Moment of the Year by Anton Kislyakov
At the European Junior and Under 23 Championships held in Bucharest, Romania from 9 to 18 September 2011 two Russian female athletes wanted to enter the competition in the 53kg bodyweight category: Mariia Lubina and Ksenia Maximova.
Ksenia Maximova, from the Republic of Bashkortostan, Master of Sport of Russia, was to represent the Russian Federation in Bucharest, but her bodyweight exceeded 53kg.
In spite of her efforts, she couldn’t reach the desired result and a few grams could deprive her of the participation at the Junior Competitions.
Ten minutes before the weigh-in Igor Alekseev, Head Coach of the Junior Team made the only correct decision: to cut Ksenia’s long hair and leave a short ponytail instead.
Ksenia weighed-in with 53kg sharp. She did her best at the competition and managed to grab the 3rd place of the podium in the 53kg bodyweight category. Just like her compatriot Mariia Lubina, Ksenia also ended the competition with a Total of 181kg. Less than 1kg difference in the bodyweight made Mariia Lubina gain the Silver Medal.
This is not a unique story, but a perfect example that shows the strong will and determination of the Russian athletes to win.
The Russian Weightlifting Federation is proud of the Junior and Youth weightlifters’ performance at the European Junior and Under 23 Championships – as Russia got the first place in Team Classification.
Right after the competitions, the first thing Ksenia Maximova did was to visit the best beauty salon of Bucharest so she could get a new haircut from hair specialists.
Anton Kislyakov
Russian Weightlifting Federation Vice-President