Ilya Zakharov is a Champion!

Evgeniy Seleznev Form 9”V” Sсhool №12 Penza

Diving is a water sport, but the main technical elements of the jump sportsmen perform not in the air. Diving was included into the Olympic programme in 1904.Water sports are well developed in Penza.

I’d like to tell you about a young diver, Ilya Zakharov who was born on May 2, 1991 in Saratov. He began to do diving in 1998 in Penza. In 2004 he got the title of the Master of Sports.

Russian sportsmen haven’t had gold medals in diving for 30 years. But Ilya Zakharov from Penza got a gold medal in London in 2012 in a difficult struggle with the diver from China.

“It wasn’t a jump, it was a kick! I didn’t think about a gold medal!”– the champion said. Ilya’s difficult programme was his main trump. And it made him a champion.

Ilya is not only a good sportsman but a good husband, too. On December 21, 2012 he married Nadejda Grechushkina . Their marriage was a real surprise for his fans, but not for Ilya. He is sure that nobody can be happy being alone. And he and his wife are doing their best to live in love.

I wish them happiness and good luck in their lives and career!

And I’m proud of living in such a sporty town!