Alena Starodubtseva became famous as a hero in the time of coronavirus restrictions. The Russian wrestling champion was not afraid to go to the “red zone” in the middle of the pandemic, where she, as a medical student, treated patients. A year later, the girl accomplished another high-profile feat. The athlete came to the aid of a young man who was desperately trying to revive a whole crowd. Alena literally took the guy out of the other world.
From sport to medicine
Starodubtseva joined the senior team in 2002. The Krasnoyarsk native was just 17 years old; it took time for her to break into the Russian wrestling elite. But she, once ranked among the strongest, she did not leave the top for almost a decade.
Alena won her first medal at the national championship in 2007, after which she did not break out of the top three for four years in a row. Gold was won by the athlete only in 2015, when it was the peak of her form. At the same time, Starodubtseva became a two-time champion of the European Nations Cup; this achievement remains the main one in the international career of the girl.
Starodubtseva won her last medal at the national championship two years ago: at the tournament in Ulan-Ude, the 36-year-old athlete took silver. At that time, Alena was already organizing her professional future and she realized that she would soon have to complete her performance.
Russian wrestling federation
The girl decided to receive an education other than sports and entered medical school to later return to sports as a rehabilitation specialist or coach. Later, when she was a student, she expressed her desire to help coronavirus patients at one of the local clinics. Many media wrote about her heroism in 2020: the athlete managed to work with patients and train, successfully participating in national competitions.
“Bold and decisive action”
In 2022, they again talked about the heroism of Starodubtseva. Last August, the athlete, together with her sister, went to rest on Lake Peschanka in her native Krasnoyarsk territory. When the girls arrived at the scene, it soon became clear that a tragedy had occurred on the beach. Concerned people rushed to the man lying on the sand. The boy’s relatives tried to reason with him, but nothing helped.
Alena Starodubtseva’s social network
Alena’s sister could not run due to injury, so the athlete herself came to help the man. Starodubtseva immediately found out that the boy had just been pulled out of the lake, and calculated the time he spent under water – almost five minutes. The unfortunate heart of him no longer beat: he needed urgent resuscitation.
The Russian champion began to give the boy a heart massage. This procedure lasts no more than half an hour, but Alena continued to pump the drowned man for all forty minutes, and, fortunately, his perseverance helped. The young man’s heart began to beat again: the girl literally brought him back from the other world.
Subsequently, in the spring of 2023, Starodubtseva was awarded the medal “For the salvation of the departed.” In the decree on the reward for heroin, signed by the country’s president, her “bold and decisive actions” are noted.
