The son of the famous Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut, now living in the United States, was found guilty of counterfeiting money. He is charged with counterfeiting $20,000 bills. 23-year-old Richard Bortkiewicz was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for making counterfeit banknotes worth $20,000 and will serve time in a federal correctional facility, ITAR-TASS reports.

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In addition, he must pay almost five thousand dollars to two stores where he paid with fakes. According to local laws, Bortkevich could well be isolated from society for seven years.

The son of the famous gymnast admitted that for three months, using computer equipment, he was engaged in counterfeiting money.

The counterfeit currency was discovered in connection with an ongoing case involving the eviction of Korbut and her husband from their home due to delays in real estate payments. When a sheriff's deputy came to Korbut and Bortkiewicz's home to hand over the eviction papers, he saw a "large amount" of counterfeit $100 bills scattered across the floor.

The plastic bag lying near the computers was also stuffed with currency. In total, about 4 thousand fake dollars were found in the house.

Olga Korbut is a famous Russian gymnast, Honored Master of Sports. In 1970 she won the title of champion of the USSR and the world. Three-time winner of the Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich.

In 1991, she moved to Atlanta, where she took up coaching. Until recently, she lived in the state of Georgia, and recently moved to Atlanta. Her ex-husband Leonid Bortkevich returned to Belarus after the divorce.

In January of this year, Korbut was arrested for stealing from a supermarket. However, then the Georgia authorities released her, fined her $333 and ordered her to attend psychological rehabilitation courses. In addition, the gymnast was banned from appearing in Publix stores.

According to Kommersant, Korbut did not honor the court session with her visit, but sent a telegram to her son with words of support.

Wherever I call, there is silence on the other end of the wire. I leave messages on the answering machine - they do not call back. Neither Olga Korbut herself, nor her husband, Aleksey Voynich, nor the relatives of her ex-husband, Leonid Bortkevich, nor her son, Richard Bortkevich, nor her lawyer, Howard Weintraub, nor her manager, Kay Weatherford, nor even the sheriffs of Gwinnet County, are answering. In short, nobody.

When, by a lucky chance, you break through, the subscriber, as if scalded, hangs up, having learned that the caller is a journalist.
Readers already know in general terms what happened, or rather what happened, with Olga Korbut. On Jan. 31, Korbut, now 46, walked into a supermarket in Norcross, near Atlanta, Georgia, where she now lives. She took off the shelves $19.35 worth of groceries: figs, gravy, tea, cheese, and syrup. Olga put all this simple food in her bag and went out. Here she was caught by the security of the supermarket. Olga tried to explain to the arriving policemen that there had been a misunderstanding. She supposedly forgot her wallet in the car and was going to pick it up and pay the bill. Nevertheless, Korbut was arrested. She was released on bail the same day.
Trouble, as you know, does not walk alone. A few days after the incident, the name of Olga Korbut again flashed in the criminal chronicle. "Secret Service" - the US Secret Service - reported that it was investigating counterfeit dollars found in a house in Daluth, also in the state of Georgia, where Korbut recently lived.
And this is what the Secret Service said: On December 5, executors (performers), not Secret Service agents, came to a house in Daluth, located 25 miles from Atlanta. They weren't looking for counterfeit currency. Their goal was completely different - to hand over to the owner of the house, ex-husband Korbut, Leonid Bortkevich, an eviction notice. This mission was entrusted to Deputy Sheriff of Gwinnet County Tracy Gee. Nobody met the deputy sheriff. The house was empty. Then he, using his right, opened the door and entered the house. Everything in the house was turned upside down, complete chaos reigned. All electrical switches and sockets were pulled out of the walls, the railing from the stairs was unscrewed, the kitchen was damaged, the glass in the windows was broken, the doors were mangled. According to the deputy sheriff, the reason for such vandalism was "the anger of the owner of the house about the fact that his house was taken by the bail company." In the house, however, Korbut's Olympic souvenirs were found. Her large portrait, almost full-length, was lying on the side of the road. Bortkiewicz's neighbors "sheltered" him.
But in addition to traces of vandalism and Olympic tinsel, the deputy sheriff found something more interesting in an abandoned house on its top floor: several computers and packs of hundred-dollar bills in plastic bags. At first, it was reported that $4,000 had been found. As it turns out now, there were 30,000 of them. The dollars turned out to be counterfeit.
The house where Olga Korbut once lived was in a prosperous area. It was decorated with columns. At home was swimming pool. Despite the defeat, it was felt throughout that they once lived well here. Olga left her home in Daluta in 2000 when she separated from Bortkiewicz. According to the documents, they bought the Daluth colonial house in 1993 for $160,000. In September 2000 the house was sold. But a month later, Bortkiewicz borrowed $240,000 for it and became its sole owner. Olga remarried Aleksey Voynich, and Bortkevich suddenly disappeared not only from his home, but also from the United States. Neighbours last time saw him a few weeks before the start of the counterfeit money investigation. The press reports that Bortkevich may have returned "to his native Belarus." The last tenant of the house was Richard Bortkevich, the 22-year-old son of Olga and Leonid. Where he is and what he is is still unknown.
Olga Korbut's only comment on the counterfeit dollar case was made by her manager, Ms. Kay Weatherford. She stated: “Miss Korbut found herself in a web of absurd misunderstanding. She believes that her reputation has been unfairly tarnished. She has nothing to do with it. She is in pain."
Such is the criminal outline of the “case of Olga Korbut” today. The data so far available do not allow any conclusions to be drawn as to whether this case is really Olga's. I mean both petty theft in a supermarket, and a large incident with large counterfeit bills. The case (again!) of the court is to establish whether Olga hid the figs and tea or accidentally grabbed them, and most importantly, did she know what her husband and son were doing? But this, I repeat, is a criminal canvas. The heartache that Olga naturally experiences in connection with this is quite understandable. But I want to talk about the deeper heartache of the great gymnast.
There is some kind of evil irony in the fact that Olga Korbut was accused of stealing food products, and for a meager amount. Once upon a time, Olga didn't pay for food at all, even if she had her purse with her and even if she tried to do so. Who could take money from this magical fairy gymnast, from this 17-year-old Olympic magician who won three gold medals at the Games in Munich in 1972 and cried like a child, which she really was, because she did not even get the fourth “gold” - for the all-around? Perhaps it was the weeping Olga, and not Olga on the shells, who conquered millions, hundreds of millions of hearts. Not only sports fans, but just people. Once Mayakovsky wrote that a crying Bolshevik should be shown as a curiosity - in a museum. So Olga was the first Soviet gymnast who burst into tears in front of a global audience. And the whole world suddenly realized that our girls - they are girls in flesh and blood, and not mechanical dolls, wound up by "communist trainers", so to speak, totalitarian karabas-drums.
American Bert Conner, gold medalist of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, says: “We thought that all athletes from Soviet Union They are emotionless machines. But suddenly she appeared, this little vulnerable girl. And everyone wanted to hug, caress her.” Burt is not exaggerating. Olga Korbut really became a revelation for the West, especially for the United States. Here, like mushrooms after the rain, clubs named after Olga Korbut began to appear. Not athletic, but simply, because her fame outgrew sports, and she herself became a “celebrity”, that is, a celebrity with the power of attraction, a person no longer dependent on gymnastics. Of course, sport was at the heart of this resounding popularity. Korbut was not only a pioneer with a red tie around her neck, but also a pioneer in gymnastics.
Love filled the hearts of people. Shopkeepers refused to take money from her, like the Beatles or royalty in England, even if the bill was well over a measly $19.35. No one, including the US Secret Service, doubted the authenticity of the gold on her medals and heart.
But, making breathtaking dismounts from the projectiles, from which the breath was taken away, and landing precisely, showing miracles of balance, with a triumphant smile opening her arms to everyone, everyone, everyone, Olga Korbut could not jump off with such deftness. magic gymnastics into real life. Her sense of balance left her, the smile faded from her face, and her open arms met emptiness. The touching motive of her life became melancholic and sad. Her medals still shone, but fate faded. It was the fault of the time, the fault of the regime. And her own. It seems symbolic to me that in what was then Belarus, Olga lived near Chernobyl. The tragedy of Chernobyl drove Olga to the West, or, in any case, gave impetus, served as a springboard for jumping into the unknown. In addition, her health left much to be desired. She was unwell, quickly tired, complained about the thyroid gland.
In 1991 Olga Korbut left Minsk and settled in New Jersey. Her wanderings across America began, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and the fumes and radiation of Chernobyl followed her everywhere, like a shadow of the past. Olga was worried not only about her health, but also about the fate of children exposed to radiation. So she founded a foundation in her name in Seattle at the Hutginson Cancer Research Center.
But while helping others, Olga could not help herself. Glory is not only wings behind your back, but also a heavy burden on the same back, especially if it suddenly fell on your head, and you yourself are still a child. After the Munich triumph, she traveled to many countries. All her performances were sold out. People stopped buses and cars just to ask Olga for an autograph. Sometimes she had to escape from annoying admirers by pulling a wig and a wide-brimmed hat over herself. Olga's mail was like Niagara. A special person was hired to handle her.
But all this soon faded into the past. America's love is changeable, like the heart of a beauty and the May wind in the Duke's aria from Verdi's Rigoletto. Love in America quickly disappears if it is not fueled by commercial publicity, if you are not an alchemist who can turn the gold of medals into the green of dollars. Korbut did not succeed. Contrary to the fairy tale, Cinderella did not become a princess, but the princess became Cinderella. Great gymnast became an average coach. The dream of creating my own school remained a dream. I had to roam around other people's gyms. Olga began to drink. According to David Day, the owner of the Jim Ely gym in Norcross, he had to abandon Korbut's services because of her heavy drinking. Recently, Korbut has been coaching at the shabby gym in the town of Dunwoody, which was an appendage of the judo school. Olga's personal life did not develop either.
Jumping from the projectile of Soviet life to the American mat has always been fraught with hidden threats. The totalitarian Karabas-barabas took care of his dolls in his own way. He was strict with them, but fed. He saved them from worries and, first of all, from the most important thing - to think. The democratic karabas-barabas allows thinking, but refuses to feed for free. I absolutely agree with the publisher of the International Gymnast magazine, Paul Siert, who says: “I think that Olga's life was very difficult. In my opinion, this is mainly rooted in the mentality of the athletes who came from the former Soviet Union. When they were young, they worked hard in the hope that life would take care of them later on. But we don't get free lunches here." There is no free drink either. And few of the non-drinking gymnasts got rich in America.
Over time, Olga managed to defeat the green snake. But she never got green bucks. Real ones, not fake ones. True, the same David Day sometimes invited her to competitions called “Olga Korbut Classic” as a “planted mother” and even paid for it. Olga remarried. She seemed to be starting to crawl out. And suddenly...
Phones are still silent. The drama of Olga Korbut continues.

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In the last year, they began to write about Olga in connection with a new marriage and the birth of a son by her ex-husband, the "songwriter" Leonid Bortkevich. Like, Olga herself married a computer engineer from Belarus named Alexei. However, Alexei turned out to be not a computer scientist at all, and all the other horror stories about Korbut were not so scary. Because, as it turned out, during the unpleasant events of recent years, there was a loved one next to Olga.

To believe that Alexey is not a computer scientist did not work right away. During our conversation, he kept grabbing the mouse and climbing into the network: for the weather in the state of Arizona, in order to show that there are two words about Olga on the Russian search engine Rambler, and a sea of ​​\u200b\u200binformation on the English-language Google, for photos of pets: a Pitty cat and a guinea pig named Piggy.

The conversation might not have taken place, but just on that day, May 16, an article was published in Moskovsky Komsomolets devoted to the miracle with pigtails, which turned 50 that day.

You just read! Almost everything is wrong!

Well, well, let it not be true, - our acquaintance began with a discussion, - But how to find out the truth!?

Word for word, the argument worked, a conversation ensued.

- It turns out that you are not a computer scientist?

No, of course not, and never has been. But the pizza really drove. In 1999, when I came to America, I did not know the language, did not have the usual status, acquaintances and connections. There are quite a few jobs where the “dumb, deaf and illiterate” are taken. Miraculously got a job as a pizza delivery man. for the sake of extra income Pizza is delivered by many Americans, and this is not so prestigious.

- And how much can you earn?

Pizza delivery men don't get paid, they earn by tips. A year later, I developed a whole system of how to get big tips. First, you need to be able to drive fast and without fines. I learned short passages along parallel streets, where the traffic flow is less, and began to get to the client faster than others. This is important, because the person waiting for pizza is usually hungry. Secondly, your appearance is important: you need to drive up to the house quickly, but not abruptly. Park your car straight ahead. Thirdly, carry the goods neatly and carefully, a little theatrically. In no case do not cut the corners of the paths and do not step on the grass. Once, one of my regular customers paid a $100 tip for a $9.99 pizza delivered. Oh yes. And I drove a new car and washed it every morning.

A year later, I learned the language and came as a simple stocker (an employee who labels goods) to one of the Wal-Mart stores. And a year later he became an assistant manager: 350 subordinates. Then he left everything and began to deal with Olga's company and his own projects in the real estate market.

I was invited to work in Moscow by a friend from the guinea pig website

- And how did you get an invitation to work from a reputable Moscow company?

My current manager, like me, is a big fan of guinea pigs. When my mumps died, I was terribly sad and rushed around the new little pig like a mother hen, reacting to every breath and sneeze. And Sergey is an experienced pig breeder. He helped me a lot with advice. Then he asked what I was doing in Arizona. I replied that marketing. "O! he exclaimed. I, too! And in what area? “In real estate,” I answer. And when, after a typhoon in Southeast Asia, the top manager of this company disappeared, Sergey called me in his place: "But don't you want to work for big money in Moscow, dear?" Well, if for a lot of money, and even temporarily, why not.

This is how I live now: work is here, my wife is there. But every day we talk on the phone for a long time, fortunately, Internet telephony technology allows you to have an ordinary American telephone with a local Arizona number in your Moscow apartment.

- But if your projects in America brought good money, what are you doing in Moscow?

Ha! In Moscow, business is much more interesting. I am the third person in the company - the market leader. 5500 employees. Well, to be completely frank, I work on Olga's projects at night, because Russia and America are in different hemispheres. When it's day there, it's night here. So everything works out.

- Did you study in Moscow?

at the State University of Management. And I also studied journalism in Minsk. Threw. Then - at the Faculty of Psychology at the Pedagogical University. Dropped out after four courses. If it wasn't for my mom, I wouldn't have done it at all. The main thing is to understand the essence of the ongoing processes. And with this understanding, you can do business.

- Did you have to work in your first specialty?

Not for long. In one of the youth publications, I earned extra money as a photographer, I wrote only in Belarusian. Then, in the late 80s, if you remember, it was very fashionable.

Before Olga, I did not have adult relationships with girls

- And how did you meet Olga?

O! That was a long time ago. I was then 17 years old (now Alexei is 34 - ed.). Together with my journalist colleague, who interviewed Bortkevich, I came to their house and was stunned: Olya was so small, thin - a miniature. I have never met such women on the streets. And those are the ones I like. Imagine what happened to me at the age of 17, especially since I had no experience of adult relationships with any of the girls.

- And how did your relationship develop?

Stormy. But then Olga, for some reason, did not want to get a divorce. Richard was still small, and Olga was 34, and for some reason our age difference was more felt than now. And then in 1994 we quarreled and reconciled already in 1999.

- And how did you manage to hide your relationship from Bortkevich?

At that time, he had an affair with another girl, so there weren’t much scandals. We remained on good terms with Bortkevich, we often call each other. Besides, his son is now mine.

- You said that you arrived in 1999. It seems that this year Olga got divorced?

Yes, when I arrived, the marriage was gone.

- Why did they get divorced?

Well, why do people get divorced, their marriage has run its course.

- She called you?

Yes, she was sick.

- Long thought, to go or not?

No, I immediately decided, immediately got ready and arrived. Moreover, in Belarus at that time it had already become very bad, investments had practically stopped, risks had increased too much ....

- Did you get married right away?

Richard Xeroxed Dollars to Surprise Girls

Alexei, it would be wrong if I didn't ask you about Olga's son, Richard. What is this dark story with supposedly counterfeit dollars that he printed right at home on a color copier? After all, none of the participants in that scandal explained what was true and what was fiction, and why, after her son, Korbut herself was detained in the supermarket? Only one thing is known: Richard is in prison.

Yes, it's an awkward situation. Rika decided to surprise the girls at the club with a big wad of cash. Xeroxed a hundred dollar bill. Copied for a long time, but it was not possible to match the image on both sides. As a result, I threw the drafts under the bed and forgot. Well, what normal person will carry a photocopy to the store! Moreover, the top image in those dollars did not match the bottom one.

At this point, Richard was living alone in an old house in Atlanta. After the divorce, Olgin's house went to his ex-husband, and Bortkevich left for Belarus, Mulyavin again called him to Pesnyary. We did not pay for the house, since it did not belong to us, all bank documents were reissued to Bortkiewicz. We took out a loan and bought ourselves another home.

A paper came from the bank: they say, either pay or give the house. Richard left immediately. All the deadlines passed, and the bank took over the house, and these photocopies of dollars were found there. And when the regalia and cups of the Olympic champion Olga Korbut were found in the house, the case seemed even more attractive. But in America, as you know, the presumption of innocence: it is impossible to take fingerprints from an honest person who has not been involved in any dirty deeds. Therefore, the police ambushed Olga in the supermarket: they say, excuse me, let's go, we saw how you put a can of ketchup in your purse. She was taken away and legally removed her "fingers". They compared them with prints on photocopies of dollars - they did not agree. And all the accusations against Olga crumbled.

We were about to leave the state, looked after new house, but at that moment, one of the local journalists became aware of the fact of the detention of a world gymnastics star in a supermarket. What has begun! He wrote an article. Everyone else began to reprint it! They started calling and asking questions. It was a nightmare! All journalists concluded that Olga was not detained in vain, but for theft, and they released her because they felt sorry for her. Many wrote that Korbut was a beggar in America, that she was a kleptomaniac. It was an incredible, monstrous campaign against Olga. Since then, Olga has ceased to communicate with the press at all.

- Is that why you moved from Atlanta?

Not certainly in that way. It's cold in Atlanta, it even snows in winter. Temperature 0, 5, 7 degrees. And we were looking for a warm place. Olga, like me, loves warmth. Even in summer, when she goes to the store, she takes a jacket with her - after all, stores have strong air conditioners.

They already looked after a house in California, but then I ended up in the neighboring state of Arizona for work. And I immediately liked it there. This is an amazing place: a dry hot climate, mountains, giant cacti and a green desert, the Grand Canyon. A hundred miles from us in winter there is snow, two hundred miles away - the warm waters of the Gulf of California (this is already the territory of Mexico, but the resort area is called the "Arizona beach"). There are very few immigrants here. Until the invention of air conditioners, it was not popular. Now the Americans are coming from all directions. After all, it's just a paradise here: in January, 20-27 heat with 5-15% humidity. We arrived and immediately fell in love with this paradise. I rented an apartment, rented a truck, loaded my family and drove for three days towards my dream.

- Olga was very worried about her son?

Well, what are you talking about! The only child. Many star children get "star disease", grow up selfish, turn into drunkards and drug addicts. Richard is a very enthusiastic, talented guy who has never even tried a cigarette in his entire life and drank only one glass of champagne, and even then nominally, on the day he came of age (21 years old).

Olga moved to America because of her son. After Chernobyl, she was afraid for the child and found an opportunity to send Richard to the States. Six months later, it became clear that my son was much better there, and it was unbearable to live separately from the child. Then an offer came up to work as a coach in New Jersey, then in Atlanta ....

Read the interview with Olga Korbut and the continuation of the interview with Alexei Voynich in the next issue of the "fat girl".

In yesterday's issue of KP, her new husband Alexei Voynich spoke about his meeting with Olga and their life in America. Our conversation with Olya turned out to be purely feminine. She answered serious questions carefully. Still, this was the first communication with journalists after a six-year silence. Yes, even on the phone. “I'm sorry that I can't see your eyes and your reaction. It would probably be better if you drove up here, ”Korbut reasoned in a purely American way. Nevertheless, we chatted for an hour.

Olga, as I learned from Alexei, you quit coaching and are now engaged in fitness. - I moved away from gymnastics, but did not quit coaching. The motto of my fitness program is to keep your body in shape all the time. There is nothing difficult in it, I have been doing these exercises all my life. But since people are naturally lazy, it is easier for them to go to the gym than to study on their own. After all, the money has been paid ... Especially since we communicate in the hall, I talk a lot about diets and various secrets of proper nutrition.

- Do you eat only salads?

For the most part yes. I just love fresh vegetables and fruits. My psychology has changed so much over the years in sports that I just don’t want anything else. But if suddenly I want chocolate or bread, I eat. However, this happens extremely rarely.

- In that case, how much do you weigh now?

42 - 43 kilograms. During the Olympics in Montreal, I weighed 42 kilograms. It turns out that in my whole life I gained only one kilogram.

Wow! - Get away from flour products, replace meat with fish, and you will see what lightness and elasticity your body will acquire after a couple of months! But, of course, at least the most primitive, easiest exercises will have to be done every day.

Do you know what is the surest and easiest way to check what form you are in? If you walk easily, then you are fit. If you do not walk, but fly, you are in great shape!

So it happened, - Olga smiled enigmatically. - In general, I ask all my clients during the first classes: “How many times do you go to the doctor? fifteen? 20?" And I promise: "And now you will never come about problems with the body." They answer me: “Are you doing miracles?” And I have to explain that there is no miracle, I just give a part of myself.

After gymnastics, you took up equestrian sports and, they say, were preparing for the Olympics. But then they crashed ... - Oh, I was not going to the Olympics. Just with my characteristic perseverance, I learned to ride very well. I learned to ride horses, I can make a horse dance. The horse, which I rode during training, then became the champion of the USSR. I trained for two years. I spent all the time with horses - from 7 am to 12 am. Once, at a training session, my horse joined the mare in front and started flirting with love - reared up, jumped, squatted ... And I was not such an experienced rider and made progress in dressage only thanks to the sense of balance inherited from gymnastics. In a word, I could not cope with the stallion and got injured. Not that very serious, but she could not perform.

We were young and in love. We just got married and couldn't live without each other. As a director, I did not work that you! The guys just stood on the stage as if rooted to the spot. In those years, there was no way to move along with the music. And I saw that they all should move forward to their talent, beautiful songs. So it will be much more expressive! But then it was very new and was accepted with hostility. It was then that Alla Pugacheva and many other performers began to dance on the stage.

Did you have a hard time with your divorce from Bortkiewicz? - Not easy. Still 25 years old. Most best years... I left gymnastics and dedicated them to my family. Nevertheless, I am glad that Leni now has a new family, a son was born. We are friends, I will even say more - we are close friends. There are, of course, grievances. I gave myself. I am a giver, not a taker. Our family was good. But what to do? Do you know the specifics of musicians? They are creative people, addicted, they always need recharge from the outside.

- Olga, what happened then with the photocopies of dollar bills found in Richard's room? What did your detention at the supermarket mean?

- Have the three years that Richard was sentenced to have already passed?

He will be at home this summer.

- In 1991, you left for America because of the child?

I knew more about Chernobyl than most people, and I decided to take my son away for a while to our friends in New Jersey. But I got so bored... And just on one of these nostalgic evenings, a job offer appeared in the state of New Jersey. The hall was in the same city where Ricky was, and I agreed.

- Did Richard visit Belarus as an adult?

No, never was. He is 100% American.

Are you going to Moscow? After all, you and Alexei have been living in different cities for half a year already? - I haven’t been to Moscow for 20 years. Alexei says that I would not be able to live there. What he means I do not know, but I have no reason not to believe him. However, I am not a shy person.

- And if Lukashenko invited you to Belarus, would you go?

I don't think. Latest Olympic Games were very sad. Just think: the country that gave the world two great gymnasts (Olga Korbut and six-time Olympic champion Vitaly Shcherbo, now living in Las Vegas), did not even pass the qualifying selection in Athens! And this despite the fact that our people are talented and hardworking.

- And you do not exaggerate about industriousness? Maybe this industriousness was only characteristic of you?

No, it's in America that kids are lazy. How to say it in Russian? Dissolute children. They live in abundance and do not want to strain, they want to get only pleasure from life.

- And what heights did your pupils reach?

In two years, one of my girls became an elite (performance level Olympic program American classification). She won the state championship, and then won the regional championship of the Western States. This is a great success - after all, only national and Olympic Games are farther!

- And why did they leave training and generally closed the gym?

In the case of this girl, I realized that this is the ceiling. But we communicate daily: more often by phone, sometimes I stop by the hall. I have a unique intuition - I instantly make corrections, which, if you reach with your mind, can take years. It is very difficult to find a girl in America who is ready to work hard and achieve high results.

- What if you find it?

No one can take away my ability. In the meantime, I begin to shake with the desire to work when I approach the hall. I've devoted my whole life to gymnastics. When I trained, I devoted days and nights to it. Coming from the gym, I came up with elements at night, drew on paper, played in my head, then worked them out in the gym so that it would not cause injuries, then developed lead-up exercises to make it easier to perform a new element.

- Can you make the Korbut loop now?

Now it is already impossible - even there are no such bars at the competitions. But if you get into a sports uniform (I have the same body), pull up your back, then, I think, it will work out. In fact, I haven't done it in 30 years.

Through the eyes of an adult, how do you look at your relationship with coach Renald Knysh? What was forgiven, what was not? - What we gave to each other is invaluable. Yes, there were violent relationships. Maybe it was a necessity. He is a creator. And all talented people have something in their character that is impossible to understand for an ordinary person. That's why I refuse interviews - journalists cannot understand some things and start inventing. If this happens now (the voice lost its way, it seemed that Olga was coping with tears. - Approx. Aut.), I will close for another 10 years. I understand that journalists make money on sensations. But why do these sensations always have to be bad? After all, we are all good people. We draw strength and energy from the good. From the bad energy is only lost. Won't readers rejoice when they read that I'm all right? For example, I was very happy the other day when Michael Jackson was acquitted. Wept with joy for him.

- As far as I know, you yourself watch the house: cook, clean.

And how do you spend your free time? - Both in the morning and in the evening I chat for a long time with Alexei on the phone. I miss him. Our animals are on my conscience (a cat and a guinea pig. - Approx. Aut.). And then I have to take care of myself in order to be an example in the hall. Do you want me to tell you a little beauty secret that costs nothing?

- And it can be told to readers?

Well, maybe you can. Every day I make a mask for the whole body: two yolks, two teaspoons of honey, two teaspoons of lemon juice (sometimes juice can be less). I apply this mask every day on my whole body, walk around the apartment, look in the mirrors, and smile to myself, and love myself. After 10 minutes, wash off with water without soap. This is just a wonderful mask! I tell everyone, but people are lazy. Another secret - I drink green tea. And every time Lesha's mother brings me magic celandine grass from Belarus, which can also be used to wipe the whole body, brewing a tablespoon for 2 glasses of water.

- How has your life changed with Alexei?

I love him very much. He is younger than me, and this also helps me to be young.

Photo by Alexey VOINICH and Alexander KONOTOP.