Famous Stavropol Athlete and Coach Vasily Skakun Dies at 81
Vasily Skakun was a world champion in sports acrobatics who trained many champions and founded a health academy.
The day was marked by the tragic news of the death of Vasily Skakun, a distinguished master of sports and coach of the USSR, world champion, and founder of the «Academy of Healthy Lifestyle».
The administration of Stavropol expressed condolences to the family and friends of the athlete and honorary citizen of the city. Vasily Skakun passed away in his 82nd year. He was born on March 18, 1944, in the village of Petrovskoye (now Svetlograd, Russia) and was the third child in a family of teachers.
Initially, he had no plans to pursue sports, but his school physical education teacher, Vasily Sotnikov, noticed the boy«s flexibility and suggested he train. At that time, there were no suitable conditions, but the enthusiastic schoolboy practiced whenever possible, doing handstands on the street and using low fences for some exercises, according to the press service of the Stavropol Museum-Reserve. Later, Sotnikov brought Vasily to Stavropol and showed him to coach Mikhail Strakov, which determined the boy»s future fate.
«When applying to the institute for the physical education department, Vasily fell short by a few points. But he persistently attended classes without being on the student list. At the end of the first semester, he was nevertheless enrolled and even given a scholarship for four months,» the museum says.
In 1963, he met the standard for master of sports in acrobatics, and in 1965 he won the first USSR Cup in Batumi.
In 1971, he graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education of the Stavropol Pedagogical Institute.
Skakun was a world champion both in individual exercises and in the team event. In 1974, he became a prize-winner in the absolute championship. In the mid-70s, he retired from elite sports, became a coach, and later nurtured 19 absolute world champions. He also coached his future wife, Taisiya Teteretyatnikova, who years later became a distinguished coach of the USSR. Not only she fell in love with this now family sport. Later, their daughter Svetlana and son Vadim continued the dynasty.
In the early 2000s, he founded an Academy in Stavropol where the main concept of education was achieving physical and spiritual health.
Skakun«s contribution to the development of sports is immense. For example, he introduced a special acrobatic track into practice. In Stavropol, there is a sports school for jumps on this equipment. During Vasily Skakun»s work at the institution, more than 120 of his students received the title of master of sports, 29 became international-class masters of sports, and 11 were awarded the title of distinguished masters of sports.
He is the author of many scientific works and manuals. He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, a diploma from the Russian Olympic Committee «For instilling in athletes the principles of nobility and honesty» (1996). He was a distinguished worker of physical culture of the Russian Federation (1997) and an honorary citizen of Svetlograd and Stavropol.
Vasily Skakun died from a heart attack. This was reported to TASS by his son and coach of the Russian national trampoline team, Vladislav Skakun.
«Father died today at five in the morning in the hospital. He had a lung disease, possibly coronavirus. Doctors say the cause of death was a heart attack. Father will be buried in Stavropol,» the agency«s interlocutor said.
Editorial 26.RU expresses condolences to the family and friends of the athlete.
