The Russian rhythmic gymnastics championship ended on Saturday. 19-year-old Lala Kramarenko won the all-around and all four finals in individual events. Sports tells the story of an athlete who has been waiting for leadership status for a very long time.
“Blood is mixed” They started talking about the serious prospects of Lala Kramarenko when the young gymnast was only 12 years old. It was then that she first won the individual all-around at the Russian championship among girls aged 11-12 and declared herself as an athlete worth reckoning with. At the same time, for a long time she was called unfavorable for gymnastics.
““It’s a matter of height. Russian girls are tall, slender, long-legged. But Lala has a different physique, her blood is mixed,” said Lala’s father Dmitry Kramarenko in an interview with “Sport” -Express».
Nevertheless, her fanaticism and natural flexibility made her stand out among her peers. The talent of the young athlete was noted by multiple world champion in rhythmic gymnastics Amina Zaripova, who was a good friend of Lala’s father. It was she who advised the family to contact the young coach Laysan Savitskaya. At that time, Savitskaya raised the Olympic champion Daria Shkurikhina, but she had no other champions. Therefore, it was a risky tandem for both Lala and Laysan.
But already in 2016, their joint work yielded results. From that moment on, Kramarenko began to win one medal after another and soon attracted the attention of the President of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Irina Viner.
Kramarenko spoke about their meeting in an interview with Sport24: “I was invited to the Grand Prix, Polina Shmatko and I danced at the gala concert of butterflies, and I also danced for 15 seconds to the music of Alina Maratovna Kabaeva, her oriental dance. That’s where Irina Alexandrovna and I noticed and always invited me to demonstration performances, saying: “And take this gypsy.» She liked my flexibility. And, of course, the results that Savitskaya Laysan Insafovna and I show, nothing comes easy to me.»
Transition to adult competitions In 2020, Kramarenko made her debut in adult competitions, but due to the pandemic, almost all top starts were canceled. Nevertheless, she won her first silver medal at the Russian Championships in the all-around, declaring her intention to fight for the highest places.
2021 was the most successful year for Kramarenko. It was then that she received her main medal at the moment: team gold at the European Championships in Bulgaria. At the same time, she entered the Olympic reserve for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo and until the last she hoped that she would be able to take part in the start of her life. There really was such a chance: Arina Averina fell ill with coronavirus shortly before the competition and even trained separately from the national team. But fate decreed that Averina’s sisters went to the Olympics.
“At that moment my thoughts were the same: “God, give me the strength to endure this.” The preparations were very serious, there was a time zone, a tense situation, until the last moment no one knew who would go, as the coronavirus made its changes. A lot of things , which will always remain behind the scenes. But I’m happy that I took part in the pre-Olympic training camp,” Kramarenko said in an interview with Sport24.
Russian Championship — 2024After the Olympics, Kramarenko increasingly began to emerge from the shadow of the Averin sisters. The Olympics did not bring them the desired gold and seemed to discourage their love for rhythmic gymnastics in general. They increasingly missed competitions, and at the end of February they announced their retirement altogether. Therefore, this year’s Russian Championship became truly special for Kramarenko. For the first time, she entered the starting line as the unofficial leader of the team, which may have added stress to her before the tournament. Moreover, as the athlete herself later admitted, she was not in optimal shape. “I had thoughts of withdrawing from the competition, I have certain health problems, I was still very sick recently. But I decided to compete. I love competitions, I understand that everyone comes to watch new programs. You can say that I would be a little uncomfortable if I didn’t perform” , — Kramarenko told reporters.
But even certain health problems did not prevent her from confidently winning the all-around and all finals with individual subjects. She has proven that she is ready to defend her new status, although she modestly says that she does not yet feel like a leader.
Immediately after the Olympics in Beijing, the standard of rhythmic gymnastics Alina Kabaeva, in an interview with Izvestia, admired Lala: “She is a unique gymnast, and thanks to such rules, she can show her physical abilities. Lala has very great potential. There are still three years ahead before the Olympics, I wish her good luck. Gorgeous, beautiful girl! I wish you not to give up, go forward and win the Olympic Games.»
2024 Games Lala is definitely missing out, but even without the title of Olympic champion, she is already an example for many young athletes.