Whose name comes to mind first when it comes to women's volleyball? Ekaterina Gamova is a legendary Russian athlete. As a member of the national volleyball team, from 1999 to 2012 and 2014, she won five gold awards, eight silver, four bronze. Those who are less interested in volleyball also know her, but as a mystery woman whose shoe size everyone is trying to guess.
Let's figure out what the biography of the legend is, whether her life's path has always been connected with volleyball.
early years
Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Gamova was born on October 17, 1980 in the Urals, Chelyabinsk. From the age of eight she enjoyed active physical activities. Volleyball training began at the same time: it was led by my own aunt. Although Ekaterina Gamova managed to attend other sections, volleyball attracted her more than other sports. He was not aggressive, but he developed team spirit and mutual assistance. The girl’s height and weight, which was significantly different from her peers, gave her undeniable advantages.
Upon reaching the age of fourteen, Ekaterina was noted by the coach of the Metar professional team. Professional performances at top-level competitions began three years later. 1997 Ekaterina Gamova, as part of the country's youth team, won gold at the World Championships and silver at the European tournament. A year later, the girl was invited by the then brilliant team “Uralochka”, Yekaterinburg.
Childhood and adolescence
The future champion was born and raised in the Urals, in industrial Chelyabinsk. The father left the family as soon as Katya was born. The girl was raised by her mother and aunt, sports school coach Lyubov Borisovna. She brought her niece into sports.
Ekaterina Gamova in childhood
From the age of eight, Katya played basketball and handball, and at the age of ten she became interested in volleyball. The girl’s determination and perseverance quickly bore fruit: at the age of 14, Katya was enrolled in the team of the city sports club “Metar”; at sixteen she won her first Russian Cup. Of course, her height also helped her in sports, which by the age of 11 was 172 centimeters.
School photo of volleyball player Gamova
Performances of the Russian national team
Performances on behalf of the country began in 1999. Youth tournaments were held on a tight schedule. Immediately after the match we went to the airport to catch a flight to another city, where in the morning there would be another game. During international tours, Ekaterina Gamova acquired the nickname “Game over” due to the consonance of her surname when pronounced with an English accent. She justified her nickname, bringing more and more points to her country, leaving her opponents no chance to win. Her club mates called her "Gam". For them, the shorter the nickname, the better. Sometimes seconds decide the fate of a rally. You have to save time in every way. This was a necessary measure.
Despite the difficult schedule and constant workload, the team won the European tournament that same year and received a chance to participate in the 2000 Olympic Games.
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For Ekaterina, the period of her professional heyday began. The Russian woman received honorable knowledge, promoting her homeland to victory over every opponent with her tough blocks and powerful blows. She was recognized as the most productive player at the World Winners Cup, the main tournament in Europe.
Brilliant series of games in Turkey
The next milestone in his life’s journey was the game in the Turkish Fenerbahce. With the arrival of the Russian athlete, he began a chain of 39 matches without defeat, winning the championship both in the Turkish Cup and in competitions throughout the country.
As for more recent awards, the thirty-year-old athlete was awarded the MVP prize at the World Championships, the title of best athlete of the year. Three prestigious sports publications immediately recognized the title. The next year, Ekaterina Gamova was declared the best player in the cup and competitions in her homeland.
A spectacular “finale” of a career
After 2010, his career was already coming to an end, but there was no end to the series of titles. In six years, the volleyball player became the champion of Russia five times (2011-2015), winner of the Champions League and world club competitions. But his lucky streak regarding health has ended. Although Gamova has not had any serious injuries throughout her career, at this time ligaments in her leg begin to bother her. Subsequently, these inconveniences will cause a series of unsuccessful matches and will cause her to leave the national team in 2012. Such a step was difficult both physically and emotionally. The athlete’s violent reaction to Brazil’s loss was discussed online for a long time, and a lot of criticism was leveled at the athlete. But she found the strength to return to the national team and compete on behalf of the country in 2014.
The break turned out to be very productive. He reminded the girl that, in addition to sports, there should be a personal life. Friends on the playground began to note that the firm and harsh athlete was becoming softer and more emotional. Later, these rumors were justified: reports appeared online that Mikhail Mukasey and Ekaterina Gamova began an affair. In 2013, the media reported that the volleyball player was now married. She began to appear on the site in a uniform with a double surname.
In 2014, Gamova once again played for the national team at the World Championships in Italy, but the Olympics in Rio took place without her. Thus ended the career of women's volleyball star Ekaterina Gamova. Although they continued to offer her to play in Poland and Turkey, she did not want to go on the field with discomfort due to the injury. The realization of the impossibility of working with full dedication did not allow me.
The fans came to the sportswoman’s last match between Dynamo from Kazan and Moscow sad. But the atmosphere was festive. The legend itself emanated the energy of happiness and pleasure from the work done. But while saying goodbye to the fans, tears burst out and emotion made itself felt.
After the meeting, crowds of people surrounded the departing star, everyone tried to give her a gift. It was clear that no one would forget a star of such magnitude. And it will be difficult to replace it.
Gamova, Ekaterina Alexandrovna
Chelyabinsk
Ekaterina Gamova was born in Chelyabinsk, studied at secondary school No. 71 with sports classes[4], and began playing volleyball at the age of eight under the guidance of her aunt Lyubov Borisovna[5]. By the age of 11, Ekaterina’s height was already 172 centimeters[6], by which time she finally chose volleyball, although at first she also attended basketball and handball training, and continued her volleyball education at the Metar sports school in the Metallurgical District of Chelyabinsk[7].
On January 3, 1995, at the age of 14, Ekaterina was enrolled in the Chelyabinsk team of Metar masters[8][9]. In 1996, she won the first title in her career - the Russian Cup[10]. In Chelyabinsk, Ekaterina played in the position of a central blocker, and began playing in a diagonal role in 1997 in the youth team, and then in Uralochka[11].
Ekaterinburg
In 1998, at a training camp in Alushta, Ekaterina Gamova received an offer to move to Yekaterinburg to the famous Uralochka, headed by Russian national team coach Nikolai Karpol[8]. The athlete signed a contract with the club from Yekaterinburg for a period of 15 years[12].
In March 1999, Uralochka and its subsidiary team Uraltransbank, for which Gamova played, met in the final of the Russian Championship and nominally the second team almost beat the first, leading 2:1 in sets. Ekaterina Gamova became the winner of the Russian Championship for the first time, and later recalled this match as one of the best in her career[12]. In the same season, as a member of Uraltransbank, she also became a participant in the Final Four of the European Volleyball Confederation Cup, held in Naples.
In the 2000/01 season, Ekaterina Gamova, playing for the main Uralochka, became the champion of Russia and the bronze medalist of the Champions League. At the semi-final of the main European Cup held in Nizhny Tagil, she brought the team 37 points, but they were not enough to defeat the Italian Modena.
At the end of the 2002/03 season, Gamova became the champion of Russia for the third time in a row, but Uralochka’s next attempt to win the Champions League again ended unsuccessfully - despite Gamova’s excellent play, which became the most successful at the Final Four in Pila, Poland, her team lost to Cannes in the final. Ekaterina Gamova played the next Russian championship in the Dynamo team (Moscow region), which was part of the Uralochka system. In the semi-finals against Balakovo NPP, she set a championship record of 43 points, and in the final against Uralochka she scored 34, but the victory ultimately went to the team from Yekaterinburg.
Moscow
In the fall of 2004, Ekaterina Gamova announced her decision to leave Uralochka for Dynamo Moscow. The decision to terminate the contract with Uralochka, which was in force until 2013, was made by the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg; at the end of 2004, the athlete’s transfer to Dynamo was approved at a meeting of the All-Russian Volleyball Federation[13].
In April 2005, “Dynamo” and “Uralochka” expectedly met in the final of the Russian championship, where Gamova’s new team could not oppose anything to the group of players that had survived the departure, but strengthened by two volleyball players from the Cuban national team, “Uralochka” and lost with a score of 0: 3.
In 2006-2009, Gamova, as part of Dynamo, became the champion of Russia three times and once a silver medalist.
In a game for Fenerbahce, 2010
Istanbul
Ekaterina Gamova spent the 2009/10 season in Turkey, playing for Fenerbahce Istanbul. Having started by winning the Turkish Super Cup, Fenerbahçe dominated the Cup and the national championship without a single defeat, and only in the Champions League final - the 39th match of the season - was the winning streak interrupted. The next individual prize was won by Ekaterina Gamova, who became the most successful at the Final Four in Cannes. In the summer of 2010, the Russian diagonal moved to Dynamo Kazan.
Kazan
Ekaterina Gamova spent six seasons as a member of Dynamo Kazan and became one of the main creators of the team’s success, which won five Russian championships in a row in 2011-2015. Three times Ekaterina became the winner of the Lyudmila Buldakova Prize as the best volleyball player in the Russian championship[14][15][16]. In the spring of 2014, she won gold medals in the Champions League and Club World Cup and was recognized as the most valuable player of both tournaments. As a member of the Kazan team, she also won the Russian Cup twice.
Only the 2015/16 season, part of which Ekaterina Gamova missed due to a recurrence of a leg injury, did not bring her and Dynamo a single title. At the end of this season, the volleyball player did not renew her contract with the Kazan club and stated that she would make a decision about continuing her career after the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro[17]. On May 18, 2016, live on the Match TV channel, Ekaterina announced that she was ending her professional career due to the inability to take part in the Olympic Games in Rio for health reasons[18].
Ekaterina Gamova's farewell match took place on October 1, 2020 in Kazan. The strongest Dynamo squads from Moscow and Kazan took part in it. Gamova played the starting set for Dynamo-Kazan, and spent the beginning of the second game period as part of Dynamo Moscow, leaving the court after the first technical break. The game jersey with the surname “Gamova” was raised under the arches of the Volleyball Center, and its 11th game number in the Kazan club was taken out of circulation[19].
Life after volleyball
After leaving the big sport, the volleyball player did not want to become a housewife.
Everyone predicted a career as an actress for her, but the legend was not interested in appearing on the big screens, even though Ekaterina Gamova’s husband and his family are closely connected with this field of activity. However, it cannot be said that Ekaterina Gamova and her husband differ in hobbies. On the contrary, she was always attracted by the inner side of cinema. A year ago, the assumption that the sports legend would exchange the volleyball court for a film set seemed realistic. After the athlete’s departure, rumors spread in the media about the reasons for her “divorce from volleyball.” From speculation that she is pregnant to the fact that she has already given birth to a daughter and children are interfering with her career. All this is just gossip: this couple has not yet had children, so fans can only expect a child in the future.
The legend himself was also invited to work for the benefit of the media. Relatives from the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper offered to visit them and work as a journalist.
At the moment, Gamova’s work as a journalist is difficult to find, but her writing style can be assessed from her contact pages and comments to photos on Instagram. The athlete’s biggest work is her book about volleyball. The creation was released in the summer of 2020. The soul of a girl is revealed in it. The book talks about the formation of a great personality. This story of a Chelyabinsk girl was called “Game Over.” Volleyball continues." You can already find it in bookstores.
As for work, she continued her connection with sports and began to supervise the Russian junior women's national teams and assist the head coach of the U18 team. Now she is a consultant to women's clubs of the second echelon of Russia.
Personal life of Ekaterina Gamova
In the summer of 2012, the athlete married cameraman and producer Mikhail Mukasey. Her chosen one is the son of the famous creator of the legendary “Midshipmen” Svetlana Druzhinina and cameraman Anatoly Mukasey. From his first marriage, Mikhail has two children: Maxim and Elizaveta.
Ekaterina Gamova with her husband and his parents
Many believed that, having a husband from cinematic circles, after leaving sports, Ekaterina would begin acting in films, because she is a very beautiful girl and has appeared more than once on the pages of glossy magazines and in commercials. However, the champion said that she wants to devote all her time to her beloved husband and future children, whom she has been dreaming of for a long time. Ekaterina Gamova in “Evening Urgant” (June 2016)
Results of the career of Ekaterina Gamova
To sum up the career of Ekaterina Gamova, it is necessary to evaluate not a specific period of her sports activity. You can’t focus only on the last, relatively unsuccessful matches: the greatness of the athlete is evidenced by her entire career in volleyball. An impressive number of awards, recognition as the best athlete from various magazines, official statistics - the data confirms that this volleyball player deserves to be remembered every time when it comes to women's sports. We can talk endlessly about the worldwide recognition of Ekaterina Gamova, but the most eloquent confirmation of the respect that is shown to her around the world is the creation of a five-meter sculpture of a volleyball player. This work traveled for a long time as a symbol of women's volleyball, and as a result it was transferred to Kazan, where it is now kept in the volleyball center.
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