The handball world was shocked by the news of the death of a 29-year-old point guard «Astrakhanochki» by Victoria Divak. The day before, the girl took part in the Super League match with CSKA, and nothing foreshadowed trouble. The details of what happened are still being established, but the investigation is considering two versions — an accident and suicide. About what is known now — in the material Sport.
The daughter of the legend of «Rotor» Victoria was born in the family of the famous former football player Viktor Divak, who spent most of his career in the Volgograd «Rotor». In many ways, therefore, her future path in sports was predetermined, although she made a choice in favor of another team of the game. Already at the start of her career, the girl showed her talent, together with the Russian junior team, becoming vice-champion of Europe (2009) and winning silver medals at the Youth Olympic Games (2010).
At the club level, she began to play for the Dynamo-Sinara team (Volgograd), which she helped win the Russian championship three times. Later, Divak moved to Kuban, and then tried her hand abroad. Having played for the French Achenheim Truchtersheim, the German Halle-Neustadt and the Belarusian Gomel, she returned to Russia in 2021, signing a contract with Astrakhanochka. In the first season, the point guard became the club's top scorer, scoring 98 goals in 26 matches. In the current Superleague draw, Divak made 103 accurate shots and in this indicator was second only to Polina Sharkova (204).
On the eve of the tragedy, the handball player took part in a meeting with CSKA, in which Astrakhanochka lost with a score of 28:37, and Victoria herself scored two goals. And already in the next round, Divak could have played against her native club, Dynamo Sinara.
Accident or suicide? The shocking news from Astrakhan shocked the world of handball on April 17 at around 2 pm. The handball player's body was found under the windows of the apartment building on Sofia Perovskaya Street, where she lived. According to the first reports, the girl fell out of the window of her apartment on the eighth floor and died as a result of her injuries.
Officially, the circumstances of the death of the athlete were not reported. Nevertheless, a source in the investigating authorities emphasized that two versions are being considered — an accident and suicide. The absence of any notes indicates the unintentionality of what happened. In addition, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported that, in fact, Divak did not fall out of the window, but from the balcony, where her phone and a glass of wine were found. At the same time, the door to the apartment was locked from the inside.
On Tuesday, it became known that the farewell ceremony for the handball player, who had not lived just three weeks before her 30th birthday, would take place in her native Volgograd. According to the press service of Astrakhanochka, farewell to Divak will take place on April 20 at the funeral home «Memory» on Zemlyachki Street.
“Shortly before her death, she bought a cat” Before, during and after the match with CSKA, nothing foreshadowed trouble, which indirectly indicates the failure of the version of suicide. Moreover, on the day of her death, Divak acquired a cat and shared his photos with her friends. It is hard to imagine that something could happen in the next few hours that pushed the girl to suicide.
“We are in shock. Absolutely no one understands what could happen. , and already at 14 o’clock she was gone. We don’t know what happened to her during this period. This is a real disaster for all of us, ”Astrakhanochka head coach Alexei Alekseev told the Championship.
Condolences to the family and loved ones Divak has already been expressed by the Russian Handball Federation, as well as its former clubs Dynamo-Sinara and Kuban. The sad news reached the foreign clubs for which Victoria played. In addition to Gomel, the French Achenheim Truchtersheim and the German Halle Neustadt paid tribute to the handball player on their pages on social networks.