Russian athletics starlet Ksenia Trubinova has given fans an insight into her budding track and field career in an online round of ‘true or false’ – revealing everything from the naughty to the nice.
Trubinova is making a name for herself with her heptathlon performances, coming home a creditable fifth in last year’s European Under-20 Championships in Sweden.
Also a five-time Russian champion, the 20-year-old is matching that emerging status with a growing following online – thanks in no small part to the photogenic good looks which have earned comparisons with the likes of long-jump countrywoman Daria Klishina.
But while European Indoor Champion Klishina, 29, has been an established name on the athletics circuit for around a decade, Trubinova is fresh out of the blocks on her journey – and recently gave fans an insight into her story with an old-fashioned game of ‘true or false’.
The blonde heptathlete initially listed a set of 10 statements about herself, allowing her 15,000-strong following the chance to guess whether they were true or made up before revealing all in a subsequent post.
“I’ll tell you all a little bit about myself!” Trubinova wrote, then sharing her truths – which ranged from the straightforward to the surprising.
“I love all kinds of all-around events – this is the TRUTH, I really like all kinds, just some of them still aren’t working out for me,” she began.
She followed that up with a fact about the successful junior career which she is hoping to build on at senior level.
“5 times I won the Russian Championships is the TRUTH. (3 times heptathlon, once pentathlon and relay race 4-400m.)” the Russian athlete wrote.
Trubinova’s family life was next up, as she revealed she’s the youngest of four sisters.
“I have three older sisters – this is the TRUTH. (I really have 3 sisters. Olya, Zhenya and Masha.)”
While her goals are now firmly set on track and field success, Trubinova told fans that she had initially set her sights higher – quite literally.
“As a child, I wanted to become a trainer- it is NOT true! (as a child, I wanted to be a stewardess),” she shared.
Another falsehood was that she had also added a musical qualification to her bow.
“I graduated from music school (violin) – this is NOT true! I studied for 5 years but then left for Moscow.”
Perhaps most shockingly, the youngster revealed she had once been forced to put her running skills to use in a very different context, giving a police patrol car the slip, writing: “I once ran away from a patrol car- it is the TRUTH!”
Next Trubinova shared her move to Moscow at the tender age of 14 in pursuit of her athletics dream.
“At 14, I moved alone to Moscow, it’s TRUE!
“I entered the Olympic Reserve School No. 2 in Moscow and left to live there and train at the age of 14 (I have no relatives in Moscow).
“At first it was scary, but now I’m glad I took a chance! I am grateful to my parents for supporting my decision.”
The budding all-rounder also said she initially had favored track events before shifting her focus more broadly.
“I used to run 400m, 800m – this is the TRUTH!
“I began my sports career with these I remember we went to a competition in Perm [in Russia] and then I won the first time in the overall standings (my first small victory).
“Later I only ran 400 and tried to run 400 a couple of times with hurdles.”
Next up was an impressive feat in the 400m hurdles: “I didn’t run under a minute in the 400m hurdles – it’s WRONG! The first time I tried to run them in 2018 and ran 59.8.”
Despite her slender figure, Trubinova finally disclosed her love of meat and French fries, writing about her guilty food pleasure: “I love meat and fries is the TRUTH!”
After enlightening her fans, Trubinova will be hoping she achieves even more exposure in the coming years while chasing track and field glory for Russia.
And based on her Instagram output so far, she could at the very least give some of sports leading lights a run for their money in the social media stakes.
