Elena Petushkova started late in the
sport of dressage but quickly she excelled. In 1968, Petushkova won two silver medals
and a gold medal at the summer Olympics. She also was 13-time Soviet national
champion for the sport, a record for women riders in her country. In 1970, at
30 years old, she became the World Dressage Champion. In 1990, Russia reduced
their financial support of sports and Petushkova worked hard to preserve it. Some
believe that saved dressage in those years.
For a while in her career,
Petushkova could be seen riding Pepel. Pepel was a black stallion of strong
Russian Trakehner breeding. Pepel’s mother was brought to Russia from Germany after
World War II in a group of horses that were trained for sports. Petushkova and
Pepel were amazing together. A judge even claimed that they left an impression
of harmony and easiness on those watching.
In addition to her success as a dressage
rider, Dr. Petushkova spoke fluent English, graduated with honors from Moscow
University, wrote 60 publications for Russian and foreign magazines, and wrote a
book about her two interests—science and sports. She died at the age of 66 from a brain tumor.
Sources:
http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2009/10/20/pepel-true-legend-russian-dressage
http://voiceofrussia.com/2008/12/31/233562/
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