Children of athletes often follow in the footsteps of their parents and start playing sports professionally. This happens in many celebrity families. But only if it is customary to say about creative people that nature rests on the children of geniuses, then how this statement applies to athletes is unknown. In this article, we will share some notable stories.
Mick Schumacher
Naming the children of athletes who, like their parents, were able to achieve certain heights in professional sports, let's start with the biography of Mick Schumacher.
He is now 19 years old and lives in Germany. The son of the 7-time Formula 1 champion also became a racing driver. From the age of 9, Mick began to take part in karting competitions. At first, he competed under the name of his mother in order to avoid unnecessary attention to his person.
Since 2011, he began to compete in the KF3 class in the German motor racing championship. occupied two seasons in a rowplace in the top ten.
In 2014, Schumacher Jr. became a test driver for the Jenzer Motorsport team, starting to compete in the German Formula 4. In his first race, he was voted the best rookie, and in his third, he won the first victory of his career in this racing class.
In 2016, he was part of the Italian Prema Powerteam team, which allowed him to simultaneously participate in the German and Italian championships. As a result, he took second place in both championships.
In 2017 he made his debut in the European part of the Formula 3 championship.
Kasper Schmeichel
Kasper is the son of the legendary Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who won the European championship with his national team in 1992.
Casper joined Manchester City in 2002, but rarely got into the first team. Therefore, he was constantly loaned out to teams in the lower English leagues, as well as to Scottish Falkirk. In 2009, he moved to Notts County, with whom he won the League Two championship.
Since 2011, he has been playing for Leicester, with whom he unexpectedly became the champion of England in the 2015/2016 season.
Currently, 31-year-old Kasper already has 31 caps for the Danish national team. He made his debut in the team in a friendly match against Macedonia, in which the Scandinavians lost 0:3.
In 2018, he was remembered by many brilliant performances at the World Championships in Russia. In the 1/8 finals against Croatia, he saved a pen alty in the 116th minute, in the post-match series he saved moretwo shots, but the Danes did not score three times, Croatia went on.
Dinara and Marat Safina
When you talk about the children of athletes, you immediately need to remember the brother and sister Safins. Their mother, one of the best Soviet tennis players of the 60s and 70s, Rauza Islanova, who became the champion of the USSR, was among the best tennis players in the country for a decade.
Son and daughter followed in her footsteps. 38-year-old Marat Safin has already completed his professional career. He reached the peak of success in 2005 when he reached the final of the Australian Open. In the decisive match, he defeated the Australian Lleyton Hewitt with a score of 1:6, 6:3, 6:4, 6:4.
In the early 2000s, he was one of the best tennis players in the world, ranked second in the ATP rankings, but never managed to become the first racket of the world. After completing his career, he became a deputy of the State Duma, now he has passed his mandate, and is a public adviser to the speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. He now lives in Moscow.
His sister, 32-year-old Dinara Safina, reached the Grand Slam finals three times, but she never managed to win. In 2008, in the final of the French Open, she lost to Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic - 4:6, 3:6, and the next year - to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova - 4:6, 2:6. In 2009, she also reached the final of the Australian Open, where she lost to American Serena Williams - 0:6, 3:6.
In the ranking of the International Women's Association of Professional Tennis Playersmade the most progress in 2009, when it was in second place. After completing his career, he lives in Moscow. Works for the Eurosport TV channel as a guest expert on tennis matches. Perhaps these are the most famous children of famous Russian athletes who have achieved a lot in their careers.
Victoria Demchenko
22-year-old Victoria Demchenko is the daughter of the legendary Russian luger Albert Demchenko, who has won three Olympic medals, twice won the silver medal at world championships, and won four European championships.
Speaking about the genetics of the children of athletes, it is safe to say that Albert Mikhailovich passed on the best genes that he had to his daughter. Victoria now lives in the suburbs in the city of Dimitrov. She is a member of the Russian national luge team.
In 2012, Victoria made her debut in the junior team. He has been skiing for seven years. In 2015, she won silver medals at the world championship, which took place in Norway, in team and individual races. Twice became vice-champion of Europe in individual competitions.
In the adult team was in 2013. Her debut at a major international competition took place in 2015. At the European Championships, Victoria took eighth place. In the 2015/2016 season, she participated in the Russian team at the World Cup, took 9th place in the overall standings. In particular, at the home stage in Sochi she won the silver medal, losing only to compatriot TatianaIvanova.
Viktor Tikhonov
Among the children of great athletes, it is necessary to remember the 30-year-old hockey player Viktor Tikhonov. He has a whole sports dynasty. His father became famous as a coach. He has coached Dinamo Riga, Essyat Finnish, San Jose Sharks NHL club, Lukko Finnish and Langnau Swiss.
Viktor Tikhonov started playing hockey in the American Children's League, where his father worked at the time. At the same time, he began his career as a professional player in Russia in the Dmitrov team, taking 6th place with it in the West Major League. Then he played for Severstal Cherepovets, and in 2008 he left for Phoenix Coyotes. The team failed to qualify for the NHL playoffs.
Then he returned to Russia, where he played for SKA St. Petersburg until 2015, won the Gagarin Cup in 2015. After the championship season in Russia, he signed a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, but he failed to gain a foothold in the main team. In 2016, he returned to SKA, and the following year he won the Gagarin Cup for the second time.
In 2014, Tikhonov triumphantly performed as part of the Russian national team at the World Championships in Minsk. In the final, he scored the last puck against the Finns, setting the final score 5:2.
Now lives in St. Petersburg, being the center forward of SKA.
Nikolai Kruglov
37-year-old Nikolai Kruglov has beenone of the leaders of the Russian biathlon team. His father was a legendary Soviet athlete, two-time Olympic champion in Innsbruck in 1976, when he won the 20 km individual race and the relay.
Achievements of his son were more modest. Among the children of athletes, according to experts, he still takes pride of place. At the stages of the World Cup, he performed from 2001 to 2010. In the overall standings, he managed to take eighth place twice - in 2005 and 2007.
At the 2006 Turin Olympics, Kruglov ran the last stage in the men's relay race, but failed to overtake the German Michael Greiss, winning a silver medal.
Retired, comments on sporting events on the Eurosport channel.
Daria Virolainen
Review of the children of athletes would be incomplete without the national biathlete Daria Virolainen. This 29-year-old athlete is the daughter of Anfisa Reztsova, gold medal winner of the Calgary Olympic Games in the relay.
Now Daria is a member of the Russian biathlon team. Among her achievements are victories at the European Championships in 2017 and the Universiade gold in Erzurun, Turkey.
Since 2013, she has regularly competed in World Cup competitions. She achieved her best result in 2015 when she finished 16th overall, winning the silver medal in the pursuit race in Antholz, Italy. Daria regularly proves that the children of athletes are capable of achieving as much as their parents.
Denis Cheryshev
The 27-year-old midfielder of the Spanish "Villarreal" and the Russian national football team became one of the main discoveries of the 2018 World Cup.
His father is Dmitry Cheryshev, who played for Dynamo, and in the mid-90s he left for the Spanish championship. Children of athletes often surpass the achievements of their parents. If Cheryshev the father had 10 matches for the national team and one goal scored, then his son has already played 16 meetings, scoring 4 times.
