Irina Viner: one son, four grandchildren and one hundred daughters

In the realm of rhythmic gymnastics, Irina Viner is a legendary figure who is credited with developing champions and influencing the direction of the discipline. Her personal life is equally fascinating as her professional accomplishments. She is considered a second mother by numerous young athletes, and she has one son and four grandchildren.

She has an impact outside of her family. She has raised and trained hundreds of gymnasts over the years, and many of them look up to her as a role model. Often called her "daughters," these girls have flourished greatly while in her care.

Irina Viner’s legacy is one of family matriarch, coach, and mentor blended together by her unwavering dedication to her gymnasts and family.

Irina Viner"s childhood

In 1945, Alexander Efimovich Viner, the father of Irina, arrived in Samarkand. He received medical care in a hospital there. He met the doctor Zoya Zinovyevna, the future wife, at a dance held in the officers’ home. The couple were married in 1946. In childbirth, their first son passed away. In Samarkand, on July 30, 1948, a year later, Irina Aleksandrovna Viner was born. She was the family’s only child for a considerable amount of time. Eleven years later, a younger brother named Boris was born.

The family relocated to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, when the child was three months old. The father of the girl was an artist, and he was very excited to travel and work in Moscow. However, Zoya Zinovyevna needed her parents’ assistance to survive. Little Irochka had to spend nearly the whole day with her grandparents because she had to work.

Irina had frequent colds and sore throats as a child, and she was always sick. Her father then started to toughen her up.

He started by showing her how to wash her face and body with cold water before leading her outside into the snow. His approach shocked family members, but it was effective—the daughter stopped becoming ill.

Irina enjoys dancing a lot. Two years after starting to attend the ballet club at the Palace of Pioneers, she enrolled in the choreographic school. aspired to be an actress. Family members disapproved of the decision because they did not think being an artist was a serious career. Another thing is that Irina left school at the age of eleven to participate in sports and rhythmic gymnastics. Additionally, Alexander Efimovich softened his daughter’s personality. He was the reason the girl persistently persevered through splits and bridges, repeatedly attempted elements that repeatedly failed, and refined her performance programs.

"Irina Viner won three titles as the Uzbek champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

In 1965, the girl graduated from school with a silver medal (due to a B in the Uzbek language). The family insisted on entering a medical institute, Irina passed the exams and went to the competition. And she returned with a firm decision to become a student at the Institute of Physical Education, where she took her documents. In 1969, 21-year-old Irina Viner graduated from the Uzbek State Institute of Physical Culture in Tashkent. Parents eventually resigned themselves to it, setting a new task for their daughter – become a candidate of science. Irina Alexandrovna completed it, but much later, because she understood what was most important for her – Train, give yourself all your children.

Renowned for her work in rhythmic gymnastics, Irina Viner is not only a devoted mother to her son and a grandmother to four grandchildren, but she also mentors a great number of aspiring athletes, calling them her "daughters." Numerous gymnasts have been influenced by her intense love of the sport, leaving a lasting legacy in her family and the gymnastics community.

First marriage

After graduating from college, Irina tied the knot for the first time. Irina was a coach at the Republican Specialized Children’s Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve, and her husband was a volleyball team coach.

It appears that sports brought the spouses together. The son was born on October 4, 1973, but the couple’s worldviews were so dissimilar that the marriage disintegrated almost right away.

Irina was enamored with the girl she saw in front of her: she had blue eyes, shoulder-length curly hair, and a blue dress with a white lace collar. dreamed that she would accompany her to the hallway. The son was born after that. She didn’t accept him right away.

"Son?!," she exclaimed. I’m not in need of a son. I refuse to ruin the figure just because of the boy." And when the baby was brought, he somehow heard it and turned away from his chest ".

That was the instant Irina understood that being a mother had no bearing on whether a boy or girl was born. She continued to work after the baby was born. Wiener has been teaching rhythmic gymnastics to the Uzbek and Tashkent national teams for twenty years, starting in 1972.

The husband even attempted to lock the door in protest of his wife’s frequent absence from the house. Irina left the house while still wearing her clothes and the child in her arms because she could no longer take the strain.

She went to my grandmother’s house, which was nearby. She changed her surname to her and crossed out her ex-husband. And she kept vanishing in the hallway with athletes, all the while her grandmother was taking care of her own child until the child turned eight, and after that, her neighbor Aunt Tanya, who was practically raised in the family, took over.

Growing up, Anton was a gifted child. The boy had an intense passion for sports and participated in tennis, swimming, and athletics. He aspired to become a coach, just like his mother. or a photographer. Irina started dating businessman Alisher Usmanov when Anton was very small, and they eventually got married.

Second marriage

In her youth, Irina met Alisher. They went to the same sports academy to train. It was just the focused gymnast who was unaware of her surroundings, and she would have ignored a boy who was five years younger than her. And the young fencer saw a graceful, well-known girl right away. Alisher attended MGIMO in Moscow after graduating from high school, while Irina stayed in Tashkent.

They happened to cross paths on Kalininsky Prospekt during Viner’s business trip to the capital. Irina was married at the time, so she was unable to return the young man’s sympathy. The following time they saw each other, Alisher had returned to Tashkent following his graduation from the university. At that point, Viner was already divorced from her husband.

Subsequently, the young man faced challenges from his parents, who wished for him to wed an Uzbek woman.

Because Irina was older, had been married before, and had a child, she was unfit to play the role of a bride. Most importantly, she does not practice Islam.

An even bigger barrier materialized when Alisher made the decision to tell his parents the truth. Along with several other officials, Usmanov was taken into custody and accused of embezzlement and bribery. Alisher was given an eight-year sentence, of which he completed six. Irina had been waiting for him all along, even though friends and family were pushing for them to break up. A relationship like that might have harmed her career because Irina was already coaching the rhythmic gymnastics team in Tashkent.

Irina bided her time until her beloved’s release from prison. His next gift to her was a silk scarf that read "marriage proposal" in Uzbek. Viner was 38 years old when Alisher was freed. When Irina turned 44 in 1992, they were married and relocated to Moscow.

Mother of a hundred daughters and one son

In a sport such as rhythmic gymnastics, creativity is essential. Like her father, Irina Viner is not a good artist. Her paintings and narratives are preserved in the annals of sports history. She and her pupils elevated rhythmic gymnastics to the pinnacle of the sport while she served as Russia’s head coach.

Viner is accountable to athletes and treats them as if they were her own children. She explores all of their issues and spends more time with them than their parents, after all. How many times, even when Irina herself lived in a one-room apartment, athletes would spend months at her house? She paid for their outfits out of her own pocket and covered their lodging and meals at the sports complex. Her husband’s income allowed her to afford it.

Irina was once seated next to the queen’s husband at a reception held at Buckingham Palace.

"What is the number of your children?" inquired Prince Philip. Sincerely, I said, "HSO." "How are the?!?" he inquired again, his eyes wide. "Every student of the coach is a child," I clarified. That’s what I’ve always called them, at least. Philip was persistent, explaining, "And do you personally?" "One," I say. And he said, "That’s enough," the sacramental expression.

Yes, having just one child fulfills the role of motherhood.

And out of all the kids that were around Irina Alexandrovna, her own son Anton was in dire need of maternal care and attention.

Viner did not realize this right away. She was passionate about her work, busy with the problems of her students, and her son had reliable, close people next to him, so was it worth worrying about?? But no one can replace a mother. The moments when his mother came home were moments of absolute happiness for the boy. He often cried when she went on business trips. Aunt Tanya was his mother during these periods. Anton did not really like school, he often skipped classes, disappearing into the photo shop. Many years later, Irina admitted that she regrets that in childhood she paid less attention to Anton than she should have.

"I didn’t raise my son the same way that other people did." He was the national team’s son. That kind of destiny. Everybody has their own "dune road."

A palace as a gift

Alisher made sure his wife had a luxurious lifestyle. He once gave Irina a gift box containing the keys to a Croatian home so she could travel abroad in comfort. Was he shocked that his spouse converted the gift into a summer home for sportsmen? Not likely. After all, the home was frequently occupied by Irina Alexandrovna’s students. For this reason, he gave her the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace the next time, rather than just a palace. This sports complex is situated on the grounds of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, and its roof is designed to resemble a fluttering gymnastics ribbon.

"After 30 years of formal marriage, Viner and Usmanov’s union lasted for 44 years before ending in divorce in 2022. The couple would rather talk about each other poorly or not at all than discuss the reasons behind their separation.

Irina turned the page, continuing. Her family now consists of four grandchildren, a son, and a daughter-in-law in addition to gymnasts.

Not only has Irina Viner left a lasting legacy in the sports world, but in her personal life as well. She is proud of her one son and her four grandchildren, and she considers the hundreds of athletes she has coached over the years to be like daughters.

Her unwavering commitment, love, and passion have allowed her to inspire and influence countless lives. Her influence extends beyond gymnastics because she has fostered a family-like environment that supports her students’ development and achievement.

Irina’s narrative demonstrates that genuine success is determined by your ability to positively influence others as well as your own accomplishments. She has left her mark on the world, influencing her family and the athletes she supports in a profound way.

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