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Video: "Weak Link" Returns: How Olympic Champion Maria Kiseleva became a TV presenter and what she did behind the scenes of the show
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In February 2020, the popular television show "The Weakest Link" returns to television screens. And again, the host of the program will be Maria Kiseleva, already well known to viewers from early episodes of the same program. She did not lack the strength of character and perseverance in achieving the goal, because she came to television from big sport, having managed to win Olympic gold three times, twice become a world champion and nine times to be on the top step of the podium of the European Championship.
Olympic champion
She was afraid of water since childhood. When 3-year-old Masha Kiseleva was first brought by her parents from Kuibyshev to the sea, she refused to even come close to the water, expressing her protest with desperate cries. Three years later, another attempt was made to accustom the girl to water: she was recorded in the pool for swimming, now in Leningrad, where the family moved. But Masha did not know how to swim, and she was assigned to the younger group, the so-called "paddling pool".
Another four long years had to pass before Maria got into the sport that changed her whole life. They then already lived in Moscow, and the parents of the future champion saw at the entrance to the pool an advertisement for the recruitment of girls to the artistic swimming group. At that time, few people knew about synchronized swimming, so the section had this name. The coaches, whom Masha's mom and dad approached, explained: it is very beautiful and looks like dancing on the water.
Maria has always gravitated towards creative pursuits. Therefore, I ran to the new section with great pleasure. Moreover, she soon had a lot of girlfriends there. True, at first Maria Kiseleva did not have enough stars from the sky. After the first training camp, the coach had nothing to tell about the girl's successes. During the competition, she consistently took places below the middle in the standings.
When exactly the passion for synchronized swimming developed into ardent love, Maria herself is unlikely to be able to say for sure. Once, during the announcement of the results, Masha Kiseleva saw her last name closer to the top three winners. It was an incredibly strong incentive, thanks to which the young athlete had confidence in herself and sports excitement.
Now she worked hard and enthusiastically, and at competitions she overcame herself every time, performed the most difficult figures and jumps, learned to interact with her teammates, first in the national team, then in the Russian national team. The tests made her stronger.
After that there was an incredible feeling of euphoria from the "gold" received at the European Championships, then at the World Championships, and then at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, in a duet with Olga Brusnikina and as part of a group. But along with the joy of victory came a feeling of some kind of emptiness.
Then she had to decide what she would do next. It was then that Maria came to television, especially since since 1996 the girl studied at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University.
Weak link
She enthusiastically comprehended the basics of television, hosted sports programs, but achieved the greatest popularity as the host of the intellectual show "The Weakest Link".
Maria Kiseleva came to the casting for the new program and saw a recording of an excerpt from the original British show with Ann Robinson. At that moment, the athlete was sure: she, open and smiling, would never reach the same level of coldness as that of the British presenter. Nevertheless, the athlete was made up and offered to play one round, trying not to smile. The Olympic champion was approved, although more than 50 people took part in the casting, including professional presenters.
For 4 years Maria Kiseleva hosted the Weak Link program. She was called the cold goddess and the most stylish presenter. Men were sometimes just afraid of her, and girls tried to copy her demeanor. The crown phrase: "You are the weakest link, goodbye!", The whole country knew. At the same time, director Vladimir Bortko drew attention to the presenter and invited her to play the role of Varvara Ivolgina in the film "The Idiot" based on Dostoevsky.
It seemed that sports were over forever, but in 2004 Maria Kiselyova, together with her colleague Olga Brusnikina, entered the same river for the second time. The girls who left the sport took part in the Athens Olympics in 2004 and again became champions in the group.
A life of pleasure
By that time, Maria was no longer only a successful TV presenter, but also a happy wife: in 2001, she married the athlete-swimmer Vladimir Kirsanov. It seemed that she succeeds in everything, for whatever she undertakes.
She dreamed about the birth of a child long before she got married, and was even sure that her daughter Dasha would be the first to be born to her. In 2005, Maria Kiseleva became a mother for the first time. In 2009, the youngest daughter of Maria and Vladimir, Sasha, was born.
After the “Weak Link” was closed in 2005, the Olympic champion continued to work on television, reported from the Olympic Games, took part in popular shows, hosted a lottery and show “Together with Dolphins”, starred in small videos, and opened her Synchronized Swimming Center. And Maria Kiselyova puts fairy tales at the Theater on the Water, since 2019 she has been a deputy of the Moscow City Duma.
The TV presenter's marriage broke up in 2012, and she is now raising her daughters on her own, who, like her mother, are passionate about sports. At the same time, the eldest, Daria, has already earned several high awards in her age group, including winning a gold medal at the world championship in solo performances. Alexandra also began to engage in synchronized swimming, but opted for figure skating.
Maria herself, no matter what she does, always and does everything with pleasure. And, as the athlete herself, the presenter and the deputy admits, the “Weak Link” never let her go, she heard phrases and remarks from the program that she once hosted every day. And in February 2020, "Weak Link" and its permanent presenter will again appear on the air.
Maria Kiselyova is sure: this project will again bring her a lot of pleasure, just like on the day she first appeared on the set of the program. And again the audience will be fascinated to listen to her words: "You are the weakest link, goodbye!"
Television has long been an integral part of the everyday life of millions of people. Dozens and hundreds of people who are known to the whole country are broadcasting from the blue-eyed screen. It's time to remember those presenters and journalists who were real screen stars in the notorious "dashing 90s".
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