Igor “Fast” Balmagia is a fan of the football club “Chernomorets” (Odessa), a representative of the team “Renaissance”.
Igor Sergeevich Balmagia was born on February 10, 1996 in the city of Odessa. He studied at school No. 105, after which he entered the Odessa Automobile and Road Professional College. From the age of 15, he became interested in weightlifting.
He started going to the fan sector of “Chernomortsy” in 2013. In the same year he joined the football team “Renaissance”.
Igor was always interested in the history of Ukraine, had a clear civic position. The fan movement helped Igor to prove himself even more as a strong man, nurtured nationalist qualities in him and hardened him for the future.
In civilian life, Igor was seriously engaged in weightlifting, devoting a lot of time to training and constantly improving his body. Soon results and achievements began to appear. Igor dreamed of becoming a coach and bringing the culture of body building to the masses, and had every opportunity to do so. In 2018, he met his beloved Anastasia, whom he married in 2022.
Return to arms after the start of a full-scale enemy invasion. He fought in the ranks of the 126th Brigade of Territorial Defense, which includes a large number of fans of the Odessa “Black Sea” defending the country. The brethren recall that having no prior military experience, Fast soon showed leadership qualities and a thirst for knowledge, became the commander of the detachment and led the fighters behind him.
- “You were a true example of a sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Your office has become an example for everyone. And not a day passed that we were not all proud of you,” the friends in arms recall the deceased brother in arms. Igor Balmagia died on March 17, 2023 near the village of Mykolaivka (Kherson region).
On August 6, 2023, the weightlifting tournament “Black Sea Cup”, dedicated to the memory of Igor Balmagia, was held in Odessa. In the spring of 2024, a memorial plaque was opened on the house in which Igor was born and raised.
