Antipova Svetlana is a talented basketball player

Antipova Svetlana is a professionalbasketball player, which is known throughout the world. This defender in her career won many club and international victories. She made a great contribution to the development of women's basketball in Russia.

The first steps in sports

Antipova Svetlana (then still Zabolueva) was bornAugust 20, 1966 in Mytishchi. The girl was no different from her peers except for high growth. It was thanks to him that she began to get involved in basketball at school. Svetlana in her childhood dreamed of a career in figure skating. She wanted to skate on an elegant dress. But at that time in his hometown there was no ice palace for skating.

Perhaps this is for the best, because then ourthe country did not have such a talented defender as Antipova Svetlana. The athlete remembers her first coach Elena Tarasova with warmth. It was she who taught Svetlana the basic techniques in basketball and taught the girl to work hard.

Start a professional career

At age 13 Svetlana began to speak for the team fromMytishchi. Talent Antipova was so obvious that at the first tournament it was noted by experts from many basketball teams. Then she became a player of the basketball team "CSKA". But for the national team of the USSR the then coach of the national team Leonid Yachmenev did not call her.

Only after his resignation, the new coach EugeneGomelsky began to invite this gifted basketball player to the ranks of the national team. Antipova Svetlana already at a young age was known throughout the country. This success was due to her work. No circumstances distracted her from her favorite sport.

Performances at the European Championships

The first success was waiting for Svetlana in 1989 onthe European Championships in Varna. Throughout the championship, she showed a consistently high level of professionalism. But the best game for the sportswoman was the final battle against the team from Czechoslovakia. In that final, she scored 12 points and made a big contribution to the victory of our team at the European Championships. Svetlana Antipova in the tournament entered the symbolic team.

Pause in career and return to professional sport

After winning the international tournament SvetlanaAntipova married a basketball player Sergei Antipov. In 1990, the couple's daughter Anastasia was born. But soon the marriage broke up. The athlete quickly moved away from birth and returned to professional sports.

At the European Championships this defender was the 5th ineffectiveness in the team. Svetlana again spent her best match in the finals, gaining 14 points. Our team beat the Yugoslav team with a score of 97:84. After this event, hard times began in the country. Difficulties affected the financing of sports. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​the CIS team played under the white flag. No one expected great victories from her. The most difficult for the women's basketball team was the semi-final against the athletes from the United States. All specialists in this sport gave victory to the American team. But, despite this, the Russian team won, and then in the finals confidently outplayed the Chinese team with a score of 76:66.

Svetlana Antipova (Olympic champion) insemifinal against the United States held on the field 28 minutes of playing time. This success at the Olympics is still in the memory of Russian basketball fans. Antipova after the historic victory was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports.

Disintegration of the champion team

After a successful olympiad, the strongest teamhas disintegrated. At the European Championships held one year later, the women's basketball team took only 7th place. Our athletes laid out in every game, but the loss of strong players made themselves felt.

In the Russian championship, the obvious favorite was the basketball team "CSKA", in which Svetlana Antipova had been performing for a long time. This Moscow team won the Russian championship from 1992 to 1997.

Failure Olympiad and meeting with the future husband

At the Olympiad, held in 1996, the famousbasketball player Antipova played only one game. In the match against Japan, she was injured ankle. Team Russia in the tournament took the 5th place. Svetlana Antipova, basketball for which has always been a matter of life, at the Olympics met her love - Sergei Belov. At the games in Atlanta, he coached the men's basketball team. A year later, lovers began to live together.

Continuation of career

Svetlana took part in qualifying matches forthe European Championships, where her team took the second place and went to the final tournament, which was held in Hungary. There, our women's basketball team took 6th place, having won only 4 matches out of 8. At the European Championships, held the following year, the team together with Antipova performed more successfully. In the qualifying tournament, she confidently took first place in the group. And at the championship our international team won silver, losing only 2 games - both American women's team.

In the championship of Russia women's basketball teamIn 1999 CSKA became a bronze medalist. After that, Antipova moved to the team "Dynamo". In the same year, Belov went to train the club "Ural-Grad." From 2006 to 2008 he was the president of the club. Svetlana also went to the Urals after her husband. There they were given land, and they built a house. Sergei and Svetlana lived together 17 happy years. At the age of 70, Sergei Belov died.

Svetlana Antipova, whose biography has taken shapesuccessfully, at the end of his professional career, took up coaching. This defender made a great contribution to the success of women's basketball. She is forever in the history of this sport in Russia.