Elena Pirozhkova
Born in Russia and raised in the United States, the women’s freestyle wrestler enjoyed a breakthrough season where she won a silver medal at the World Championships.
By Jason Bryant
Elena Pirozhkova doesn’t get asked a whole lot of questions.
But if she had to pick the most com- mon question asked, it would center on what she considers herself to be – Russian or American.
The 23-year-old Pirozhkova was born in Russia and was raised by Russian par- ents in Massachusetts. Her family moved from Russia when she was three and kept many of the traditions of their home- land.
She started wrestling in middle school and was twice an All-American at the Junior level in Fargo. But the question of heritage arises in the strangest of places. When Pirozhkova’s name was announced at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, it turned heads – Russian heads. “A couple of Russians came up to me and said, ‘we heard your name’, and when they heard I was from the United States, they were shocked,” said Pirozhkova.
Pirozhkova came “home” from Moscow with the top individual performance, a sil- ver medal, losing in the finals to Japanese wrestling legend and six-time World champion and two-time Olympic Champion Kaori Icho. Pirozhkova brushed off too much emphasis on “going home,” so to speak, more pleased with her performance rather than where her performance took place.
6 USA Wrestler Russian.
Going “home” didn’t stress
Pirozhkova out, at least in the eyes of Izboinikov.
“People have
expectations that we should do well right off the bat,” said Izboinikov. “This was only her third World Championships.
Pirozhkova
“The timing was perfect,” he said. “She felt comfortable and she was more poised, more calm than I’d ever seen her in competition. Part of it came from many years of preparation. Whether it was Russia that did it or the maturity level, she was really confident in her abilities and it showed.”
Elena Pirozhkova won her first World medal in 2010. Tony Rotundo photo.
“I don’t think it was such a big deal that it was in the country I was born, but it was a big deal that it was my first medal,” said Pirozhkova. “The biggest thing about going to Russia was I got to stay and enjoy it.”
U.S. women’s freestyle developmental coach Vladislav “Izzy” Izboinikov came to the Olympic Training Center about the same time Pirozhkova did – and like Pirozhkova, Izboinikov is a native
Following the tournament, Pirozhkova had a chance to fully envelop what “home” was in this case, touring Moscow and the surrounding areas and got a bet- ter understanding of her Russian her- itage.
“I think a lot of my questions were answered,” Pirozhkova said. “Why do my grandparents act like this or say this, and that baffled me (growing up). “Now I could see how it was different from the American culture,” she said. “I can see where all the things I was sur- rounded by growing up came from.” Even before her runner-up finish in
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