Vitaly Dubko turning 70,Trampoline, Tumbling, Acrobatic Gymnastic & Acrobaty

Vitaly Fedorovich Dubko, the head coach of the Russian trampoline team and of the Krasnodar club, is turning 70 on May 13, 2006. He was born on May 13, 1936 in Novorossisk. In his youth, he was a tumbler, and then practiced acrobatic gymnastics in a quatuor that included Yeisk coach Oleg Zaporozhchenko, Viktor Narykov and Nikolai Abadzhan. Dubko graduated in 1965 from the Pedagogical Institute. He organized the trampoline section of the Krasnodar club before graduating. Trampoline captivated Dubko for its absence of limits, its potential for fantasy, the improvement of the jumpers' skills, and the possibility to fly.

Krasnodar has been a long time stronghold in the trampoline world, probably the best club in the world, thanks to Dubko. Head coach Vitaly Dubko and assistant coach Ludmilla Nemezhan developed and coached champions such as Alexander Moskalenko (Olympic Champion, 5-time World Champion, 3-time European Champion), Irina Karavaeva (Olympic Champion, 4-time World Champion, 3-time European Champion), Evgeni Janes (2-time World Champion, European Champion), German Khnychev (World Champion, 2-time European Champion), Evgeni Jakovenko (European Champion), Natalia Chernova (European Champion), Ludmilla Karpova (European Champion) as well as countless Russian Internationals who won World and European Championship medals and titles in individual, synchro or in the team event like Irina Slonova, Sergei Yashev, Andrei Alexeenko, Igor Durnev, Alexander Danilchenko, Alexander Leven, Alexei Chiviaga, Andrei Udalov, Svetlana Mikhailova, Galina Gaivoronskaya, Mikhail Chepilevsky, Alexei Kadzhaia, Maxim Zasypkin, Tatiana Janes, or Natalia Kolesnikova. Overall, Dubko coached 7 deserved Masters of sport (the highest sports award for an athlete in Russia or the Soviet Union), 20 masters of international class, and more than 100 masters of sport.

Dubko's athletes reportedly won 100 gold medals at the World and European Championships (55 at the World Championships and 45 at the European Championships). The first major World Champion title was won by Evgeni Janes in 1976 in individual and Janes and Evgeni Jakovenko in synchro that same year. Since then, there was no World Championship (expect the 1980 and 1982 Worlds boycotted by the Soviet Union) or European Championship where athletes from the Kuban region did not come home with a gold medal. Being very patriotic, he always turned down offers to coach abroad.

In 2000, Dubko was voted as best coach of the century by the International Federation. In Russia, Dubko received all the highest awards possible for a coach including the title of deserved coach of Russian and the USSR. Dubko is also Vice President of the Russian Federation.

A party was organized to celebrate his birthday. The party was attended by many of his former and current athletes, as well as members of the Russian Olympic Committee. Dubko mentioned that he was very pleased to see his athletes and champions in attendance: Alexander Moskalenko, Irina Karavaeva, Evgeni Janes and many others of his well-known athletes. He stated that he was very happy but that he was not finished. He continues to prepare the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Russian Federation President Nikolai Makarov stated that Dubko was the creator, inspirer of the Soviet trampoline school, and a great teacher.

The AcrobaticSports team wishes him a happy 70th birthday. We retraced via videos below some of the most memorable highlights of his coaching career. You can see him almost every time by the trampoline, often flexing his knees at the same time his athlete is jumping.

Irina Karavaeva, 2000 Olympic Champion