Radion Gataullin Soviet and Russian track and field athlete, pole vaulter Date of Birth: 23.11.1965 Country: Uzbekistan

Biography of Radion Gataullin

Soviet and Russian athlete Radion Gataullin, a pole vaulter who won the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics and became a two-time European champion in pole vaulting, recently said in an interview: "The idea of leaving sports as a winner sounds good. But in practice, it doesn't work out well." Neither of us could have guessed back then that Radion would leave the sport only in 2002, after five years of unsuccessful attempts to make it into the national team following a severe injury, and then become the head coach of the Russian national pole vaulting team. And seven years later, he voluntarily left that position with the firm intention of never returning to athletics. "Is it true that you're unemployed?" I asked Gataullin while arranging a meeting with him over the phone. "Yes," he replied. Then he quickly corrected himself, saying, "Actually, I'm not anymore. I've been working as a manager at a transportation company for three weeks now. It's an interesting turn of events. Weren't you already leaving the team two years ago?" "Not exactly. In 2003, a year after I stopped competing, the then-head coach of the national team, Valery Kulichenko, offered me a job with the pole vaulters. In 2007, he fired me. Or rather, he just didn't renew my contract. But he himself was also removed from the team. And in 2008, I returned to the national team in my previous position. What were your plans at that time?" "I wanted the young pole vaulters, like Yevgeny Lukyanenko and Dmitry Starodubtsev, to start producing results like our generation once did. I understand that I couldn't force the government leaders to allocate funds to create training conditions for coaches and athletes on the ground, but at least I wanted to try to get people interested. Secondly, I wanted to have my own corner, my own workplace. But for that, pole vaulting as a whole needed its own corner, like the one gymnasts and swimmers have at Lake Krugloye. In Russia, there is still not a single training base where the national team could train properly. I also had a dream - hoping that such a base would eventually be created for pole vaulters - to form an experimental group of athletes that I could work with. Since the conditions for this never appeared, I only worked with coaches and athletes when I crossed paths with them at training camps. And not always the same people attended the camps. Consequently, it was simply impossible to launch a training system that would work and produce results. After the European Championships in July, Valentin Balakhnichev, the president of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, expressed his clear dissatisfaction with your work. What specifically did he not like?" "Disagreements with the federation leaders started much earlier. Since March, all my actions in the team were openly sabotaged by the head coach of the national team, Valentin Maslakov. At that time, I was not selected for the World Indoor Championships in Doha, so I went there on my own with friends. Naturally, I didn't have accreditation to enter the stadium, so I sat in the stands, bought a ticket, and couldn't help any of the athletes in any way. When Maslakov found out that I was in Doha, he reacted very strangely. He started blaming me for not asking him for permission to come to the championships, not informing him that I would come. And then he said that I should prepare to be fired. Did you expect such treatment from him?" "Of course. I stand out. Like a white crow. Since 1992, when Balakhnichev took over the athletics federation, he adopted, in my opinion, a rather strange position. At least since that time, no truly outstanding coach has been involved in the federation's work. Yuriy Sedych and his wife, Natalya Lisovskaya, moved to France. Although both of them wanted and could continue working in Russia. And their daughter, Nastya, who recently won the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, would be competing for our team now, not the French team. Kim Ivanovich Bukhantsov, who also coached Faina Melnik, went to work in Syria, and two years later, his athlete became the world champion and won the Olympic Games. Now Bukhantsov works in Iran, and his athlete throws the discus over 70 meters. Sergey Klyugin also works not for the national team but for the Moscow Sports Committee, responsible for youth sports. Now they are slowly and methodically squeezing Lev Lobodin out of the team. They are simply slowly killing us! Maybe it's because you, stars, are too capricious?" "Yes. And demanding. But not demanding attention to ourselves. Demanding the conditions that a coach needs for work. Maslakov, on the other hand, is comfortable because he fully supports the federation's policy: he quickly eliminates those from the team who can defend their positions. Although he became the head coach quite by accident - he had to urgently replace Valery Kulichenko, whom Balakhnichev removed from the team. If you were the president of the federation, you would probably also remove the coach who "got caught" with doping, right?" "That situation was largely fabricated. The dietary supplement that Tanya Lysenko "got caught" with was allowed for some time. And Kulichenko bought these supplements during the "allowed" period. But it so happened that Tanya used this supplement after the ban came into effect. Of course, it was accidental. But Kulichenko was made the scapegoat. The reason for this is also clear. Valery Georgievich is a very energetic and proactive person, and he quickly took over the responsibility for all athletics matters. To such an extent that the position of the federation president became purely nominal. And if the All-Russian Athletics Federation had the task of defending an athlete, perhaps Tanya could have been defended. But in this case, I believe she was sacrificed to remove Kulichenko. And in March, when Maslakov threatened to fire me, I spoke to him in a raised voice. At that moment, I already thought that Maslakov would never dare to threaten me with dismissal without the president of the federation's sanction." Our conversation ended with Maslakov saying, "Alright. We'll settle this in the fall." So he was implying that there might be some issues with your performance at the European Championships?" "It is no secret that pole vaulting has major problems. Although, to be fair, it wouldn't be so easy to fire me: I was responsible for both men's and women's pole vaulting, and the women's team won the gold medal. While we were preparing for the championships, problems kept arising. For example, one of the important competitions for us was the European Team Championships in Bern. Based on the results of the indoor season, we agreed that Dmitry Starodubtsev would compete in pole vaulting there. Dmitry specifically prepared for this tournament, changed his competition schedule, and reached a good level of results - he cleared 5.65 meters. But at the last moment, Maslakov, with a strong decision, replaced him with Alexander Gripich in Bern. A athlete who had not prepared for those competitions at all. As a result, Gripich couldn't perform well and only cleared 5.40 meters. I am convinced that this was done intentionally to "put me down" in this way. It was completely safe for the team because Russia was already guaranteed to win the competition. And the desired result was achieved: the team performed well, but my athletes performed poorly. As a former athlete, have you ever feared losing your place in the national team due to the arbitrariness of leaders?" "No, not really. But there were situations where they could have easily kicked me out of the team. For example, I was in a very difficult position in 1988 before the Seoul Olympics. Grisha Yegorov won the Soviet Championships at that time, and I finished second, but in reality, I was third because Sergei Bubka did not participate in the selection process. His coach, Vitaly Petrov, made great efforts to get another one of his students, Vasily Bubka, into the national team, even though he finished fourth or fifth at the national championships. The selection process for pole vaulting dragged on until the last moment, and only after I beat Sergei Bubka in Berlin did the coaches calm down. In 1993, I didn't make it to the World Championships, despite being in very good shape. I finished fourth at the selection trials, just didn't have enough time to warm up. But a week later, I won the European Cup in Rome. In very difficult conditions, jumping against the wind, I cleared 6 meters - it was a record for the competition that still stands - and beat Sergei Bubka, but I still wasn't selected for the World Championships. Although I believe they could have selected me. At that time, I was the only athlete in the country who could really compete with Bubka. Did that catastrophic failure of Isinbaeva at last year's competitions surprise you? "Not much. She is a human being, not a machine. In competitions, I naturally paid attention to whether Lena was jumping well or if something wasn't going right for her. The trend of "bad" jumps had already started for her early in the season. Petrov was actively making changes to Lena's technique to make it more "masculine." But Isinbaeva couldn't handle it. The problem is that results at that level, as well as jumps in a power style with very stiff poles, require the athlete to be constantly in very high physical condition. And it's very difficult to always be at your best. Do you believe in Isinbaeva's return to her former level? "I really want to believe in that. But to answer that question definitively, you need to know how the athlete is training, what's going on in their head. Lena is a very closed person. She seems to behave very naturally in public, but it's obvious that all that naturalness is fake. It's like she has been taught how to behave in a certain way. She has been taught what to say, how to smile to whom. She doesn't communicate with anyone on the team, always lives separately. Accordingly, when I was the head coach of the pole vaulters, I had absolutely no contact with her. However, I had excellent relationships with everyone else. Although Svetlana Feofanova, with her coach Yevgeny Bondarenko, also trained separately from the national team. So it turns out that many people who achieve results in major competitions train by themselves? "That's right. Who else can I mention? Yuliya Golubchikova only attends training camps where the main focus is on general physical preparation. They have created the conditions for serious work for themselves in Moscow at the "Trudovye Rezervy" facility. The European champion in high jump, Yaroslav Rybakov, and his father never join the team. Sergey Klyugin and Ivan Ukhov as well. Tanya Lebedeva has never attended training camps. The exception is Yevgeny Zagorulko and his athletes, but only because he is also the senior coach for high jumpers. At first, I thought my work would be more consultative. But then, when I realized that the national team would never come together, I started coaching. Last year, I prepared Pasha Gerasimov for the European Championships, and he finished second there. A year and a half ago, Valeria Volik came to me. I called her in Krasnodar to find out how things were going, and she said she had major problems with her back and was planning to have surgery. I invited her to Moscow, found doctors, fixed her back, and Lera started training with me at CSKA. She jumped 4.50 meters in the winter. But then her injury flared up again. Of course, I have now stopped coaching. It's impossible to earn a decent living by training just two athletes. And where would I find more people? Only five pole vaulters registered for the Russian Championships in Saransk. In order for coaches who can produce results to be seriously involved in the development of the sport, they need to be paid a decent salary. But who will pay it? The size of a coach's salary depends on the results of their athletes at the national championships. If the athletes are in the top three, it's 5,000-7,000 rubles per person, outside of Moscow. I apologize for the impolite question, but how much did you earn as the head coach of the national team? 17,500 rubles per month. How did you live on that? The past two years, my friends sponsored me. Wasn't it humiliating to take money from them? It was humiliating. That's why I came to the conclusion that I don't want to spend my life on a pointless struggle anymore. The entire institute of senior coaches in our sport is completely discredited. If we talk about the fact that athletes who produce results don't need the camps organized by the federation, then another question arises: who goes there? On whom are the funds spent? The government allocates insane amounts of money for the preparation of national teams. Is it correct for me to understand that we can expect a failure in pole vaulting at the London Olympics? With a very high probability. The same goes for athletics as a whole. In my opinion, the results of most of the European champions in their respective events may not even be enough to reach the final in London. What can you say about Feofanova's prospects? To claim that Svetlana can win the Olympic Games would be at least overconfident. Even if Isinbaeva doesn't compete in London. Svetlana is currently jumping for her own enjoyment, and that's actually very important. When a person trains for their own enjoyment, they usually don't get injured. Svetlana has things worked out for her now. Both in training and in her personal life. She competes to win, not to earn money. On the other hand, Svetlana is still limited in her abilities compared to her competitors. To jump higher, you need to increase the speed of your run-up. And that requires a large amount of sprint training. It's like a vicious circle. Svetlana is not a natural sprinter, so it's difficult for her to improve her run-up speed. But to improve her results, she needs to increase her speed. It's a difficult situation. Do you still have any contact with Bubka? We communicate. Sergei regularly invites me to his competitions in Donetsk as a host. What do you think about Isinbaeva's decision to switch coaches after winning the Olympic Games in Athens? At first glance, there was no logic in that: in terms of results, Lena was doing very well with Evgeny Trofimov. But there were other reasons. Very personal ones. Plus, they probably promised her something that she couldn't refuse. To have a life not in Volgograd and not under Trofimov's constant control, who, by his nature, is undoubtedly a tyrant and a dictator. A cosmopolitan life in Monaco with constant glitter and fireworks around is much more appealing to a young girl. Plus, the promise of breaking records. That's how I see the situation. Do you believe in Isinbaeva's return to her previous level? I really want to believe in that. But to answer that question definitively, you need to know how the athlete is training, what's going on in their head. Lena is a very closed person. She seems to behave very naturally in public, but it's obvious that all that naturalness is fake. It's like she has been taught how to behave in a certain way. She has been taught what to say, how to smile to whom. She doesn't communicate with anyone on the team, always lives separately. Accordingly, when I was the head coach of the pole vaulters, I had absolutely no contact with her. However, I had excellent relationships with everyone else. Although Svetlana Feofanova, with her coach Yevgeny Bondarenko, also trained separately from the national team. So it turns out that many people who achieve results in major competitions train by themselves? "That's right. Who else can I mention? Yuliya Golubchikova only attends training camps where the main focus is on general physical preparation. They have created the conditions for serious work for themselves in Moscow at the "Trudovye Rezervy" facility. The European champion in high jump, Yaroslav Rybakov, and his father never join the team. Sergey Klyugin and Ivan Ukhov as well. Tanya Lebedeva has never attended training camps. The exception is Yevgeny Zagorulko and his athletes, but only because he is also the senior coach for high jumpers. At first, I thought my work would be more consultative. But then, when I realized that the national team would never come together, I started coaching. Last year, I prepared Pasha Gerasimov for the European Championships, and he finished second there. A year and a half ago, Valeria Volik came to me. I called her in Krasnodar to find out how things were going, and she said she had major problems with her back and was planning to have surgery. I invited her to Moscow, found doctors, fixed her back, and Lera started training with me at CSKA. She jumped 4.50 meters in the winter. But then her injury flared up again. Of course, I have now stopped coaching. It's impossible to earn a decent living by training just two athletes. And where would I find more people? Only five pole vaulters registered for the Russian Championships in Saransk. In order for coaches who can produce results to be seriously involved in the development of the sport, they need to be paid a decent salary. But who will pay it? The size of a coach's salary depends on the results of their athletes at the national championships. If the athletes are in the top three, it's 5,000-7,000 rubles per person, outside of Moscow. I apologize for the impolite question, but how much did you earn as the head coach of the national team? 17,500 rubles per month. How did you live on that? The past two years, my friends sponsored me. Wasn't it humiliating to take money from them? It was humiliating. That's why I came to the conclusion that I don't want to spend my life on a pointless struggle anymore. The entire institute of senior coaches in our sport is completely discredited. If we talk about the fact that athletes who produce results don't need the camps organized by the federation, then another question arises: who goes there? On whom are the funds spent? The government allocates insane amounts of money for the preparation of national teams. Is it correct for me to understand that we can expect a failure in pole vaulting at the London Olympics? With a very high probability. The same goes for athletics as a whole. In my opinion, the results of most of the European champions in their respective events may not even be enough to reach the final in London. What can you say about Feofanova's prospects? To claim that Svetlana can win the Olympic Games would be at least overconfident. Even if Isinbaeva doesn't compete in London. Svetlana is currently jumping for her own enjoyment, and that's actually very important. When a person trains for their own enjoyment, they usually don't get injured. Svetlana has things worked out for her now. Both in training and in her personal life. She competes to win, not to earn money. On the other hand, Svetlana is still limited in her abilities compared to her competitors. To jump higher, you need to increase the speed of your run-up. And that requires a large amount of sprint training. It's like a vicious circle. Svetlana is not a natural sprinter, so it's difficult for her to improve her run-up speed. But to improve her results, she needs to increase her speed. It's a difficult situation. Do you still have any contact with Bubka? We communicate. Sergei regularly invites me to his competitions in Donetsk as a host. What do you think about Isinbaeva's decision to switch coaches after winning the Olympic Games in Athens? At first glance, there was no logic in that: in terms of results, Lena was doing very well with Evgeny Trofimov. But there were other reasons. Very personal ones. Plus, they probably promised her something that she couldn't refuse. To have a life not in Volgograd and not under Trofimov's constant control, who, by his nature, is undoubtedly a tyrant and a dictator. A cosmopolitan life in Monaco with constant glitter and fireworks around is much more appealing to a young girl. Plus, the promise of breaking records. That's how I see the situation. Do you believe in Isinbaeva's return to her previous level? I really want to believe in that. But to answer that question definitively, you need to know how the athlete is training, what's going on in their head. Lena is a very closed person. She seems to behave very naturally in public, but it's obvious that all that naturalness is fake. It's like she has been taught how to behave in a certain way. She has been taught what to say, how to smile to whom. She doesn't communicate with anyone on the team, always lives separately. Accordingly, when I was the head coach of the pole vaulters, I had absolutely no contact with her. However, I had excellent relationships with everyone else. Although Svetlana Feofanova, with her coach Yevgeny Bondarenko, also trained separately from the national team. So it turns out that many people who achieve results in major competitions train by themselves? "That's right. Who else can I mention? Yuliya Golubchikova only attends training camps where the main focus is on general physical preparation. They have created the conditions for serious work for themselves in Moscow at the "Trudovye Rezervy" facility. The European champion in high jump, Yaroslav Rybakov, and his father never join the team. Sergey Klyugin and Ivan Ukhov as well. Tanya Lebedeva has never attended training camps. The exception is Yevgeny Zagorulko and his athletes, but only because he is also the senior coach for high jumpers. At first, I thought my work would be more consultative. But then, when I realized that the national team would never come together, I started coaching. Last year, I prepared Pasha Gerasimov for the European Championships, and he finished second there. A year and a half ago, Valeria Volik came to me. I called her in Krasnodar to find out how things were going, and she said she had major problems with her back and was planning to have surgery. I invited her to Moscow, found doctors, fixed her back, and Lera started training with me at CSKA. She jumped 4.50 meters in the winter. But then her injury flared up again. Of course, I have now stopped coaching. It's impossible to earn a decent living by training just two athletes. And where would I find more people? Only five pole vaulters registered for the Russian Championships in Saransk. In order for coaches who