MINSK, 3 August (BelTA) – Piotr Zaitsev, the first coach of the two-time Olympic champion Ivan Litvinovich, told BelTA that he has always encouraged the athlete to work hard.
Piotr Zaitsev certainly felt joy when he heard the news about Ivan Litvinovich’s result. “I think he was on his way towards it. I was confident that Ivan would walk away with prizes. He did great. He won,” the first coach said.
Piotr Zaitsev also feels particular joy for the quality of athlete training in the native city of Vileika. Ivan Litvinovich started his sport career in a specialized Olympic reserve school for children and juniors of the Vileika District Executive Committee.
“Certainly, I feel great joy for Vileika. Ivan started trampolining in our city. He didn’t just dabble in it. He met the master of sport standard. He spent ten years at the children’s sport school. This is why we know him quite well. We know what he is capable of. Once again Ivan has proven our hopes,” the coach said.
In his words, the coach plays the key role in securing such victories. The first coach lays the foundation. “We start with the first steps. We develop the potential and gradually achieve results,” he said.
When asked how they saw Ivan Litvinovich’s potential, Piotr Zaitsev noted: “At the very beginning he was just another regular kid. An agile one. An obedient one at times. A disobedient one. But he fell in love with the trampoline. He worked hard while we helped him, taught him, developed him. I told him right away: ‘Ivan, keep working. Think about the future’,” the coach recalled.
“So, he worked hard and achieved results. If he didn’t work on it, nothing would have been achieved,” the coach added.
The first coach went on saying that at the sport school younger students followed Ivan Litvinovich’s example in diligence, the complexity of mastering the jumps, and tried to imitate him.
Speaking about the personal qualities, which helped Ivan Litvinovich win, the coach mentioned the sense of purpose and good physical parameters. “This is why everything turned out well. He did great,” the first coach concluded.
BelTA reported earlier that Ivan Litvinovich of Belarus won gold in trampoline at the 33rd Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
In the qualification that featured 16 athletes the Belarusian got a cosmic score of 63.420 to qualify to the final on the top spot. In the final Ivan Litvinovich performed seventh and scored a total of 63.090 to beat China’s Zisai Wang (61.890). Ivan Litvinovich took the lead and kept it, becoming a two-time Olympic champion: Ivan Litvinovich won gold in Tokyo three years ago. Bronze went to China’s Langyu Yan.
In addition to the two gold Olympic medals, the 23-year-old native of Vileika is also a European champion and a two-time world champion in team events as well as a world silver medalist in individual events. Apart from that, Ivan Litvinovich has a victory in the overall standings of the 2024 World Cup on his record, during which he won one event and finished third at various stages twice.
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