Kuzenkova - a ‘Major’ global winner at last

At the age of 33, Russian Hammer thrower Olga Kuzenkova won the most important competition of her life, the Athens Olympics.

Kuzenkova is elegant and at 1.76m in height with a weight of only 75 kilos doesn’t correspond to the archetypal image of a large, strong muscled female thrower.

She took the Hammer implement in her hands for the first occasion as early as 1993 at the age of 23, when this women’s throwing discipline was in its infancy. Kuzenkova confirms with a little charming smile that she “just wanted to try it”, and since that time, this athlete who comes from one of the most ancient Russian cities called Smolensk has persisted with all her heart.

The women’s Hammer Throw is something new in modern athletics, and denying all allegations of chauvinism and national preference one should honestly admit that it was due largely to Olga Kuzenkova’s efforts that the event became popular world-wide.

World records and national titles

Six times she has set officially ratified IAAF World records for the event. In 1994 she became the first official record holder and three years later produced the world’s first ever throw over 70m. At the European Cup, Super League on 22 June 1997, she bettered the World record twice at the famous Olympic stadium in Munich, increasing the old official mark by more than three metres.

In Russia, she remains second to none for she has never lost a single national championship during the career. In winter and summer competitions she has taken a total of 20 Russian titles. She has won four European Cup crowns, and in 2002 became European Champion.

A global ‘silver lady’ until this summer

But until 25 August 2004 there was one ‘tiny’ problem with her career CV which she had been trying to solve without any evident success during her long and otherwise fruitful years in Athletics. She had failed to win the most important global competitions like the World Championships or Olympics.

Practically at every major international tournament she had ended up in second place, the eternal runner-up one could easily say. She took silver at the World Championships of 1999, 2001 and 2003 and at the Sydney Olympics of 2000.

At the Edmonton Worlds of 2001, the leaders of the national team regarded Kuzenkova as the most certain potential winner before the Championships but she ended up in second place losing by only 5cm.

It was a defeat which first set her on edge with the media, as Kuzenkova has always held a grudge against the journalists who invented the nickname of “The Silver Lady”, a term which she described as “disgusting”.

The strongest of coaching partnerships

Yet there were always many people who retained an extremely strong belief in her, and one of the strongest of those was Aleksander Seleznev. One of the  well-known throwers of the national team, he agreed to coach her after the death of her former long time teacher Fedor Mikheenko. Seleznev was a real specialist both in technique and methodology of hammer throwing but it really took him some time to adapt to her inconsistent psychology.

And as so often happens with many sporting duos – male coach and female disciple – they got married finally. That was the better for both of them for now Seleznev knew everything about his “Silver Lady”.

Patience was the key to success

But in spite of their high motivation, the beginning of the 2004 Olympic season turned out to be rather discouraging for Kuzenkova. At the Brothers Znamenskiy Memorial in Kazan (IAAF GPII), Kuzenkova finished only third behind her younger compatriots Khanafeeeva and Lysenko. She remained below par at other Grand Prix meets too. She took the fourth place in Seville (GP) and was astonishingly far from her best in Lille (GP) - only seventh!

However, the husband-coach persuaded her to remain as calm as possible. It was not their aim to get into top-form in the middle of the season and due to his advice, Kuzenkova who is always full of emotion, managed to accept the ‘pre-planned’ defeats with a cool heart and head.

Seleznev was sure they had found their true path to victory. Patience and patience again – that was their motto for the Olympic season. They understood that they had taken the right road to Athens at the European Cup in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where Kuzenkova took “her” second place but looked very self-assured in the process.

At the national championship of Russia in Tula, the spectators crowded near the throwing sector – maybe some of them eager to see how Kuzenkova’s young opponents would “overthrow” the old guard. If these expectations really did exist they were completely quashed for Kuzenkova didn’t give anybody even the slightest chance.

Five of her attempts were over 70m, and three of them – over 73. She won with the excellent result of 74.54m which was her third best of the season. After the competition was over she told the media that she was “only for 80 per cent” ready for Athens, and as such, even the sceptics realised that her Olympic intentions were serious.

Avoiding their Sydney errors

Seleznev and Kuzenkova tried to avoid all the mistakes made at the Sydney Olympics. In 2000 they arrived in the Olympic capital 20 days before the competitions but this time they came much later to Athens. In Australia, she had visited a lot of Olympic tournaments supporting her compatriots and thus giving away all her energy. In Athens, she knew nothing but two sacred places – the stadium and the Olympic village. Her husband lived in the Olympic village with her, and she concentrated extremely well preparing for the competition.

Kuzenkova did have one worry, that the competitions were starting very late in the evening - not so good for an early riser. Her worst worries came true for the start of the final was delayed for half an hour but Seleznev was always around during those Olympic days, playing the role of the lightning-rod deflecting all the worries away from her, so that she remained self-assured.

The first attempt of Kuzenkova in the Olympic final was perfect from a technical point of view. Her 73.18m were not bettered until Yipsi Moreno the double World champion launched her fifth round 73.36.

However, by that time the game was already up because Kuzenkova had extended her best to 74.27 in the second round, and to a winning 75.02 Olympic record with her third attempt, backing it up with another mighty 74.92m heave in the final round.

A military rank

The reception back at home in Russia was glorious. All the Olympic winners were greeted personally by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, and given financial bonuses by the national Olympic Committee, and a private Russian oil company. Kuzenkova was herself proclaimed the heroine of the city of Smolensk, and declared the first citizen of the ancient Russian town.

Despite having graduated from the Institute of physical culture and obtained the diploma of a professional coach, Kuzenkova works away from sport in her everyday job. After years of studies at the University of Smolensk she got a second diploma in legal matters and now works in a special police department which fights against drug smuggling. She bears the rank of a Major and she is on the verge of being promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.

Kuzenkova celebrated her 34th birthday on the 4 October 2004. So maybe it is time to quit?

Not for her. She says she is still feeling at full strength, and that perhaps next season she’ll do what she failed to achieve at the Olympics. Regain the World record.

Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF

Olga Kuzenkova currently stands second in her Event in the IAAF World Rankings.