Mogilev archer Anna Marusova about life, career

Very soon Mogilev, like other Belarusian regions, will become a venue for the II Games of the CIS countries. The regional center will host two disciplines - karate and archery. Active preparations for the meeting of participants and guests of the competition are already underway today: sports facilities are being updated, organizational issues are being thought out - transfer, accommodation, meals . Everything is done to ensure that the event takes place at the highest professional level. On the eve of a large-scale sports festival, Anna Marusova, an archer from Mogilev, met with BelTA correspondents to talk about her life, sports career and the significance of the upcoming Games for the entire Belarusian sports community.

"I didn't have big ambitions in sports"

Anna Marusova is a World Championship silver medalist and two-time European Games silver medalist, a participant in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. it is hard to believe, but the titled archer in childhood was a completely unsportsmanlike child who was not even taken to circles and sections. When she was 11 years old, she heard about a recruitment for archery classes. Older children were needed , but the kids were allowed to try their hand. So, after the older guys, little Anya appeared in the section. Initially, it was not so easy for her to grow in this sport. For example, the future champion remembers how long she performed the discharges. "Everything went to the stretch," the interlocutor smiles. However, by the eleventh grade, she received a master of sports and her career went uphill.

“I didn’t have big ambitions in sports, it seemed to me that this was not for me,” Anna Marusova recalls. “Probably, when there is no desperate struggle for leadership and a thirst to conquer sports peaks, everything turns out much easier. to squeeze out all the forces - mental and physical, everything was given by itself. Surprisingly, I constantly had the thought that I was in this sport for a short time: I was going to get a higher education and go to work. my plans, and for the last five years I have not made any forecasts - I just shoot."

Diploma in technologist not useful

Of course, the first successes remained in the memory. So, the victory at the first national championship allowed me to believe in myself and brought the realization that everything is possible, you just have to want it. The athlete says that this motivated her and gave impetus to improve her skills. Each new award inspired. In this regard, the year 2000, which brought her bronze at the European Championship, became a landmark for Anna Marusova. It was this victory, the first serious success, that gave her the right to go to the Olympic Games in Sydney.

By the way, Anna is an engineer-technologist of MILK and dairy products by education, but she never worked in her specialty. By the end of the university, she was already a participant in the Olympic Games, received a salary from the Ministry of Sports and Tourism. Probably, these moments became decisive on the professional path. Today she does not regret anything, because thanks to the sport, not only her career, but also her personal life has developed.

Sports played a major role in personal life as well.

“I’m probably old-fashioned, because I still think that marriages are made in heaven,” Anna Marusova smiles. “Thanks to sports, I met my husband, who was also an archer. I’m sure that if the spouses do the same thing, then the family is stronger "Like a classic, love is when people look not at each other, but in the same direction. Common interests bring together and allow you to treat your partner with understanding."

According to Anna, the athlete's day is always very tight. Especially when there are children in the family, and they have two of them with their spouse. Therefore, when free minutes and rare weekends are given out, the archer prefers to spend time in peace and quiet. She says outdoor activities are not for her.

Children did not choose big sport after their parents

Despite the fact that usually children want to professionally be like mom and dad, the dynasty of Marusov archers is not yet in sight. “We do not force children to choose sports. There are a lot of other interesting activities besides archery, and everyone can find something to their liking,” says our heroine. “For example, the eldest daughter draws well, the youngest is fond of swimming. I know "shooting is a lot of work, so I'm calm about the choice of children. Moreover, my husband and I are titled people, and if the children follow in our footsteps, they will be expected to achieve completely different results than from ordinary pupils. We'll have to try to mold them into champions , and, of course, we will be upset by their failures. Therefore, we save the NERVOUS SYSTEM - both our own and children's. "

"Success is not a matter of one day or even one year"

Nevertheless, when a young change of archers appears, Anna Marusova always tries to help them - to suggest and show something. "Of course, different children come. Moreover, they grow up at a time when there are many temptations - gadgets, material values ​​​​are easily available. Today, young people want everything quickly and immediately. For example, if very young athletes at the level of categories do not get the first or second competitions ", they believe that you need to drop everything and leave. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for them to explain that sport is a lot of work, and success is not a matter of one day or even one year. Success is not a sprint, but a marathon, a very long and stubborn."

But characteristic athletes are already growing in the nearest reserve of archers - there is a change, and this pleases. “When very young children come, you always try to emphasize that, first of all, sport is their employment,” Anna Marusova reflects. “It is important that they do not hang out on the street. And only then, after a certain period of time, you can think about big sports and sports of high achievements.First of all, kids come here to the team - to socialize and spend time, therefore, at the initial stage, the main task of the coach is to make the child fall in love with this sport first of all. And only then - after a year , two, three - we can talk about high results."

Mogilev school of archers is the strongest in the country

Moreover, for high performance in this sport, there is everything you need - both the coaching base and the logistical base. According to Anna Marusova, the Mogilev archery school has always been the strongest in the country. "The vast majority of athletes of the national team are representatives of the Mogilev region. A lot of titled archers are also from our region - Anton Prilepov, Anton Korovkin, Karina Deminskaya ... My husband Nikolai Marusov is a European champion, this is also a Mogilev school, which has always been, is and remains the leader in our country. And our base is wonderful, one of the best in the republic. It not only has Olympic significance, but is also located in the city center - beautiful, cozy and convenient. Many cannot boast of this and train in more modest conditions ".

"Games of the CIS countries will become a real holiday"

All of the above components contributed to the choice of Mogilev as the main site for archery in the program of the II Games of the CIS countries. In general, this event was very much expected by the Belarusian sports community - due to the international situation, the competition will be an excellent alternative to the European and world championships.

I would like to perform at competitions with my own flag and anthem, in my national form - the attributes and symbols of the country that has invested so much in you. I'm not interested in performing without all this."

Anna Marusova does not yet make long-term forecasts about her career and does not think about her future plans. “Today I am training, and I have physical and moral strength, I have a desire to shoot,” the athlete shares. “Therefore, the most important thing for today is not to catch an injury. I look at everything else with optimism, I enter the new season with the same mood.”

"Cheering for colleagues is harder than performing on your own"

Returning to the topic of the II Games of the CIS countries, the archer from Mogilev notes that she will definitely watch all the games. “Cheering for someone is much more difficult than competing for yourself,” she shares. “I can even burst into tears if someone loses. Knowing myself, I will be very worried about the Belarusian team. The Games themselves will become a real sports holiday for all of us. I doubt that they will be held at a very decent professional level, we have all the possibilities for this. I would like to wish the Belarusian team only good luck and success."

A word from coach Anna Marusova

The coach of the Mogilev archer Valentina Mikhailovna Kovaleva has been in the profession for almost 44 years. She started as an athlete, and then completely switched to coaching. After all, children also had to be taught by someone, they had to make a choice. Moreover, at that time it was very difficult to break into the national team of the Soviet Union. Throughout her professional career, she devoted a lot of time and energy to her athletes, she was not even really on maternity leave - when her son was only 1.5 months old, she already went to work.

“In order to train, you need to love your pupils and the sport they have chosen,” she shares. “Children need to be a second mother, cultivate in them not only sports qualities, but also make efforts so that they succeed as people in the future. Therefore, a lot of attention in the first priority should be given to their spiritual development: not everyone can become a great athlete, but everyone should become a good person."

Anna Marusova has been training with Valentina Mikhailovna since 2010. They began to work together when the archer from Mogilev was already an accomplished athlete, a master of sports of international class. “I didn’t have to teach her to shoot, it was important to just lend a shoulder,” recalls the coach. “When a person has already formed in the profession, you just need to find a common language with him - learn to understand each other, support. In the case of Anya, my task was to become for her as a friend and comrade, to give her psychological relief. Even if something doesn’t work out for an athlete, I never show my feelings so as not to convey negativity to him.

"We must fight to the last shot"

At the upcoming Games of the CIS countries, Valentina Mikhailovna promises to cheer for the Belarusian team very passionately and actively. “Our athletes are purposeful and competitive, so they will adequately compete for the awards of the competition,” she is sure. “As a coach, I can only advise them one thing: to work calmly and coolly, and not to get hung up on the result. It is important to control yourself and your emotions, even if suddenly something went wrong. We must not give up and fight to the end, to the last shot."

Julia Evmenkova,

photo by Oleg FOYNITSKY,

BELTA.