Maria Zasipkina Gymnast Date of Birth: 09.12.1985 Country: Russia

1. Maria Zasypkina: A Promising Gymnast
2. Introduction to Gymnastics
3. Early Success and Recognition
4. Recognition as a Top Gymnast
5. Road to Recovery

Maria Zasypkina: A Promising Gymnast

Maria Zasypkina, one of the most promising gymnasts in Russia and the world, suffered a severe injury during training that left her paralyzed. After undergoing two complicated surgeries at the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics, doctors are confident that she will be able to walk again.

Introduction to Gymnastics

Sportive gymnastics, especially the women's category, is a highly spectacular sport where delicate girls in swimsuits perform breathtaking tricks with extraordinary ease. Maria Zasypkina was brought into the gymnastics section by her older sister, Anya. At the age of 7, she was considered quite old to start serious training. However, Marina Vladimirovna Tipkova, the coach of the Tula Sports School of Olympic Reserve, noticed the little light-haired girl three years ago, who watched her older sister's training sessions with shining eyes. Convincing Maria's parents to let her join the sport took quite some time, but Tipkova never regretted her efforts. She knew she made the right choice with Maria, who trained harder than anyone else and repeatedly declared her intention to win "gold" for Tula.

Early Success and Recognition

In the year 2000, in Dallas, Maria Zasypkina won four gold medals at the Junior World Championship in artistic gymnastics and received an invitation to join the national team. Marina Tipkova was awarded the title of "Honored Coach of Russia." On October 28, 2001, Maria competed in her first adult World Championship in the Belgian city of Ghent. Of course, it was challenging for the fifteen-year-old girl to compete against experienced athletes like Svetlana Khorkina and Natalia Ziganshina. None of them probably saw Maria as a serious competitor. Nevertheless, one of the youngest participants in the world championship became the vice-champion right away.

Recognition as a Top Gymnast

Zasypkina was immediately recognized as one of the strongest gymnasts on the planet. After her triumph in Belgium, Maria received invitations for exhibition performances in France. In order to impress the demanding French audience, Marina Tipkova decided to include a difficult element in Maria's floor routine. On November 9, 2001, at the training base of the Russian national team, "Ozero Krugloye," different accounts describe what happened that day. Some say Maria was alone in the gym, while others mention Svetlana Khorkina, who allegedly witnessed the tragedy. One thing is clear, Maria decided to attempt a new element without any safety precautions, and there were no coaches present. Maria used to tell her parents that during the execution of her routine, she would press a small button inside her, and fear would disappear. Either the button failed to work, or Maria was too brave and unafraid to take risks. The element did not go as planned, and Maria landed, almost "diving" head-first into the floor. The fall resulted in paralysis. Maria was immediately transported to the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics, where she underwent a complex, multi-hour surgery performed by experienced orthopedic surgeon Stepan Timofeevich Vetrilea. He diagnosed her with a spinal fracture with complications - damage to the functions of the spinal cord. During the second operation, the fourth cervical vertebra was replaced with a plate made of a special titanium alloy. "It's fortunate that the surgery was done within the first six hours after the injury," Stepan Vetrilea explains. "If there had been any delay, Maria would have never been able to get out of a wheelchair."

Road to Recovery

Currently, Maria is on the road to recovery, and she has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a general ward. She can move her arms and legs and smiles. Her parents and older sister, Anya, who Maria asked to bring children's books, are constantly by her side. Every day, her teammates from the national team and Marina Tipkova visit her. Doctors confidently state that Maria's current condition does not pose any danger, and she will surely walk again, although she will have to relearn it. Unfortunately, she won't be able to continue practicing artistic gymnastics at the same high level. In artistic gymnastics, such injuries during an acrobatic jump are not uncommon. In 1998, Chinese gymnast Sang Lan suffered a spinal injury and permanently lost the ability to walk. However, she found the strength to return to sports and became a table tennis champion at the Paralympic Games. Ten years earlier, in 1988, American gymnast Julissa Gomez broke her neck during a competition and died on the podium. Another notable case is Elena Mukhina, the absolute world champion in 1979. She, like Zasypkina, sustained an injury during training. However, at that time, the technology and timely medical intervention were not available, and her surgery was performed only on the sixth day. As a result, Elena could never walk again. She has been confined to a wheelchair for twenty-two years.

This is not an exhaustive list of sports careers that ended tragically...