After the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Russian artistic gymnastics experienced a period of stagnation. The former leaders have left the stage, but the new guys have not yet been brought up. This turned out to be a failure at the Athens Games when the team was left without medals. Anton Sergeevich Golotsutskov, whose biography will be described below, became a representative of a new generation of champions, he became a two-time Olympic medalist, multiple European champion and world medalist. It was not easy for the champion to leave the sport, but he did not break down and opened his own gymnastic club, becoming the pioneer of this business in his homeland.
Biography
Anton Golotsutskov was born in July 1985 in the city of Seversk, in the Tomsk region. His dad was engaged in weightlifting and instilled a love for sports in his son, so for Anton there was no problem doing push-ups or pulling himself up on the horizontal bar. So he passed the selection for the Youth Sports School in the gymnastics section at the age of five, pulling himself up 10 times.
The physical data were also in favor of the boy - short and stocky, he ideally fit into the requirements for the most difficult sport. The biography of Anton Golotsutskov in artistic gymnastics could have taken a completely different path. As a child, he was not always serious about training, he could skip several classes in a row. His first coach Galina Ganus suffered a lot with him, repeatedly meeting with his parents and persuading them to influence their son. After moving to the senior group, Anton Sergeyevich Golotsutskov began to train under the guidance of Leonid Abramov, who subsequently trained the athlete throughout the entire period of his active career.
Breakthrough
Going to the junior level, the gymnast is trying to break out of the Tomsk region. For some time, he traveled to Moscow to the central training base for gymnasts "Round Lake" for his own money, trying to attract the attention of coaches. Anton got into the national team in a dramatic way. Catching a favorable moment, he attracted the attention of the head coach of the national team Leonid Yakovlevich Arkaev.
In front of an authoritative specialist, the young athlete performed the most difficult gymnastic element, which delighted him. Even before he left the hall, dumbfounded Anton Golotsutskov found out about his inclusion in the youth team and the registration of a scholarship in his name. Having become one of the favorites of the head coach, it was necessary to justify his trust. A sharp turn took place in the biography of Anton Sergeevich, heleft his former scattered lifestyle and began to work like crazy in training. The Siberian won the all-around competition against the then team leader Maxim Devyatovsky, got to the European Youth Championship, where he won a whole scattering of medals.
First victories
Anton Golotsutskov started playing for the country's adult team at the age of 16. Leonid Arkaev was not afraid to take yesterday's junior to the World Championships in Anaheim, where the fate of licenses for the Athens Olympics was decided. During the tournament, Evgeny Krylov, the main member of the national team, was injured in the Achilles tendons, and Anton Golotsutskov was forced to replace an experienced comrade in the exercises on the uneven bars. For two months he did not approach this projectile, paying attention to other types, but at the decisive moment he got together and completed the prescribed program with the maximum mark. Arkaev was not shy in his emotions and shouted with joy throughout the hall, shaking his fists.
However, the first serious victories for the athlete began to come after the Athens Olympics. Having matured, the Siberian began to take a more responsible attitude to business and gradually made his way into the elite of world gymnastics. In 2006, in the final of the World Cup in Sao Paulo, Anton Golotsutskov took silver in the vault, in the same year he won a bronze medal in Glasgow. Anton went to the European Championship in Amsterdam as one of the favorites and confidently won there in his favorite form.
Beijing exploits
In 2007, Anton Golotsutskov for the first time begins to conflict with the leadership of the national team. He wentto the World Championship with a broken leg and, having the right to refuse to enter the carpet, he performed the program, which allowed the team to qualify for the Olympics. Nevertheless, instead of gratitude, he listened to reproaches that a month earlier, he was late for a day at the training camp due to family circumstances.
The arrogant athlete flared up, and this became the basis for future misunderstandings. However, then Anton Golotsutskov was the leader of the team, and his position had to be reckoned with. The gymnast came to the Games in Beijing in excellent shape and managed to take the first Olympic awards after a long break. He was again irresistible in his crown form, and added a similar award in floor exercise to bronze in the vault. In general, 2008 was the most successful year in Anton Golotsutskov's career. He won two golds at the World Cup in Moscow, became the European champion in floor exercises. At the finals of the World Cup in Madrid, he won the bronze medal in his favorite vault.
Short-term end of career
The new Olympic cycle for Golotsutskov was not so bright, but he managed to add to his collection of awards the medals of the European Championships, the planet, won the World Cup. However, the year of the London Olympics was a serious test for the gymnast. Years in professional sports have not been in vain, numerous injuries and injuries have accumulated. At the pre-Olympic European Championships, Anton Golotsutskov failed and did not perform at his full potential.
A serious back injury knocked him out of the rut, but the Siberian tried to recover for the main starts of the four years. He was already almost in shape for the London Games, but at the very last moment he found out that he had been left behind by the team. Moreover, Anton received this information not from the coaching staff and not from the leadership of the federation, but from sports journalists. After the end of the Olympics, he was completely expelled from the team and deprived of a sports scholarship. Anton Sergeevich Golotsutskov, whose awards and titles were immeasurable, was simply left without a livelihood.
Coach and businessman
At first, the former champion and leader of the national team had difficulty adjusting to the new realities. He tried his hand at timber trading in Siberia, worked as a trainer in a fitness club, but all his undertakings failed. Golotsutskov was supported by the Minister of Sports of Russia, who helped him get a job as a coach at the Sports Training Center, where Anton could already easily look for sponsors for his grandiose plans. He dreamed of organizing the first gymnastic club in Russia, the doors of which would be open to people of all ages.
The business plan for this project was prepared back in 2005. After all the difficulties and upheavals, Anton Golotsutskov brought his idea to life and became the head of the Olympionik gymnastic club. The titled athlete plans to open a whole network with uniform standards and training programs. In addition to managing the club, Anton also works for a feewith students on an individual program, realizing their skills as a coach.
Private life
Anton Golotsutskov was married twice. His wife Ekaterina became the mother of his daughter Anastasia. Soon after the divorce, the athlete met his current wife, Vera. In 2016, they had a son, Leo.
