the country, the world. She was the owner of the USSR Cup.
In the seventies of the last century, a passion for archery began in Chuvashia. Master of sports Olga Sokolova-Avdeeva who came to Cheboksary immediately plunged into sports life.
On the eve of triumph
Training began at the cotton mill, and the first archers appeared at the local sports section. The first masters became assistant trainers. An archery department was opened at the sports school, and the first achievements came.
The mentoring trio has developed a unique methodology. The main task was the development of marksmanship. Fedorov was engaged in acquaintance of novice athletes with the basics of shooting, initial training.
Yarikov got the fit of the bows "in size". The coach was looking for promising new products in the design, the application of ideas in reality. Olga Avdeeva was responsible for training accuracy and revealing the secrets of mastery. Everyone approached the work very carefully. The highest recognition of the effectiveness of the work was the success of the students.
An extraordinary event was that the USSR championship competition was held in Cheboksary. In 1985, the whole city lived in competitions, worrying about its own people. After such a triumph, the fame of the sports school went far beyond the borders of Chuvashia. Within the walls of the institution, the winners of world and European championships have grown, an innovative brigade training method has appeared.
A notable achievement was the victory of Irina Soldatova, one of Avdeeva's pupils, at the national championship. Together with Yuri Leontyev, the girl took "gold", ahead of the most famous masters. It was the first time for two young athletes from one city to win such high awards.
The beginning of the way
The biography of Irina Borisovna Soldatova began in 1965. The future champion was born on February 23. The girl grew up as an athletic child. She played basketball, gymnastics, swimming, tried her hand at athletics, and skated. A strong and tall girl even got up on pointe shoes.
Irina's attention was drawn to the unusual equipment of the shooters. She really liked the arrows, bows, costumes of athletes. Soldatova came to the sports school with her friends. First of all, the attention of coaches was attracted by the physical data of the applicant. To the delight of the mentors, the girl was also capable and diligent. She quickly mastered the basics of sports shooting.
Seven months later, all the standards for a candidate for master of sports were fulfilled. Unexpectedly, the gains dwindled with high intensity training. The entire team of mentors was involved in solving this drop in performance. Initially, the reason was poor shooting technique. Then it was decided that it was the imperfection of the bow that was to blame. Irina herself judged otherwise. The athlete concluded that this type of activity was not hers. The girl stopped attending training.
Having understood the reason, the mentors did not “put pressure” on the archer. They decided that, if everything is serious, the girl herself will make the right choice. And so it happened. Soldatova returned, realizing that it was simply impossible to quit the occupation that had captured her. Now the coaching team understood that this return was forever. It became clear to Irina that her attitude to training and the fulfillment of all tasks would form the basis of her athletic growth. The main goal was to obtain a master's title. Conquering the bow has become a real art.
Irina appeared at the championships of Russia and the whole country as a schoolgirl. She began to win, believed in her own strength. Every year the successes became more noticeable. Sport has become a familiar way of life. The young archer became a member of the USSR national team four years later.
The appearance of a young provincial athlete among the strongest was a rare phenomenon. However, the results demonstrated by Irina made her take the girl seriously. In 1984, at the spring competitions for the USSR Cup in Uzbekistan, the Cheboksary archer almost surpassed the ex-world champion, becoming the second. Again the "Spring Arrows" competition in the capital ended with silver. Soldatova became the first at the All-Union Youth Tournament.
Successes and failures
In the Italian competition "Silver Bow" was the second place. We failed to rise higher in other international tournaments. But gradually the archers gained the most valuable experience of participation in competitions of this rank.
Outside of the competition, Irina performed at the prestigious Lruzhba tournament in Czechoslovakia. There, the athlete surpassed everyone. Although Soldatova did not receive any prizes, she was recognized as the strongest archer in Europe. At that time, the student of the Faculty of Physical Education of the Chuvash Pedagogical Institute was barely 20 years old, The breakdown in the summer Cup of the country was a strong blow. The mentors were seriously concerned that Irina could not get to the selection in Seoul. The struggle for the return of sports form began. As a result, the Seoul Olympics became a settled matter.
Training camps, estimates took a lot of effort. At the control firing, Soldatova proved that she rightfully bears the title of the strongest. The coach of the national team Arsent Balov decided to take the girl to the training camp in Khabarovsk.
By that time, Irina had decided on her personal life. Andrei Prokunin became her chosen one. The competition in Seoul turned out to be the most difficult. Irina won her "gold" in the hardest struggle. Soldatova returned home with a unique Cup depicting a shooting archer.
Family and sports
In Cheboksary, the athlete and her chosen one officially became husband and wife. A child appeared in the family, a son Ivan. After a short break, the archer returned to the sport. She won the International Tournament in Beijing, the championship in the RSFSR-Sweden match. In 1987 Soldatova won the National Cup. Then the athlete decided to end her career. She switched to coaching.
After completing her studies at the Pedagogical Institute at the age of 200, the archer chose to train students with disabilities at the Phoenix Rehabilitation Center. In August 2001, at competitions in Oryol, her pupils took first place in the team competition.
With the advent of a new sport, dart throwing, darts, Irina was carried away by the idea of becoming the best in this business. Three years later, she was the first in Chuvashia to receive a master of sports, then headed the republican Federation.
Irina Soldatova passed away in 2002. In Cheboksary, a sports school was named in memory of the famous archer. All-Russian tournaments in memory of the athlete are held annually.
