Golden arrow of KBSU teacher Natalia Kulyushina

At the first ever national championship in archery among veterans, held as part of the Russian Championship, the winner in compound archery was a senior lecturer at the Institute of Management, Tourism and Hospitality Industry of Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov Natalya Kulyushina.

The competition was held for athletes (men and women) aged 50 years and older in the disciplines of classical and compound bow. Almost 70 athletes from 21 regions of the country came to try their luck in the new tournament.

It is noteworthy that in this category one could meet completely different athletes: some had decades of sports experience, world records and high-profile victories behind them, while others had the sports enthusiasm of a beginner just beginning his journey as an archer. The oldest participant in the competition was 68 years old.

“In the decisive match, Natalya Evgenievna was two points ahead of her main rival in the tournament, master of sports Svetlana Pronichkina from the Yaroslavl region. In the duel for third place, Ekaterina Turani from the Khabarovsk Territory turned out to be more accurate. All the athletes have hundreds of victories behind them and are either coaches or do not stop training themselves, so the struggle was very intense,” said the championship coaching staff.

I started practicing archery about 12 years ago, when I saw this wonderful sport at the Caucasian Games festival. That was my first serious experience and first competition, which infected me with archery for the rest of my life. This sport was practically not developed in Kabardino-Balkaria, and my husband Alexander Kulyushin was offered to lead this direction. I supported him. A section was opened, which expanded, a department for persons with disabilities was added, and replacement shifts appeared. And in 2013, an adaptive sports school was opened, on the basis of which archery began to develop for people with musculoskeletal disorders. In 2013, I took part in archery competitions for the first time at the Caucasian Games festival, represented the KBR and, to my great surprise and joy, won there. After that, I studied classical bow for about 7 years, participated in competitions, and together with my husband helped pupils of an adaptive school master the bow. Over time, I tried compound bow shooting, which turned out to be even more difficult and interesting for me,

— Natalya Kulyushina told a correspondent for the “Movement” radio channel.

Natalya Evgenievna went to the Russian archery championship in Orel as a coach of a team of archers from Kabardino-Balkaria, but accidentally learned from social networks about the championship for veterans and decided not to miss this opportunity.

In my opinion, competitions for veterans are very relevant and important, they are an integral part of mass sports and, of course, the country and regions should pay attention to this. Such competitions allow athletes of the 50+ category to feel a new stage in life and gain motivation to continue to develop. Such competitions, and most importantly the preparatory period for them, provide both physical exercise and moral satisfaction. And here there is an important social significance — a healthy older generation motivates the younger generation to be healthy. As for the championship itself, the atmosphere was very friendly and pleasant,

— noted Natalya Kulyushina.

We congratulate our colleague on her well-deserved victory and wish her further sporting and pedagogical achievements!