Yevgeny Shabayev: April 24, 1973 (original) (raw)
On August 5, world bronze medalist (1995), Yevgeny Shabayev, died in Moscow, apparently of a heart attack, according to Russian officials.
Six days later friends, family and teammates gathered at the Pokrovskoe cemetery in Moscow, to mourn their fallen comrade. Among them Alexei Nemov, Nikolay Kryukov, Yelena Grosheva and Roza Galiyeva.
Shabayev's untimely death mirrors his career. At the top of his game in 1995 he took the European Cup and University Games crowns and earned all-around bronze at the World Championships. Less flashy, but always more steady than his tempestuous teammate Nemov, Shabayev served as the backbone of the Russian squad and was talked about as a favorite for the title in Atlanta.
In 1996, a shoulder injury, which required surgery, slowed him down and he could manage only the alternate position on the gold medal Russian Olympic team. (Ironically, Nemov would undergo similar surgery after the Games.)
By December of 1996, Shabayev was back in top form as the Chunichi Cup champ. Injury though was, again, just around the corner, leaving Shabayev in a cast for the 1997 Russian National Championships and, eventually, off the Russian World Championship team. (Illness kept him out of the Russian Cup, a quasi-World Trials competition.)
Well-liked and devoted to his Russian compatriots, the quiet Shabayev was a team player. "I was invited to the training camp in Jacksonville (Fla.) prior to the Games," Shabayev told IG in 1997, describing his Olympic disappointment. "There, everyone was trying to be in their best form. If you slacked off, you could be replaced. By my being there, the others knew they had an extra rival and that I could conceivably replace them, so in that way I felt I helped the team.
"The clock keeps ticking while you're sitting there injured," Shabayev said, speaking after his 1997 set-back. "... I've already had five injuries, and three operations ... Some people might just quit, but I don't want to. I've devoted 12 years to gymnastics. I don't want all that to be in vain. An injury is an injury, and it will pass ..."
At the time of his death Shabayev was living with his parents in Moscow, while training at the world-renown Dynamo club. He never quit; instead, his tragic death cut short Shabayev's dream.
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