About family
Anton: “During the warm-up in Sochi 2014, I kept thinking about how I could take my mind off the thought that in 20-30 minutes I would have to go to the start line and defend the honor of our country. I got distracted thinking about my family.
And mom, and dad, and Nastya, and Anya - we have all been very close friends since childhood. I feel when my mother is worried, I feel when Anya is worried. Several times they told me that they wanted to give their strength.
This connection exists, I believe in it, I feel it. I myself did this many times when Anastasia, my older sister, competed. I even remember that my coach forbade me to watch her competitions before my races, because I put a lot of energy into her results.”
Anna Maslova: “Everything was probably shaking inside me, I said: “Anton, take my strength, my vigilance. May they be useful to you and help you at this moment. If there is some kind of connection between a brother and a twin sister, then I want him to feel it and accept it.”
Anastasia Kuzmina: “As a child, I had the feeling that Anya and Anton were my children. Often many people who did not understand the philosophy of our family were surprised how a girl at such an early age had children when I said: “Yes, these are my children.” That’s why I always say jokingly that I became a mother very early.”
Childhood and family
Anton Shipulin was born in the city of Tyumen. Since his parents, Alla Abushaevna and Vladimir Ivanovich Shipulin, were specialists in ski training, this predetermined the occupation of little Anton. He, like his older sister Nastya, started skiing in early childhood.
Anton and Nastya Shipulin in childhood
At first, under his father’s strict guidance, he got involved in ski racing, but once he saw Nastya, who was doing biathlon, have a rifle, he “fell ill” with this sport. His parents supported their son’s aspirations and in 2002 they arranged for him to work in Khanty-Mansiysk with coach Mikhail Novikov - at that time he was working with the famous biathlete Svetlana Sleptsova. Thus, for 15-year-old Anton, the path to big biathlon began under the guidance of an experienced coach. The boy also found time to practice karate.
Anton Shipulin has been skiing since childhood
Anton has a sister Anna (married to Maslova). She is 5 years younger than Anton and also demonstrated success in skiing, but at the age of 14 she left the sport due to health problems.
Anton and his younger sister Anna
In 2004, Anton graduated from gymnasium No. 49 in Tyumen. It's time to think about the future. And here his older sister became his guide. Anton followed strictly in her footsteps, entering the Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in his hometown, deciding to play it safe, since at that time the prospects for his sports future were unclear.
Anton Shipulin studied at the Tyumen Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
He was not given any concessions in his studies, for which Anton subsequently said “many thanks” to his teachers more than once. Even though his studies were not easy, he had to rewrite lectures at night after grueling training, but now he is seriously “savvy” in jurisprudence.
About parents
Anton : “It was very important for me and my sisters that our parents knew how to captivate us with something. We were never forced to ski. My father would take a shovel, throw on a snowdrift and say: “Let’s see who can jump higher.” Our parents always created some kind of gaming competition for us. This was an important factor in our sports career.”
Anna Maslova: “We spent our entire childhood in some kind of sports regime. We knew clearly: we would get up, have breakfast, go to school, and then to the sports section. We once even dreamed of being friends with the street kids, because they had more freedom.
I remember that there was a holiday for Anton and me when my mother let us go for a walk, because we could run on the roofs of garages and douse ourselves with water from a bottle. We were the first to have serious equipment in our yard - a moped. And all the servants ran after us and asked us to go for a ride. These were rare moments when we went out into the street and walked with the yard kids and felt freedom.”
About the craving for biathlon
Anton: “One day Nastya came from somewhere from a training camp. And although this should not have been done, she brought the rifle to the apartment. When she was training with this rifle, I ran around the room and peeked. She shouted at me: “Get out of here, you’re disturbing me!” And I’ll go out, but again I’ll open the door a crack and look - I’m interested!
I still persisted, agreed with my father or mother, and they persuaded Nastya to let me stand with the rifle. Then I held it, looked at it, aimed it, and looked at all the mechanisms. And I had a great desire to do biathlon.
Nastya once gave me very useful advice, for which I am still grateful to her. Her words were: “Walk for ten days, don’t rush anywhere during training. Your teammates will overtake you, even girls will overtake you. But this is very important when you come to the middle mountains - you need to let your body adapt.”
I then came to the training camp, walked, girls overtook me, guys overtook me. Ten days passed, on the eleventh there was a control training. I didn't do any developmental work, but I won the test, and quite well. We arrive at the competition, and I easily win the sprint and pursuit.”
Online dating
The athlete’s chosen one was a simple girl from Siberia named Luiza Sabitova. Anton accidentally visited her page on social networks. The man liked the beautiful brunette and wrote a message. The girl answered. Thus began a correspondence.
Louise was not interested in biathlon, and did not even know who Shipulin was. She just liked the young man and agreed to the meeting . Anton was just then at a training camp in Tyumen, and they met in a cafe.
Everything developed quite quickly - less than a month later Anton introduced Louise to his parents, and soon she went with him to a training camp in Austria. And a little later he brought Louise to his place in Yekaterinburg. Anton became so attached to the girl that he took her to all the training camps . For about three years, the lovers lived in a civil marriage, testing their feelings. But the day came when an enviable bachelor invited the beauty to become his wife.
About goals
Vladimir Shipulin: “It was hard to live on a coaching salary. We came to the decision that I would stay at my coaching job, and since I need to survive on something, my wife will start doing business a little. We started selling bicycles.”
Anton: “When my parents stood at the market and sold bicycles, my duties included disassembling the tent and displaying the goods beautifully. At that time I already had a very good understanding of bikes, I could sort them down to the bearings, assemble them and repair them. And my father suggested that we organize a bicycle service based on our tent.
This money from the service all went to me. This was my first serious earned money. I even took bicycles at night.
I never spent the money I earned right away. I had a secret place where I put money and saved up for something useful. As a child, I always told my mother: “When I grow up, I’ll earn money and give you a jeep and a house.” I’m glad that by the age of 32 I realized it.”
Alla Shipulina: “He called us and said: “I’ll be home for the New Year, this is the moment when we can get together. I rented a wonderful house from a friend, let’s all gather there - there will be no one else.”
On December 31, at exactly 12 o’clock, he brought out a document confirming ownership at this table. And he said: “The moment has come when I need you more than ever.” It’s very cool and flattering that he wanted us to be close, to live in the same city.
Anastasia Kuzmina: “Anton has always been a person who loved to be a leader. He always liked to give more than to take. This was evident from childhood, when he promised his parents that he would do this and that. He always made adult promises, which he always kept.”
About wife and children
Luiza Shipulina (about the proposal in the cinema): “He chose a film, we were with friends, we went into the hall. Someone called him. This is where the Universal cutscene begins. I thought: well, some kind of advertisement... And then our joint photos, videos - I sat in such shock. From the first frames I started crying, it touched me so much... The light turns on, he comes in with a bouquet of roses, and I’m all in tears.
We had a serious relationship, we lived together, we knew our parents. Naturally, she answered “yes”.
Anton: “When my son was born, I fell asleep at about three o’clock in the morning. I read the first message from the doctor that Dima was born at 8.39, everything is fine. I had a workout in four hours, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept walking around with my phone and wrote to my wife to answer me as soon as she could. I walked and worried. I have already received messages of congratulations. It was an incredible period. A few days later I already took part in the competition and won, although I thought I wouldn’t make it.
When my daughter was born, everything happened very quickly, right before my eyes. I took out my daughter, she screamed. These emotions are priceless. I was the first to take her in my arms. This moment cannot be compared with anything. I told my wife that since I was the first to hold her in my arms, she would be daddy’s daughter.”
Luiza Shipulina: “It turns out that Anton saw Dima on the fifth day of his life. He had so much joy! He took him in his arms and said: “Is this ours? Our?". He couldn’t believe this miracle.”
[Before the birth of his daughter] When he found out that there was a partner birth, he immediately said that he would go. I say: “Exactly? You are sure?". And he: “Yes, of course, I want to be the first to take my daughter in my hand, to feel these moments.”
While they were doing something to her, he looked at her like that - and I watched from the side. He has such a reverent attitude. They say that dads treat their daughters more tenderly - it seems to me that this is actually true.
Anastasia Kuzmina: “He goes to heart with his children. He is very caring. We, as sisters, did not see such caring from him in childhood, because he always wanted to seem like a real man who did not show emotions at all.”
Marriage proposal and wedding
The relationship between Sabitova and Shipulin moved to a new level when Louise informed her boyfriend that they would soon become parents. On May 7th, Anton made a very original marriage proposal to the bride. An unsuspecting girl went to the cinema to see the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”, where she was invited by a famous biathlete. Everything went as usual, and before the start of the session, commercials were shown on the screen. Suddenly one of them was interrupted and Anton appeared on the cinema screen, who spoke pleasant words about his chosen one, about himself and their feelings. Footage of Shipulin's speech was replaced by photographs and videos from the life of lovers. While the girl watched what was happening on the screen in tears of happiness, Anton appeared with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, got down on one knee and, to the applause of the audience, asked if Louise would become his wife. The girl, of course, responded positively, and after a month and a half, the young people signed their names on a huge raft on the lake.
The celebration turned out to be as unusual as the marriage proposal. A noisy wedding took place in huge tents decorated with fresh flowers. In addition to the friends and relatives of the young people, the biathlete’s colleagues were invited to the celebration - famous athletes Dmitry Malyshko, Evgeny Garanichev, Ivan Tcherezov and others, as well as members of the KVN team “Ural Dumplings” and even the governor. 6 months after the festivities, the Shipulins became the parents of a boy who was named Dmitry.
About love for nature
Anton: “When you take pictures, you communicate with children, you try to tell them something, put them on the right path - you must do this as effectively as possible. And you will have to spend a lot of energy on this. I replenish this energy either by communicating with my family, or by going somewhere into nature in the forest.
It's irreplaceable. I don’t need any bars, clubs, social parties - I’d rather go somewhere fishing, hunting, riding ATVs. When I arrive in the forest, I immediately take a big breath, because I want to breathe in this strength, energy and freedom. And the best thing is when there’s no telephone connection.”
And who is this girl?
Anton Shipulin's future wife was born and raised in the village of Andra, Tyumen region. It was possible to get there only by crossing. After graduating from school, Louise went to study in Tyumen , where she graduated from one of the colleges with a degree in Management. During her studies and after graduation, she changed many jobs, but never found her calling.
Now she is studying at the Ural Institute of the Stock Market, but she considers her real purpose to be raising children . Louise has already begun to realize her destiny - in 2015, the couple had a son, Dima.
Louise is fond of skiing (Anton taught her to do so), and they often ride horses. Louise is alien to parties and social parties; as a leisure activity, she prefers outdoor recreation , tents, hiking, and fishing. Shipulin agrees with this; he is an avid fisherman. Their joint dream is to go to Lake Baikal.
About leaving sports
Anton: “Of course, the key factor was the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. I put everything on the line for her: my health, which has been failing me lately, communication with family and friends. I started doing a lot more loads with my coach Andrey Kryuchkov. We slept and saw every day that we would be Olympic champions.
And when we were not invited... We were not disqualified, but simply not invited to the Olympics by decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), then for me this became the biggest disappointment in sports. I realized that the sport had become very dirty.
I have now finished with sports, exhaled completely and have already chosen which path I will take. All my possible paths were connected with the fact that I developed myself and developed all people and society with good and good intentions.”
Biathlon. Tikhonov accused Shipulin of deception and betrayal of the team
- Why did you lie to the people who spent crazy money on you? – addressed Anton Shipulin,
the famous
Alexander Tikhonov
.
– I remember how at first I promised to get on Fourcade’s
, then I was left without World Championship medals, then I agreed to continue my career and prepared for the season with taxpayers’ money, and as soon as the prospect of being elected to the Duma loomed, I abandoned my team.
Tikhonov to Shipulin: why did you lie to the people?
Four-time Olympic champion Tikhonov never minces his words - he usually openly and directly expresses his point of view. His opinion often contrasts sharply with the point of view of the majority. But this time it seems to have hit the fans right in the heart.
Favorite biathlete of Russia
Anton Shipulin has been Russia's most beloved biathlete for at least the last five years. In many ways, he won his love with his desire and ability to fight on the track. Just remember how many relay races he saved, arranged duels at the finish line, and snatched victory from his opponents. After all, he is an Olympic champion, winner and multiple medalist of the world championships.
Off the track, Shipulin was also a role model. He didn’t get close to doping stories, he was always positive and smiling. He proved himself to be a good husband and father, and was involved in charity work. For this, too, the fans loved and supported him.
Guberniev greets the genius of the Russian land
Photo: RIA Novosti
Even the doping scandals in Russia benefited him: the trait of a martyr was added to his image.
But Tikhonov has long criticized Shipulin. First of all, because he could have achieved more if he had trained more, better and generally differently. Alexander Ivanovich was also irritated by Anton’s self-training in recent years. As a result, the talented athlete became “lazy,” “spoiled,” and ended his career after a long pause. Almost all fans then sympathized with Anton, who announced health problems. But here, too, Tikhonov firmly opposed: “His mononucleosis is a lie, an excuse.”
Tikhonov: if not for the headless approach, Shipulin could have achieved more
Shipulin deprived everyone of their dreams
It seemed that Anton Shipulin in the memory of fans would remain a sports hero who did everything he could, but was unable to fully realize his talent. I could have won the World Cup and personal gold at the World Championships, but it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out. This happens often in sports.
Almost a legend. How Anton Shipulin ended his career
“I’m leaving - I’m not leaving” is over. And this decision will benefit everyone.
However, public opinion quickly began to change. And this was due to the fact that Shipulin, without having time to unbutton his racing overalls, announced that he could become a State Duma deputy.
The attitude towards the State Duma and its deputies in Russia is well known - few people like them. And especially the negative goes to those who are traditionally far from state politics, deputies from artists and athletes.
It turned out that Shipulin, just by announcing his desire to become a deputy, undermined his credibility in the eyes of his fans. After all, the situation really looks like he abandoned the team and unfulfilled dreams in sports for a seat in the Duma.
“I hope they don’t curse us too much.” Anton Shipulin's last biathlon
Anton Shipulin ended his career without sparkle. It didn’t work out to win the “Christmas Race”. Russia is seventh.
But not only Anton and his family, but also all the fans of the Russian biathlon team dreamed of a personal victory at the World Championships and the “Big Crystal Globe” for Shipulin!
By leaving the sport, the biathlete deprived not only himself of his dreams, but also thousands of people.
Do you feel cheated?
The situation was aggravated by the news that the new biathlon center in Yekaterinburg would be named after Anton Shipulin. The authorities of the Sverdlovsk region considered such a decision appropriate, but the broad masses of fans considered it premature. And now Shipulin was remembered not for victories, but for defeats, and the Olympic gold ceased to be an argument, because it was won in the relay.
So it turned out that in just a year, Shipulin transformed from a talented and slightly unhappy athlete into a person ready to do anything for his own well-being. More and more people began to agree with Tikhonov: many truly felt deceived.
Do you feel like a victim of deception?
