The Success
Story
RADUGA
PUBLISHERS
Soviet Spor Sport t
Dear reader, This book will tell you about the history and present day of Soviet sport, and about people who have greatly contributed to the development of sports in the world. We hope that reading this book you will see that Soviet people are sincerely fond of sport, they actively promote it and do their best to make sport and Olympic ideals serve the cause of mutual understanding, friendship and peace among nations. Blokhin, Oleg—football Bubka , Sergei — athl etics Kasparov, Garry—chess Rodnina, Irina—figure skating Tretyak, Vladislav—ice hockey Vlasov, Yury—weightlifting
SOVIET SPORT The Success Story
Raduga Publishers Moscow
Translated
Cnopi
a
fiom
the
Russian
CCCP
Ha anrnnMCKOM Compiled by Contributors'
x3b/xe
V. V. A. O. B V. Ft. V.
Shteinbakh Gerlitsyn Gorkin Grachikov Khavin KuKushkin Orlov Shteinbakh
Editor of the Russian text Ya. Brodsky Editors of the English text A Timofeyev a n d Designed by V. Miroshnichenko Art editor L. Cheltsova Photos by M. Botashov. S. Lidov. R. Maximov, Layout by S. S. Sizova
Ye.
Yu.
Cocrati. Cocrati. H.-jf H.-jflaT laTent entiC iC^B ^Bo o -Paf -Pafly lyra ra-- 1987 1987 English -ranslati -ran slation on Radu RadugR gR Publishers 198" Printed
in the
Union
o' Soviet
I SB N
5-0 5-0 0118 8-4
Socialist
Republics
Kopytkin
Sokolov
CONTENTS
Page TEM PUS FUGIT
7
MIL EST ONE S IN SOVI ET SPO RT
13
HEALT H IS THE PRIN CIPA L RECOR D
39
Bil lio ns for the Mill ion s
40
Hea lth Ma de to Mea sure
41
Ch ild re n' s Health Is Socie ty's Health
43
A Pric ele ss Treas ure
44
A Sm al l T o w n at Play
45
Spo rti ng Territory
46
Ede lwe iss at Lan d's End
47
Run for Yo ur Life
49
Translated
by Jim
Riordan
SPORTS AROU ND THE REPU BLI CS Translated
55
by Paul
Kotsyubinsky
SOVIET SPORT IN QU EST ION S AND ANS WE RS Translated
by Jim
Riordan
THEY WER E ED UC AT ED BY SP OR T
T
65 85
Twice All-Rou nd Cham pion
86
The Roa d to the Ol ym pu s
89
Kotk as Mean s "Fa lc on "
96
Doc tor of Scien ces
98
"Y ou 'v e Decei ved Us Aga in"
101 101
Hol der of the "G ol de n" Paddle
104 104
"G ri sh in Is Ow en s on Ice"
107
The Phe nom ena l Bogd anov
1 09 09
Life Beg in s To mo rr ow
111 111
Mas ter ing Oneself
113
The Co ac h
117
Th e Qu ee n of Skat es
120
The Ho ur of Glor y
122
The Tr iu mp h at Sap por o
125 125
The Go al of His Lif e
129
How Chizhova "Ou tju mpe d" Beamo n
1 31 31
Fou rt een Years and Tw o Days
135
The Hur dle of Am bit io n
137 137
The Kor bu t Loo p
140
HE VICTO R'S POD IUM The Sen sat ion
143 of Flying
144
To Ma ke th e Sh ot Fly Fly
146
The Ath le te fr om Siber ia
148
Th e Hea rt s of Fou r
151
Yury Du mc he v's Win ged Disc us
155
Friend ship Bri ngs Succes s
158 158
Vyache slav Zait sev' s Five Sets
162
Mo me nt s of Free Flig ht
165
He Love s the Mu si c of At ta ck
168
Saini kov's Phe no me nal Quality Is His Abs olu te Ca lm"
1 70
The Mu sic of Sp ee d
174
The Third Ch am pi on
176
An Aud aci ous Hea dlo ng Flight
178 178
Translated
by
Vivienne
Burdon
Tempus Fugit It is amazing how time flies, yet what human beings achieve in that time is even more amazing. We present to you a boo k dep ict ing a cou nt ry that was once kn ow n as the "Giant with feet of clay". Bac k in 1917 Russia o cc up ie d an area of of 22 sq uar e mil lio n kil omet res and had a pop ula tio n of of nig h on 170 million, yet its industrial output was eight times tess than that of the USA, some 3.5 times less than that of Germany, three times less than that of Great Britain and 1.5 times less than that of France. The situation was no better in sport. The nation could boast no more than a thousand sports clubs with approximately 45,000 members, coming in the main from the privileged classes. "Ma rve l of marvels! We've open ed a spor ts society... My Goodness, how immense have been its birth pains. They started in 1913. First one attempt, then another, all in vain. We drew up statutes, submitted them to the proper authorities, and waited one month, two, three. A whole year we waited and then stopped, gave it up as lost. Then other people tried, but that met with the same silence of the grave." This letter written by some sports enthusiasts from Pod olsk , a small to wn near Mo sco w, was pub lis hed in the journal journal Russky sport in 1916. An ot he r letter said, "Russi an sport is is terri bly poor, wh il e weightlifting and wrestling are simply beggars... We have absolutely no funds whatsoever." Yet anot he r r epo rte d tha t "W.e "W.e still have no f ul l- ti me gymnastics teaching staff. School sport and physical education are greatly in need of special allocations from the Ministry of Education." And issue No. 11 of the magazine K sportu in 1912 te lls us that "Sport is first and foremost an expensive pastime. It is not for workers. Their path is to the pub. And next morning, hunched and ragged, they're off to work again." Three years later, the magazine noted that "When you are swinging a scythe all day or humping bricks and mortar from dawn to dusk, you don't have any desire or need for sport." Not only did the tsarist government and the patrons not lift a finger to promote sport among the public, they did everything they could to pour scorn on and debase it. At the turn of the century century Russky sport wrote, "Physical culture and sport are something vulgar, bestial and shameful for modern cultured people in the eyes of our intellectuals." And elsewhere in the journal it was said, "Those who run our sport are not bent on spreading it among as many people as possible, just the opposite,
Soviet
8
Spori
they are intent on narrowing the circle of sports participants." Following the October Socialist Revolution of 1917, concern for people's health became a key aspect of state policy. In the very first years of Soviet government, the council of People's Commissars—the supreme executive and legislative body between 1917 and 1946— debated the issue of building an estate outside Moscow for workers' leisure. High Party and governmental figures like Nikolai Podvoisky, prominent in the October Revolution of 1917, and People's Commissar (Minister) of Health Nikolai Semashko headed the sports movement in that period. Vladimir Lenin signed the Statute on Health Protection of Ch il dr en an d Juv eni les on 15 15 Se pt em be r 1921 1921 The do cum en t ac cord ed an an impo rtan t role to physical culture. Two years later the government instituted a state body, the Supreme Council of Physical Culture, wit h the status of of a stan ding gov ernm ent comm itte e that took charge of the health of all Soviet people. In defining the range of duties of the People's Commissar for Education, Lenin specified the need to introduce physical train ing as a comp ulso ry su bjec t in schools. Lenin's instructions laid the foundation for Soviet physical culture. As the eminent German and internation al labo ur move men t fig ure Clara Zet kin noted, qu ot in g L enin, " Yo un g peop le especially need a zest for life and cheerfulness. Healthy sports like gymnastics, swimming, hiking, all manner of physical exercise, various cultural interests, study, and research must all be combined as far as possible." Even while the Civil War was in progress, physical culture colleges opened in Petrograd and Moscow, wor ker s star ted bu ild in g a spor ts sta diu m in Bryansk, and railwayme n in Cherepovets were con str uct ing sports grounds in their spare time. Soviet young men and women demonstrated their readiness for labour and defence of their country, their adh ere nce to intern ation alis t ideals at the I All- Unio n Spar taki ad whi ch took place in Mo sc ow in the summe r of 1928. Besides the 7,000 Soviet athletes, there were members of worker sports organizations from Germany, Britain, Norway, France, Austria, Finland and elsewhere. It is interesting to note, by way of comparison, that the IX Olympic Games held the same summer in Amsterdam attracted only only three tho usan d-o dd participa nts. The book book Soviet Sport pu bl is he d in the 1920s 1920s says. says. "So vie t spo rt must still be be co ns id er ed a babe in in arms hi st or ic al ly . All th e sa me tha t ba b e in a r ms
has not
on ly
disp ense d wit h its nappies, has has gr ow n stron g and fou nd its
feet,
it it
has
be c o m e
so
vigorous
tha t
it it
ca n
e ven
Tempos
Fugit
9
successfully withstand international competition. The reason is eviden t: our sport st raig htawa y relied on the people and was supported by the people. Here lie the nourishing roots of Soviet sport and the major reasons for its mighty growth." During the grim years of the Great Patriotic War, 1941-45, Soviet people were engaged in intrepid struggle against Nazi Nazi fasci sm. It was the tem pe rin g obt ai ned in sport that helped them withstand the assault and become victorious in the end. Here is just one fact from the heroic annals of the war years. In 1942 mountain tr oo ps rescued 230 chi ldr en wh o wo ul d oth erw ise have been murdered by the Nazis. They smuggled them across the front line, traversing the extremely dangerous Be ch o mou nta in pass in the Caucasus. The m on um en t to the Soviet liberator-soldier that stands in Berlin's Treptow Park (sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich; erected in 1946-49) honours their memory and that of millions of their comrades in sport and arms. The reader may see testimony from the many examples in this book to the noble mission of immense state importance that is being pursued in the USSR. For the first time in the history of humanity sport has become the privilege of the millions, and physical culture has become part and parcel of the socialist way of live. As is testified to by Soviet and overseas experts, it is a prog ress ive system of physica l edu cat ion of a new type with no historical precedent. A prime outstanding feature of the system is its sheer scale, the health orientation, its service in the interests of the publuc and its accessibility. Soviet physical culture has developed as a key component of the government concern for people's health. In excess of 250,000 phys ical cult ure gr ou ps and 7,000 spo rts and sport s-t ech nic al cl ubs operate at factories and mills, schools and farms—in all areas of Soviet society. Virtually 90 million people are engaged in various forms of physical activity and sport. According to expert estimates, the USSR has constructed sports amenities to the aggregate sum of some seven billion rubles; it is also reckoned that in summertime Soviet sports centres can simultaneously accommo dat e over 20 mil lio n peopl e. Figures, figures... They are now perceived as sums of enormous work and concrete results. Today the Soviet Union has more than 350,000 full-time people employed in physical culture: coaches, sports instructors, teachers, researchers and other members of the profession. Sports medicin e provid es a powe rful orien tatio n to hea lth m ain ten anc e. T he USSR is the first coun tr y in the world to set up a state system of medical service for
Soviet
Spori
10
people engaged in physical culture and sport. Over 130 institutes are conducting research and developing projects in the sphere of physical culture: and over 200 specialized higher and intermediate educational institutions are training personnel for sports. The country publishes 35 sports newspapers and magazi nes w ith a single editi on of over eight mill ion copies. The main sports paper Sovetsky sport is on e of the biggest sports publications in the world; every day except Monday its printers in 45 Soviet cities put out almost five million copies that are distributed all over the wo rl d — to mor e than 120 120 c oun trie s. Krasnaya gazeta (Red Gazette), pu bl is he d in the 1920s, 1920s, once wrote, "Tsarist Russia's backwardness was general and pro fou nd.. . As far as the so-ca lled nat iona l out lyi ng provinces of the former tsarist empire are concerned, the very co nc ep t of of phys ical cu lt ur e' was even unknown. The October Revolution changed that situation. The wo rk ahead, however, is en or mo us . Physical culture, an integral part of education, must become equally accessible to all peoples inhabiting our country." The Soviet Uni on is justly kno wn as a cou ntr y wi tho ut areas where people do not go in for sports. We are implem entin g a country-wide p rogr amm e of improving physica l fitness, wh ic h even even today is tr an sf or mi ng ou r state into a gigantic stadium of 22,400,000 square kilometres. Soviet history is rich in examples of how members of one nationality or another have been enriched by the cultural experience and attainments of other nationalities, and have been brought into contact with wo rl d cu ltur e. Soviet sport is ge ne ro us in its its mutual assistance, and is internationalist in its very essence. Coach Levan Suliev, an Ossetian, brought a Russian girl, Elvira Ozolina, to the gold Olympic award, while his Russian colleague, Leningrader Victor Alexeyev, trained Latvian World Champion Inese Jaunzeme. The Press sisters, Tamara and Irina, deprived of home and sustenance in Nazi-devastated Kharkov, found a second home in the remote Uzbek city of Samarkand, and it was here they took up sport and began their path to the Olympic heights. Feelings of friendship and kinship grow strong in the acute, uncompromising contests that take place in sporting arenas; and each Soviet athlete may call any other team member of another nationality his or her comrade in sport As the Sep tem ber 1981 1981 Resolu tion " On Furth er Promoting Mass Phys ical Cul tur e and Spo rt ad op ted by the CPSU Central Committee and USSR Council of Ministers puts it. "The mass nature of the sports movement is
Tem pus
r 'jy-t
11
one of socialism's finest attainments." The USSR Constitution has the following words inscr ibe d in it: "The state state ... enc our age s the dev elo pme nt of mass physical culture and sport" (Article 24). The country has and is constantly improving a uniform ed uc at io n system system wh ic h "serve s ... ... the inte llec tual and phys ical deve lop men t of the yo ut h' (Article 25). 25). The rig ht of Soviet citiz ens to rest and leisu re is is ens ure d, in part icul ar, by "th e de ve lop me nt on a mass scale of sport, physical culture, and camping and tourism" (Article 41), while the right to health protection, as well as "free, qualified medical care ... (and) extension of the netw ork of therap eutic and heal th-b uild ing inst itut ion s" (Article 42) are also guaranteed. These articles of the Constitution contain direct references to the responsible mission of physical culture and sport to ensure the harmonious development of the individual. Guests arriving in the Soviet Union are sometimes surprised at us wanting everyone to engage in sport. Well, here lies the paramount distinguishing feature of our society in that it cares for all its members without exception. This concerns not simply sport, but physical culture in the widest meaning of the term: the physical culture of the nation as a whole. Valery Kudryavtsev, sport Editor-in-Chief of Sovetsky and member of the USSR National Olympic Committee
Milestones in Soviet Sport This chapter contains only a small portion of the events involving Soviet sport over the last seventy years. All the same, we hope that even this brief chronicle will aid the reader in understanding and appreciating the hard road traversed by the Soviet sports movement from the initial decrees of 1917, the primary purpose of which was to improve children's health, to present-day state plans to involve almost 100 million people, over a third of the population, in sporting activities. i
Soviet Spori
14
1917 November.
Lenin and the People's Commissar for Education Anatoly Lunacharsky signed the decree on establishing the State Committee on People's Education. One of the Committee's sections was that on medicine and health. The decree stated, "Comrades, the People's Government puts concern for children in the forefront of its work. Children are our future... "Schools must keep an eye on children's physical and mental development and should provide gymnastics, sports, games, bathing and walks."
1918 January.
April.
October.
Moscow played host to the Speed Skating Championship of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). The first Soviet athlete crowned RSFSR Champion was Yakov Melnikov (1896-1960) who subsequently became European (1927) and World (1927, 1935) Champion. On Lenin's initiative, the government passed a decree on universal military training for all citizens to safeguard the Revolution's gains; the organization set up to implement this training was known as as Vsevobuch. In addition to military disciplines, disciplines, Vsevobuch detachments studi ed the fund amen tals of jphy sica l e duca tion . This is is how the development o,f physical culture and sport in the young Soviet republic began. The State Committee on People's Education issued the Declaration on the Uniform System of Vocational Education, which instructed to employ physical culture and sport as the main means of physical education. "Gymnastics and sport should develop not only strength and skill, but also the ability to take precise group actions, and a spirit of mutual assistance, etc."
1919 April.
May.
Moscow was the venue for the First All-Russia Congress of Physical Culture and Sport Employees. The Congress adopted a resolution which for the first time set out the methodological principles of the Soviet system of physical education aimed at the all-round physical development of young people. The first nationwide parade of athletes and and Vsevobuch detachments took place on Moscow's Red Square. Lenin took the salute and, in his address to those in the
Milestones in Soviet Sport
October.
15
parade, he said, "Today's festival shows what progress we have made, what new force is growing within the working class." The Lesgaft State Physical Ed uca tio n Institute (now adays the Leningrad Lesgaft Physical Culture Institute) opened in Petrograd on the basis of the Physical Education Courses for Women Teachers and Instructors, founded in 1896 by the eminent Russian educationalist and medic Pyotr Lesgaft (1837-1909). The Second Congress of the Russian Young Communist League (Komsomol) debated physical education issues and indicated the need for active Komsomol involvement in the physical education of young people and assistance to the government in promoting physical culture and sport.
1920 May, June.
July.
August.
October.
December.
A Sp ort s Da Day y org ani zed by by Vsevobuch was hel d throughout the country. Mo sc ow held the first cycl e race alo ng the in ner ring-road—the Sadovoye koltso—which subsequently became an annual event. It was to mark its sixtieth anniversary in 1987. Mo sc ow played host to the "Pre -Oly mpic Games ", Omsk to the first Siberian Olympics, Yekaterinburg (now Sverdlovsk) to the first Urals Olympics, Mineralnyye Vody to the first North Caucasus Olympics, and Tashkent to the first Central Asian .Olympics. The Supr eme Physical Cult ure Cou nci l attache d to the Vsevobuch Main Boa rd cam e into being. Its Its dut ies included drawing up programmes, regulations and statutes of physical education, organizing and holding sports events, training coaches, supervising the PT for schoolchildren and students, and being responsible for the medical supervision of athletes. The Third Congress of the Russian Kom som ol ado pte d a detailed resolution on promoting physical culture and sport among young people. Guided by Lenin's instruct io ns — Leni n had in fac t addre ssed del egates o n the opening day—the Congress inscribed in its resolutions that "Physical education of the younger generation is a necessary aspect of the overall system of communist education of young people, aimed at forming a harmonious perso n, a citize n of crea tive ende avou r in in co mm unist society." Lenin signed the Cou nci l of People's Commiss ars' decree on establishing in Moscow the State Physical Culture Institute.
Soviet Spori Spor i
16
1921 May.
July.
August. September.
The Soviet Gover nme nt issued the decr ee "On Rest Rest Homes", which indicated the need to use physical culture and sport for health purposes. The Inter natio nal Associ ation of Red Spor ts Organizations (commonly known as Red Sport International) was set up and given the task of uniting worker sport worldwide, of strengthening proletarian solidarity, and combating the forces of reaction and militarism. Mo sc ow played host to the first Russian Fede ration Swimming Championships. The Soviet Gove rnme nt adopt ed "Pr ovis ion s on Protecting the Health of Children and Juveniles" which defined the role and place of physical education in school and ju j u s t i f i e d t h e n e e d f o r a s c i e n t i f i c a p p r o a c h t o t h e is su e. The Fourth Congress of the Russian Komsomol advocated closing down the old sports clubs and societies. On Komsomol initiative the Muravei Sports Society was set up in Moscow, Spartak in Petrograd, and Krasny molodnyak in Minsk (Byelorussia).
1922 May.
September. December.
Mo sc ow held the run nin g relay relay al on g the Garden Ring-Road—the Sadovoye koltso—which became the forerunner of the annual athletics contest run on that city thoroughfare. The RSFSR held its first Socc er Ch am pi on sh ip s, wo n by the Moscow team. The Uni on of Soviet Social ist Rep ubl ics came into being—the first socialist state in history, expressing the will and interests of the working class, peasantry and intelligentsia, all the nations and nationalities of the country.
1923 June.
The All- Russ ia Centra l Exec utive Co mm it te e (VTslK (VTslK), ), which was the country's supreme legislative, administrative and supervisory body between 1917 and 1937, raised the Supreme Physical Culture Council to the level of a standing committee attached to the VTslK, so as to improve leadership of the sports movement. The Council was entrusted with the task of coordinating and harmonizing the research and organization in physical education and the physical development of the public generally.
Milestones in Soviet Sport
August.
September.
November.
17
On th e ini tia tiv e of Felix Dze rzh ins ky (1877-1926), (1877-1926), prominent Soviet statesman and Party official, the first nation-wide sports society was set up; it became known as Dynamo. The first such society was in Moscow, but within two years, 1923-24, the Moscow example was emu lat ed in Penza, Penza, Ryazan, Ryazan, Ast rak han , Nizhny N ovg oro d (now Gorky) and several other cities. Moscow was the venue for the first USSR Swimming Cha mpi ons hip s, won by the Petro grad (Leningrad ) team. Mo sc ow hel d the first All -Un ion Physica l Cul tur e Festival involving athletes and physical culture enthusiasts from as many as forty Soviet cities. A total of 18 national records were set in events featured in the festival's programme. A football match took place in Berlin between the local worker team and Moscow, which instituted contacts between Soviet athletes and German worker sports clubs; Moscow won the match 6:0. The sp or ts pub lis her s Fizk ultu ra i spo rt (Physical Culture and Sport) came into being to provide literature about sports aimed at a mass audience and specialists alike.
1924 February. May.
July. August. November. December.
Mo sc ow played host to the first USSR Ski ing Cham pio nships. The Party Cent ral Com mit tee Report at its Thi rte ent h Congress stated that the Russian Federation sports organizations had a membership of 375,000, of whom 42 per cen t wer e worke rs. In just seven years the num ber of people doing sport on a regular basis had virtually grown eightfold. The first edi tio n of the new spa per per Krasny sport (nowadays Sovetsky sport) came out. The first USSR USSR Athletic s Ch amp io nsh ip s too k place. place. This mo nt h saw the debu t of th e Sovie t soc cer team. It beat the national Turkish side 3:0. The first Ail-U nion Grec o-Ro man Wrestl ing Cha mpio nships were held.
1925 July. August.
The Party Central Comm itte e ado pte d the resolution "On Tasks of the Party in Physical Culture". Mo sc ow was the venue for a tr ad e- un io n festival of physical culture. The track and field, cycling, shooting and team sports events attracted over 600 participants from the railway, chemical industry, textile, metal-
Soviet Spori
September.
November.
18
worker, mining and trade employee unions. The first Arm ed Forces Au tu mn Cha mpi ons hip s took place, thus inaugurating the general promotion of equestrian sport in the country. The Ail -Un io n Con fere nce of Peopl e Wo rk in g in Physical Culture was held.
1926 April. September.
Mos cow held the first USSR USSR Bo xin g Champio nshi ps. Physical edu cat ion was int rod uce d into the curr icul a of several educational, medical, agricultural and technical colleges as a compulsory subject.
1927 January.
February.
July. August.
October. November.
Four Mos co w ath let es—D mit ry Vasilyev, Vasilyev, Boris Dementyev, tyev, Alex ande r Nem ukh in and Vlad imir Sav in— ski ed fro m Mo sc ow to Helsinki and Sto ck hol m, a total of 2,150 kilometres in 29 days, with an average daily speed of 74 km. The Russ ian Fed era tion ice ho ck ey (ban dy) tea m beat a Swedi sh work er' s team in Len ing rad 11:0; the mat ch was effectively the first time Soviet ice hockey had featured in an international contest. Leningrad also played host to the All-Russia Winter Physical Culture Festival, the winter counterpart of the All-Russia Physical Culture Festival dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Revolution. Mo sc ow held a parade of athletes an d physica l cul tur e enthusiasts involving as many as 18,000 people. Three th ou sa nd athletes and physical cultur e enthusiasts took part in the All-Russia Physical Culture Festival (the summer festival). Besides Russian athletes, the competitions featured sportsmen from such Soviet republics as the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Georgia and Uzbekistan, as well as worker athletes from Germany, Latvia, Norway, Fir>land and Czechoslovakia. During the tournament as mafly as 52 Soviet records were established. The first wo me n' s Chess Chess Cha mpi ons hip s were held. The cou ntr y's first indoo r 25-metre four -lan e swi mm ing pool opened in Leningrad.
1928 August.
The I All -Un ion Spartaki ad was hel d; it was ded ica ted to the First Five-Year Plan for developing the Soviet economy (1928-32) and the tenth anniversary of the
Milestones in Soviet Sport
19
Soviet sports movement. It paved the way for future regular multisport tournaments. The festival programme included events in track-and-field, gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, cycling, shooting, motorcycling, wrestling, boxing, weightlifting, soccer, volleyball, gorodki, tennis, handball, the Russian folk sport of of fencing, rowing and sweep-oar boating, sailing and folk dancing. The Spartakiad had over 7,000 participants, including over 600 600 athletes fro m 17 forei gn co un tr ie s— Czechoslovakia, Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Finland, Argentina and Uruguay. So it was more than a review of the Soviet sports movement, it was a demonstration of the international unity of worker athletes. Sp ort s com pe ti ti on repre sente d, in fact, a festival of friendship between the athletes of the Soviet Union and other countries. The Spartakiad featured athletes from all the Soviet republics. First place in the team competition went to athletes from the Russian Federation.
1929 February.
July.
September.
Oslo was the scen e of the wo rl d speed sk ati ng championships for worker athletes. Sweden, Norway and the USSR took part, though Soviet speed skaters carried off all the medals. Soviet trade un io ns held an Ail -Un ion Fo rtn ig ht of Physical Culture whose timetable of events included mass competitions, display games and performances, and sports parades. By decree of the Russian Federation Council of People's Commissars, physical education became a compulsory subject in all the Republic's colleges and universities, many of which set up their own faculties of physical education and sport. The Party Party Central Com mit tee adop ted a resolu tion "O n the Physical Culture Movement" which emphasized the need for state centralized administration and the involvement of the general public in the movement.
1930 April.
It was dec ide d to inst itut e the All- Unio n Physical Cu lt ur e Council and make all local physical culture councils, from district up to Republican, including the Council itself, bodies of state administration and supervision.
Soviet Spori
20
1931 March.
July.
The All-Union Physical Culture Council ratified the statutes and standards of the new national fitness p r o g r a m m e Gotov k trudu i oborone SSR —GTO (R ea dy for Labour and Defence of the USSR). The statutes stated, "Al l-r oun d physical tra ini ng is is ensur ed t hro ugh the fulfilment of a set of practical and theoretical tests." This GTO set of tests included 15 physical disciplines, such as running, jumping, throwing a hand grenade, skiing and swimming, and a knowledge of the basics of the Soviet sports movement, military training and the application of first aid. Moscow's Red Square was the scene of the All-Union Sports Parade featuring some 40,000 young men and women.
1932 January.
August.
September.
The second grade of the GTO programme was introduced; this contained more testing requirements for all-round physical training on the part of young people. Its programme was expanded to 25 standards: three theoretical requirements and 22 practical tests (21 for women). This was meant to ensure a higher level of training for young people to prepare them for work and defence. The number of sports was now extended. To qualify for a second grade GTO badge required more effort and regular training. The annual All-Union Sports Parade took place on Moscow's Red Square, featuring on this occasion some 70,000 people and dedicated to the GTO programme. The I All -Un ion Tra de Union Spart aki ad was held. The Central Physical Culture Research Institute (now the All-Union Physical Culture Research Institute) was founded in Moscow.
1933 March. August.
September.
The People's Commissariat for Labour gave permission for factory funds earmarked for labour protection to be used for organizing keep-fit exercises at places of work. The annual All-Union Sports Parade in Moscow for the first time featured mass gymnastics displays; they involved some two thousand athletes from the capital. In total the parade involved some 105,000 people. Moscow played host to the Armed Forces Spartakiad for the Red Army Officers.
Milestones in Soviet Sport
21
1934 January.
May.
October.
A set of tests was in tr od uc ed for the physica l tr ai ni ng of gotov k trudu i schoolchildren, known as Bud oborone —BGTO (Be P re p a re d f o r L a b o u r an d De fe nc e) ; it was in ten ded as th e initial stage of all -ro und phy sica l fitness and contained 16 standards in technical sports disciplines. To complete the programme the candidate had to demonstrate a minimum medical knowledge, an abil ity to instru ct som eb od y in a par ticu lar sport, to play an d referee a tea m sp or t. The BGTO was the culminating stage in establishing the uniform All-Union Physical Culture Programme "Ready for L abour and Defence" . All thre e sta ge s—t he BGTO, GTO-I an d GTO-II — had bee n wo rk ed ou t on th e basi s of the general principles of all-round physical education and attaining a high level of overall fitness. They contained standard ratings of mounting difficulty. The first All-Union Chess and Draughts Schoolchildren's Tournament took place; as many as 100,000 young people competed for the right to participate in it. The hon ora ry title of Mer ited Master of Spo rt of th e USSR was instituted, in which connection connection Pravda wrote, "The Soviet Government has inaugurated the Merited Master of Sport title. There can be no doubt that it is to play an august part in raising the sports movement to a higher level." The first such title was bestowed upon the outstanding Soviet speed skater Yakov Melnikov. The Leningrad weightlifter Nikolai Shatov boosted the wo rl d reco rd fr om 75.5 kg to 78.4 kg for the lef t-h and je j e r k in t h e l i g h t w e i g h t d i v i s i o n d u r i n g a M o s c o w v. Leningrad match; the previous world record had been held by the Swiss strongman Hans Eschman. Shatov was the very first Soviet athlete officially to register a world record. Soviet foo tba lle rs (the Mo sc ow team), tra ck and fiel d athletes and boxers journeyed abroad to Czechoslovakia where, besides competing against worker athletes, they took on members of bourgeois clubs, winning every event. In commenting on the high-class performance of Soviet boxers, the Czechoslovak press wrote that they had been a real revelation for the rest of Europe. Mos cow f ootbal lers mark ed up a particul ar succe ss in beating one of the best professional teams in Czechoslovakia and Europe 3:2.
1935 February.
Sovie t cross- cou ntr y r unn ers to ok part in the the L'Huma- nit£ Meeti ng in Paris an d to ok first team place.
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April. August.
22
The Uniform All-Union Sports Classification was introduced, comprising junior rankings, first, second and third adult rankings, and the title of Master of Sport. The Spartak All-Union Voluntary Sports Society came into existence. Footballers of the Ukrainian team beat the Paris professional team Red Star Olympique, on the occasion of which which L'Humanite wrote, "Paris ian work ers too k pride in the victory of their brothers from the USSR, in th em be ing able in just a few years to train suc h splendid champions in no way inferior to champions of capitalist countries."
1936 June.
August.
The All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sport Affairs attached to the USSR Council of People's Com mis sar s cam e into being. It It to ok cha rge of the administration and supervision of the training and placement of physical educationalists and sports personnel, the use of sporting facilities and distribution of sports equipment. On the basis of the successful experience of such sports societies as Dynamo, Spartak and Moscow sports organizations, nationwide trade union sports societies were set up. At the International Chess Tournament held in the British city of Nottingham, the Soviet Grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik shared first place with the Cuban Jose Raul Capablan ca. Wi thou t losing a single matc h, Botv innik overcame such world-renowned players as Emanuel Lasker, Samuel Reshevsky and Salo Flohr.
1937 February. July.
The I All -Un ion Wi nter Spart akia d for Coll ecti ve Farmers took place. For the first time representatives of all the Soviet Union Republics took part in the nationwide Sports Parade on Moscow's Red Square. The Parade was a demonstration of the attainments of the multinational sports movement over the two decades of Soviet government. The III III Wor ke r Oly mpi cs were he ld in Ant wer p. Soviet gymnasts, track and field athletes, footballers, weightlifters and boxers did particularly well. It was the first multisport international performance by Soviet athletes and it bore witness to the progress they had made to the front rank of European sport.
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23
1938 February. July. September.
A four-day skiing race from Yaroslavl to Moscow was held. All-Union Schoolchildren's Sports Competitions were held for the first time. In Georgia the Tbilisi Physical Culture Institute started tra ini ng PT teachers and sport instructors .
1939 February. May. June.
A group of Komsomol members completed the exacting ski crossing along the shores of the White Sea, covering 500 km in five days. A grand total of 17,000 Muscovites started in the annual pravda cross -count ry run held s p r i n g Komsomolskaya in Sokolniki Park. The Soviet Government instituted Athletics Day as an off ici al nat ional h olid ay on 18 July (today, (today, the s ec on d Sunday in August).
1940 July.
A total of 30,000 athletes and physical culture enthusiasts, in clud ing envoys fro m the twelve Unio n Republics, featured in the Athletics Day on Moscow's Red Square. Over the previous year a total of 201 national records, inc lud ing 30 wo rld records, had been broken.
1941 June.
The Nazi Germany perfidiously launched an attack on the Soviet Union. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 began. At the Party's appeal, the work of all state and public organizations was subordinated to the goal of routing the foe. The entire country became a military camp. Military and physical training as well as physical rehabilitation of wounded servicemen acquired top priority within the countrywide programme of combatreadiness. With the outbreak of hostilities and the departure of a large contingent of athletes for the front, sports work by no means ceased. On the very day that the war began, the USSR Cross-Country Motor Racing Championships took place on the Minsk Highway just outside Moscow. When news came through of the Nazi incursions, the
Soviet Spori
NovemberDecember,
24
principal referee of the tournaments issued the order "to continue the competitions and complete them in good order". The order "to continue the competitions" became the motto of all Soviet athletes during the war. In the Urals, in Siberia, in Moscow and even in besieged Leningrad athletes continued to train and take part in matches as well as to fulfil their work duties. And behind the lines the city championships, cross-country runs, relays and super long-distance runs continued, even though the overall scale of sports activities obviously diminished. The Mos co w Cup com pet iti on for ice hockey (bandy) (bandy) was held. The capital also pro vid ed speed skat ing competitions featuring the country's top skaters. And at the toughest moment of the battle for Moscow, when the enemy was less than 30 km away, the city held its Chess Tournament, attracting the attention of the Soviet and foreign sports public. Victory laurels went to Chess Master Isaac Mazel. He had only recently been fighting in units defending Moscow, but when the front-line command realized the importance of the chess championship, they felt it feasible to give the Chess Master leave for the duration of the tournament.
1942 July.
A trade uni on and Kom som ol cross -coun try run was held simultaneously in various towns and villages, involving a total of over five million people. The cross-country was unusual in that it included running over rough terrain, grenade throwing and doing the leopard crawl.
1943 July.
The Tru dov yye Reservy Reservy vol unt ary spo rts society was set up with the principal aim of training young people to be highly-productive workers and good defenders of their homeland.
1944 January-March. September.
Mass skiing tournaments were organized for young collective farmers for the first time. A total of 1,130,000 people took part. The Physical Culture Institute was opened in Kiev.
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25
1945 May.
August.
September. November.
Th e wa r agai nst Nazi Ge rm an y cam e to an end. Mass sports work that year was influenced by that victorious event and the switch over to peacetime construction. The programme of sports events included 22 All-Union championships and over 300 major tournaments and training camp sessions. There were numerou s matche s and city ch am pi on sh ip s in a variety of sports; championships were held by the voluntary sports societies, and winter spartakiads were run by the trade unions in Siberia, the Soviet Far East, the Urals, Northern Caucasus, Central Asia and the Transcaucasus. During the year, 108 new national records were set, and 13 of them actually bettered the existing official world records. The All -Un ion Spor ts Parade was held on Mo sc ow 's Red Square, dedicated to victory in the war. Athletes from all the Union Republics took part. Physical cult ure institute s were fou nde d in Lithuan ia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. The Mos cow Dynamo socc er team tou red the British Isles where it played four matches against British clubs, wi nn in g two and dra win g two, scor ing 19 19 goals and conceding 9.
1946 February.
August.
October.
After an absence fr om interna tional c om pe tit io ns caused by the war, Soviet runners again took part in the L'HumanitG cros s-cou ntry run and scored the team victory. Sovie t tra ck and fiel d athlet es made thei r de but in the European Championships in Oslo. Gold medals went to Nikolai Karakulov, Yevgeniya Sechenova, Tatyana Sevryukova, Nina Dumbadze and Klavdiya Mayuchaya. Sovie t wei ght lif ter s mad e a succ essf ul deb ut at the offi cial Worl d Ch amp ion sh ips in Pari Paris, s, wi nn in g one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The first Soviet World Weightlifting Champion was Grigory Novak; Yakov Kutsenko and Vladimir Svetilko became silver medallists, and Moisei Kasyanik and Georgy Popov took bronze. Soviet sports organiz atio ns affiliated to i nter nati onal associations; the first sports to join were soccer and weightlifting.
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26
1947 April.
Prague saw the debut of Soviet wrestlers in the European Championships. Three Soviet wrestlers, Nikolai Belov, Konstantin Koberidze and Johannes Kotkas, became European Champions. The Soviet basketball team won their first ever European Championships in Prague.
1948 February. May.
In the Finnish city of Turku, Maria Isakova was the first Soviet woman athlete to become World Champion in Speed Skating in combined events. As winner of a chess tournament involving the world's top Grandmasters, Mikhail Botvinnik became the first Soviet chess player to be crowned World Champion.
1949 August. September. October.
Soviet athletes won 115 gold medals at the X International Student Games in Budapest. Prague was the venue for the first Men's World Volleybal l Ch amp ion shi ps; they were wo n by the Soviet Soviet team. Soviet wrestlers won the match in Moscow against the nat ion al Fi nnish team wit h a sco re of 8:0, even th ou gh the opponents included Olympic and world championship medallists in their team.
1950 January. July.
Lyudmila Rudenko was the first Soviet woman to be crowned World Chess Champion. The gigantic Kirov Stadium seating 100,000 spectators opened in Leningrad; it was at that time the nation's biggest arena.
1951 April. May.
The USSR National Olympic Committee was set up. At its 46th Session in Vienna, the International Olympic Committee officially recognized the USSR National Olympic Committee and accepted it into the Olympic movement.
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27
1952 July-August.
August.
Soviet athletes made their Olympic debut at the Helsinki Olympic Games; they won a total of 22 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze medals. The first victors were Nina Roma shko va (subseque ntly Ponomaryova) in track and field, David Tsimakuridze in free-style wrestling, Boris Gurevich in Greco-Roman wrestling, Yury Tyukalov in rowing, Anatoly Bogdanov in rifle shooting, Ivan Udodov in weightlifting, and Victor Chukarin and Maria Gorokhovskaya who both became All-Round Gymnastics Champions. Making its debut in the chess Olympiad in Helsinki, the Soviet team won the tournament. Moscow played host to the first Women's Volleyball World Championships, which were won by the Soviet team.
1953 February. May.
Oleg Goncharenko was the first Soviet male speed skater to become World Champion. Soviet boxers made their debut at the European Cha mpio nsh ips, and titles were won by Vlad imir Engibaryan and Algirdas Shotsikas.
1954 February.
March.
June. August. September.
At the Skiing Worl d Champ ion shi ps held in the Swed ish to wn of Falun, Soviet skier s Vl adi mi r Kuzin , Ly ubo v Kozyreva, Margarita Maslennikova and Valentina Tsareva all took top titles. The Soviet ice hockey (puck) team made a successful debut in the World and European Championships in Stockholm, taking first place without losing a single game. The Soviet gymnastics debut in the Rome World Championships brought Over-All Champion titles to Victor Chukarin, Valentin Muratov and Larisa Latynina. The Finals of the I All-U nion S cho olc hil dre n's Spar taki ad were held in Leningrad and involved more than 2,500 schoolchildren. Roman Brener, Valentina Chumicheva and Tatyana Karakashyants were victorious in the debut by Soviet divers in Turin at the European Diving Championships. Sport s faculties were opene d at at the Moscow, Len ingr ad and Kiev physical culture institutes; this paved the way for the training of top-class coaches.
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November.
28
Soviet mar ksm en made a suc ces sfu l de but at the Wor ld Shooting Championships in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, winning six of the seven cups and establishing 18 wo rl d record s. Anato ly Bog da no v alone gai ned six gold medals.
1955 April.
October.
Boris Shakh lin became All-ro und Gymnastics Cham pion in Frankfurt-on-Maine at the first-ever European Cup in that sport. Kons tant in Salnikov became the first Soviet pentathlete to win a world title at the World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in the Swiss town of Macoline.
1956 January-February.
July. August.
NovemberDecember.
Soviet debut at the VII Winter Olympics. At the Italian resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Soviet athletes won seven gold, three silver and six bronze medals. Lyubov Kozyreva opened the Soviet medal account in skiing, Yevgeny Grishin in speed skating, and the ice hockey team took the Olympic title. The finishing touches were put to the new Lenin Central Stadium in Moscow's Luzhniki district. The F inals of th e I Sp art aki ad of the P eople s of the USSR were held. As many as 23 million people had taken part in the preliminaries, and over 9,000 finalists representing 40 Soviet nationalities came together for the concluding events in Moscow. First prize went to the Moscow team. A total of 355 Republican, 32 national and nine world records were set during the Spartakiad. At the XVI Olympic Games held in Melbourne Soviet athletes gained 37 gold, 29 silver and 32 bronze medals. Vladimir Safronov opened the Soviet account in boxing, Yelizaveta Dementyeva in kayaking, Pavel Kharin and Gratsian Botev in canoeing. First Olympic gold medals were won by the Soviet pentathlon and soccer teams.
1957 September.
At the Paris Worl d Cha mpi ons hip s Alexa ndra Zabelina won the first-ever Soviet gold in fencing. The first Women's Chess Olympiad, held in the Dutch city of Emmen, culminated in victory for the Soviet team.
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29
1958 July.
October.
The Moscow Central Lenin Stadium played host to the first international Znamensky Brothers Memorial Meeting, commemorating the remarkable Soviet running brothers of the 1930s, several times National Champions and winners of many big international tournaments. The All-U nion Kom som ol an d You th Sparta kiad wi th some 15 million participants came to an end.
1959 May.
August.
At the Athletics Championships held in Moscow Vasily Kuznetsov bettered the world record held by Rafer Johnson by 55 points, accumulating 8,357 points in the deca thl on, wh ich is genera lly regarded as as the "bl ue ribbon" event in track and field events. At the end of the year an international survey of sports journalists voted Kuznetsov the best athlete of 1959. The II II USSR USSR Spar taki ad, wit h over 40 mil lio n part icipants from preliminaries to finals, came to an end in Moscow. Some 3,600,000 athletes took part in district, city and regional Spartakiads, setting more than 30,000 local records. The Fina ls wer e con te nd ed by a tot al of 8,432 athletes representing 43 different nationalities. As many as 22 sports featur ed in the comp etiti ons. Duri ng the closing stages of the competitions the finalists set 154 154 Republic an, Mo sco w and Le ni ngr ad records, 12 nat ion al re cord s and thr ee wo rl d records. In the team score victory went once more to Moscow.
1960 February.
AugustSeptember.
September.
Soviet athletes won seven gold, five silver and nine bronze medals at the VIII Winter Olympics held in the American town of Squaw Valley. Lidiya Skoblikova and Klara Guseva won the inaugural Olympic women's speed skating events. Soviet athletes at the XVII Olympic Games held in Rome won a total of 43 gold, 29 silver and 31 bronze medals. First Soviet Olympic victories were in cycling (Victor Kapitonov), in equestrian sport (Sergei Filatov), in fencing (Victor Zhdanovich), and in sailing (Timur Pinegin and Fyodor Shutkov). The Physical Culture Institute opened in Volgograd.
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30
1961 May. June.
August.
Yury Mel ikh ov was the first Soviet athle te to take an individual victory in the Peace Race. Du ri ng the USSR-USA Ath let ics Ma tc h Valery Bru mel set a new world high jumping record of 2.23 m in Moscow. He sub seq uen tly imp rov ed on the wor ld r ecor d a tota l of five times and raised the bar to 2.28 m. It took an entire decade, until 1971, for any rival to break that record. In 1961, 1962 and 1963 an international sports journalist panel voted him top athlete of the year. Mo sco w held the Mode rn Penta thlon Wor ld Cham pion ships, which were won individually by Igor Novikov, with the team title going to the USSR.
1962 March.
May.
September.
The fin als of of the I Winte r USSR Spa rta kia d to ok place in Sverdlovsk and Bakuriani; they had been preceded by preliminaries in ten Union Republics competed for by ten million athletes. The team title in the Finals went once again to Moscow. Anzo r Kibrotsas hvili became the first Soviet ju do wrestler to win a European title when he took the over-all title at the European Judo Championships held in the West German city of Essen. At the inaug ural World Row ing Cha mpi ons hip s held in the Swiss resort of Lucerne Vyacheslav Ivanov took first place in the single sculls.
1963 August.
The III III USSR Spar takia d Finals enc omp ass ed a tota l of 23 sports involving 7,518 athletes. They resulted in six world, five European, 35 national and 389 Republican records. First place went to the Moscow team.
1964 January-February.
Soviet athletes wo n 11 gol d, eig ht silver and six bro nze medals at the IX Winter Olympic Games held in the Austrian city of Innsbruck. The uncrowned Olympic "q ue en " was Lidiya Skobl iko va wh o wo n all fou r of her speed skating races. Vladimir Melanin was the first Soviet biathlon competitor to win an Olympic gold.
Milestones in Soviet Sport
October.
31
Soviet athletes gained 30 gold, 31 silver and 35 bronze medals at the XVIII Olympic Games held in Tokyo. First Olympic golds went to the Soviet swimming (Galina Prozumenshchikova) and volleyball team.
1965 February. May.
Inga Artamonova became Over-All World Champion in speed skating for the fourth time in the World Championships held in the Finnish town of Oulu. Eight out of ten Soviet boxers fought their way to the finals of the European Boxing Championships held in Berlin. In fact, those finals ended 8:0 in favour of the USSR over the rest of Europe.
1966 March.
August.
The II II Winte r USSR USSR Spa rta kia d to ok place. Represent atives of over 40 nationalities took part in the Finals held simultaneously in Sverdlovsk, Terskol, Gorky and Kiev. First place went to the Moscow team. Soviet water polo competitors won the European crown in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
1967 June. July-August.
The Soviet basketball team won the World Championship for the first time in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Finals of the IV USSR Spartakiad, dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the Revolution, took place with over 80 million participants. The preliminaries were held in 160,000 physical culture groups; over 16,000 people competed for titles in 23 sports in the Finals. The Spartakiad produced 20 world, 12 European and 46 national records.
1968 January.
February.
The I All-Union You ng Farmers' Games co mm en ce d; they lasted almost a wh ol e year. More tha n ten million people took part in the first stage, involving mass exercise and fitness tests and spartakiads. The Finals featured 11 sports and were won by the Urozhai (Harvest) team from the Russian Federation. At the X Winter Olympic Games in the French city of Grenoble, Soviet athletes gained five gold, five silver
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June. September. October.
32
and three bronze medals. Vladimir Belousov was the first Soviet athlete to win a gold in ski jumping. T h e Pravda Internation al Run nin g Tou rna men t was held in the Lenin Central Stadium, thereby inaugurating one of the most popu lar of all int ern ati ona l meeting s. The I Wo me n' s Yout h Centra l Asia n and Kazakh Spartakiad took place in Dushanbe. Soviet athletes won 29 gold, 32 silver and 30 bronze medals at the XIX Olympic Games held in Mexico. Yevgeny Petrov was the first Soviet athlete to win an Olympic gold in skeet shooting, and Yelena Belova took the first Soviet gold in the individual women's fencing competition.
1969 August.
November.
The team of Soviet archers made up of Emma Gapchenko, Nonna Kozina and Tatyana Obraztsova were the first athletes to win a wor ld cha mpi ons hip s for the Soviet Union in that sport; they did so in the US town of Valley Falls. The Third All-Union Congress of Collective Farmers adopted a new Statute which stated that "the collective farm adopts measures to improve the everyday life of farmers, and displays daily concern to fortify the health and physical education of farm members and their families".
1970 June.
The Soviet eques tria n team wo n its first Wor ld Championships in the West German city of Aachen. Yelena Petushkova won the individual dressage title and, together with Ivan Kalita and Ivan Kizimov, took the team honours.
1971 July.
September.
Moscow was the venue for the Finals of the V Summer USSR Spartakiad. Some 45 million people took part at some stage of the preliminaries, and over 7,000 athletes contended the Finals which were supplemented that year by handball and archery. During the proceedings a total of 18 wo rl d, 19 Euro pean a nd 3 31 1 national recor d marks were set. First place on this occasion went to the Russian Federation team. The USSR National Olympic Committee upheld the proposal made by Moscow City Council to put forward
Milestones in Soviet Sport
33
Moscow's candidature as host city for the XXII Olympic Games to be held in 1980.
1972 January.
A new GTO natio nal fitne ss pr og ra mm e beca me th e basis of the Soviet physical education system. It was commissioned to help shape the spiritual and moral outlook of Soviet people, to encourage their physical perfection and creative endeavour. Henceforth the GTO was to consist of six grades and be based on the principle of age for that segment of the population from seven to 60. The new programme was as follows: Grade 1 "Ready for the Start"—ages 7-9 (to be introdu ce d fr om 1 Sept embe r 1979); 1979); Gra de 2 "B ol d and Sk il fu l" —a ge s 10-11 10-11 and 12-13; 12-13; Gra de 3 "S po rt s Res erv e"— age s 14-15; 14-15; Grade 4 "St ren gth and Co ur ag e" —ag es 16-18; 16-18; Grade 5 "Physical Per fec tio n"— age s (men) 19-2 19-28 8 an d 29-39; and (women) 19-28 and 29-34; Grad e 6 "Fit ness and H ea lt h" —a ge s (men) 40-49 and 50-60; and (women) 35-44 and 45-55. Each Grade consists of a set of theoretical tests and a set of exercises and sports standards. The theoretical tests include fundamentals of the Soviet physical education system, a knowledge of personal and social hygiene habits, of rules and methods of protection from weapons of mass destruction, and fulfilment of morning keep-fit exercises. The practical standards embrace exer cise s that det erm ine the level of a pers on's phys ical attributes (strength, endurance, speed and skill), as well as exercises that help him or her to master applied habits (running for speed and endurance, strength exercises, high jump and long jump, ski racing, swimming, pull ups, etc.). Those who meet the requirements and standards for Grades 2, 3 and 4 receive silver and go ld badg es; those wh o meet G rade 5 nor ms gai n a silver, gold or gold with distinction. People meeting Grad e 6 stan dard s receive a go ld badge. GTO tests normally take place at sports competitions.
February.
At the XI Winte r Ol ymp ics hel d in Sapp oro, Sovi et athletes won eight gold, five silver and three bronze medals. Vyacheslav Vedenin was the first Soviet athlete to win an individual ski race event; Alexander Ragulin, Vitaly Davydov, Victor Kuzkin and Anatoly Firsov were the first hockey players in the history of the Winter Ol ym pi cs to be mem ber s of of a tea m win ni ng its th ir d ice hockey title. Sov iet ath let es ob ta in ed a to tal of 50 gol d, 27 silver an d 22 bro nze medals at the Mu ni ch XX OLy mpi c Games.
AugustSeptember.
Soviet Spori Spor i
34
First First titles were won in j u d o —b y Sho ta Chochi shvili , in di vin g — by Vl adim ir Vasin, in the men 's ka ya ks —b y Alexander Shaparenko, while the Soviet basketball and water polo teams won first-time victories for their country in these events.
1973 April.
August.
The Sov iet ice hoc key team wo n all its mat che s on the way to taking the world and European title in the championships held in Moscow. Mo sc ow was the venue for the VII Wor ld Stu den t Games in wh ic h Soviet athletes w on 68 gol d, 36 silver and 30 bro nze medals.
1974 March.
August.
October. November.
The Final s of the III III Win ter USSR Spa rta kia d, held in Sverdlovsk and Bakuriani, attracted more than 2,500 ath let es fro m 12 of the 15 15 Repub lic s. Team vic tor y that year went to Leningrad. Vassily So lo mi n and Rufat Riskiev to ok their we igh t division titles at the first-ever World Boxing Championships, held in the Cuban capital of Havana. Mo sc ow was cho sen as host fo r the XXII Olym pic Games at the 75th Session of the IOC, held in Vienna. The "S po rt in Mod ern Soc iet y" Wor ld Cong ress held in Moscow attracted scholars from 45 countries.
1975 March-July.
July.
October.
The VI Su mm er USSR USSR Spa rta kia d to ok place, dedi cat ed to the thirtieth anniversary of Soviet victory in the 1941-45 Great Patriotic War. The sports programme ranged over 27 sports and involved well over 80 million people from preliminaries up to the Finals, which were co nt en de d by over 7,000 7,000 athletes. Altog eth er six wo rl d and Europ ean and 21 national r ecord s tum ble d dur ing the Spartakiad. First team place went again to the Russian Federation. At the Aqua tic Sports Worl d Cha mpi ons hip s held in the Columbian town of Cali the Soviet water polo team won its first gold medals ever. Irina Kalinina became World Diving Champion. The Kiev Kiev Dyn amo soccer tea m tha t had wo n the European Cupwinners' Cup back in May now took the European Super Cup. Vladimir Nevzorov became the first Soviet judo wrestler to take a wo rld title when the Worl d Cham pion ship s were held in Vienna.
Milestones in Soviet Sport
35
1976 February.
July-August. October.
Soviet athletes won 13 gold, six silver and eight bronze med als at the XII Win te r Ol ym pi c G ames h eld in Innsbruck. First-ever Olympic titles went to Soviet ice dan cer s—L yud mil a Pakhomov a and Alexander Gorshkov, while the Soviet biathlete Nikolai Kruglov became the first man in history to "do the Olympic gold double" in winning both the individual and the team events. Sovi et at hlete s at th e XXI Ol ym pi c Games, h eld in Montreal, won 47 gold, 43 silver and 35 bronze medals. The Soviet handball team won its first-ever Olympic title. The inaugural Finals of the All-Union Starts of the Hopefuls team games competition began; they involved children from all over the country competing for Komsomol Central Committee prizes.
1977 October.
The USSR Supreme Soviet adopted a new USSR Constitution envisaging a boost to physical culture and sport (Articles 24, 25 and 41).
1978 March.
Sve rdl ovs k put on t he Finals of the IV IV Win ter USSR Spar taki ad; over 32 32 mi lli on peop le to ok part in the enti re Spar takia d, wh il e mor e than 2,000 2,000 to p ath letes fr om team s re pre sen tin g 12 Republ ics, the citi es of Moscow, Leningrad and Sverdlovsk fought out the Finals.
1979 July-August.
The huge figure of 87,600,000 sports enthusiasts started out in the VII Summer USSR Spartakiad. On the way to the Finals, some 29 mi ll io n com pet ito rs passed t hei r GTO tests and 24.4 mi ll io n g ai ne d a ran ki ng in a spe cif ic sport. The Finals enc omp ass ed 30 spo rts and took place in Moscow and other cities, involving 8,338 finalists. A novel feature of thi s Spa rta kia d was the pa rti ci pa ti on of overseas athletes—almost 2,400 from 85 countries; they came from all over Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, from Australia, Canada, the USA and Japan. The games saw 135 records broken, including 12 world, one European and 18 USSR marks. First place in the team event went once again to the Russian Federation.
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36
1980 February.
July.
July-August.
At th e XIII Win te r Oly mpi cs, held in th e US to wn of Lake Placid, Soviet athletes won ten gold, six silver and six bronze medals. Vera Zozulya won the first Soviet bobsleigh gold, while biathlete Alexander Tikhonov became the first athlete to win a medal at four Winter Olympics. The Sec ond International Spor ts Congre ss "Spo rt in Modern Society" took place in the Georgian capita! of Tbilisi. The XXII Ol ym pi c Game s wer e hel d wi th a gre at deal of success in the city of Moscow as central venue. Athletes from 81 countries and all five continents took part. All told, as many as 8,300 people represented Olympic delega tions , inc lud ing 5,748 5,748 athletes. The comp etit ors sought 203 sets of medals in 21 sports. The high level of sports achievements owed much to the well-prepared competition sites, the top-class equipment, the smoothrunning transport and communications, the fair and precise work by all officials and the friendly atmosphere in which the Games were held. As many as 36 world, 74 Ol ym pi c a nd 39 Euro pea n re cor ds were e stabl ished during the 1980 Games. Ketevan Losaberidze took the first Soviet Olympic title in archery, Yelena Khloptseva and Larisa Popova won the first gold medal for their country in women's double sculls, and Sergei Fesenko wo n a first in men's swim min g. Alt ogether the Soviet squ ad to ok 80 gol d, 69 silver and 46 bro nze medals.
1981 February.
September.
November.
Serg ei Dan ili n becam e the first Soviet man to bec ome World Champion in bobsleigh, in the Swedish town of Hammarstrand. The CPSU Central Comm itte e and Gov ernm ent adopted the resolution "On Further Improving Mass Physical Cu ltu re and Sp or t" that spe lled out a spec ific programme of activity for all Party, state and public organizations for promoting sport for all. The resolution further took stock of the prevailing situation, spotlighted the best experience from various parts of the country and outl in ed pr ospe cts for a fresh i mpe tus to mass physical culture and sport; it also pinpointed the socio-economic, defence, cultural and educative functions of physical culture. The Wor ld Gymnas tics Cha mpio nshi ps, held in Moscow , brought great success to Soviet gymnasts: the AllRound Champions were Yury Korolyov and Olga
Milestones in Soviet Sport
37
Bicherova, and gold medals went to both the Soviet men's and women's teams.
1982 February-March.
March.
December.
The Soviet men's han dba ll tea m to ok the wo rl d tit le for the first time when they won the World Championships held in West Germany. The Finals of the V Win ter USSR USSR Spar taki ad were hel d simultaneously in the three cities of Krasnoyarsk, Div nog ors k and Norils k. A reco rd of of 35 mil lio n peo ple line d u p for the start. 12 Uni on Republ ics, Mo sc ow , Leningrad and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, represented by 2,519 athletes, co nt en de d the Finals. They in cl ud ed 23 Meri ted Masters of Spo rt, 139 139 Inte rnat iona l Class Masters of Sport and 757 Masters of Sport. The Soviet wom en' s hand ball team won the Wor ld Handball Championships, held in Hungary, for the first time.
1983 July-August.
August.
SeptemberOctober. October.
The Finals of the VIII Summer Spartakiad took place in different Soviet cities; the Spartakiad was dedicated to the sixtieth anniversary of the formation of the USSR. A new reco rd of 95 mi lli on peo ple to ok part in th e bi g mul tisp ort c omp eti tio ns cov erin g 40 sports, whi le the Fina ls in vol ved 14,500 to p athle tes fro m all 15 Un io n Republics and over 500 guest athletes from more than fifty countries. Some 3,000 Soviet and 150 foreign j u d g e s o f f i c i a t e d at t h e c o n t e s t s . T h e t o t a l n u m b e r of sports covered in the Finals was 32. While competing in Helsinki, the Soviet high jumper Tamara Bykova became the first woman athlete from the Soviet Union to becom e Wor ld Champ ion at the Wor ld Athletics Games. Kiev played host to the World Championships in free-style and Greco-Roman wrestling and the Soviet unarmed combat sport of of sambo. Soviet Soviet matme n dom inated all three championships. Soviet strongmen took the world team title at the World and European Weightlifting Championships held in Moscow.
1984 February.
Soviet athletes wo n six gold , ten silver and nine bro nz e med als at the XIV Wi nt er Oly mp ics , held in Saray evo.
Soviet Spori
June-September.
38
Igor Malkov was the first Soviet speed skater to become Olympic Champion at 10,000 m. The top interna tional com pet iti on Friendship-84 was held in Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, the Korean People's Demo crat ic Republic, Mong olia, Polan d and the Soviet Union. The Friendship Games covered virtually the whole Olympic programme and were contested by athletes of those socialist states that had been denied participation in the Los Angeles Olympics by the US Administration. Athletes of several other countries also took part. As a result as many as 46 corrections were mad e to the table of wo rl d reco rds.
1985 March.
August.
SeptemberNovember.
The USSR USSR National Olym pic Com mit tee upheld the proposal by Leningrad City Council to host the XVII Winter Olympics in 1996. Mo sc ow held the Euro pean Ath let ics Cup Finals in which the Soviet men's and women's teams were victorious. The mat ch between the wo rl d' s tw o to p chess players Anat oly Karpov and Garri Kaspar ov end ed in victo ry for Kasparov with a score of 13:11. The match was held in Moscow.
1986 June-July.
July.
Sovi et ath let es to ok part in the Peace Race '86 Kiev-Prague-Montreal-New York. The appeal of the Race signed by over twelve million people has been handed over to the UN headquarters. Hist ory' s first Goo dw ill Games held in Mos cow , Tal lin n and Yurmala attracted over 3,000 competitors from 80 cou ntri es represen ting all conti nent s.
Is
Health Principal Record In investing substantial sums of money in sport and recreation, the state certainly does not remain out of pocket. Regular exercise and training help to fortify the health of grown-ups and children alike, make their leisure time more interesting and fruitful, their work more productive, and give them an active and creative life.
Billions for the Millions Quite a number of foreign journalists have commented that Soviet sport is the privilege of the millions. And they are perfectly correct. More than 87 million people are regularly engaged in sport in the Soviet Union; they are aided by some 350,000 full-time exper ts—co ache s, instrucinstructors and specialists of one sort or another. At the services of all sports enthusiasts are up-to-date amenities wh ose ov eral l value is is virt uall y seven billion roubles. Who finances Soviet sport? What are the sources of its material security? Literally billions of roubles are needed to involve millions of people in regular active sport. We have to bear in mind that every sports buff pays 30 kopecks a year in membership fees to sports clubs and receives in exchange services worth between 300 and 450 roubles. State budget expenditure on health and physical culture in 1986 amounted to som e 20 bi ll io n roubl es. Yet this figure alone does not reflect the aggregate state contribution to promoting physical culture and sport. After all it does not cover PT in schools, colleges and universities, which is financed out of the education section of the state budget. Social security payments—which is ju j u s t a n o t h e r b u d g e t i te m — fo r m a i n taini ng chi ldr en's and you ng people 's sports schools also amount to many millions of roubles. Furthermore, most industrial undertakings, collective and state farms use their own funds to pay for sports facilities, equipment, recreation officers and some 50,000 specialists responsible for keep-fit exercises and other physical health work. Public organizations also make a sizeable contribution to sports development .
Th e
tr ad e
un io ns ,
for
ex am pl e,
aiiocate a al most a bill ion roubl es in 1986 to promoting sport and recrea-
Healt h
Is Is t h e
Princ ipal
Reco rd
41
• ion. The se f un ds we re put at t he •isposal of the various voluntary ;;jorts society councils. Moreover, the oluntary sports societies dispose of •neir own funds obtained from memwarship dues, entrance fees to various oorts events and partly out of the rofits made by their own production icllities. , ace 1970 the state lotteries "Sport. jt o" and "Sp rin t" have been runni ng • egularly. and th e p rof its thus earned ire used lor construction of sports • icilities.fof rec ons tru cti on and general upkeep of sports buildings, and f.xnandmg sporting amenities generaly Dozens of sports complexes, -.indiums and sporting grounds have nepn built in Soviet towns and villages .vith money brought in by the lotteries. Arid hundreds of thousands of people attend the sports clubs and physical • irness gr ou ps tha t have op en ed in those sports centres. Muscovites, for example, are well acquainted with the Palace of Sport belonging to the Lenin Komsomol Moscow Car Works; its artificial ice skating-rink is used by athletes and the general public of all ages, from tiny tots to old-age pensioners. But as a matter of fact, the "Sportloto" and Sprint" sports lotteries contributed 600,000 roubles to building the Palace of Spo rt— i.e ., a th ir d of its total cost. The cash received from sports enthusiasts for hiring sporting equipment and renting facilities also constitutes some small addition to the total budget for bettering sports facilities.
T h e Party and Gover nment ado pte d a res olu tio n in Sept embe r 1981 1981 "On Further Improving the Mass Nature of Physical Culture and Sport". It was tne first time that they had combined the notions of "state plan" and "physical culture". Why did they find it necessary to plan what is apparently such a narrow sphere of life? The answer is simple: engaging in recreation and sport is as much a state as a personal affair. In consuming part of the national income, the non-productive sphere (which includes physical culture) increasingly impinges upon material prod ucti on, thereby thereby fashion ing public requirements and improving both the forces and the relations of production That is why the State Planning Committee for nationwide economic development and supervision of the fulfilment of economic plans was no longer happy with the practice of itemizing only sports construction pro je j e c t s a n d t h e o u t p u t of a c e r t a i n assortment of sports goods in the state economic and social plans. Such planning did not comply with the mounting need for the state to administer the complicated mechanic-, of physical education; moreover. ; E was also hampering the process of trying to involve as many people as possible in regular sport and recreation.
There are other ways of financing sport and recreation, and they are on 'he increase. In the vocational schools •or skilled workers, for example, part of the money earned by students during their practical work goes to •nprove mass sport and outdoor rel a t i o n Annually this sum is now in ••xces ••xcess s of 20 mi ll io n roub les.
The concept of "physical culture planni ng " beca me a reality reality in in the a ut um n of 1982. A session ot thy USSR Supreme Soviet—the highest body of state power—ratified the 1983 State Plan fo' Economic and Social Deveiopmer.t conta ining physical cultu re ' tarc tarc,f ,f '-j .ynose iu h; ; 1 ent w as t o be jus* -• ~ipul sory -.s th os e of
Health Made to Measure
- • -" . of i n n .
Soviet
Before that session and virtually for the v.hole year preceding it, the press was tilled with a lively debate on what the targets ought to contain. The State Planning Committee and the Sports Committee were bombarded with thousands of letters expressing various viewpoints on the issue. Some were concerned not to overlook the millions of unorganized sports enthusiasts who were not sports club members; others were keen to make planned targets dependent upon the capacity of the existing material sports amenities; yet others suggested adopting stringent measures to ensure stadiums and gymnasiums were used to full capacity, and so on. With account for the opinions of those who had taken part in this unique form of referendum, the State Planning Committee, the USSR Central Statistical Bureau, and the Soviet Sports Committee drew up draft planning targets. The planned targets were based on prevailing sports facilities and a scie ntif ical ly-g round ed forecast of their future development. The Government passed on those proposals to the USSR Supreme Soviet which included them in the draft aggregate economic plan which was then submitted for attention and ratification at one of its sessions. Here are those targets along with the guidelines for the year: 1. to raise the nu mb er of pe opl e regularly engaged in sport and recreation up to 87.5 million; 2. to att rac t 56.2 mi ll io n peo ple in regularly using sports facilities: 3. to prepare 29.9 million GTO badgeholders: 4. to ensure an aggregate use of the country's sports amenities of no fewer than 21 million people a day Some
ot he r
g o od s
pr od uc ti on ,
pr od uc ti on min ist rie s pl ann ed
targe ts,
su ch
also
pr og ra mm es
of the
are
the
of
the
Tr ad e
Sp or ts
Co mm i tt ee
Who should fall into the category of peop le regul arl y invo lve d in spor t and recreation'? First and foremost they are members of physical culture secti ons spo rt s cl ub s and teams, th ose who are training in the various sports schools or attending health groups and general physical fitness classes, and those covered by the compulsory PT curriculum in school and college. They should also embrace those independently engaging in sport and recr ea ti on — i.e. i.e... peopl e who are permi tted to engage in some form of physical exercise as a result of their annual medic al ex ami nat io n. As a rule they include people who prefer independent outdoor recreation, cycle rides, keep-fit exercises and jogging in the country, in parks or in their own back yard. Su ch a ca te go ry di d not used to be taken int o cons ide rat ion . But now the statistical agencies are establishing the figures through prime acco un ti ng statis tics dr awn up by recreation and sports groups at work and study places. When drawing up the State Plan on Physical Culture, the state bodies naturally took account of the independent powers of the local councils—the Soviets of People's Deputies as they are kn ow n; it is the ir job to supe rvi se sport and recreation in the localities, including responsibility for expanding sports amenities, tackling issues concerned with joint use of the funds belonging to work and study places, various organizations, coilective and state farms, in building stadiums, gymnasiums and courts as well as the ratification of all plans for their location. Th at
vital
role
of
th e
lo ca l
defi nes the terri toria l pri nci ple
in
ni ng
the
vario us
an d
Mi nis try .
gral
spor t part
an d
of
their
total
de ve lo pm en t
co or di na te d
with
Re pu bl ic ,
an d de pa rt me nt s: taige ts
tho se
4 2
sp or ts
as
fea tur e
Spori
the
th e
re cr ea ti on economic
plan
for the
dist.'ic t
anj
co u nc i l s of of
plan-
as as a n
inte-
an d
soci a'
cou ntr y, so
on
tho
Heal th
nildren's Health Society's Health x; physic al hea lth of ch il dr en is a i! aspect of Soviet state policy, lidren come into contact with sport • le they are stil l at ki nd erg art en or che—till the age of six or seven in case of the former, and three in case of the latter. Physical educaof the youngest children takes ice under medical supervision in • = with the c ur ri cu lu m ratifie d by the nous Republican education minis•es Whenever possible it is provided ut of doors. lessons taught by specialist ohers are a compulsory part of the hool timetable; the PT teacher is sponsible for all sports work in the hool. ur. 'he total school year envisages seven, hours of PT in each form although • te overall am ou nt of PT and game s je j e p e n d s o n ag e. T h e p r i m a r y s c h o o l 7 - 1 0 ) devotes 45-minute periods to • msic gymn asti cs, te am games, s wimming and skiing. Athletics is introduced
at
the
ag e s
of
1 1 and
12.
As
children grow older lessons become •nore intricate and the requirements ikewise. Far more stringent demands ere made on pupils of the senior classes, from 13 to 17; after all, many such students take part in both individual and team contests at various evels of
pr of ic ie nc y,
besides attending PT lessons, each oupil must participate in competitions l e a s t once
every
tw o
mon ths .
Dur-
•iq the summer holidays compulsory Min ing •'lo nee r
co nt in ue s camps
(for
in 9-1 5
the year
Yo un g olds).
Is Is t h e
Pri nci pal
43
Rec ord
which particularly cultivate open-air exercises and hiking. In addition to the PT lessons, many sch ool chi ldr en — roughly nine out of ten in the 12-17 age range—attend various sports clubs. There is an extensive network of palaces and houses of Young Pioneers, clubs, hiking lodges, stadiums for children in town and country. All such sports amenitie s are are equi pped with appropriate sports facilities and are staffed by specialist coaches to arrange sports competitions, matches and festivals. All types of Soviet schools have sports gro up s under the super visio n of teachers or professional coaches, and each group consists of children of the same age and roughly equivalent physical ability. They meet no less than twice a week. For yo un g peop le betwee n 13 and 18 there are over 8,000 sports schools where enthusiasts may train in any Olympic
sport.
In
addition
they
can
attend sports schools specializing in gymnastics, swimming, figure skating or tennis: these take children from the age of eight. While some schools speci alize in a single sport , othe rs provide training in two or three. Children register for the sports schools at the start of the school year. In about half such schools youngsters are accepted if they show promise and inclination in a particular sport, as measured by tests. The rest of the schools accept casual sports enthusiasts irrespective of ability. Each school on average takes between 50 and 200 schoolchildren, and the training course lasts five years. Much of Soviet sport is run by the voluntary sports societies which have their own stadiums, swimming pools and skating-rinks. Of late, however. district sports clubs have gr ow n in popularity. In the last few years alone some 9.000 sports and physical fitness ciubs have sprung up f or young
Soviet
people at places of residence, and more tnan 10,000 football pitches and ice-hockey rinks, 60,000 basic playing grounds have been built, and over 30,000 backyard learns and sports ciubs have come into existence. The Leather Ball (soccer), Gold Puck (ice hockey), Olympic Snowflake (skiing), Merry Dolphin (swimming) and White Rook (chess) competitions run by the Komsomol Central Committee have quickly won enormous popularity among y °u n gsters. More than 30 mi ll io n boys and girl s take part annually in such contests. The time may well come when many of them will take an active part in the sporting affairs of the country at an even higher level.
A Priceless Treasure T h e Young Dynamo juni or sports school is conducting an interesting experiment: coaches and sports m .\.i.:s are using a special set of tests to find out the harmonious effect that physical development has on children. The experts are employing intricate devices designed in the sports medical metrology laboratory. Promising athletes are seated beside a panel fitted out with gauges which react to fast button pressing on a device re semb ling a tel egr aph key. key. The "winner" made 59 movements in 14 sec ond s: as the dials plug ge d into the tensometric platform showed, he succeeded in outstripping the rest in speed of foot "tapping". "This youngster has an excellent speed reaction," said Vaiery Arsky, the school head, adding to parents of the other children. "So you see your lads need some training, they could do with some fencing or tennis sessions."
Spori
44
Tests continued apace. In turn the lads take their places in the ergometer saddle as the dial records the diminishing speed of pedalling for each candidate. All the adults have to do is make a simple calculation to find out lung capacity data and gas exchange in the organism. Tnose juniors showing poor results are advised to join the swimming, ice hockey or basketball sections, or to do more running; in other words, to go for tnose sports that develop stamina. Str eng th is teste d on speciallydesigned dinamometers, a horizontal beam that automatically records the number of pull ups, devices for determining height of spot jumping, and starting blocks that register the force of leg thrust off. A laboratory assistant scrupulously records the results of each youngster on a special file so as to compare them subsequently with the results attained after a year or two of training. As Arsky explains, "It is naturally not a matter of predetermining which particular sport our eight-year-old is likely to opt for in the future; it is much more important to know our own orientation with the kids to make sure they grow up genuinely sporting, harmoniously developed, to make sure that we are left with no child who could be branded as unfit for any sports activities. We aren't in search of to mo rr ow 's record-breaker s or cha mpi ons , our p urp ose is to help these boys and girls to become strong ana hardened," The pieces of equipment and training devices made in the sports medical metrology lab can be seen also in the gyms of several Moscow secondary schools. As one school PT teacher puts it, "Whe n chi ldr en use use special eq ui pme nt to boost stamina, measure strength and improve certain muscle groups they are able two or three times more quickly to acquire abilities that enable
Healt h
nem to pass their GTO tests. Inasmuch as youngsters enjoy using techiical equipment (such is the age we ve in), they tend to take to it like a ;sh to water." The Mos co w No. 1 Sp or ts Medi cal Clinic uses similar equipment for quite different purposes. As Lev Markov, eminent sports medic ind the Clinic's head doctor, affirms, Supervision helps the athlete to alter sis motor stereotype formed over the years so that he or she can perform :)ette :)etter. r. This is is co nf ir me d part icula rly hy the experience of the Moscow sprinters Nikolai Sidorov and Irina Nazarova who took gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics... All the same •t is considerably more valuable for us 'o use electronic equipment to improve motor habits, to take preventive measures against injury and illness, and to treat and rehabilitate patients to full fitness."
A Small Town at Play at M o r e than seven seven centu ries ago, after the crusaders had conquered Estland, as the northern part of Estonia used to be called, they built a huge cathedral and stone fortress on the shore of the Baltic Sea where the Ests had had a pagan grove in which they used to worship. Alongside it arose the small town of Haapsalu. Today it is one of the most popular recreation spots on Estonia's west coastline, about a hundred kilometres from the capital Tallinn. The town numbers some 15,000 inhabitants, and its principal work plac e is the fis hin g collective f arm Laane Kalur or Western Fisherman. r
he problem of low activity is certainly not one that afflicts seamen, fisher-
Is Is t h e
Pri ncip al
45
Reco rd
men and those who earn their living from the sea. Yet when assistant farm chairman Velio Kallasmaa was asked how his fellow-townsfolk preferred to spend their leisure time, he answered unequivocally, "Sport first, amateur talent activities second." Once a month the farm puts on a Health Day when thousands gather at the town sports centre and go on a seven-kilometre hike in the country where they take part in various engaging
ation, ning.
contests
ret urn ing
and
forms
home
for
of
the
recre-
eveeve-
Sport for the townsfolk is primarily a means of communion, an enjoyable, sociable facet of life that brings people together. The town has four sports halls: two at schools, one at the Sulev weaving mill and one at the Joud (Strength) rural sports society where all the major town sports events also take place. The packed timetable of the sports gr ou ps gives a feel ing of an even, long-fashioned rhythm. The sports halls are rarely empty. Perhaps that explains the success of the town athletes. Its wrestlers are well known in the country at large. Haapsalu-born Henni Polluste is in charge of Estonia's Greco-Roman wrestling squad. And graduates of the town's fencing school include world championship medal-winners, while Boris Joffe was the first Estonian fencer to take a Soviet championship title. The track and field athletes and marksmen from the town have also produced notable results. Despite such success, people in the town will tell you that victories in top-class sport are not the main thing. They accord far more importance to phys ical fi tn es s— to sport fo r all — like the ski marathon which practically the whole town turns out for, or the popular luge races for adults and j u n i o r s t o g e t h e r . Yo u ha ve t o ra c e uphill with your luge before you can
Soviet
slide riown: both the uphill and downhill portions of the trip are counted for final time. It goes without saying that not a single
young
participant
remains
without a prize. The Laane Kalur collective farm's fitness group sets the tone for the town's sporting life. The fact that those who run the group gen uin ely love sport and recr eati on obviously has much to do with it. It is interesting to note that the Estonian Fishermen's Spartakiad not only has general teams competing; it also has teams made up of farm chiefs, and
the
first place casion.
Haapsalu
on
team
more
than
has
one
taken
oc-
Sociologists claim that sport and recreation help promote initiative and enterprise among managers. There is probably some truth in that, as the example of the Haapsalu collective farm confirms. They not only catch fish and process it in their own fishpacking plant, but they also make garden furniture, breed musquash, make handsome headwear from them, construct mobile caravans and breed pigs. The farm made a net profit of several million roubles in 1986, of wh ic h a sizeable am ou nt went t o sports needs. Such generous financial support enables the farm sports club to run such expensive sports as sailing, motor-boating, motor and motorcycle racing. The farm's fleet of boats is currently fifty strong and includes three cruising yachts and six motorboats. Farmer Raivo Oiglas and mechanic Mats Erisalu used one of these yachts to win the USSR Championships in 1984. Ice-yachting is nonetheless the No. 1 attraction in Haapsalu. The sport became popular at the end of the last century among members of the Estland Yacht Club. During the 1930s Haapsalu racing enthusiasts constr uct ed a fixed-sail ice-yacht wh ic h could travel up to 100 kilometres an hou r in a go od breeze. Endel Voo-
Spori
46
remaa from Haapsalu was three-time European Champion, while Velio Kuusk was the first European to win the North North American c h a m p i o n s h i p s in the sport. Hardly surprisingly, Haapsalu youngsters trying out their first flimsy ice-yachts would love to emulate their heroes.
Sporting Territory This town was founded only only in 1949 and lies on the Kola Peninsula beyond the Arctic Circle. Its brief history confirms the ideas of the great Russian scientist and scholar Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765) who wrote over two hundred years ago that these localities "are bound to be rich in minerals and ores". And the town gained its name, Olenegorsk, from the Olenya Mountain which contains rich iron ore deposits. As Pyotr Zelenov, Head of the Olenegorsk Ore Conc entr atio n Plant, explains, "Ou r tow n is a swiftl ygrowing industrial centre. You are bound to agree that since we call the town modern we have to be sporting at the same time. After all, sport today is a direct aid to our work, especially in a place like this, in the Far North, where people are constantly up against the rigours of nature." Indeed, Olenegorsk has every right to call itself a sporting town. It has a remarkable sports complex that includes two palaces of sport, one with a 25-metre indoor swimming pool, the other with an artificial ice-rink. In addition the town has an open-air jce hock ey rin k, a st ad iu m seating 8,000 specta tors, a fig ure ska tin g rink, a rifle range, halls for boxing, weightlifting, wrestling and table tennis. Two downhill skiing courses have been built just outside the town. All in all, other larger towns might well envy these
Health
nerners
their
wonderful
sports
nties.
.-ting territory... How seductive it You can feel it beckoning, sense it /o / o u r b o n e s f a r b e t t e r t h a n e x p l a i n . it. The town so far has no theatre oncer t hall, hall, and wh en prof essi onal sts visit the town they perform in Ice Palace, the same location ere local figure skaters weave their • ures and pu t on ice re view s. So t he >rting territory becomes artistic ter;ory: sport and the arts share the ,(Tte location. •ferring to the events of a decade -eviously, Pyotr Zelenov goes on to ;y, ;y, "At first I fel t th at ou r s po rt s nenities should be confined to our vn employees. Then events forced a lange of mind. You see, in the main nldren of our employees come to the j o r t s g r o u p s . S o w e l l - p l a n n e d t r a i n •g sessions are bound to be of •nefit to the plant's employees— eir kids will grow up healthy and •lysically fit. Our sports facilities are iw open to everyone. We take a •mall payment from the adults, but othing from the children. In Menegorsk, as elsewhere in the couny. children have free use of palaces f sport, sw im min g pools, stadiums be a mas te r of s po rt in bo x in g, an d arrived in the town more than twenty years ago. He brought with him a pair "jf boxing gloves given him by Niko:ii Korolyov, outstanding Soviet heavyweight and many-times National Champion. Bo xi ng is is far fr om Bra slav sky' s only nterest. At one time he was a stunt ' 1 an in quite a few films based on Iktales, that evidently stems from the
Is the
Pri ncipa l
Reco rd
47
romantic obsession he has with art which embellishes his passion for sport. Members of the Lapland Sports Club are well known beyond the Arctic Circle since they are frequent winners and medallists in regional contests in ice hockey, figure skating, table tennis, Greco-Roman wrestling and the gorodki —a R u s si a n f o l k s p o r t . Sporting territory! You can even sense the smell of the southern cornel plant from whose hardwood they make the lengths of wood for the game of gorodki. You can see Littl e To m Thumb taking part in the New Year ice ball. You may hear the tale of the lucky finder of a remarkably fine amethyst on the White Sea shore. And, of course, you can enjoy the performance of graceful figure skaters and exciting hockey duels. Boris Odegov, athletic doctor at the sports centre explains, "This complex fo r us is is also a vital la un ch in g p ad for health protection. A few years ago we carried out special tests to discover the effect of regular sport and fitness exercis es. Over Over a six -mo nth p eri od we found that athletes and keep-fit enthusiasts fell ill only half as often as tho se wh o d id virtually no ph ysic al exerci se, and they recov ered mu ch more quickly."
Edelweiss at Land's End Kamchatka is a land of silvery hills and smoking volcanoes. From time immemorial the local people have taken a laconic view of the mountains that surround them—either as a place of work or as a hindrance in their way. Incidentally, it was here at the very dawn of Soviet mountain climbing that the well-known Soviet explorer Vladimir Arsenyev made his extremely
Soviet
48
Spori
arduous ascent of the Avachinsky Volcano in 1923. The Soviet downhill skiing squad came to Kamchatka in 1962. It was then that the local people realized fully what enormous pleasure the mountains can give people. Kamchat ka had become a dow nh ill skiin g centre rivalling the Caucasus and the Carpathians. Yet they had not had their own local champions for a long time; that changed when the Agranovsky man and wife arrived, for in the mid-1960s they established their Edelweiss junior downhill ski school. The school is unusual, as is one of its founders, German Agranovsky, a geography teacher by profession, and a mountaineer and rock climber in his spare time—good enough to be asked to clean the famous Admiralty spire in Leningrad on one occasion. He arrived in Kamchatka with his wife Ludmila and seven-year-old daughter Olya, an an accomplished do wn hil l racer, racer, possessing the second sports ranking. The fami ly was to ur in g in the regi on on vacation, but they liked it so much they decided to stay and have their things sent on from Leningrad. The Agranovskys suggested to the local Spartak sports society that it ought to have its own downhill ski school, and they got the backing they sought. It was not long before work was in full swing on the slopes of a nearby hil l; they built a wo od en cottage and put up the sign Edelweiss. Then they set to clearing the slope. Children, followed by their parents, began to help mow the weeds and used rocks to create the necessary relief. Right from the start, from the time they sank their new roots in the mid-1960s, the pair made plain their edu cat ion al p rinc iple : that it was not hard to teac h a chi ld to ski d ow nh il l; the main thing was to teach that child to work hard.
the hands of children and their parents differs from many other such centres. Its distinguishing feature is the training areas, the runs with varying degrees of difficulty. Training sessions include a run on roller skates, j u m p i n g o n b o a r d s a n d o v e r lo g s, a ll manner of exercises on home-made pieces of equipment which help to strengthen all muscle groups. In other words, the downhill run has become a teaching aid for both twenty-yearold "veterans" and three-year-old tots. A course in downhill skiing is now being taught to youngsters scarcely out of their prams. They tend to lack any fear of twists and turns, and when they come a cropper they are up on their feet in no time at all and off skiing. It all bega n as fo ll ow s. Dur in g a tr ip to Aust ria Ly udm il a saw a "sk i nu rser y" where instructors were teaching the elements of moving on the snow to young whipp er-sn apper s. She reckoned that it was a risk with children who could hardly walk, but why not start classes with three-year-olds? All the same, before experimenting with other people's children, she and her husband decided to try out their theories on their own child. Olya first tried on her skis when she was five. And she subsequently did well in the national championships, winning the USSR Cu p an d even ... ... sk iin g do wn the hit her to inacc essib le 7,000 7,000 m Lenin Mountain. All the same she did not bec om e a worl d-cl ass skier. Perhaps she had taken up downhill skiing too late? Whatever the reason, the minimum age for Edelweiss pupils was set at three and has remained so for several years.
The Edelweiss sports centre built by
children.
The Agranovskys have produced National Champions and members of the Soviet national team. Today many of their charges are assisting their
instructors
to
train
young
Heal th
Is the
Pri nci pal
Re cor d
49
We don't have to go back into antiquity for evidence of that. Just take the Indians of the Tarahumar tribe living in Mexico today who still use that hunting method. They are the envy of any marathon runner. One popular game requires that they run for days on end, tossing a ball to each other. What is more, spectators run alongside the participants. Games involving runs of lengthy duration are also known to other ethnic groups around the globe.
simplicity and accessibility of running helped them to avoid sickness that was so prevalent in the age of machinery and automation. People just stopped moving more than was necessary to the organism. Doctors called this phenomenon hypodynamia. In many spheres of work requiring physical labour, people replaced it by lathes, automated machinery and even robots! Without giving it a thought people opted for for comfort wh ic h they exalted as the greatest happiness, yet which brought them sickness. Humanity was beset with heart attacks, strokes, atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. This was the price of the machine age. It was then that the search began for all kinds of means of combating ill health and prolonging life. It is hardly surprising perhaps that some came up wi th ama zin g panaceas — "el ixi r of eternal youth" and "water of life". Scientists and dilettanti rummaged about in the the Oriental fol ios for prescriptions on all eventualities in life. But the truth did not lie there. Finally the answer was found. It turned out that in order to avert all the ailments surrounding hypodynamia, it was simply necessary to return to an active way of life, to move about more, to take up sport.
Our remote ancestors well appreciated the importance of running for health. Some two thousand years ago the Roman poet Horace uttered the following words of wisdom, "If you don't run while you're fit, you'll run when you're sick." And in Ancient Hellas a wall inscription tells us, ''If you wish to be strong, run, if you wish to be handsome, run, if you wish to be wise, run." Nevertheless, for millions of people thr oug ho ut the worl d run nin g as a means of keeping fit has only recently be com e a ge nu in e disc over y. Its Its rerebirth seemed to come just at the right time: many people found that the
And running is the simplest, the most accessible sport that requires no special equipment or piece of apparatus. Go outside your house, onto the pavement, a park pathway, a length of track and just run. You can easily set your own distance or time, you can easily supervise yourself. In other words, the values were so numerous that that more and more thousands of people in countries on all five continents got the running bug: women and men, young and old, mental and manual workers, townspeople and countryfolk. In the USSR running as a means of health maintenance and preventing
lun for Your Life O u r age has be co me so inure d of of irious kinds of discovery and sensaon that we simply fail to notice many f them in the tempestuous round of aily life. And sometimes we discover omething new that was actually nown perhaps thousands of years igo. Jogg in g is just s uch a discovery nade in the late 1960s. * we gl anc e bac k i nto the past we can ^ee that for m il li on s of years hu ma nit y •vnew no other form of travel than ,hanks' pony, and attained considerable expertise at it. There have been rimes when our distant forebears nunted hare or deer without weapons, pursuing them merely by strength of toot,
lung
power
and
heart
endurance.
50
disease became popular in the very early years of the Soviet government when the new sports system was just taking shape. Athletics and simple running were accorded a prime place in the new system. During the 1920s and 1930s the first large-scale crosscountry runs were held, and running took its legitimate place in the GTO standards which were to improve people's health and prepare them for productive work and defence of their country. Cross-country runs were even held during the grim years of the war; more than nine million people of all ages and trades took part, for example, in the joint trade union and Komsomol sponsored cross-country run in the spring of 1944. From 1962 the country's biggest sports event has been the the Pravda- sponsored nationwide cross-country run. Over the past twenty years well over 105 105 mil lio n pe opl e have tak en part. The race organizers have for the last few years even included a run for veterans in the finals programme. Other mass competitions have grown in popularity, like, for example, the Health Day. The simple maxim that one can run at any age is confirmed by many runners in their seventies or eighties in the various long- dista nce runs. The unusual story of war veteran Oleg Los bec ame kn ow n in the mid1960s. He had been wounded five times in battle, including three wounds to his legs. Only people close to him knew of the immense suffering he had to put up with. But his principal method of recovery was running. Oleg Los not only returned to active life, taking a position as a lecturer in a Leningrad college, but he also became a fine athlete, be co mi ng city Running Champion. Gradually he took a liking to supermarathon runs, infected his friends with his enthusiasm and set up the Leningrad long-distance running group of enthusiasts. The marathon
routes were exceedingly impressive: Leningrad-Moscow. Moscow-WarsawBerlin, etc. These people in the autumn of their lives were training for and performing their super-marathons not for records or fame; running simply brought them enjoyment, improved their work capacity, health and general mood, and gave them the feeling they were enjoying life to the full. It all began when Los was talking to Boris Ivanov, head of the Leningrad Spartak sports society; Ivanov suggested that Los should organize a club of fun runners open to allcomers. The club had its inauguration on 6 Feb rua ry 1968, wi th Ol eg Los chosen as its president. The club's nucleus came from his fellowenthusiasts and friends—scholars, lecturers, engineers and manual workers. It was not ail a bundle of laughs. They were the pioneers and they had to do a lot of agitating themselves to attract new faces to the club, to work out organizational forms and training methods. Initially they focused their main attention on former athletes who had quit sport, in that they felt their chief aim was to induce ex-athletes to do active exercise through fun running. It was not long, however, before they realized that was not enough. And from 1971 they took the proper course of primarily concentrating on people who had not done much sport previously yet who wanted simply to maintain or improve their health and fitness. So they created a few health groups from young, middle-aged and older running enthusiasts. Club veterans who had been good runners in their time started to train the newcomers and give them advice, and soon membership had grown to 300. When news of the ciub filtered through, people from other cities began to send in letters, asking them
Hea lt h
j sh ar e t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e a n d g iv e ,jvice. So now the club veterans had v pay pay atte ntio n to their c orr esp ond ence section. Some 150 people were -ow running through the post, so to -peak; though they lived in other ities, they considered themselves honorary members of the Los Club. At •hat time the average age of the runners was 38.5 and a large percentage were people with a variety of health problems. "he club subsequently began to acumulate experience and go from trength to strength. The number of runners was on the increase, and new unning methods began to be worked ujt. Now part-time coaches were conducting training sessions with newcomers based on exercises prepared hi hi the club. The first ranked athletes appeared; they had trained for their ranking while doing some jogging. And the club compiled its regular competition calendar. All the while the forms of club work were improving: members put on thematic evenings, country excursions and entertainment activities run by the members themselves. The club s interesting and attractive events began to induce young people to join, and more and more frequently they began to get applications for membership rrom youngsters even under 20. Today the club has a membership of over 1,200. The question now is whether an organization operating on a voluntary basis can "serve" so many people. It has to be said, however, that more than 600 people regularly visit the club and perform the training Plan, and they are under constant medical supervision and enjoy the advice and recommendation of coaches, as well as taking part in competitions. The other half of the membership is made up of the "correspondence course" runners in other iowns. The
club
currently
has
a
dozen
Is the
Pri nci pal
Re cor d
51
groups: a beginners' group, five fitness groups, two sports ranking groups, two long-distance running groups, experimental athletes' and yo ut h groups , a gr ou p of veteran runners, and a chil dren 's gro up in which the children train along with their parents. A part-time coach supervises each group. All coaches are either correspondence students of the Athletics Department of the Physical Culture Institute, or sports enthusiasts who have completed jogging courses put on by the club. The work is supervised by a board and president. The club rules regulate all its affairs and activities. The club regards its main mission to attract as many Leningraders as possible to daily jogging and running. The club has grown so big that it now has branches in factories, schools and places of residence. Former athletes have joined groups where they can gain a second breath, so to say, come back to sport at a more leisurely pace. The average age has now come down to 32, which may be counted as ano the r of the club s ac hiev emen ts. Every Sunday between 20 and 30 fresh faces appear at the stadium eager to tak e up ru nn in g. What is is mor e, many of them come with their families. This family atmosphere pleases the club management since when the whole family takes up running it is more likely to see it through. So the first joggers club sprang up in Leningrad only two decades ago. Yet it would be hard to visualize the sports movement today without clubs such as that. They exist in just about every town and village, and they are the most likely future form of group sports activity. The All-Union Joggers' Club Council came into existence in 1982; it took charge of the club club movement established by the Recommended and Standard Regulations and Statute on Clubs. A year later it arranged the I
52
i Conference on Jogging and A11 - U! U ! "i - r, r i Walking, which attracted over 500 represent atives of the co unt ry s diverse clubs. The All -Un ion Runn er' s Day held for the first time on 12 September 1982 did much to popularize jogging. On that day well over 4 7 million peo ple too k to the streets, parks and woodlands. To da y it is is no ra rity to see a jo gg er in a park or on deserted track somewhere far from urban civilization; people are are running indepe ndentl y, on their own initiative and according to their own regime. Very often they are their own coaches and doctors. So me m ig ht ask wh y it is we ne ed such joggers' clubs, why we should spend time and effort on setting them up. Things normally have to stand the test of time, take the litmus test of life itself. In this instance time has given its response: the jog ge rs ' clu bs are not simply needed, they are absolutely vital. Jogging is a powerful means of preventive medicine and treatment for many illnesses, especially those of a cardiovascular
nature.
Of
course ,
it
must be said that it fulfils its health fu nc ti on o nly whe n itit is do ne prop erly , wisely. If not it may have the opposite effect and be the cause of an accident. There can be no ambiguity about it. Onc e it it is dem ons tra ted that ru nn in g is a valuable health treatment, it must be applied like any other health treatment only on a specialist's advice and in proper doses. That being the case, we have to equip people with knowledge about jogging, teach them to use the proper dosage, to supervise their own mood and body state, to to run, breathe, recuperate, dress and eat properly, and so on. And all this knowledge, these skills and habits have to come from the clubs themselves themselves since they are effectively the method centre for jogging at the workp lace, in the ne igh bou rho od, the village and the town.
Nowadays clubs which vary in form and methods of operation may be found simultaneously in any town, while in the largest cities they run into several dozen. Many of them have accumulated interesting experience and so possess their own traditions and personality. Thus, the Leningrad club we referred to above is a real running centre capable of satisfying the needs of several hundred people at a time. Its work is strictly disciplined, its numerous groups are stringently regulated and contain people who are roughly equivalent in strength and potential, and work under a coach's supervision. The core of the club's work is the splendidlyorganized training and teaching process. To give another example, let us take the Muravei (Ant) Club in the town of Kaliningrad not far from Moscow. Its membership is made up of likeminded people who share the same interests; it not only provides joint training sessions and competitions, it facilitates human contact by by way of socials and festive occasions. In a wor d, it is is a cl ub based on c om m o n interests. The sports clubs attached to the Mosc o w House of Scholars and the Gorky Central Recreation Park share a clearly-expressed agitational orientation in their activities. They vigorously campaign among Muscovites with the notion of health health through long-distance running. Hence the monthl y "ru nn ing socials" held in the House of Scholars and the "Moscow running days" held in Gorky Park, which attract hundreds of people. The Fili Joggers' Club in Moscow is notable for catering mainly for onetime runners of middle and older age. Its Its ori ent ati on is patently com pet iti ve in that it puts on regular training sessions for running races and various com pet iti ons . It is hardly su rpr isi ng that Fili Fili vets" of te n fea tur e in the
Heal th
: .o of Mos co w' s u nof fic ial record s veteran runners over various dis. es and for d if fe re nt age gro ups . Kaluga the majority of members of Pulse Club attached to the regionsports and health clinic are former nents. Shamil Araslanov, the clinic ctor in charge of the club, is a great nning aficionado; he actively uses vv ru nn in g in trea ti ng a variety of messes. He even has at home a "pill .seum" displaying all the medicines •egone by his former patients who :jght the running bug. j b m e m b e r s f r o m t h e t o w n of ubertsy near Moscow energetically . rnbine fun ru nn in g wit h elemen ts of • arde ning the body and ot her effec,
Is Is t h e
Pri ncip al
Rec ord
53
tests held in towns up and down the country. One could continue the list list ad in- finitum and cite hun dre ds of oth er clubs with their own traditions, distinguishing features and forms of work that have grown out of local conditions, the president's force of personality or attitudes to the club on the part of district, town or sports council chiefs. All the clubs certainly cannot be tarred with the same brush. The main th in g is that all the jo gg er s' clu bs should be on the right track, should provide training and instruction in an acceptable and tested manner, and should operate within the framework of an voluntary sport and health association.
Sports Around the Republics
The Soviet Union is ju j u s t l y r e f e r r e d t o as a country where no backward provincial areas can be found with respect to sport. In fact, a physical fitness program for the entire adult population developed for many years ahead has turned the country into a mammoth sportsground of twenty-two million four hundred thousand square kilometres where almost 90 million people take part in
56
p h y s " a! f i t n e s s a n d that o of
We ho pe that the in fo rm at io n th e
mo ve me n t
tsarist
activi ties.
Figur ati vel y
sp ea ki ng , ail fifte en
re pu bl ic s
nst itu te the Sov iet Un io n can at pre sen t p r o d u c e the ir "c er ti fi ca te s" of g o o d
heal th ide a
sp or ts
pre sen t
sta te
an d
in the rep ubl ics ,
prese nte d be lo w will give the reader
d ev el op me nt
of of t h e
ph ys ic al
fitn ess
man y of wh i ch wer e on ce ba ck wa rd
an d
so me s po rt s
outl yi ng areas of
Russia.
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian Federation) Fo un de d on Octo be r 25 (N ov em be r 7). 7). 1917, 1917, it is the b ig ge st U n i o n R e p u b l i c in in a r ea ea , p o p u l a t i o n a n d e c o n o m i c p o t e n t i a l . Area: over 17 million sq. km.; population: over 130 million. Capital: Moscow.
Forty-two million, 400 thousand people regularly engage in physical fitness and sports programs in the Russian Federation. They are organized into physical fitness collectives (groups, teams and clubs at places of work or residence) of which there are over 130 thousand. Annually, some 15 million people receive GTO (Ready for Labour and Defence) badges, the basic physical fitness level certificate; over 14 mi ll io n a ttai n mass spo rts rankings, i nclu ding 167 167 tho usa nd with first rankings; about 20 thousand qualify for Candidate Master of Sport and over four thousand for Master of Sport titles. About 170 thousand people work in the realm of sport. Four-fifths of them have specialized higher or secondary educations. Their task is to help the population at large organize physical fitness and sports activities. In addition, four million 306 thousand PT instructors, trainers, and coaches
wo rk on a vo lu nt ar y basis. Those who go in for physical fitness and sport in the Russian Federation have at their disposal some 2,000 stadiums, 40,710 gyms, almost 1,400 swimming pools, 4,000 skiing centres, 16,000 shooting ranges and galleries, 55,000 basketball and 109,000 volleyball courts, and 517,000 football pitches. Regional, territorial, and republic competitions in national sports—lifting of weights, various national styles of wrestling, dog-sledge and reindeersled ge races etc. — are reg ula rly staged in the Federation. Almost 8.5 million children take part in track and field events connected with the Starts of the Hopefuls campaign, some two million compete for the prize of the Leather Ball Club, more than 1.5 million are members of the Gold Puck Club, and half a million, the White Rook Club.
Spc'fs Around Around •hi' Republics
57
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (The Ukraine) Fo un de d on De ce mb er 25. 25. 1917. jo in ed the USSR on De ce mb er 30. 1922. 1922. Area: over 600 th ou sa nd sq km.: po pu la ti on : mo re tha n 50 mil lio n Capi tal: Kiev.
:
e than 17 million people engage :-oit or physical fitness activities in Ukraine. 11 mi ll io n of w ho m be j to s p o ' t s c l u b s . Ever Ev ery y year ye ar,, alseven million people receive GTO badges, the basic physical ">ss ievel certificate; more than six Hon attain mass sports rankings. . udi ng 70 th ou sa nd w ho w in first kings and some two thousand •o qualify for the Master of Sport ire than 60 thousand people are iployed full time in making physical :oss and sport part of people's ryday lives The re are also over tw o non volunteer PT instructors, train-
ers and coaches. One million 725 thousand people work as volunteer referees and umpires. Over 900 stadiums, 14,000 gyms, 300 indoor swimming pools, and tens of thousands of sports- und playing fields are placed at the disposal of sport-minded population of the Ukraine. Some six million children and teenagers participate in mass sporting events. Competitions under the motto "Every Member of the Family on His Mark!" are regularly held in almost 300 cities and towns, and 500 rural districts of the Republic, drawing over 260 thousand participants.
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussia) Fou nd ed on Jan ua ry 1, 1919; jo in ed the USSR on De ce mb er 30. 1922. Area: over 207,000 sq. km.; population: about 10 million. Capital: Minsk.
I hree hree milli on 200 th ou sa nd indivi du-s take part in sports and physical tness activities here. Every year over • million of them attain mass sports inkings. and more than 400 qualify • the Mast er of Sp or t titl e, -venty-eight physical fitness centres, •59 physical fitness and sports clubs, • d 238 238 jo gg in g clu bs f un cti on at aces of residence. '->me 14.000 full-time employees work the area of of s port Byel orus sia s ieges and specialized secondary • hooi s gr ad ua te over 1,00 1,000 0 s pecial -
ists annually. Eight hundred thousand voluntary PT instructors devote their free time to physical fitness and sport. There are 144 stadiums in the Republic, 94 swimming poois, 3,250 gyms, nine indoor track and field arenas, and 50 thousand playing-fields. Such large sport facilities as an indoor track and field arena with stands for 2,500 spectators in Gomel or the sports complex of the Labour Reserves Sports Society consisting of a track and field arena, a sw im mi ng pool, and five gyms have been built recently.
58
The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbekistan) Fo un de d on Oct obe r 27 27 1924 1924,, it is the fo ur th largest Uni on Rep ub li c in in po pu lat ion . Area: ab ou t 450 000 sq. km, po pul ation: over 14 million. Capital: Tashkent.
About six million peopie regularly engage in physical fitness programs and sport in Uzbekistan. Every year almost two million receive GTO badges, the basic physical fitness level certificate. About one million 820 thousand athletes attain mass sports rankings, including almost 19 thousand who become holders of the first ranking; about 5,000 qualify for the title of Candidate Master of Sport and more than 300 for Master of Sport. There are 175 stadiums in the Republic, 3,000 gyms, 50 50 sw im mi ng pools,
2,400 shooting ranges and galleries, and about 40,000 football pitches and sports grounds kurash National sports, especially especially wre stl ing and eques tria n games are particularly popular here. Over 20,000 sports specialists, mostly with specialized educations, and 642 instructors t h o u s a n d d volunteer PT PT work with almost 12,000 physical fitness and sports collectives. Daily exercises at places of work have become a regular feature at more than 4,000 enterprises, educational establishments, and institutions.
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (Kazakhstan) Founded on August 26, 1920, initially as an Autonomous Re pu bl ic of the Russian Fed era tio n, it was raised to the st atu s of a Un io n Re pub lic of the USSR on De ce mb er 5, 1936 1936.. Se co nd largest in area and third in population. Area: over two million 717 th ou sa nd sq km.: po pu la ti on : more than 15 15 million. Capital: Alma-Ata.
M ore tha n 5.5 5.5 mil lio n peo ple have made physical fitness and sports activities a regular pastime. Every year, some two million people from seven to sixty receive their basic fitness level certificates GTO badges, and over a million and a half athletes attain mass sports rankings, including 18 thousand for the first ranking. About four thousand qualify for the Candidate Master of Sport title and some 400 become full-fledged Masters.
instructors help the population take its first steps in physical fitness and sport. Mass competitions for children and teenagers are organized in the Republic every year that draw about 4.5 million participants. One million 800 thousand schoolchildren take part in the Starts of the Hopefuls campunn. more than 320 thousand boys vie for the prize of the Leather Ball Club. 110 thousand are members of the Goid Puck Club. 520 thousand play in chess
Almost 23.000 full-time trainers, coaches and other sports personnel and over 550 thousand volunteer PT
tournaments
of
the
White
Rook
Club,
and 300 thousand take part in tournaments of the Wonder Draughts Club.
Spurts Arnun d
• athlet es of Kaz akh sta n have at -,nir dispos al mo re than 130 130 stadiums, .S 70 gy ms, 100 100 s wi mm in g pools. 140 sports grounds, and 1,940 •looting ranges and galleries.
Republics
The calender of sports events in the Republic includes competitions in natio nal spo rts such as wre stl ing , equestrian games, archery, falconry and hunting with golden eagles.
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgia) Founded on Febr uar y 25, 1921, 1921, itit jo in ed the USSR al on g w it h other republics of the Transcaucasian Federation on on December 30, 1922, 1922, and on Dec em be r 5. 1936, it bec ame a Un io n Re pu bl ic of the USSR. Area: over 69,000 sq. km.; population: about five million. Capital: Tbilisi,
Physical fitness and sport have beme part of everyday life for one nillion 795 thousand people, or more han a thi rd of of Geo rgi a's pop ula tio n. These people are organized into more •han 7,100 physical fitness collectives. tvery
year
580
t h o u s a n d d earn
GTO
badges; half a million attain mass • ports r ankin gs, i nc lu di ng 7,500 7,500 h olders of the first ranking; 1,600 qualify ' :>r the title of C an di da te Maste r of Sport, and over 300 are rated as Masters of Sport. m recent years, new sports facilities nave been commissioned, including • he reco nstru cted Dynamo stadium and aquatic sports complex in Tbilisi, ndoor tennis-courts and training
camps at Alakhadzy and Eshera. At present there are over 80 stadiums in the Republic, 1,400 gyms, 70 swimming pools, 2,500 basketball, 3,700 volleyball and 870 handball courts, 1,600 football pitches and 270 shooting ranges and galleries. Georgian villagers are ardent lovers of national sports such as wrestling, a unique ball game, equestrian games including throwing a spear at a target at a gallop or archery at a gal lop , mo un te d polo, and tri ck riding. Mor e than 1,90 1,900 0 train ers and c oac hes and 220,000 volunteer PT instructors help people meet their physical fitness and sporting needs.
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan) Fo un de d on Apr il 28, 28, 1920, 1920, iitt jo in ed the USSR al on g w it h republics of the Transcaucasian Federation on December 30, 1922. 1922. and on Dec em be r 5. 1936, 1936, it bec ame a Uni on R ep ub li c of the USSR. Area: over 86,000 sq. km.: population: about six million. Capital: Baku.
T w o m illion 220 220 thou sand people •ngage in physical fitness programs ;>nd sport with more than 7,500 collectives. Every year over 670 thousand
receive GTO badges, about 450 thousand attain mass sports rankings, including more than 4,700 who are given the first ranking, annually, over
60
900 athletes qualify for the title of Can di late Master of Spo rt a nd ab out 100 'or Master of Sport. More than 11,000 people work fulltime in physical fitness and sport, almost 10,000 of whom have a higher or specialized education. In addition, there are about 170 thousand volunteer trainers and PT instructors. The population of the Republic has at its disposal more than 60 stadiums, about 8,000 outdoor sports facilities, 199 shooting ranges and galleries, 26 swimming pools, 1,150 gyms, and 837 multi-purpose sports-grounds at schools and places of residence. In addition, there are various clubs attached to places of residence—67
physical fitness and sport clubs for adults, over 90 such clubs for children and teenagers, and 120 jogging clubs. Polo, archery, fencing with cornel sticks to the accompaniment of folk instruments, and and gulesh wre stl ing in particular have been very popular in Azerbaijan since olden times. Sixty-two sports and recreation camps for children are organized in summer. Every year 125 thousand boys take part in tournaments vying for prizes instituted by the Leather Ball Club, 380 380 thou sand schoolc hildre n compet e in the Youn g-Pi onee r Friend ship quadrathlon, and over 812 thousand in Starts of the Hopefuls. Kiddies' Games draw about 40 thousand children of preschool age.
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuania) Founded on July 21, 1940, it became a Union Republic of the USSR on Aug us t 3. 3. 1940. 1940. Are a: over 65,000 sq. km., po pu la ti on : exceeds three million. Capital: Vilnius.
O n e mi llion 379 379 tho usa nd people regularly engage in physical fitness pr og ra ms and sport in the R epub lic. Every year about 590 thousand of this number meet sports standards for the GTO program and more than 550 thousand attain mass sports rankings. Some 8,800 achieve first rankings and Candidate Master of Sport, and some 230 are honoured with the title of Master of Sport. There are 4,700 full-time physical fitness and sports staffers in the Repub-
lic, most of whom have a specialized edu cat ion , as well as as 205 thou sa nd volunteer PT instructors. Sporting facilities include 36 stadiums, eight indoor track and field arenas, nine rowing centres, 35 swimming pools, 456 shooting ranges and galleries, 885 gyms, and 4,123 playing fields. Not lon g ago, a Sp ort s Pal ace in Vilnius, an indoor swimming pool in Alitus, and a sports centre of the Physical Education Institute in Kaunas were commissioned.
61
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavia) Founded on October Octob er 12. 12. 192 1924 4 as an Autono Aut onomou mous s Republic Repu blic of the Ukraine, it became a Union Republic on August 2, 1940. Area: over 33.000 sq. sq. km.; population: about four million. Capital: Kishinev. Over one million 380 thousand • eople regularly eng age in physical mess and sport here in almost 4,000 sorts groups and clubs. Every year tore than 460,000 master the GTO togram standards and 390,000 reeive mass sports rankings. Annually, •,500 •,500 jo in the r ank s of fir st- ran ked .portsmen and Candidate Masters of iport, and more than 20 qualify for laster of Sport. he Republic's population has at is disposal 67 stadiums, 28 swimrung pools, 1,164 gyms, 784 shootig galleries, over 1,000 football itches and more than 7,000 play j i o u n d s .
Over 5,000 sports personnel, threequarters of whom have a specialized education, pass their experience on to fitness enthusiasts. Thousands of young people and adults take up the national form of wre stl ing that is very very pop ula r in Moldavia. Particular attention is paid to the physical education of the younger generation. More than 600,000 schoolchildren engage in physical fitness programs, in Starts of the Hopefuls and Merry Starts, and compete for prizes instituted by the Leather Ball Club, the White Rook Club, and the Merry Dolphin Club.
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvia) Founded on July 21, 1940, it joined the USSR on August 5, 1940. Area: over 63,000 sq. sq. km.; population: more more than 2,500,000. Capital: Riga. Over 920 thousand people who reguarly engage in physical fitness and sport are organized into more than 2,840 sports groups and clubs. Every year more than 360 thousand people •am GTO badges and 370 thousand necome rated sportsmen; over 4,200 athletes receive first rankings, more 'han 370 qualify for Candidate Master • f Sport, and 180 for Master of Sport. Almost 4.000 full-time sport staffers, ' 567 567 of wh om have a hig her educ a•on in physical training, help people
get involved in the physical fitness and sports movement. In addition to this number, there are 86,000 volunteer PT instructors and 80,000 referees. The Republic's sports facilities include 36 stadiums, 1,166 volleyball, 678 basketball and 213 handball courts, 320 foo tba ll pitches, 50 trac k and f ield arenas, 89 ice hockey rinks, and 28 swimming pools. In addition, there are 63 physical culture and sports clubs at places of residence with a member-
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ship u' 61,000. 53,000 children study at 90 specialized sports schools where 40 different
sports are taught, while over 27,000 children and youngsters attend 1,457 beginners' groups.
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghizia) Founded on October 14, 1924, as an autonomous regio n of the Russia n Federati on, it was reorg ani zed into a Unio n Repu bli c of th e USSR on De ce mb er 5, 1936. Are a: ab ou t 200,000 sq. km.: population: over 3,000,000. Capita l: Frunze.
About one million 190 thousand people belonging to 2,760 sports groups, teams and clubs regularly engage in physical fitness activities, and sports, play national games, or go in for hiking, camping, hunting and fishing in the Republic. Every year some 365 thousand people meet GTO standards, more than 280 thousand receive mass sports rankings, including 3,000 first rankings. The title of Candidate Master of Sport is awarded to 400 athletes, and Master of Sport to 80. Among the Republic's sport facilities are 24 stadiums, 26 swimming pools, 267 shooting ranges and galleries, 808 gyms, 3,558 volleyball and 2,375 basketball courts, 905 football pitches, and 24 sports clubs.
5,132 PT instructors, including 4,184 with specialized higher or secondary educations, assist population of the Republic in its efforts to join in the mass physical fitness and sports movement. Horse-racing, wrestling on horseback, wre stl ing wi th a sash, and sh oot ing at targets while galloping are the most popular national sports in the Republic. Competitions in various sports events draw an increasing number of children and young people every year. About 340 thousand young athletes take part in the Starts of the Hopefuls cam pai gn and 68 tho usa nd chil dre n vie for prizes instituted by such clubs as the Lea th er Ball, Littl e Ear of Wheat, Youth, and Hope.
The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajikistan) F o u n d e d o n O c t o b e r 1 4, 4 , 1 9 24 24 a s a n A u t o n o m o u s R e p u b l i c wi th in Uzb eki sta n, it was reo rg ani zed into a Uni on Repub li c of the USSR on October 16, 1929, Area, over 143,000 sq. km.: p o p u l a t i o n : a b o u t 4 , 0 00 00 , 0 00 00 . C a p i t a l : D u s h a n b e . O n e who an d
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•e Master of Sport and about 100 Master of Sport. •-80 full-time sports personnel, the erwhelming majority of whom have eoal/zed secondary or higher edu,non, assist the populace with physi•j fitness and sports programs. Over 0 PT i ns tru cto rs have been honied with the title of Merited Coach the Republic, in addition there are ver 90,000 volunteer PT instructors id trainers working actively in physi1 fitness and spo rt. he Republic's sports facilities include 2,000 basketball and 3 stadiums. 345 volleyball courts, 936 football -itches, 673 gyms, 165 shooting
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ranges and galleries, and 33 swimming pools. Over the past few years, large sports complexes have been built: an Olympic rowing centre in Dushanbe, and an Alpine skiing complex with lifts and a hotel. National wrestling, wrestling, chavgonbozi —an anc ien t gam e a kin to fiel d hoc ke y — tight-rope walking, and running competitions are quite popular. Taj iki sta n is a majo r Soviet mo un taineering centre, for it is here that the country's highest peaks are found, including about one hundred peaks higher than 6,000 metres. So naturally, there are many mountaineering camps in the area.
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Armenia) Fo un de d on Nov em be r 29, 1920, 1920, it jo in ed the USSR al on g wi th othe r republic s of the Tra nsc auc asi an Federation on D ece mbe r 30, 1922. Its status changed on December 5. 1936, when it be ca me a Uni on Repu bli c. Area : abo ut 30,000 sq. km. ; p op ul ation: over 2.5 million. Capital: Yerevan.
Here, 994 thousand people regularly engage in physical fitness programs and sport. They belong to 3,490 sports groups, clubs and physical fitness learns. Every year a quarter of a mil lio n peop le meas ure up to mass .sports standards (GTO), about 3.5 thousand receive first rankings, and over 500 qualify for Candidate Master of Sport, and more than 100 for Master of Sport. 2 . 8 6 0 full-time coaches and 107 ihousand volunteer PT instructors and •rainers help people go out for physoal fitness and sport. The number of referees and umpires totals "7.000.
There are 27 stadiums in the Republic, 1,277 gyms, 71 swimming pools, 713 basketball, 824 volleyball and 208 han dba ll courts, 230 foo tba ll pi tches , 25 tenn is- cour ts, 111 111 sh oo ti ng ranges and galleries, and 116 multi-purpose sports-grounds. National wrestling, ball games (on foot or hors ebac k), and eque str ian game s are very popular among the Armenians. Children have the opportunity to ente r one of 159 159 spe cia liz ed s por ts scho ols. Abou t half half a mill ion children and young people take part in various sports competitions annually.
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The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmenia) Fou nde d as Tu rk me n Regi on of the Turkes tan Au to no mo us Republic on August 7, 1921 ; t be ca me a Uni on Rep ubl ic of the USSR on October 27. 1924. Area: about 500.000 sq. km.: p o p u l a t i o n : o v e r 2 .5 .5 m i l l i o n . C a p i t a l Ashk haba d.
M o r e than one millio n people regu regu-larly engage in physical fitness programs and sport in the Republic. More than 300,000 GTO badge wearers and over 170,000 rated athletes are trained in the 2,918 physical fitness collectives every year. Over 2,000 athletes achieve first rankings, about 500 qualify for the Candidate Master of Sport title, and over 75 become Masters of Sport. 4.5 thousand are employed as full-time coaches, of whom 3.3 thousand have a specialized higher or secondary education; they help draw people into
physical fitness and sport. The Republic's sports facilities include 22 stadiums, 604 gyms, 14 swimming pools, 174 shooting ranges and galleries, 1,885 volleyball, 743 basketball and 315 handball courts, and 509 football pitches. Much attention is paid to the development of physical fitness and sport amo ng ch ildr en and teenagers. Abo ut 36 thousand young athletes take up sport at more than 100 chi ldr en' s an d young people's sports schools and at three schools of advanced training.
The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (Estonia) Fo un de d on July 21, 21, 1940, it jo in ed the USSR on Au gu st 6 of the same year. year. Area: over 45,000 sq. km.: popu la ti on : mo re th an a mil lio n and a half. Capi tal : Tal linn .
A b o u t 600,000 600,000 people in Estonia bebelonging to more than 1,600 physical fitness groups regularly engage in physical fitness and sports activities. Every year, 215,000 physical fitness fans meet GTO standards and 255,000 achieve mass sports rankings, including over 6,000 athletes who become holders of the first ranking. Over 800 qualify for the title of Candidate Master of Sp or t and ab ou t 150 fo r Ma ster of Sport. About 2,700 full-time staffers, over 66,000 volunteer PT instructors, and more than seven thousand referees and umpires work in the area of physical culture and sport. The re are 19 sta di um s in the Rep ubl ic
462 gyms, 218 playing-fields, 40 swimming pools, and 139 shooting ranges and galleries. In addition, over 70 physical fitness clubs and centres with a membership of about 16,000 function at places of residence. Children's sport is developing actively in Estonia. Every year, more than 155,000 children and teenagers participate in the Starts of the Hopefuls campaign, and about 18,000 compete for prizes of the Leather Ball and Gold Puck clubs. Ya ch ti ng is a very pop ula r sport in the Republic. In 1980. Tallinn was the venue of the regatta within the framework of the XXII Olympic Games.
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Soviet Sport in Questions and Answers We hear much of the Soviet citizen's right to sport. How is that implemented?
In accordance with the USSR Constitution citizens of the Soviet Union enjoy the right to rest which, specifically, is ensured by the promotion of sport for all, physical culture and outdoor recreation. The state has established extensive opportunities for that facility. It has been calculated, for example, that over 20 million people can engage in sport and recreation daily at all the country's sports centres (stadiums, swimming pools, games halls and courts) in summertime. What is more, recreation is practically free of charge in so far as the annual mem ber shi p payment to a spor ts society, as mentioned earlier, is no more than 30 kopecks. Sports enthusiasts can use equipment, amenities and gear for that purel y nom in al sum. The state r emu nera tes coaches and, together with public organizations, particularly the trade unions, it bears the costs of holding com pet iti ons and sports festivals, festivals, inc lud ing money spent on transporting, feeding, accommodating and providing medical services to athletes.
Why is so much attention paid to physical culture?
Because it is accessible to people of all ages and all degrees of physical fitness, and i^the simplest and most effective means of bolstering health. One might cite several new forms of health and recreation activities—countrywide festivals of running, skiing or swimming, mass cross-country runs and cycling races. On such days millions of people, many for the very first time, line up at the start in town and country. Regular inv olv eme nt in physica l cu ltu re helps to attract people to sports events, induces them to take up serious training and better their skill. So it is precisely mass physical culture that has become the foundation for top achievements in sport.
What is a physical culture group?
Virt uall y every indu stri al enterpris e, farm , sc hoo l, college and of fic e has its ow n physi cal cu lt ur e orga nization, of which there are currently more than 250,000, including 130,000 in rural areas. Physical culture groups with a large membership (like those at big factories or industrial complexes, or at universities) receive the title
8- 11
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of sports club and normally possess their own sports centre with up-to-date equipment and amenities which enable them to cultivate several sports. The smaller gro ups usually pro mot e just a few popula r sports, wh ile frequently renting sports facilities on the money earmarked for those purposes by the management and trade union committee.
What is a voluntary sports society (DSO)?
It is a soc iety tha t affil iat es main ly on the p ri nc ip le of place of work the physical culture groups at industrial enterprises, farms, colleges and offices. For example, the All-Union Lokomotiv DSO covers athletes and fitness enthusiasts employed on the railways; Burevestnik is for students and teaching staff in higher education; Trudovyye rezervy is for students and teaching staff in the vocational trade colleges. Most DSOs come under the trade unions. The first trade-union DSO was Spartak, formed in 1935, while the All-Union Physical and Sports Society Dynamo dates from 1923. Every DSO has its own rules, emblem, flag and sportswear for athletes; each one conducts its own com pet itio ns and form s teams in various sports that take part in the national championships and cups; and each society registers its own records.
Does the Soviet Union have a Sports Ministry?
The Committee on Physical Culture and Sport attached to the USSR Council of Ministers is in charge of the physical culture and sports movement. All the decisions and instructions on sport and fitness programmes taken by this state body are binding on all ministries and departments. The Comm itt ee' s range of activities is fairly diverse: t o draw up and impl eme nt a scie ntif ical ly-g roun ded system of physical education; widely to involve people of all ages and professions in sport and fitness programmes; to train highly proficient athletes. It is also the Committee's responsibility to extend contacts with foreign sports organizations and to coordinate the activity of Soviet members of international sports federations and associations. The paramount decisions of the USSR Sports Committee (as it is known for short) are discussed and ratified by its board whose membership includes representatives of other state and public organizations (including the trade unions, the Komsomol and education bodies) concerned with sport and fitness programmes, as well as the Com mi tte e's own leadin g member s. The USSR Sports Committee is responsible for all
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spo rts cult iva ted in the cou ntr y as as well as fo r co nst ruc ting all major sports amenities and for training sports and physical culture personnel.
What part do the trade unions play in Soviet sport?
Very great. Suffice it to say that roughly half the number of Soviet physical fitness ethusiasts (48 million) are members of the trade union DSOs. In their concern for the health of all employees, the union enterprise com mit tee s see see that a special clause on pro mo tin g mass sport, fitness exercises and health is inserted in the collective agreements which they sign with management. In all industrial undertakings, in colleges and in farms, tra de un io n co mm it te es assist assist in the wo rk of the spo rts groups. The union DSOs currently have 142,000 physical culture groups and possess almost 3,000 stadiums, more than 13,000 sports halls, over 1,000 swimming pools, 1,500 tennis courts, nearly 5,000 ski centres. 15,000 ice hockey rinks, 330,000 sports courts and pitches, as well as 2,800 children's and young people's sports schools, and more than 2,000 sports and health camps. Every Every year year the unio ns spend almost a bil lio n rou ble s ou t of their own funds on promoting sport and physical culture. The union DSOs train top-class athletes; at the 1980 Summer Olympics, for example, trade union-sponsored athletes won 57 out of the Soviet total of 80 gold medals.
What is "production gymnastics", often mentioned in the Soviet press?
These are a spec ial set set of physi cal exerc ises wh ic h people are supposed to do during "coffee breaks". They are designed to help eliminate fatigue. These breaks for exercise are held once or twice a day and last normally about five minutes—hence their popular name of "five-minutes of bracing exercise". The exercises are worked out jointly by medics and recreation officers with account for the nature of the work being done by those they are designed for. At the present time production gymnastics are being performed at more than 200,000 places of work and study; they are usually conducted by specially-trained instructors.
How many Soviet people engage in sport?
By athletes or sportsmen we refer to regularly in a particular sports group competitions. At the moment we have permanent sports enthusiasts, including
8'
those who train and perform in over 50 million some 19 million
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in the coun trys ide. More than half (abo ut 30 30 mill ion) have a sports ranking, more than 500,000 have met the standards for Candidate Master of Sport, some 200,000 bear the title of Master of Sport, and more than 8,000 have the International Master of Sport title. Registered athletes also include young people at the sports schools where more than three million schoolchildren train. The number of actual sports enthusiasts is much greater. Schoolchildren and students, for example, do various sports within the framework of their study curriculum, and many millions of "unaccounted for" casual athletes line up for the start of mass contests and sports festivals, including such occasions as the countrywide festivals of running, skiing and swimming, and the multi-sport GTO days, not to mention the many cro ss-c oun try runs. That is wh y statis tics qu ot e a fig ur e of in excess of 87 million people engaging in sport and fitness programmes. What sports are cultivated?
Over seventy not co un ti ng the vari ous fol k gam es; they inclu de all Olymp ic sports. Of the non -Ol imp ic disciplines, besides such well-known sports as acrobatics, badminton, rugby, unarmed combat combat (sambo) and mountain eer ing, there are plen ty of of fans fo r o rie nte eri ng, trampolining, water skiing and bandy.
Is there one favourite sport?
If we take int o co nsi de ra tio n the nu mb er of people en ga gi ng in in a par tic ula r spo rt we must give athl etic s the vote. The USSR Athletics Federation has over seven million athletes on its books. Volleyball (six million), skiing (five million) and soccer (almost five million) are very popular among young people. Sk iin g is the No. 1 spor t in ter ms of p art ici pan ts in the wintertime, as one would expect in a country with several months of snow over much of its territory.
The annual membership dues to a sports society are 30 kopecks. What do people pay for sport when they are not sports club members?
That depends on what sport the person fancies. If he or she wishes to spend time swimming, playing tennis or horse-riding with specialist expertise, that person can avail himself of a season ticket or entry payment to use the appropriate facilities. For example, it costs one rou ble an hou r to swi m wit h a sub sc rip tio n gro up in the Moscow Olympic Swimming Pool which was built for the 1980 Olympic Games, while it costs roughly three roubles an hour for adults and 25 kopecks for children to hire a horse at the Bitsa Equestrian Centre, which was also constructed specially for the 1980 Olympics. For several years we have had certain fitness and sports
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complexes on a profit and loss basis, operating as part of the con su me r services netw ork . For a small fee (about three roubles a month on average) anyone can not only play any sport, but also attend a rehabilitation centre, enjoy a sauna and have a check-up from a sports medic.
I s t h e r e a c o n c e p t of expensive sports?
There is inde ed. Take equ est ria nis m as an exam ple. The re no wn ed Pepel on wh ic h Yelen a Petush kova, now Vice -Pre side nt of the USSR USSR Natio nal Oly mpi c Com mi tte e and researcher at Moscow University, won the World Dressage Championships was valued at several tens of thousands dollars. And ten thousand dollars was the price paid for the motor-cycle ridden by Leningrad stu den t Genn ady Moiseyev whe n he wo n the w or ld motocross championships. No less expensive were the yachts pil oted by Valenti n Mankin, thric e Oly mpic Champion, now an engineer in Kiev. Nonetheless, neither Petushkova's Pepel, nor Moiseyev's motor-bike, nor Mankin's yachts cost them a kopeck. Each of them, like many thousands of other Soviet athletes, paid their annual 30-kopeck dues, and the sports society gave them the horses, motor-bikes and yachts on which they won World Championships and Olympic Games.
Does sport feature in the school timetable?
Yes, tw ic e a week . From the first fo rm all chi ldr en atte nd physi cal ed uca tio n lessons. They are only excus ed if they can pr od uc e a do ct or 's note. Marks are awa rde d fo r per fo rm anc e at t)ie PT lessons, on a par with other school subjects. And the PT mark also features in the school-leaving certificate, the "maturity certificate". Tw o les sons of PT a week is not mu ch . Sci ent is ts a nd medics have demonstrated experimentally that children need a much greater amount of activity and physical exercise. In recent years Soviet schools have been trying out the idea of "exercise breaks". This means that during the main break the 7-15-year-olds go out into the playing grounds or school yard to piay active games with their teachers. Some 82 per cent of all school PT teachers (120,000 in all) have a col leg e or univer sity quali fic ati on wh ic h ensures an overall high level of physical education work. Each PT teacher is also responsible for conducting extracurricular sports activities for those who want them. Schools have their own sports groups run by teachers or senior pupils from among the best athletes; there are also sports groups for beginners run by the children's and young people's sports schools.
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How is the younger generation of talented athletes nurtured?
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The Soviet Union has chi ld re n' s and yo un g p eop le' s sports schools (CYPSS) at which boys and girls with sporting ability and an inclination to improve their skill in a part icul ar s port can co me an d tra in after sc ho ol — in the afternoon or evening. There are more than 8,000 such schools catering for almost four million young people. They normally have their own sports amenities and well-qualified coaches. It is an invariable condition for acceptance into a CYPSS that besides sports talent the applicant must have good school marks. Some ordinary secondary schools have recently experimented with special sports classes for children, which are local branches of the CYPSS. After their regular lessons in the school timetable the children go home and come back later to train in the school gym. There are currently over 3,000 such sports-oriented classes in progress. The CYPSS have trained many athletes who have subsequently become top-class athletes and members of Soviet national squads. Of the 24 members of the men 's sw im mi ng te am at the 1980 1980 Oly mpic s, fo r example, seven had trained in a CYPSS, while 11 of the 15 members of the Soviet women's swimming team were ex-CYPSS charges. The 1983 World Gymnastics Championships were won by Dmitry Bilozerchev, and the 1983 European Gymnastics Championships by Olga Bicherova, both Moscow students and graduates of a sports school of the Army Central Sports Club.
Are there many special children's competitions?
Indee d. An d of a gre at varie ty. The Sta rts of th e Hopeful s track and field com pet iti ons are particu larly pop ular amo ng sch ool chi ldr en ; they are con ten ded by school forms in which all pupils take part—the strong athletes and the novices. The winners meet in the Finals at the Artek children's health centre in the Crimea. Starts of the Hopefuls attract up to 20 million participants. Just as well-established fixtures in the children's competitive calendar are the Gold Puck in ice hockey, the Leather Ball in soccer, the Merry Dolphin in swimming and the White Rook in chess, all of which attract millions of entrants. The All-Union Spartakiads are the major junior competitions. They initially start the ball rolling in schools from which the best athletes meet at city, district and regional championships. To compete in the finals local champions make up Republican junior teams. Up to 37 million children take part in the Spartakiad preliminaries, while as many as 6,500 top junior athletes, often CYPSS members, fight out the finals in more than
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20 sports. Thus, a year before he set his first world high j u m p i n g r e c o r d V l a d i m i r Y a s h c h e n k o w o n t h e J u n i o r Spartakiad with a jump of 2 m 26 cm.
Must all students do physical culture?
Physical ed uc at io n is part of the cu rr ic ul um at all high er educ atio nal institu tions, and atten dance is com pul sor y for all stu den ts in thei r first tw o years. Stu den ts of weak health, however, have preparatory and special medical groups with a lighter load. Victor Markin, then a first-year student at the Novosibirsk Medical College, was advised to a tte nd just such a gr ou p. On ce his healt h had impr ove d in the prep arat ory gr ou p, Mar kin gained medical permission to transfer to the basic group and there took such a liking to sport that after a few year s he wo n the go ld m eda l in the 400 m r un during the Moscow Olympics. All colleges and universities have sports clubs operating on a voluntary basis. The student sportsclub is at the centre of extensive fitness and health-improving activities; it also organizes sports groups for those who wish to pursue a sport after lectures and improve their skill at a particular sport. As many as 20,000 instructors and some 2,500 professional coaches work in the student sports and fitness movement, while student sports clubs practise some 50 sports, including all the Olympic ones. The most popular are track and field with 226,000 participants and skiing with 155,000 registered enthusiasts.
Do students have their own sports society?
Yes. Spo rts clu bs at most coll eges and unive rsiti es are mem ber s of the Bure vest nik volu nta ry spo rts society. There are so me exc epti ons . Spo rts clu bs at coll eges training railway engineers, for example, come under the auspices of the Lokomotiv DSO—for railway personnel. Today Burevestnik is responsible for sports clubs in almost 700 higher educational establishments: that involves more than two million students and some 360,000 teaching staff. Student sport has at its disposal more than 50 stadiums, almost 400 ski centres, 82 swimming pools, more than 1,700 multi-purpose sports halls, 32,000 basketball, volleyball and handball courts and 315 shooting ranges. Burevestnik annually trains up to 1,200 USSR Masters of Sport and International Masters of Sport, and its members feature practically in all national sports squads. Of the 1980 Olympic gold-medal holders 22 were members of the student sports society.
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How developed is women's sport?
Som e 35 mil lio n wo me n are involv ed in phys ical cul tu re and sport . In con tra st to several Wester n coun trie s, Soviet women do not play soccer or ice hockey, nor do they box or wrestle. This is not anti-woman discrimination, it is a manifestation of concern for their health. In all other sports women enjoy the widest opportunities to train and take part in competitions. The success of Soviet sportswomen internationally is well known. At the 1980 Moscow Olympics alone they won gold medals in basketball and volleyball, handball and gymnastics, athletics and equestrian sport, rowing and swi mm in g, div in g and archery. And at at the Wi nter Olympics in Lake Placid and Sarajevo they won gold medals in figure skating and cross-country skiing, in the luge competitions and speed skating. Many lovers of sport all over the world know the names of outstanding Soviet women athletes like Larisa Latynina and Olga Korbut, Tatyana Kazankina and Galina Kulakova, Irina Rodnina and Lyudmila Buldakova, Lina Kachyushite and Irina Kalinina, Lidiya Skoblikova and Tatyana Averina, Tamara Bykova and Olga Mostepanova, and many, many more.
What opportunities are there for the middle aged and elderly to take part in sport?
People over 40 naturally no longer dream of setting records and performing wonders, but many of them retain a desire to do sport and even take part in competitions. The most popular form of sport with such people is the health and keep-fit training group. Such groups exist at practically all sport clinics and sports societies, and have a membership of some 20 million.
What rural sports facilities exist?
It has to be said that op po rt un it ie s for do in g spo rt in the count rysid e can not com par e wit h those in the tow n. Nonetheless, most collective farms have their sports and physical fitness groups. Altogether the country has 130,000 such groups embracing almost 30 million farm workers. Rural athletes have their own All-Union Urozhai (Harvest) DSO with a membership of approximately 20 million. One recent inno vat ion is the est abl ishm ent of inter -far m sports clubs formed through pooling the resources of a few collective farms. For example, the Kolos (Ear of Wheat) inter-farm sports club operates in part of the Ukraine and encompasses 17,000 sports enthusiasts from neighbouring state and collective farms; it has gr ou ps in 13 13 spo rts and a chi ldr en' s and yo un g peop le's sports school. More than a few world-famous athletes have emerged from rural sports clubs: the renowned skier Raisa
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Smetanina, the five-times World Champion wrestler AN Aliev, the basketball player Ulyana Semyonova and the world weightlifting record-holder Yurik Sarkisyan. And many more.
How many sports amenities exist?
Ab ou t 700,000. 700,000. Every Every day in su mm er they can acc om mo date over 20 mi ll io n peop le. The co un tr y has over 3,500 stadiums with seating for 1,500 or more spectators. It has, of course, far more courts for such team games as basketball, volleyball and handball: about 380,000 altogether. There are over 75,000 multi-purpose sports halls, over 2,000 swimming pools, 5,500 ski centres, some 4,500 athletics tracks and 22,500 ice hockey rinks. Many of the sports facilities of Moscow and other Soviet cities are well known to overseas participants in top inter natio nal compe titi ons. They incl ude the biathl on sta dium at Raubichy outside Minsk, the Jubil ee Spo rts Palace in Leningrad, the indoor athletics track in Tbilisi and the sailing centre in Tallinn. Athletes and sports experts awarded full marks for the sports amenities built in Moscow for the 1980 Olympic Games. They include suc h vast vast com ple xes as the velo drom e, the indo or stadium in the aquatic sports centre, the multi-sport Druzhba sports hall and the Bitsa equestrian centre. All these sports centres remained in commission after the Olympic Games.
What are the most popular sports competitions?
The USSR Spartakiads held once every four years on the eve of the Olympic Games. Their programme includes all Olympic and some non-Olympic sports; the Finals essentially determine the make-up of the Soviet teams for the forthcoming Olympics. But the aim of the Spartakiads is much wider than prov idin g a selec tion pr ocedure . They are are prim arily intended to be a multi-sport, multi-stage contest that com men ces in facto ry and farm stadiu ms, in the sports groups of offices and colleges. The best athletes then go forward to contend the championships of towns, districts and regions after which they form Union Republic, Moscow and Leningrad teams for the culminating stage of the Spartakiad. Thus each spartakiad represents millions of participants, pe op le of all ages and ba ck gr ou nd s; it is a fest ival of international friendship, of the national culture of all the cou ntr y's fifte en Republics.
Are folk games popular?
They certainly are. The Soviet Union has over a hundred different nations and nationalities, each of which has
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retained its traditional games and contests whose roots go back into antiquity. Today no national festival is complete without such folk games. Georgia, in particular, has the popular popular chidaoba wrestling style and a folk game involving a ball played on horseback (rather like polo); the Buryat Autonomous Repu blic in so uth er n Siber ia has has a fol k ga me inv olv ing firing an arrow at skittles; many ethnic groups in the Far North have reindeer racing, lassoing and sledge jumping; in Russia the old folk pursuit of of gorodki (rat her like skittles) is popular. Tournaments featuring folk games at various levels are held, up to Republican championships. Both sports rankings and the Master of Sport title are awarded for achievements in such sports. It is a curious fact that many widely-known champions entered top-class sport via folk games. The Olympic judo champion, Shota Chochishvili, asserts from his own experience that anyone who has been involved in in chidaoba fo r any length of time is already a ready-made judo wrestler; the Buryat Vladimir Yesheyev has for several years been a top Soviet archer, after spending his early years practising his own folk sport. The state does all it can to encourage folk sports inasmuch as it sees them as an integral part of overall national culture.
Does the USSR regard hiking as a sport?
Not all for ms. The en or mo us num ber of peo ple wh o go on exc urs ion s to see mem ori al and his tori c places and wh o are ind epe nd ent hike rs can not really really com e und er the athlete rubric. An athlete is someone involved in outdoor recreation who has covered (on foot, horsebac k, in a ca no e or on a raft, etc.) a spe cia lly au th or iz ed route of a cer tai n diff icu lty cate gory. It is no w a trad iti on that at the end of each route the new rambler is awarded the sporting lapel badge of Soviet Tourist. There is also the USSR Master of Sport in Tourism title. Tourist rambles usually begin from tourist bases under the watchful eye of experienced instructors who have had special training. The country now has over 65,000 tourist groups affiliated to physical culture groups, 870 tourist clubs, more than 200 children's excursion and tourist lodges, and about 1,000 hikers' homes, not to speak of tourist camps, hunting and fishing lodges, and camping sites. More than 19,000 routes are registered by the Central Tourism and Excursion Council; as many as 19 million people use them every year. Vouchers for a stay at outdoor recreation centres or camps are normally given free of charge. Costs are borne by trade unions attached to those workplaces and
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colleges whose sports groups encompass outdoor recreation and organize appropriate groups. In the space of a year the tou ris t and ex cu rs io n org ani zat ion s provide facilities for approximately 34 million ramblers and hikers.
What sports titles are awarded?
De pe nd ing on the level of skill displ ayed , the athlete may gain respectiv ely the thi rd, se co nd and first rank ings , the titl es USSR USSR Master of Spo rt and International Class Master of Sport. Each category has its own standards which are reviewed upwards once every four years in line with the Olimpic cycle. The standards are inscribed in the All-Union Sports Classification System, and requirements are fairly high. As an example, to become International Master of Sport in the 100 m run, a man mus t c ove r th e di sta nce in 10.3 10.3 sec., and a woman in 11.3 sec. The USSR Sports Committee makes the awards of rankings and titles in 56 sports, and the Union Republic sports committees cover folk games. The most cherished title in Soviet sport is Merited Master of Sport of the USSR which goes to athletes who have have dis tin gui she d themselves in in top interna tional t ournaments; they are normally World or Olympic Champions. The speed skater Yakov Melnikov became the first Merited Master of Sport in 1934. Almost 200,000 athletes have gained the Master of Sport title since it came into being in 1935, 8,300 have won the International Class Master of Sport accolade since its inauguration in 1965, and 3,000 have gained the Merited Master of Sport title.
Can one talk of purely "Russian" sports that have gained international recognition?
Yes, such sports do exist. Above all there is modern rhythmic gymnastics. After the first Soviet tournament took place in Tallinn back in 1947, the relatively novel sport took a hold in many countries. Sixteen years later, in 1963, the first World Championships in Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics were held, and in 1984 it became an Olympic sport. Sambo (the Russian acr on ym for samozashchita bez oruzhiya —unarmed c o m b a t ) is a s p o r t t h a t f i r s t s aw light in the 1930s in the Soviet Union. It was an amalgam of various folk wrestling styles (Azerbaijanian, Georgian, Yakut, etc.) and included throws, painful holds, grips and blocks. blocks. Sambo has gaine d a fol low ing among young men in several countries. The International Sambo Federation, set up in 1973, now holds holds sambo world championships.
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Is the concept of "sports provinces" applicable to Soviet outlying regions and cities?
Naturally. The big cities like Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev which possess sports research centres, physical culture institutes and conditions for training top-class athletes undoubtedly have the edge. But there is no great gap between the provinces and the centres. Suff ice it to say say that p eopl e fro m 95 spe cifi c pop ula ted areas of the country were members of the Soviet contingent at the 1980 Summer Olympics. And Olympic Champions include weightlifter Yurik Vardanyan from the Armenian town of Leninakan, track and field athlete Tatyana Kolpakova from the Kirghiz capital of Frunze, and the gymnast Maria Filatova from the Siberian town of Leninsk-Kuznetsky. In win ter spor ts one mig ht cite recent Olymp ic wi nn ers like skier Vassily Ftochev from the village of Bakur in the Komi Autonomous Republic, the bobsleigh competitor Vera Zozulya from the Cesis Latvian sports organization, and the biathlete Yury Kashkarov from the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansiisk. The gymnastic schools of Voronezh and Vitebsk, the cycling school of Tula and the pole vaulting clubs of Irkutsk have all produced their Olympic and World Champions, and record-breakers at various times.
Does the USSR have its sports industry?
It does. Wi th ou t it it we co ul d not clot he, shoe and equ ip each of the many mil lio ns of people wh o take part in comp etiti ons. Over a tho usa nd industria l plants make sports equipment, sportswear and footwear, facilities and amenities. The USSR Sports Committee also imports some foreign equipment to provide athletes and fitness enthusiasts with all possible sports goods. But these are only a back-up for the sports goods and equipment manufactured domestically.
What is the scientific back-up to sport?
The Soviet Uni on has thr ee research physi cal cult ur e ins tit ute s—i n Mos cow , Lenin grad and Tbilisi, and 27 study instit utes each of wh ic h has fac ult ies in several sports. They conduct both study and research work, and employ more than 20,000 specialists. Scholar s are taki ng an interest interest in in soc iolo gica l, educational, psychological, medical-biological and organizational issues concerning both mass physical culture and top-class sport. The Moscow Sports Research Institute, for example, is just put tin g the fini shin g tou che s to a comprehensive programme of general physical education from an early preschool age. Without scholarly help it would have been impossible to establish the GTO progr amme, since it is a scie ntif ical ly-g roun ded national fitness programme for people between seven and 60.
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Research, recommendations and experiments assist coaches to train proficient athletes. The work of many Soviet sports scholars is widely known throughout the world. Professor Vladimir Kuznetsov, for example, has developed the concept of anthropomaximology—the maximal potential of the human organism. Dr. Igor Ratov has systematized biomechanical laws of sporting achievements. The principal goals set by sports science is to fortify people's health, to promote the harmonious development of individuals and to attain top results in sport. How vital is medical supervision in sport?
We have a str ict rule tha t no ath let e can co mp et e, whet her it it be nationa l cha mpi ons hip s or a modest factory tourn ey, wi th ou t a doc tor 's permis sion. Medical supervision is largely ensured through a network of sports medical institutions belonging to the Soviet Health Ministry. This network is quite extensive, including over 400 spo rts health centres , 900 med ica l superv ision cabinets, 8,000 sports therapy clinics of which 2,500 are for children. Over 30,000 people work in sports medicine, keeping an eye on the health of all people engaged in sport and fitness programmes, contribute to the designing of sports projects, determining healthy conditions for training and competitions alike. Medical services for all athletes, like all medical services in the country, are absolutely free.
How does one become a coach?
Coach es, like all physi cal edu cat ion and spo rts inst ructors, are tr ai ned in in the 27 physica l cu lt ur e insti tute s and 25 colleges of specialist education. What is more, departments of physical education exist at about a hundred colleges of education and universities. Teachers' training colleges have 74 PT departments. Altogether the physical culture institutes teach approximately 90,000 students, the colleges some 26,500; the total annual graduation figure is in excess of 27,000 spo rts and PT specialis ts, inc lu di ng 16,800 16,800 wi th h ighe r education. The phys ical cul tu re move men t em plo ys a tota l of som e 328,000 people full time. That may seem insufficient for a state in which over 87 million people participate in sport and fitness exercises. But we must add that trained specialists get a helping hand from voluntary part-time coaches who are normally sports enthusiasts, one-time or currently competing athletes, who take classes in sports groups gratuitously in their spare time. To give them some expert training there are special courses and seminars. Currently the country has more than 16 million volunteers in sport.
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Leading athletes are constantly replenishing the ranks of skilled coaches. To give recent examples, the long- time leadin g wo me n' s gymna st L yudmi la Turishcheva, the renowned figure skater Irina Rodnina, the Soviet and world basketball star Sergei Belov and the legendary Soviet ice-hockey captain Boris Mikhailov are all now employed as coaches in their sports. Coaching is a greatly honoured profession and the role of coaches is regarded as absolutely vital in training the younger generation. So it is not surprising that the state has honoured a large number of coaches with orders and medals for their outstanding achievements at the Olympic Games down the years.
How can Olympic Champions remain undergraduates or postgraduates for up to ten years?
Higher education courses normally last between five and six years, depending on the subject. If we add the three years that it usually takes to gain a postgraduate diploma (the main way to train educational and scienti fic resea rcher s) we re ach a to ta l of 8-9 years. In exceptional cases some students, irrespective of whether they are actively involved in sport or not, take advantage of the right to an academic years off. And the same right applies to student sport members who may avail themselves of it to better prepare for big competitions like the Olympic Games. So the course of study may well be prolonged by a year.
Wh at is th e sporting press?
It consis ts of 35 per iod ica ls wi th a sing le tot al pr in ti ng of over eigh t mil li on cop ies ; 16 of the per iod ica ls are All-Un ion publ icat ions . Further, the publis hers Fizkul tura i sport alone put out more than 150 sports titles every year with an aggregate printing of 8.5 million copies. sport The leading Soviet sports paper is Sovetsky (Soviet Sport) which comes out every day save Monday in a printing of 4.9 million; and the leading monthly i sport (Physical Cul tur e and magazine is Fizkultura Sport ) with over 600,000 copies. Most Union Rep ubl ics have their own sports periodicals. Soviet sports publications inform their readers of home and foreign events as well as acting as organizers of various sports events and campaigns. To give an example, it was the initiative of Sovetsky sport that launched the nationwide festivals of running, skiing and swimming, when millions of people in all corners of the land participate in sport. It is not only the sporting press that takes on the role of Pravda, organ of sports organizer. The daily newspaper newspaper Pravda, the CPSU Central Committee, for example, pays much attention to sports and fitness issues, and it is responsi-
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ble for sponsoring the nationwide cross-country run every year; the newspaper newspaper Izvestiya, or ga n of the USSR Supreme Soviet Presidium, holds display reviews under the rubric "Whole Team to the Stadium" and "Every Me mb er of th e Fami ly on His Ma rk ", as we ll as as sponsoring an international ice hockey tournament; Moscow News now spon sors the paper popula r international contests in figure skating and gymnastics. Are sports lotteries held in the country?
They are. The most pop ula r are "S po rt lo to " and "S pr in t" , the form er being based on lucky numbers: pun ter s buy card s on wh ic h they have to mark six out of any 49 sports suggested, or (in another version) five out of 36. The dra w is held on ce a week , and win ni ng s go up to 10,000 roubles. "Sprint" is an instant lottery in which the purchaser tears off a strip from his card to see whether he is lucky or not. The top prize money for one "Sprint" card is 5,000 roubles. Sports lotteries are run under the slogan "You win and sport w ins ", ina smuc h as as the lion's share of inc ome goes to boost mass physical culture, particularly in building new amenities. For example, the city of Lvov was assigned nine million roubles from "Sportloto" and "Sprint" to build a multistory Palace of Pistol and Rifle Sh oo ti ng . It has to be sai d tha t lot ter ies wer e a bi g help in constructing and refurbishing sports centres for the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow. A fifth of the total cash obtained from sports lotteries remains in the hands of local spdrts organizations and goes to pr om ot e mass sport and recre atio n. In that way the local sports committees obtain up to six million roubles every year.
How do athletes combine competition with study?
The state and trade unions take respon sibilit y for sports pro mo tio n effectively free of charge to practi tioner s. The ma na ge me nt of wo rk and study places, bei ng inter ested in pr om ot in g spo rt and physica l fitness, gra nt thos e employees w it h a go od work and sport recor d the opportunity to travel to competitions even during working hours, while trade unions see that their average wages are retained for the time off. The best student athletes enjoy the right to attend lectures freely and to take their examinations according to an individuallytailored programme.
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With how many countries do Soviet sports organizations maintain contacts?
They have permanent contacts with over 80 countries, with many of which, first and foremost all the socialist states, long-term cooperation agreements have been signed. In general, the international contacts of Soviet athletes con sti tut e abo ut a thi rd of all Sovie t c ult ura l contacts. Besides participation in international sports associations they include bilateral meetings, joint training sessions with foreign athletes, exchange of specialists and sports officials, participation in world symposia and conferences on all manner of sports issues. There is also, of course participation in the various international events: during one year Soviet athletes would normally take part on average in as many as a hundred European and wo rl d c hamp ions hips . The USSR v USA and USSR v GDR athletics matches are now regular fixtures, as too are fixtures in volleyball with Japan, ice hockey with Canada, and speed skating with Norway and Sweden. The motto of our sports movement is "We Are for Co-operation". We are in favour of co-operation in tackling urgent problems in the international sports and Olymp ic movement , its its safe guard ing fro m politi cal interference and from professionalism and commercialism, and we are against all forms of discrimination. Representatives of Soviet sport see their duty in further diffusing the noble Olympic ideas and in maintaining peace throughout the world.
How is Soviet sport represented in international sports federations?
Some 150 Soviet sports figures represent their country in 81 int ern ati ona l fede rat ion s and hol d a variety of posts within them. To take an example, Yury Titov is President of FIG, FIG, the Interna tion al Gym nas tic s Federation; Valery Sysoyev is President of the International Ama teur Cyc lin g Fede rati on; 27 Soviet repres entati ves have been voted Vice-Presidents of various sports federations, including athletics, soccer, volleyball, skiing, rowing, wrestling, sailing, weightlifting, university sport and the sporting press. Two Soviet sports officials, Konstantin Andrianov and Vitaly Smirnov, are IOC members. The ongoing persistent campaign to democratize the world sports movement and for active participation in impl eme nti ng the IOC IOC Olymp ic Solida rity pro gra mme are among the principal concerns of Soviet representatives in their international activity. They have, in particular, always been in the forefront of the fight against racism and apartheid in sport, and they played a key part in having South Africa excluded from the Olympic movement and many international federations and associations. Soviet representatives in ISU, the Internation-
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al Skating Union, are currently opposing the decision to introduce cash prizes to winners of European and World Championships; in FIFA (the International Federation of Football Associations) they are doing all they can to promote the sport, including that of junior soccer in developing countries; in the International Association of Olympic Medical Officers they are pressing for recommendations on treating minor injuries. This is just a brief list of examples that could well be extended.
What is the role and purpose of the USSR National Olympic Committee?
The USSR National Olympic Committee (NOC) came into being on 23 April 1951. It now numbers 180 persons who represent sports federations and are members of inter natio nal sp orts associations, wh o are state officials, prominent athletes, coaches, scholars, health specialists, figures in culture and the arts, and journalists. The USSR NOC sets itself a number of specific aims and tasks, including, in line with its statute, helping to promote sport and physical fitness for all, popularizing Olympic ideas within the country, expanding the international contacts of Soviet athletes, establishing the conditions conducive to implementing the IOC Olympic Solidari ty prog ramm e, and setting up and m aint ainin g contacts with other National Olympic Committees. The USSR NOC is guided in its daily work by the provisions of the Olympic Charter. It holds its plenary me et in gs no less th an on ce a year, and, in th e int eri m, it is run by its 35-strong Presidium. In 1955 it was the first National Olympic Committee to be awarded the IOC prize instituted to honour the Olym pic statesman C ount Bona coss; it was bes towed on the USSR NOC in recognition of its immense contribution to promoting world sport in the spirit of Olympic ideals. Several former Soviet athletes are recipients of the highest IOC accolade, the Olympic Order; they include Irina Rodnina, Lyudmila Turishcheva, Victor Saneyev, Yelena Mukhina, Lidiya Skoblikova, Zoya Mironova, Galina Kulakova, Alexander Medved and Lev Yashin.
How does the USSR NOC take part in the Olympic movement?
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In line wi th the agr eem ent betw een the USSR NOC and the IOC, IOC, every year som e 200 spo rts speci alis ts fro m dev elop ing coun tri es impro ve their qual ific atio ns at sem ina rs put on in the USSR. USSR. The Mo sc ow State Physical Cult ure Institute has per man ent ly- run nin g sixmonth courses for sports officials, coaches, and athletes from newly-independent states. And the USSR Sports Committee and NOC send coaches and other sports
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specialists to work in developing countries. At the present time these specialists are imparting their experience to local personnel in about 30 developing states of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Which are the outstanding Soviet Olympians?
What did the 1980 Moscow Olympics bring Soviet sport?
A total of 670 Soviet athletes bear the title of Olympic Champion. The absolute record of most awards belongs to the gymnast Larisa Latynina who won 18 medals at her three Olympics (1956, 1960 and 1964): nine gold, five silver and four bronze. There are oth er record- break ers. Lon g ju mp er Igor Ter-Ovanesya n t oo k part in a total of five O lym pic Games, winning bronze medals at two of them. Alexander Medved (free-style wrestling) and Vyacheslav Ivanov (rowing) won three Olympic tournaments in a row. Yachts man Valen tin Mank in and trip le ju mp er Victo r Saneyev took part in four Olympics, winning gold in three. The kayak competitor Vladimir Parfenovich and swimmer Vladimir Salnikov also won three gold medals each, but at th e sam e Game s — the 1980 Mo sc ow Olympics. Among winter athletes one might pick out Lidiya Skoblikova who won six gold medals in speed skating, Yevgeny Grishin and Galina Kulakova who were fourtimes Olympic Champions in speed skating and skiing respectively. Then there is the phenomenal figure skater Irina Rodnina who with her partners, first Alexei Ulanov and then Alexander Zaitsev, won three Olympic Championships. And the biathlete Alexander Tikhonov became Champion at four Olympics in the relay. Soviet athletes have also done well in team sports. The football and basketball teams have been Olympic Champions, and the volleyball men's and women's teams have performed the feat several times over, as has the water polo team. And we must not forget the brilliant Soviet ice hockey team that has won five out of seven Olympic titles.
Preparation for and the holding of the Olympics in Moscow provided an enormous boost to mass sport and physical culture in the country at large. That can be specified in the following examples. We built 11 large-scale sports centres, and completely rebuilt just as many in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Minsk where the soccer preliminaries were held. All these sports centres were handed over to the public once the Games came to an end. In the run-up to the Olympics we held mass tournaments under the slogans of "The Olympics Aren't Only
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for Olympians", "From GTO Badge to Olympic Medal" and "Olympians Are amongst Us" which all unquestionably helped swell the ranks of sports enthusiasts.
What did the Moscow 1980 Olympics cost?
The first thing to say is that the state bore all expenses associated with staging the Olympics, releasing funds from the state budget, since the construction of many amenities dovetailed with the country's economic and social development plan. That applied to construction of hotels, airports, the housing estate for the Olympic Village, roads, communications centres, public catering, consumer services, etc. A total of 744.8 million roubles was spent by the 0lympiad-80 Organizing Committee, including the building and refurbishing of sports buildings, and organizational costs (putting on competitions, maintaining participants and officials, renting sports facilities, etc.); other funds came from the revenues of the fiscaleconomic programme. The sum of 744.8 million roubles was fully covered through lotteries, commercial licence issuing, the minting of special coins, the selling of TV rights, tickets for events and Olympic philately. In the financial sense Moscow made no profit from being venue for the Olympics. But from the social standpoint Moscow and all Soviet people undoubtedly benefited in that the Olympics gave a boost to building and improving the capital city, and promoting the sports movement.
How is the public using Olympic facilities today?
They were all hand ed over to the pub lic of Mosc ow, Le ni ng ra d, Ta ll in n, Kiev and M in sk — i. e., the citi es whe re events to ok place. Not a sin gle Oly mpi c site stands empty, it serves sport. It could not be otherwise: the Olympic sites were built from a long-term viewpoint. Let us take Mo sc ow as an exa mple . The Oly mpi c swimming and sports complex now has swimming groups for parents and children. Muscovites are also using the facilities of the Bitsa equestrian centre and the unique Dynamo Palace of Sport with its several sports halls. The citizens of the Gagarin district of Moscow have at their disposal a really splendid sports centre that had once been part of the Olympic village. One of Mosc ow 's main spor ting a ttrac tions is now the sports complex at Krylatskoye with its rowing canal, cycle track and archery range; the cycle track incidentally can be used for training and competition in a whole range of other sports, like track and field and gymnastics. An d
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soccer-cum-athletics centre of the Army Central Sports Club to the Sports Palace in Izmailovo, now fully at the disposal of students at the State Physical Culture Instit ute — you wil l in varia bly fin d activi ties in progre ss, training, competition, and everywhere a sense of the vibrating rhythm of Soviet sporting life. The modern sports facilities which 0lympiad-80 presented to the public are helping further to promote sport and recreation in the capital city. Following the Games, as many as 500 new groups of general physical training for children and grown-ups, six children's and yo ung peo ple's sports schools with 32 32 sect ions a ccom mo da ti ng som e 15,000 15,000 yo un g Musco vites, all spr an g up on the capital's former Olympic sites.
They Were Educated by Sport
The names of the heroes of the Olympic battles—the gymnast Victor Chukarin, the runner Vladimir Kuts, the wrestler Johannes Kotkas, the speed skater Evgeny Grishin and others—are known in many countries of the world. Their talent and chivalrous behaviour in the sporting arena have won them the respect and affection of fans and rivals alike. When they retired from big-time sport they took up worthy occ upa tio ns in in society, bec omi ng workers and doctors, coaches and writers, engineers and scientists. But each one of them can say with pride: "Sport has educated us!"
Twice All-Round Champion
Victor Chukarin Chukarin (1921-1984), gymnastics, Merited Master of Sport (1951). Graduated from the Lvov Institute of Physical Culture. All-Round Champion of the USSR 19491951, 1955, World Champion 1954, Champion at the XV and XVI Olympic Games (1952, Helsinki; 1956, Melbourne). Many times USSR, World and Olympic Champion in individual disciplines in the combined events. Formerly head of the gymnastics department of the Lvov Institute of Physical Culture.
Every day the Messuhalli Hall in Helsinki which seats nine thousand spectators was packed to capacity, for it was there that the gymnasts were competing. Everyone's attention was riveted on the Soviet sportsmen who were making their Olympic debut in Helsinki that year. Quick to find fault, the judges noted the slightest mistake made by any one of them. Victory depended not only on technical skill, but on self-discipline, strength of will, total dedication and, of course, on the passionate desire to hear the strains of their national anthem under the arches of the hall. And they proved that they were entitle d to win , alth oug h it was far fr om easy. After the vaults the Soviet gymnasts were in sixth and seventh place. They had each scored less than 9 points. Only the team leader—the ever seri ous Vic tor Chu ka ri n — had 9.45 9.45 points. He was composed and outwardly calm. But the calmness did not come easy. Chukarin knew very well that not only his own success, but the victory of the whole team depended on his performance. After the exercises on the horizontal bar the Soviet team climbed to second place. Only the Finns—champions of the previous Games—were ahead. Chukarin gained 9.8 points on the bar. This was the best result in the first two days of the competitions. On the second day Victor was again in the lead after the vaults: over the two days he had sco re d a to tal of 19.25 poi nts . No-one could overtake him. Chukarin's vaulting was meticulous. One of the Germ an gym nast s said that t he geometrical precision of Chukarin's flight over the horse could only be repe ate d wit h the he lp of of a sli de rule and a pair of compasses. The best performance on the pommelled horse was given by Victor's teammate Grant Shaginyan. The gymnast from Erevan gained the highest mark of 9.9 points. The Soviet gymnasts scored the points
They Were Educated by Sport
they needed for victory on one apparatus after the other. Finally the team events were over. The newcomers who had won over the spectators from the moment they appeared on the floor, were rightfully called the best Olympic team. The Soviet gymnasts had scored 574.4 points, 6.9 points more than the Swiss team which was composed of all their 1950 World Champions. The Swiss newspaper Gazette de Lausanne wro te on that occasion: "The Russian success in the gymnastics was totally unexpected. Their brilliant and close-knit team was in excellent form and clearly outshone our compatriots." Victor Chukarin, the leader of this "brilliant and close-knit team", became All-Round Champion at the XV Olympiad. He was then 31. At that age many sportsmen retire from bigtime sport. Victor first saw gymnasts perform at the stadium in Mariupol, the small southern town where he lived with his parents. When he came home he got together with his friends and made a horizontal bar with rusty pipes. So began his initiation into gymnastics. It was a long way from the homemade horizontal bar to the Olympic Games. At first there were lessons at the school club, then at the gymnastics club of the technical college where he studied metallurgy and after that at the Kiev College of Physical Culture, and after that ... there was the war. It broke out on the very day Victor graduated from college. He left for the front immediately and fought in an artillery unit. He was surrounded and taken prisoner. He bec ame pr is on er No. 10491 in the Sandbostel concentration camp. Victor spent four years in that hell. It is difficult even to imagine how much he had to go through. When the Soviet Army advanced on the camp, all the inmates were hurriedly evacuated to
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another town and kept on the harbour under armed guard for three days. They were given nothing to eat or drink. On the fourth day the prisoners were herded onto a barge filled with explosives which was to be taken out to sea and blown up. The Nazis even prepared an advance press statement about the event: "The barge was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine." But patriots whose names we do not know, saved the prisoners. Victor returned home in 1945. "I was so thin and emaciated," Victor recalled, "that even my own mother di dn 't reco gniz e me. It was only w he n she placed her hands on my head and felt the childhood scar which remained from my fall off a hayrick that she acknowledged me as her son." Back home Victor was scarcely able to do a co upl e of chin -u ps on the h orizontal bar. But soon the hard work was to start in earnest and in three years Chukarin became USSR Champion on the horizontal bars. A year later, in 1949, he won the title of All-Round Individual Champion of the Soviet Union which he held for a further two years. Finally there was the first Olympic victory at Helsinki which was followed by another one at the 1954 World Championships at Rome and successes at many major international and All-Union tournaments. These victories did not always come easily, often they had to be fought for in seemingly hopeless situations. In Rome, for example, Chukarin dislocat ed a fin ge r th e day befo re the event and suffered considerable pain throughout the entire championships. But he kept going to the end and with Valentin Muratov became All-Round World Champion. The contest at the XVI Olympic Games in Melb ou rne was also a dif fic ult one. Our gymnasts' main rival was the young Japanese team and it was not
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clear who would win until the very last moment. After the first day the Soviet team led by only 0.2 points. On the second day the Japanese were first to perform. They left the floor to stormy applause and the marks gained by each member of the team were very high. The Soviet team at the Melbourne Olympics was composed almost entirely of new members. Only the team captain, Victor Chukarin, had been at Helsinki. The duel with the Japanese began with the ring exercises in which the three best in the Soviet team lost the odd point: Albert Azaryan gained 9.8, Chukarin and Muratov each gained 9.6. The vaulting was won by Valentin Muratov with Yury Titov in second place. The third apparatus—the parallel bars—was Chukarin's forte. Among his trophies there are nine gold medals awarded for his performances on the parallel bars: one was won at the World Championships and eight at the National Championships. At Helsinki he was 0.05 of a point behind the win ner and g ain ed a silver medal. At Melbourne Chukarin and the Japanese gymnast Masami Kubota each scored the same number of points—9.55 after the compulsory events. The Japanese gymnast perf orme d much better in the floor exercises. To overtake him, Chukarin had to collect not less than 9.85 points—and he did ju j u s t t h a t ! T h e s t o r m o f a p p l a u s e p r o claimed Victor the winner even before the judges had announced the result. The Japanese gymnasts were the first to congratulate him. They had three apparatus behind them. Half the distance had been covered. The Soviet team was confidently catching up with the Japanese. Boris Shakhlin won the exercises on the horse and Chukarin was third. Our gymnasts did not manage to catch up with Takashi Ono on the horizontal bar. He executed the combination
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brilliantly and gained very high marks. There remained only one event—the floor exercises. Each member of the Soviet team had to collect not less than 9.2-9.3 points to become champions and they rose to the challenge magnificently. For the second time in succession Soviet gymnasts won the team gold at the Olympic Games. Chukarin had a harder fight to win the title of All-Round Individual Champion. Initially he was not even in the first three. The talented Japanese gymnast Takashi Ono was in the lead and his supporters were about to celebrate his victory. But once again Chukarin did not falter. Not for nothing has he been called a "man without nerves"! If only one knew the tremendous nervous tension that went into his performance of the floor exercises which was to decide the fate of the Olympic gold medal! Victor gave his all and beat the Japanese. Afterwards Ono complained to journalists: "It is impossible to beat this man. Failure only stimulates him to make even greater efforts." Vic tor Ch uka rin d id not have to taste the bitterness of defeat. He retired from the floor unvanquished. In one of his interviews he said: "A real real spo rts man is first and fo rem os t a strong character. A man who has no self-confidence has no place in gymnastics. This does not mean, however, that success can be guaranteed by making some sort of desperate effort. It is much more complicated. There are different interpretations of courage in sport. A long-distance runner for exam ple must have th e capa cit y for endur ance, a sprint-c yclist or slalom skier will not achieve success unless he takes risks. A gymnast must be both skilful and careful and never gamble, never rely on providence or luck—in short on anything that is undependable or fortuitous. Whatever the sit uat ion, he must keep a gr ip on
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himself, rema in a wise strategi st and, of course, do everything to the best of his ability. A combination can only be performed faultlessly if it has been well prepared in training and tested hundreds of times."
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The Road to the Olympus His first appearance was at the National Championships in 1952. Soviet sportsmen were preparing for the Helsinki Olympics and the debut of the 25-year-old sailor from the Baltic Fleet passed almost unnoticed. Later Kuts himself recalled that event: "The 1952 National Championships sho wed th at I was still weak and knew little about ru nn in g. I sho t fo rw ar d at at the start and, unable to assess my strength, 'expired' long before the finish. That was a lesson, that was the pric e I paid fo r not kno wi ng t he technique and tactics of running." Now there is probably not a single sports enthusiast who does not know the name of Vladimir Kuts. Why then rummage in the distant past to recall his first defeat? No sportsman has started his career with instant world records and Kuts is no exception. This recollection of his first defeat simply underlines the fact that in just one year Kuts progressed from being an ord inar y spo rts man wi th a first ranking to becoming National Champion and one of the world's strongest long-distance runners. It cannot be said that his childhood was a particularly happy one. Once, it is true, he had a real stroke of luck: he found his first sports trophy—part of a broken ski thrown away by soldiers passing through the village where he lived. That was in 1943 when the village had just been liberated from Nazi troops. "My friends looked at the broken ski with undisguised envy," Kuts recalled. "But part of a ski is still not a ski. So, in the eve nin gs, after I had rus hed th ro ug h my home wor k I set set about repairing it and the broken part was soon transformed into a proper ski. I made the second ski with a plank from an old cracked barrel..."
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And so Volodya started skiing. He could hardly have imagined then that his skis would serve him as a springboard to the running track and to world records! "It was the skis," Kuts went on, "that aw ok e in me th e pas si on for move ment. And although the snow melted with the first days of spring and the skis were carefully hidden away until the fo ll ow in g winter, I co ul d not hide the desire to run. It has remained with me throughout my entire life." But his real introduction to sport cam e in the army wh er e he to ok up weightlifting, boxing, swimming, rowin g and ski ing . He even gai ne d his first sports ranking in skiing. On the May holiday in 1948 he took part in a cross-country race and to everyone's surprise and most of all his own, he won.
Vladimir Kuts Kuts (1927-1975), track and field athletics, Merited Master of Sport (1954). Graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Physical Culture. USSR Champion 19531957, European Champion 1954 and winner of two gold medals at the XVI Olympiad (1956, Melbourne) for long-distance running. Holder of 5 world records. He was voted the world's top sportsman in 1956 and 1957.
So me mont hs later later Vlad imir , s tand ing in for a sick friend, ran in the fivekilometre race in an army event and once again he won! After this he made the firm resolve to start training in earnest. At first he he tra ined ind epe nde ntl y, learning by trial and error, without any idea of tr ain ing loads, ru nn in g schedules, technique or tactics. He ran and ran wi th ou t pu tt in g u ndu e pressure on himself. One day he chanced upon an article about the training methods of the country's long-distance record-holder Nikolai Popov. "This article," Kuts said, "was a revelati on to me. I di sc ov er ed th at t he re was a system of training, a definite pr oc edu re for ru nni ng. I read and reread it until the paper was in tatters." The result of his two years' study of this article was third, second and then first ranking gained for running distances of 5,000 and 10,000 metres and invariable first places in all the garrison events. Then there was his debut (unsuccessful, it is true) at the 1952 National
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Championships. And once again, it was training, training and more training. First he worked under the Tallinn coach Alexei Chuzhin and then under the well-known coach Georgy Nikiforov. In 1953, he won the title of USSR Champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 m. In August of that year Vladimir joined the Soviet team and took part in his first international event. This was in Buchar est at the I You th Fri ends hip Games. The track of the Republic stadium proved to be a lucky one for the newcomer—he came second to the famous Emil Zatopek in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Moreover, he covered the five kilometres in 14 minutes 4 seconds—the fourth result in the entire history of track and field. Victories alternated with defeats. Kuts set a world record but the English runner Christopher Chataway beat it, Kuts set a new record which was beaten by anoth er Eng lis hma n — Gordon Pirie. But it was Kuts himself who helped them to beat these records. This for example is what happened in 1956 in Bergen where Gordon Pirie had come specially to meet Kuts and prove once and for all that he was not "un luc ky Pirie" as the jour nalis ts had branded him. Kuts already held the title of European Champion and was the world recordholder in 5,000 metres. He was eight times National Champion and had set All-Union records over both the long distances. But in addition to these prestigious titles he possessed one quality which won him the love and respect of his opponents: he never resorted to subterfuge and manoeuvre on the track, never hid behind the backs of the other runners but always led from the front boldly and decisively. Let us go bac k to 1956, to a tr ac k and field meet in Bergen (Norway). We will let Vladimir Kuts himself describe the
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race: "I was leading from the first lap. The pace was fast—400 metres in 60 seco nds. Pirie was beh ind me. I tried to break clear of him. I stepped up the tempo, but Pirie doggedly held on behind me. In the first kilometre we clipped four seconds off the world record. I ordered myself to keep going without slowing the pace. Apparently Pirie had decided not to fall even a metre behind. I heard his b reat hing and the crunch of the spikes close behind my back. "I had to stun him, confuse him with a su dde n bu rst of speed , I dec ide d, and made a spur t in the secon d kilom etre. But Pirie held on. He followed me like a shadow. We covered the second kilometre 6 seconds faster than the record time. "Pirie was behind me all the time. "Then at the start of the third kilometre I crossed over to the second lane. Let him have the task of leading the race even for a short time. But as soon as he was in the lead Gordon immediately slowed down the running. Lap after lap Pirie lost the valuable seconds we had gained in the first two kilometres. "What to do? Literally hypnotized, I could not take my eyes off my rival who was running on in front. Pirie's speed was flagging inexorably. "Was it worth running the first two kilometres at a knock-out speed to drag out the second half in this wa y— I wonde red. — Pirie Pirie either cannot or will not work up a high speed by himself. Why can he only support someone else's initiative, someone else's pace? "It often happens to me in competitions that at the critical moment my thoughts become crystal clear and a plan of action presents itself, and so it was on this occasion. "I'l l overtake quick ly, I decide d, and break clear as far as my strength will allow.
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"By str eng th of will I for ced myself to run al ong sid e Pirie for a seco nd. I wanted to see what he was capable of without a leader drawing him along like a tow-rope. The eighth lap was the slowest—69 seconds. Then I stormed ahead. Slanting torrents of rain lashed across my face, the salty sweat trickled into my eyes and burned them, my heart was pumping furiously. "The commentator announced that I had completed the ninth lap in 65 seconds and it was the same with the tent h. So, I was r un ni ng close to my plan. But what was this? Behind my back I on ce ag ain h eard the cru nc h of spikes and Pirie's gasping breath. The effort of the battle itself had dulled my alertness somewhat. For a moment I kept up the increased tempo and lost sight of my opponent. But he, meanwhile, adopting my pace, was only two strides behind. At the tenth lap Pirie was behind me and still behind at the eleventh! I made one more effort to break clear—but in vain. Pirie was still behind me. We were running six seconds faster than the world record. "We entered the home straight. I was ahead. Suddenly on my right I saw Pirie's face distorted by the desperate effort he was making. He stormed ahead fr om b ehi nd. I thr ew myself after him, but it was too late. The remaining distance was not long enough to make the adjustment. Pirie crossed the line a few strides ahead of me. We We both c lo ck ed a tim e that was faster than the world record. But my result was only an All-Union record whereas Pirie became world recordholder for the first time." That was how Vladimir Kuts helped the English runner to beat the world record in Norway. As he collapsed into the arms of his friends Pirie said: "Thank you, Kuts!" Six months later they met again in Melbourne. The papers juggled with the names of the possible winners in
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the long distances. The favourites were the Australians Lawrence and Stevens, the English runners Pirie and Chataway and, of course, Vladimir Kuts. Certain sports columnists wrote about Kuts rather sceptically, calling him a robo t, a hu ma n machi ne... One of the Melbourne papers asked: "Can a robot beat beat th in ki ng athletes ?" And answering its own question wrote: "No, such runners as Kuts cannot win in the battle of wits." Even the famous English runner Roger Bannister (one-time Minister of Sport in Great Britain) who was covering the Olympics as correspondent of Illus- the American journal Sports trated decl ared that Kuts was no th in g more than a ruthless running machine. All these pronouncements naturally upset Vladimir, but as he himself recalled, he had only one wish: to run successfully in the Games and prove those "experts" wrong. The 10,000 metres was run on 23rd November 1956. 38 athletes from 20 countries took part—a whole constellation of runners: Kuts, Kovacs, Mimoun, Lawrence, Pirie... And all were thirsting for victory. But only one could win. Here is an excerpt from Vladimir Kuts's diary: "At the gun I immediatel y shot for war d from the middle of the first row and set the pace wh ic h I had p ut to th e test in tra ini ng: I co mp le te d the first lap in 61.4 seconds. This was the normal pace for me but it did not suit many of my opponents. Pirie, true to his usual tactics, followed behind me. He believed that he could repeat the Bergen victory here in Melbourne. He wanted to achieve victory and perhaps a new world record behind the leader. "Pir ie was beh ind me. I co ul d see thi s from his long shadow which glided alongside me over the green turf. This shadow pursued me stride by stride in spite of all my efforts to break away.
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"I put in my first spurt which gave me a small temporary advantage. I completed the fifth lap in 65.4 seconds. But Pirie's shadow was once again creeping up on me, once again I felt his breath at the back of my neck. The applause from the stands acknowledged the Englishman's answering spurt. Then I sudd enly re du ced th e speed. We completed the lap in 71.6 seconds. This was a 'stop-start' race." At 5,000 metres many thought that Kuts would not manage to break away from the Englishman. But Vladimir kept to his planned tactics of a "stopstart" race. He wore out his opponent first by stepping up the tempo dramatically then by an equally dramatic decrease in speed. "There were still more than three kilometres to the post but many had already decided that the gold medal was in the hands of the Englishman," Kuts continued. "At that point I prepared myself for the final decisive spurt which, according to my plan, was to follow in the twentieth lap. It was time to carry out my plan. "So I crossed from the first to the second lane at full speed. Pirie follow ed me. I crossed from the s ec on d to the third lane. Pirie followed me. From the third to the fourth. Pirie followed me. From the fourth back to the first. As ever Pirie was behind. Sudde nly I slowed d own this unu sual zigza g run nin g, so mu ch so that I all but stopped and turning round I beckoned to Pirie to take over... And finally Pirie went into the lead! We were now running alongside each other and for the first time in the whole of this race I saw beside me his drooping figure, the extreme exhaustion written on his face, and I realized that the mo me nt had come to put in a decisive spurt. Aft er I had run al ong si de Pir ie for abou t a hu nd re d metres, I agai n stepped up the tempo and finally broke
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away from the Englishman. He fell further and further behind, having apparently exhausted what was left of his strength. He was overtaken by Kovacs, Lawrence, Krzyszkowiak, Norris, Czerniawski and Power in turn. "All the strength seemed to have drained from Pirie's body. Now came the twenty-fifth and final lap. I comple ted it in 66.6 se con ds. I flew to t he tape and to my victory. Even the ju j u d g e s c o u l d n o t r e m a i n i m p a s s i v e in these final seconds of our race." Thus came his first Olympic victory won by titanic effort, courage and exceptional strength of will. Kuts's time of 28 minutes 45.6 seconds was 31.4 seconds faster than the 1952 Olympic record set by Emil Zatopek, which at that time was considered to be phenomenal. To the shouts and ovation of the spectators Kuts effortlessly ran one more lap—the lap of honour. "And," as one of the papers wrote, "he ran faster than the reporters who were rushing towards him." Vladimir Kuts's gold medal was the first top award to be won by the Soviet track and field athletes at the XVI Olympic Games and the first gold medal in the men's events. Kuts's victory inspired animated commentaries in the press and there was a dramatic change in tone. In an article "K ut s the Cat, Pirie the Mo us e" Roge r Bannister who had called Kuts "a ruthless machine" wrote: "Kuts is not a machine. His brain is as finely tuned and his thinking es perfect as his body." "Everyone Fell in Love With the Sailor" was the title of an article in the Sun. "For half an hour," M e l b o u r n e e Sun. the paper wrote, "the attention of the spectators in the vast Melbourne stadium was riveted to Vladimir Kuts, the stocky fair-haired sailor from the Ukraine." "He murdered me," Gordon Pirie admitted. "Kuts's change of tempo in the
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race beca me a to rt ur e for me." When a jou rna lis t asked whet her he thought he could beat Kuts, Pirie replied: "This thought inspired me from the very start. My hopes seemed to be coming true up to the sixteenth lap when Kuts abruptly slowed down the tempo of the race and then suddenly put in a deva stat ing spurt. Thi s man oeu vre fin ish ed me off. The race against Kuts over this distance seemed like a marathon to me. I am very upset for I do not think that I shall ever be able to beat Kuts over 10,000 metres," Pirie concluded. Vladimir Kuts took part in the other long-distance race in Melbourne—the 5,000 metres. Everyone was interested in how he would run this distance. On the 26th November three 5,000 metres preliminary heats were run, with the first five in each heat qualifying for the final. It was not surprising that Vladimir, to save his strength, ran the race just to finish in the first five and came second to Lawrence, the Austra lian athl ete. What a st or m of applause greeted this victory of Lawrence 's and wh at a sens atio n it cause d in the press! "I got the impression that Kuts was tired," the coach Franz Stempfl wrote in the the Argus, "an d tha t his fant astic victory in the 10,000 metres had sap ped his stre ng th . I shall not be surprised if we see him defeated in the 5,000 metres final." Before the 5,000 metres final Gordon Pirie Pirie confid ently annou nced: "All the runners in the 5,000 metres final including Kuts of course will put up a go od fi gh t, but I have alrea dy beaten him once this year and I am not particularly worried about him now." On the 28th November this amazingly aesthetic 5,000 metres final got underway at 4.45 p.m. 14 runners from 9 countries lined up at the start. Lawrence had to drop out because of an injury. The three Englishmen Pirie,
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Chataway and Ibbotson and the Hungarians Tabori and Szabo were all serious contestants. Kuts immediately set a blistering pace, covering the first 200 metres in 30.8 seconds and the first lap in 63.2 seco nds. He trie d uns ucc ess ful ly to draw out the runners, then he slowed down the pace somewhat running two laps in 66.2 se co nd s api ece. Havi ng cov ere d 1,600 1,600 metr es in 4 mi nu te s 22.6 se co nd s K uts was in th e lead by the end of the fourth lap. The three Englishmen were still hard on his heels. Kuts stepped up the tempo once more and after a lap run in 65.8 seconds only the Englishmen, the Australian Thomas and the Hungarian Szabo presented any real threat. In spite of the cracking pace Kuts did not tire and ran another two laps in 66 se con ds apie ce. He even man age d to put about three metres between himself and his opponents. The Englishmen started to get worried. Sensing this, Kuts completed the following lap in 65.4 seconds. Chataway tried to keep up, but it was hopeless. It was the beginning of the end. Ibbotson and Pirie did their best to keep up the pace set by Kuts and for some time they succeeded, but Pirie finally began to weaken and then Ibbotson, finding himself alone, also gave up the struggle for first place. Now Kuts stormed ahead even faster. At the bell he was 40 metres ahead of his opponents and as though in response to the shouts of the spectators, he stepped up the tempo of the race. It seemed that the bell had spurred him on. The final lap was run by this incredible athlete in 62.6 sec ond s! Vladi mir Ku ts had com plete d the dist ance in 13 minu tes 39.6 secon ds, set ting yet ano the r Olympic record. "I knew that even if they were stronger, the Englishmen would still 'sit on my back'," Kuts said after the race. "I knew that Chataway could run the last three hundred metres in
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38 sec ond s. T hat mea nt I had to g et ahead immediately and win by setting a fast pace . I am hap py tha t I wa s a ble to realize my plan." And how did Pirie who had so hoped to take his revenge react to this new defeat? In an interview with one of the correspondents he said: "I knew after the first lap that I could not beat the sailor. On the fast track his tim e equa lled 13 min ute s 3 0 . 0 sec ond s instead of 13 min ute s 3 9 . 6 seconds. The track was too soft. I personally should not have run in the 10,000 10,000 metres. I am total ly exh aus ted ." Commenting on the exceptional determination of the Soviet athlete, one of the Australian newspapers wrote on the 29th November: "In Kuts there is something of the man of the past, of the ancient Spartans who were prepared to drop dead rather than admit def eat ."
This sentiment was echoed by another paper: "Kuts the hero of the 10,000 10,000 metres beca me a lege nd wi th his victory in the 5,000 metres. Kuts's pe rf or ma nc e in the 10,000 10,000 metres set the tone for all the competitions at the Games—the tone of unrelenting struggle which requires an iron will and maximum effort. Yesterday he once again demonstrated these qualities to the highest degree, in an almost superhuman way. And once again this amazing Russian runner completed the lap of honour after the race while the other runners behind him were falling senseless to the ground. The spectators acknowledged him with shouts of approval that rang out like a clap of thunder. He did not once stop to get his breath. Even in the dressing-room twenty minutes after the race he refused the chair offered him, saying that he never got tired." The world press was unanimous in proclaiming Kuts the hero of the XVI Oly mpi ad and vot in g him the world's leading sportsman of 1956. He
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was also declared top sportsman in the year following the Olympics. Vladimir Kuts, twice Olympic Champion, European Champion, set more than one world record on the track. His world record over five kilometres was unbeaten up to 1965 and his record over ten kilometres stood until 1960. Vladimir Kuts travelled a hard road to the Olympus. At the height of his fame he was modest and hard-working and remained so until death struck him down in his 49th year, in August 1975.
Kotkas Means "Falcon"
J o h a n n e s K o t k a s s (b. 1915), wrestling, Merited Master of Sport (1943). All-Round Champion of the USSR 1940, 1943-1945. USSR Champion 1946, 1948, 1950-1953, 1955-1956, European Champion 1938-1939, 1947, Champion at the XV Olympic Games (1952, (1952, Hels inki ) in hea vyw ei ght wr est li ng. Now coach of the Estonian wrestling team.
T h e story starte d in the au tu mn of 1940 1940 wh en co mpe ti ti ons were bei ng held in the Soviet Union for the title of All-Round Champion in French Style Wrestling (now called Greco-Roman wrestling). At that time the title of All-Round Champion of the USSR was held by the Georgian athlete Konstanti n Kober idz e. It se eme d that he had no equal in strength and skill. In the su mm er of 1940 1940 the Balt ic re pub li cs of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were incorporated into the USSR. In the early au tu mn of th at year Est oni an wrestlers arrived in Moscow. This contest aroused great interest: the Estonian team was headed by the European Heavyweight Champion Johannes Kotkas. At that time Soviet sportsmen did not belong to the international sports federations and had never fo ug ht against a sin gle European champion. Consequently, no-one in the Soviet Union held such a prestigious title. The question as to who would wi n— th e All-Round Champion of the USSR or the European Ch am pi on — exc it ed all spor ts enthusiasts. However, their excitement did not last long. Kotkas won convincingl y and it was ob vi ou s that had the re been a se co nd or th ir d bou t, he would still have won. Newspapers started to publish articles which were highly critical of the serious shortcomings in the Soviet school of wrestling and both experts and the general public alike discussed how wrestling skills could best be improved. Only one man remained unshakeably optimistic—Johannes Kotkas himself. He stated that he had seen quite a number of remarkable wrestlers in Moscow, that he would add some of their technique to his armoury and that his victory over Koberidze meant nothing because Koberidze weighing under 87 kil ogr ams was a lightheavyweight, whereas his (Kotkas's) weight was in excess of 100 kilograms which could not but have been a decisive factor. Moreover, they should
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train together and then they would see who was the better man. Thus the Estonian wrestler with his amazingly simple and friendly manner was accepted into the large family of Soviet wrestlers. His life had been a hard one before he became the Kotkas who was applauded by the sporting world of Europe. His father was killed in the First World War and his mother had to bring up the two-year-old Johannes and the five-year-old Emmi alone. Deprived of its breadwinner, the family somehow had to make ends meet and when he was still a boy Johannes was obliged to go out to work. He had no special skills. No workshop or factory would take him on: who needed an unskilled youth? Fortunately, Johannes possessed great physical strength. At the age of 15 he wo rk ed as a stev edo re. Init iall y he shifted bales at the port of Tallinn and later handled freight for a construction firm in Tartu. And he still had enough strength and energy left over at the end of the day to spend a little time studying. By the time he was 20, Johannes was working as a mechanic at a small factory in Tartu. It was the n that he he to ok up wre stl ing . His exceptional strength and natural talent for sport helped him achieve success on the mat and he soon acquired patrons. Vying with one another, the managers of professional sports clubs began to invite him to appear, foreseeing the high box-office takings which this remarkable strong man wou ld b ring in. But Joh ann es d id not turn professional; he remained a working man. That is why Kotkas easily adapted to the family of Soviet sportsmen. Although he didn't know Russian at that time, he quickly found a common language. As veterans of sport now recall, Johannes took them by surprise when he suddenly started speaking Russian wi th a Geo rgi an acc ent ! It It 10-11
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turned out that he had been having lessons with his new friend Konstantin Koberidze... But their second encounter did not take place. In 1941, Johannes Kotkas, European Champion left for the front to defend his country against the Nazi invaders. When the war ended sports enthusiasts once again saw this remarkable wrestler in the halls and stadiums. Yes, in the stadiums too. Kotkas twi ce becam e cha mpi on — in wre stl ing and ... tra ck and field! He chose perhaps the most difficult event in track and field—throwing the hammer, but this unusual combination of disciplines once again confirms Kotkas's talent for sport. In 1947, Soviet wrestlers took part for the first time in the European Championships which were held in Prague that year. Johannes Kotkas was unanimously elected team captain. With him in the team was Konstantin Koberidze. Along with the you ng middl eweigh t Nikolai Belov they both returned home with gold medals. This was the first major success for Soviet wrestlers in the international arena: those in the higher weight categories—middleweight, light-heavyweight and "he avyw eig ht—w on the title of the strongest. In the final bout Johannes Kotkas sustained a broken rib which was not discovered until he left the mat as European Champion. This was followed by a new and brilliant success at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Kotkas had four bouts at this tournament and according to the rules at tha t ti me 15 mi nut es wer e allotted to each bout. Johannes complet ed all fou r in 13 mi nu te s .... .. no ne of them lasted longer than 4.5 minutes. An outstanding athlete! But were there defeats? Yes, there were—at the 1953 World Championships in Naples (if the word "defeat" can be applied to the wi nn er of a silve r medal ). Ko tkas completed the entire tournament in
Soviet Sport
spl end id fo rm but in the las lastt bout wi th the Swede Bertil Antonsson his wrestling was initially too confident and later too hasty. On the whole it didn't go well for him. Antonsson was exuberant when the j u d g e s d e c l a r e d h i m t h e w i n n e r ! " T h e nort hern gi ant " did a for war d somer sault, a backward somersault, another backward somersault and flew over the ropes landing in the arms of his team-mates who lifted him shoulderhig h in tr iu mp h. An d it was har dly surpr ising . If If anybody unde rst ood what it meant to snatch victory from Kotkas, even Kotkas at the age of nearly 40, it was Antonsson and his friends.
9£
Doctor of Sciences
After that Johannes Kotkas made only rare appearances at major international tournaments, although up to 1959 he invariably took part in All-Union contests. Always smartly turned out in the blue and white track suit worn by members of the Estonian team, always with a manly bearing, calmly accepting victory and sincerely congratulating his opponents when they won. Kotk as. Hi s nam e is very fa mi li ar to sports fans. But not everyone knows perhaps that in Estonian Kotkas means "falcon".
Mikhail Botvinnik Botvinnik (b. 1911), chess, International Grandmaster (1950), Merited Master of Sp ort (1945). (1945). Gr ad ua te d fr om th e Len ingrad Polytechnical Institute. USSR Champion 1931, 1933, 1939, 1944-1945, 1952, World Champion 1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963. As a member of the Soviet team he won the Chess Olympics in 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 and the European Championships in 1961 and 1965. Doctor of Sciences, full professor. Studies the development of chess programmes for computers.
They Were Educ ated by Spor t
In 1925, 1925, whe n the tel egr aph br ou gh t the news that the 14-year-old schoolboy Mikhail Botvinnik had beaten the invincible Jose Raul Capablanca who was playing a simu ltan eous exh ibi tio n game in Leningrad, the experts realized that an outstanding talent had made its appearance in the chess world. This was further confirmed by the winner's style—his daring solution of the ope nin g, his ene rg eti c att ack, his ability to put to use the slightest tactical advantage. Mikhail Botvinnik gained the title of Master of Sport when he was sixteen. Today this would surprise hardly anyone, but at that time when chess maestros were respectable and well on in years, it was a sensation. 1931. The most experienced Grandmasters in the country were taking part in the seventh National Championships. When the results of the protracted struggle were published, it was the name of Mikhail Botvinnik which headed the list. From that time on victory followed upon victory and only in the odd tournament did Botvinnik relinquish first prize. He drew the match with Salo Flohr, at that time one of the greatest Grandmasters in the world, and won first prize at the international tournaments held in Leningrad in 1934, Moscow in 1935 and Nottingham in 1936. After that everyone was ready to acknowledge that a star of of the first ma gn it ud e had appeared on the chess scene. Even Alexander Alekhine himself annou nce d that he cons ider ed Mikh ail Bo tvi nn ik to be be the most likely cand idate for the chess crown. Each World Champion represents an epoch in the history of chess. His game, his views on the strategy, tactics and psychology of the chess battle always contain something new, special and hitherto unprecedented. The first World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz introduced important positional rules which even today are still in
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force. For alm ost a cen tury Gran dma sters and Masters have been waging chess wars based on Steinitz's teaching, developing and perfecting it. Steinitz's successor Emanuel Lasker gave a new dimension to the game of chess with his observations on psychology. "We not only have to fight against the chessmen," he said, "but above all against the man who manipulates these pieces. This man has his strengths and his weaknesses and our task is to force on him everything he dislikes, to put him in a situation where the positive side of his character is restricted and we can take advantage of his weaknesses..." The Cuban Jose Raul Capablanca who succeeded Lasker to the chess throne, astounded the world with his unique technique and his ability to put to good use the smallest most minimal advantage. And he did this with inimitable elegance and style. To say "he played the endgame like Capablanca" is to acknowledge the highest technical skill. After Capablanca the chess crown passed to Alexander Alekhine. A spirited fighter and inexhaustible master of invention, he literally worshipped the game of chess, and chess, in gratitude, revealed its innermost secrets to him. In 1935 he had, it is true, to surrender the throne to the Grandmaster Max Euwe, a chess player of encyclopedic knowledge and rare tactical skill, but in 1937 Alekhine made a triumphant comeback. For the present generation of chess players he epitomizes the all-round chess thinker in whom even the most critical of his colleagues can find no shortcomings. An d so to M ikh ail Bo tvi nn ik ... ... the real contender for the world title. A born researcher, he is endowed with a resolute character, persistence and boldness. Botvinnik, if one can put it this way, has established the game of chess on
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a scientific basis. He has a scientific approach to the theory of chess variations, to the preparation for tournaments and even to the study of future rivals! He has perfected the system of analyzing opening variations. The Grandmaster has often gained a decisive advantage through moves which had been carefully considered at home while preparing for the game. It was only left to further enhance superiority by technique. In 1935, the Austrian chess player Rudolph Spielman brought to Moscow a very subtle innovation in the KaroKann Defence which he used in the first round of the international tournament. His opponent Mikhail Botvinnik appeared to be fo ll ow in g quite happily the route on which his guest had set the trap. Acute embarrassment should have resu lted . But ... ... Bo tv in ni k sidestepped at the very edge of the precipice and Spielman himself fell into the trap. At the Nottingham tournament a year later a similar situation occurred in the game against Alekhine. The World Champion attacked boldly and decisively, having worked out a particularly dangerous strategy specially for that game. But Bot vinn ik replied with lightnin g speed as th ou gh he had lo ng been familiar with all the most complex variations. However hard Alekhine tried to build up his attack, it was no use, and soon after the opening he had to agree to a draw. By the end of the thirties no-one expressed any doubts about Botvinnik' s righ t to a mat ch against Alekhine. Alekhine himself agreed in principle, but the match did not take place. The Second World War began. Negotiations about organizing the match resumed after the war. This time again the match did not materialize as Alexander Alekhine suddenly died in 1946. In 1947, executives of the International
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Chess Federation met in Amsterdam to decide what should happen to the vacated throne. After heated discussions, it was agreed to organize a tournament for the five strongest Grandmasters: Mikhail Botvinnik, Paul Keres and Vasily Smyslov representing the Soviet Union, Samuel Reshevsky representing the United States and Max Euwe representing the Netherlands. Mikhail Botvinnik, the winner of this most difficult tournament, became World Champion in 1948. The new champion headed a whole galaxy of talented young players. From 1952 onwards the gold medals and the gold challenge cup at the chess Olympics were nearly always won by the Soviet team. Botvinnik's role in creating a national chess school is inestimable, his chess talent is supreme. In the fifteen years of his "rule" he played seven matches against his most dangerous rivals. On tw o occa sion s he tem por ari ly lost the crown, but both times regained it exactly a year later after a return match. It is always risky to draw parallels and make forecasts in chess, but it can nonetheless be assumed that had the International Chess Federation not withdrawn the right to a return match at that time, a more sustained fight than they put up in their 1963 match could have been exp ect ed in the repeat duel betwe en Bot vin nik and Tig ran Petrosyan... Having added the prefix "ex" to his world champion title, Botvinnik devoted himself exclusively to his scientific work. But the doctor of sciences who was in charge of important research work did not forget about chess, and this is how the idea of creat ing a chess-pla ying com put er originated. "Be lie ve me, I nearly we nt ou t of my mi nd analyzing the th ou gh t processes of the chess player and trying to find a true algorithm which would express the process of the chess game," he
told his colleagues later. The outcome of these years of work of the was a book The Algorithm Chess Game whi ch is high ly tho ug ht of by experts throughout the world. "Whatever are you thinking of?" lovers of the "human" chess play complained. "To deliver such a blow to the art of chess!" "On the con trar y!" Botvi nnik countered. "Have you not observed that young people nowadays have turned away from chess to some extent and are becoming increasingly interested in outer space and cybernetics? The computer will reawaken interest in chess and make it even more popular." A machine is only a machine and can never replace the emotions engendered by a face -to- face enco un te r. In the end Mikhail Botvinnik returned to the chess battlefield. In a number of major tournaments he once again demonstrated the old lucidity of thought, the same confidence and vast erudition. There is one other absorbing activity of the ex-world champion that should be mentioned. Botvinnik's school for young chess players of talent has been in existence for a number of years now. One can only envy those fortunate children who from an early age have had the opp ort uni ty of of stud ying under Mikh ail Botvinnik! One of them, incidentally, was Garry Kasparov.
"You've Deceived Us Again" T h e famo us Soviet pentathle te Igor Igor Novikov did not look too happy before the start of the 1965 World Championships in Leipzig. This was his last appearance. He was thirty five and in top sport thirty five is old age according to the "experts". Novikov himself believed that a sportsman should continue to take part in international competitions as long as he remained at the top in his own country. And at that time he was considered to be without equal in modern pentathlon. Even at thirty five one would only have known his age from his passport; he had the heart of an eighteen-year-old, as a medical examination had shown. Nevertheless he had made up his mind to retire. He was tired of the sidelong glances of young athletes who had been led to believe by "well-wishers" that obstinate "old men" were keeping them, the young ones, out of the national team... He was first attracted by sport in 1943. He started with swi mm in g and made not a bad start at that, completing the 100 metr es fr ees tyle in one mi nu te , which was considered a respectable result in those days. He even became champion of Transcaucasia and winner of the USSR Youth Championships. In addition he played water polo and volleyball rather well. Then he took up skiing and gymnastics. In a word, he was an all-round sportsman which probably explains why he became the USSR Modern Pentathlon Ch am pi on in 1951, 1951, exc ell ing in riding , epee fencing, pistol shooting, swimmin g and cros s-co untr y running. From that time all his other sporting interests took second place. In 1952, he took part in the Helsinki Olympics. Four times USSR Champion and four times World Champion, he also won two Olympic team gold medals, one team silver and one indi-
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vidual silver... In all probability that was enough! It was time to quit. However, he didn't want to settle for simple withdrawal but to cover himself in glory on his final appearance. However, this was easier said than done: he had been injured at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and was out of training for several months. It is true that just before the World Championships the following year Novikov won two competitions with quite good results, but it seemed that he was no longer capable of achieving anything outstandi ng. That is why Igor di dn' t look p arti cula rly happy at Leipzig, although he tried not to show it and as always smiled amicably, exchanging greetings with athletes he knew.
Igor Novikov Novikov (b. 1929) modern pentathlon, Merited Master of Sport (1957), Merited Coach of the USSR (1968). USSR Champi on 1953, 1956, 1959, 1964, Wo rl d Ch am pio n 1957-1959, 1961 in the indi vid ual an d team event, 1962 in the team event, Champion at the XVI and XVIII Olympic Gam es (1956, Me lb ou rn e; 1964, Tok yo) in the team event. Now head of a specialized chil dren' s and yo un g people's sports sc ho ol in Yere van. Cha ir ma n of the USS R Modern Pentathlon Federation. VicePresident of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon and Bi ath lo n. Me mb er of the USSR National Oly mpi c Co mmitte e.
"Well, are you going to surprise us again?" they asked. In reply Novikov shook his head. "You're always the same, all modest at first, and then out of the blue comes a medal," they said in disbelief. "No, this time I'm really not in that kind of form..." Finally the first part of the progra mm e— th e show ju mp in g — got underway. The Soviet team consisted of three pentathletes: Igor Novikov, Albert Mokeev and Pavel Lednev. The first two were experienced having taken part in interna tional cha mpi ons hip s many times, but the third team member was making his first appearance at the Worl d Cha mpi ons hip s. Mokeev completed his round successfully. There were faults, but on the wh ol e the result result was a go od on e— so me th in g in the ord er of of nine hundred points. He was followed by five foreign competitors and then Lednev entered the ring... But what was happening? Igor realized immediately that Lednev was having trouble with his horse and seemed unabl e to cope. His spl en di d mo un t
They Were Educated by Sport
was playing up and refused to go anywhere near the start. He reared up and spun round and his rider could think of nothing better to do than lay into him with the stick. "If this goes on," Igor thought in alarm, "th e wor st cou ld ha ppe n — he will be disqualified." Three refusals on the part of the horse to submit to his rider meant disqualification and Lednev's horse was capable of that: he obviously hated his rider and could not wait to get rid of him. However, Lednev eventually forced his horse to go forward and rode towards the first jump. "Perhaps he'll get round after all?" there was a faint glimmer of hope. "Perhaps Pavel will calm down, the horse will settle down and somehow keep going to the end of the course? It doesn't matter if he loses a few dozen or even the odd hundred points, as long as he completes the course." But these hopes were in vain. The bell rang to indicate that Lednev had been disqualified and he left the ring wi th ou t a singl e po int. This was a real tragedy. By throwing away almos t a th ou sa nd po ints , the Soviet team had forfeited its chance not only of winning medals but even of being in the first ten! Igor was in despair. However, this emotion expressed itself in an unusual way. He forgot about everything, even about his injury. His recent gloom brought on by his imminent retirement from top sport, his memories of past victories were wiped out. Now he had only o ne th ou gh t in his mi nd — as l on g as he was in the team he would do everything within his powers to save the situation... His last appearance was indeed a memorable one. He gained more than a thousand points in each of the five events. His total was second only to that of the very talented Hungarian pentathlete Andras Balczo. Both Mokeev and Lednev were then
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spurred on to match Igor's performance. As a result the Soviet team won the silver and Novikov won the individual silver. "And what did you say before the start?" his foreign colleagues asked ironically. "You've deceived us again..."
Holder of the "Golden" Paddle
A n t o n i n a S e r e d i n a a (b. 1929), kayaking, Mer ite d Mast er of Sp or t (1960), (1960), Meri ted Co ac h of of th e USSR (1972). (1972). Gra du at ed fr om the Central Moscow Institute of Physical Culture. USSR Champion 1958-1962, 19641965, 1967-1968, World Champion 1966, European Champion 1959, 1961, 1965, 1967, winner of two gold medals at the XVII Olympiad (1960, Rome) in different classes of boat s. Now a teac her. Ca nd id at e of Ped ago gic al Scie nces.
T h e Europea n cano ein g and kaya kayak k championships which were held in Moscow in the summer of 1969 resulted in a major victory for the Soviet team. The Soviet crews won all three of the gold medals which were awarded in the women's events. At the closing ceremony Charles de Coquremon (France), President of the International Rowing Federation, congratulated the coaches of the Soviet team: "I did not doubt that your girls would win. Was it not Antonina Seredina who saw them off at the mooring line? She of all people knows how to draw a gold catch out of the water..." A dramatic change took place in the life of Antonina Seredina in that memorable year 1969—after thirteen years of competing she was to put herself to the test in the role of mentor. She had learnt a lot from her coach Maria Fadeeva and from Alexander Silaev, senior coach of the USSR national team, a man of inexhaustible energy, accurate in his assessment of people and able to predict the course of events. Her close working partnership with Nil Savin, Merited Coach of the USSR, when they trained the team together was also an important and rewarding experience for her. All these people loved and valued Antonina in their own way and believed that she would make an excellent coach. Maria Fadeeva, the leading coach of the "Spartak" sports society, had a deep understanding of human nature and considerable experience in sport and An ton ina consid ere d it an h onou r to be her pupil. Fadeeva knew what it took to master high speeds and, even mor e, how i mp or ta nt it was to retai n one's individual identity. In t h o s e y e a r s — t h e m i d - f i f t i e s — w h e n Seredina entered big-time sport, much discussion took place among coaches about the impor tan ce of tra ini ng loads and of introducing variety into the technical and physical preparation of the athlete. Most of them argued that refined technique decided everything,
They Were Educated by Sport
particularly in rowing which has long been considered to be a technically difficult sport. Fadeeva did not deny the importance of technique but she believed that success was based on a varied programme of physical training and the development of strength and stamina. At first Antonina suffered a number of defeats in the kayak singles. She and her coach had great hopes for the 1958 season. She succeeded in getting into the national team and taking part in the World Championships in Prague. In the lanes of the river Vltava Seredina presented the first serious challenge to the leader—the Olympic Champion Elizaveta Dementeva. She was only one tenth of a second behind her in the final and came second. "Why p reten d, I was ter rib ly disappointed to have lost. It seemed to me at the time that my coach and I had done everything possible to win. But after she had thought about it at home Maria Fadeeva reached the conclusion that reserves of strength could be found. And she found them," Antonina said later. Before the start of the 1960 Olympic season Fadeeva set her pupil the difficult task of achieving maximum loads. Their day started long before it was light with a prolonged run and a warming-up session. Then Seredina, armed with a pick-axe, hacked a hole in the ice and lowered the kayak into the canal. Fadeeva stoically endured the frost and the biting wind, not moving from her observation point on the bank. She knew very well that her presence alone was a moral support for the sportswoman. And Antonina was quick to react to every comment and piece of advice. Four months later Seredina took her kayak over the Oly mpi c Regatta course on the Italian lake of Albano. It was the usual high temperature of a Rome Au gu st — plu s fo rt y an d not a
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breath of wind. The lake was like a mirror. In the distance the stands by the finish buzzed with activity. Maria Fadeeva sat in the front row with a stopwatch in one hand and a red cap in the other. They had discussed at length and thought through the entire strategy of the race. For the first half of the 500 metres it was im por ta nt t o keep level with the West German champion Therese Zenz. Then—a glance at the front row of the stands to see the red cap being waved. Antonina held out in the battle of nerves: she kept level with Zenz who put her all into the initial spurt. 150 metres before the finish Seredina saw Fadeeva waving the red cap and she put everything she had in reserve into the final strokes. Seredina's time was 2 min ute s 08.0 08.0 sec ond s and Ze nz 's —2 minut es 08.2 08.2 seconds. The Soviet sportswoman had won this very difficult Olympic final. Two hours after the kayak singles final Antonina Seredina once again came under starter's orders, this time with her friend Maria Shubina. She spent these two hours of breathing space under the aw nin g of a slipway t hin king about her next race. Shubina had caught a cold the day before and didn't feel well. Nor was it easy for Antonina herself to get into the right frame of mind for the fight ahead. A misunderstanding arose at the start. The sailor who was holding the boat on the starting raft did not hear the starter's signal and after the gun had been fired held on to Seredina's and Shubina's kayak for about two seconds. Antonina had to shout: "Let go!" For almost the entire course they were catching up with their rivals. Seredina and Shubina trailed behind the West German pair Therese Zenz and Ingr id H art ma nn f or 450 450 metres. They didn't even hear the piercing whistle blown from the stands by the coach Yury Shubin, so engrossed
Soviet Sport were they in the rhyme of the race. And they had held out! The Soviet girls crossed the finishing gate one second ahead of all the other kayaks. Seredina broke her paddle in Rome and com pe te d wit h a new one. She did not imagine then that she would have to replace many more paddles as she had a long road ahead of her after Rome. For eight whole years she headed the Soviet team. In 1964, Lyudmila Pinaeva, the talented spo rts wom an fro m Len ingrad, won the Olympic gold and took over fr om Ser edi na as tea m captai n. Antonina however found in herself the resolve to reorganize her training sc he du le and prov e tha t it it was t oo early to write her off. She was in the team of four at the 1966 World Cha mpi ons hi ps and wo n the gold medal, moreover Seredina was in the same boat as Pinaeva. The following season Seredina and Pinaeva were together in the kayak pairs at the E u r o p ea ea n C h a m p i o n s h i p s — a n d o n c e again they won! They competed together at the Mexico Olympics and won bronze medals. Fadeeva was the first to advise Antonina to take a post-graduate course at the Moscow Institute of Physical Culture: "You'll be able to draw on the latest scientific developments and that means you'll go further than me in your coaching." Ant oni na' s tran sit ion to coa chi ng in 1969 coincided with the start of her research work. Four years later she became a Candidate of Sciences. Once she had beco me a coa ch A ntonina with her characteristic energy set about forming the USSR national team and selected Yulia Ryabchinskaya f ro m Odes sa as the num be r on e candidate for the team. At that time Yulia was in fifth place in the national Championships. Few believed that in a sho rt ti me she wo ul d be ele vate d to team leader.
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This happened in just one year. At that time the Olympic Champion Alexander Shaparenko from Sumy was acknowledged to be the supreme kayakist and all the men strove to match his skill. Under Seredina's guidance Ryabchinskaya set about emulating his style. Her "hour of glory" came at the 1972 Munich Olympic Regatta. There was no-one to equal her in the kayak singles final: in that race Yulia achieved the staggering speed of approximately 120 strokes a minute without sacrificing any of the brilliance of her style. Seredina's pupils once again excelled at the next Olympiad in Montreal. In the kayak pairs Nina Gopova and Galina Kreft won the highest awards of the Olympic Regatta. Another of her pupils—Nelya Efremova who had Natalya Kalashnikova as her part ner in the kayak pa ir s— st oo d on the victor's podium at the 1983 USSR Spartakiad. Antonina said about her pupil: "Her principal qualities are her sense of responsibility and her self -dis cipl ine. " These same qualitie s are the hallmark of Seredina herself— an individual of rare dependability and dedication.
"Grishin is Owens on on Ice"
Ev ge ny Gri sh in (b. (b. 1931), 1931), sp ee d ska tin g, Me ri te d Master of Spo rt (1952), (1952), Me rit ed Co ac h of th e USSR (1973) (1973).. Gr ad ua te d f ro m the Smolensk Institute of Physical Culture. All-Round European Champion (1956). Go ld meda lli st at the VII an d VIII Win te r O l y m p i c s (1 (1 9 56 56 , C o r t i n a d ' A m p e z z o ; 1 9 6 0 , Squaw Valley) in 500 and 1,500 metres. Hol der of five wo rl d record s. Of fic er.
Firstly about three races. 1956. The Olympic speed skating tournament. Lake Mizurina in the Dolomites near Cortina d'Ampezzo. The frozen lake high in the mountains is a natural rink. The stands are now filled to capacity. There is the sound of sleigh bells and fast chat of the radio commentators sitting high up in their boxes. The 500 metres is about to begin. The first gold medal! Who will win it? The Norwegians, the Americans, the Swedes, the Finns? Or perhaps the ne wc om er s—t he Russians? Russians? This is their Olympic debut. Suddenly there is a hush in the stands. Evgeny Grishin, the broad-chested Russian in black tricot and the Englishman John Cronshey wearing a dark-blue sweater tense themselves on the ice. The gun is fired. Swift as an arrow released from its bow the Russian shot forward. Cronshey is hopelessly left behind after the first bend even though he started the race in the nearside lane. Grishin tore along the last last 150-170 met res like a wh ir lw in d. The huge "Omega" chronometers register the staggering time of 40.2 40.2 seco nds . A nat ional , Euro pean , world and Olympic record!!! The gold medcil is won by the Soviet team and Evgeny Grishin is vindicated, for when he registered the same time shortly before the Olympic Games, certai n "eyewitnes ses" maintained that Grishin started before the gun. In its account of the Soviet sprinter's perf orman ce, "Gri shi n IIs s Owens on Suddeutsche Ice", the West German German Zeitung wrote: "On Saturday the sprinters had their say. Evgeny Grishin gave many sceptics a moral slap in the face. A week ago this 'Owens on ice' produced the fan tas tic resu lt of 500 metr es in 40.2 seco nds , in other w or ds he tore along at a speed of nearly 50 km per hour. 'A false start,' some experts were heard to mutter. This did not upset Grishin. On the Saturday he had
Soviet Sport the very real pleasure of getting rid of many irritating flies with one swipe." It is imp ort ant tho ug h to unde rst and the character of Grishin the sportsman. After the race he commented that he had not skated as badly as on this occasion for a long time. Four years passed... A new Winter Oly mpi cs, th is ti me in in the f or me r Indian village of Squaw Valley in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The bright Californian sun shone down on the track of the artificial rink. The fi fte ent h pair is is on the ic e— Evgeny Grishin and the Austrian Franz Of fen ber ger . Gri shi n is not luck y wit h his draw. Four years ago his opponent in th e 500 met res at Lake Mi zu ri na had been the English long-distance skater Jo hn Cronshey. O ffen berge r was also a long-distance racer which meant that there would not be a close fight and it would be more difficult to pr od uc e a go od result. The gun is fired. The first 100 metres are " de vo ur ed " in 9 second s. Now comes the great bend when the skater, inclining forward like an acrobat, covers 15-20 metres in one stroke, so to speak. To the roar from the stands Evgeny accelerates and shoots forward. It seems that there will be a new wor ld recor d — some thi ng ar oun d 39. 7—3 9. 8 sec ond s! The final bend. There remain the last 150 metres. And sud den ly —h or ro r! — he tripped. All the spectators leap out of their seats. Has he fallen? No! He's still there. To an indescribable rumble from the stands Grishin completes the distance in 40.2 sec on ds . An d this in spi te of the trip! The world record is equalized and the third Olympic gold medal (after the 500 and 1,500 metres in Italy in 1956) in Grishin's career is won. Af ter war ds Evgeny gave his ac co un t of the race: "In the fir st in sta nt wh en I was t ak en at high speed far to the right of the sn ow ban k, I leant sharpl y to th e left
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and lost my point of balance. That's it!' I th ou gh t. But I ca ug ht s ig ht of the electric stopwatch and it flashed through my mind that there was still tim e. I de ci de d to p ut my all all in to the fi nal metr es and so I ma na ge d to 'climb out of the grave' as they say..." Then came another victory, this time in the 1,500 metres. Let us tu rn the page s of fo ur mor e speed-skating yearbooks. Once again it is a leap-year. Once again it is the Winter Olympics—at Innsbruck. Many changes have taken place since 1956 when Evgeny Grishin won his first Ol ymp ic " go ld " on the ice of Lake Mizurina. Grishin arrived in Innsbruck the holder of four Olympic gold awards. It was exp ect ed that a fu rt her medal wo ul d be added to his collection there. And indeed there was a fifth medal but of a different metal—silver. This is what happened. There were 44 competitors in the 500 metres. Evgeny Grishin was in the se con d pair but o nc e a gain — his t hi rd Ol ym pi cs —h e did not have have a goo d match, he did not have a sprinter! At the gun he instantly shot away from his opp one nt , cov er in g a fi ft h of the di st anc e in 9.9 9.9 se co nds . But at t he first bend there was a barely perceptible loss of balance, a slight loss of coo rdi nat ion and a slight ly reduced tempo. The sprinter races more carefully now and a time of 40.6 seconds is recorded. Not a bad result. But there are still 20 pairs to go and the American Richard McDermott showed a better time. Nonetheless the brilliant Soviet sprinter has gone down in the history of the Olympic Games as the sportsman who won awards at three Olympics! This outstanding speed skater has raced in Romania, Finland, Austria, Japan, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, the United States and Italy. And nearly everywhere he has set the highest achievements of the rinks in the 500- and 1,500-metre sprints.
The Phenomenal Bogdanov
Many articles have been wri tten about Anatoly Bogdanov 's s hoot ing prowess and much has been said about his special vision. He has been called a "ph enom ena l marksma n". Bogdanov's results were indeed amazing. In 1952, he set an Olympic record at the Malmi shooting range near Helsinki, scoring 1123 out of a possible 1200 w i t h a fr ee arm y rifle (at th at time shooting theorists were discussing whe th er it was possi ble to achieve a result of 1130 points)! Bogdanov very soon provided the ans w e r — he sc or ed 1143 an d th en 1149. 1149. That was in 1953. At the World Championships in Caracas the following year he alone won more gold medals than the rest of the Soviet team put together. It reached the point where the correspondent of one of the Swiss sporting papers (and sh oo ti ng is very pop ula r in Switzerland) suggested that the results of that phenomenonal Bogdanov sh ou ld not be take n int o acaccount when assessing the chances of the marksmen. And many other similar views were expressed. This sportsman, they wrote, stands out from ail the rest—but the qualities that made him so different were impossible to define: was it"his special eye? His spec ial ai m? In a w or d he was a phenomenon.
A n a t o l y B o g d a n o v v (b. 1931), shooting, Mer ite d Master of Sp ort (1952). Grad ua te d from the Lenin Military-Political Academy. USSR Ch am pi on in vari ous rifle sho ot in g eve nts 1952-1957, 1960, 1960, Wo rl d C ha mp io n 1954, European Champion 1955, 1959, gold medal winner at the XV and XVI Olympic Games (1952, Helsinki, 1956, Melbourne). Hol der of of 14 wo rl d reco rds. Lec tur er.
That there were special qualities is beyond dispute... Anatoly Bogdanov was an orphan. He never knew his parents. Apparently he was or ph an ed as the result of so me tragedy and admitted to a children's home. He He rem embe red his na me —i t was Tolya, and they combined this with an ordinary Russian patro ny mi c— Ivanov ich. His date of bi rt h? 1st January. The child looked about two, so they wrote 1931 on his birth certificate. Tolya started school in September 1940... In 1941 war broke out. The orphanage where the boy was brought up was near Leningrad. The chi ldr en wer e evac uate d — but some -
Soviet Sport thing different was destined to happen to T o l ya — he got lost lost at the st ati on during an air-raid. The special train with the children on board left, he stayed on in the city. So began a new and amazing chapter in the life of Tol ya Bo gda nov : Lenin grad was blockaded by Nazi troops and people were dying of hunger but the boy survived. Sailors from the to rp edo boats too k him under their wing. He did not of course go with them on naval oper ati ons , but sea sea cadet Bog dan ov lived amo ng the figh ters . He was give n tasks wi th in his his po w er s— sharpening pencils at headquarters and some technical drawing. He was the orderlies' permanent assistant. The cadet's working day lasted exactly six ho ur s— no t a minu te more, not a mi nu te less. Th en he wo ul d do his lessons under the instruction of the officers. He spent his free time with a musical platoon. The men taught him to read and write music, to play the trumpet and the drums. Anatol y beca me an enthusiast ic dru mmer an d tr um pe t player. He wa s particularly fon d of the t ro mb on e— so mu ch so th at in his sl eep ing and waking hours he pictured himself arriving at the Bolshoi Theatre. It had to be the Bolshoi—he never even thought about any other theatre. Tolya Bogdanov spent the entire war with the defenders of Leningrad. The cade t "l eft shi p" in 1947 1947 wh en he was sixt een and enr oll ed at the Len ing rad Trade School for electricians and metal workers. The head of the school's sports group was a demobbed officer who put Bogdanov as a "former sailor" in charge of the shooting section. It was to be said that up to that time Bogdanov had never fired a single shot, the sailors had never once put a weapon in his hands. But Anatoly was not in the habit of refusing to carry out tasks entrusted to him.
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Accuracy and precision are the allimportant qualities in shooting and Anatoly possessed both. It has always been considered that success in such difficult events as the free army rifle is achieved by people of mature age made wise by experience of life. But Bogdanov could hold his own with anyone when it came to selfpossession. and composure. That is how he had been brought up, that was the tough school of life he had been through since his early childhood years. Anatoly drew up a definite plan for each of his performances, deciding on the number of points he had to score. Previously this had not been done in sho oti ng. It was con si der ed that one had to shoot accurately without racking one's brains and worrying needlessly about the total number of points scored. Marksmen set records without even thinking about it. If one was successful—all to the good, if not— there was nothing to be done about it. Bogdanov worked out his system wh en he was tr ai ni ng : he wo ul d st and by a mirror and shoot without a cartridge to test his rifle hold, he would practice rapid-fire shooting. And the results were there to see— victory after victory! He won gold medals at two Olympiads, was six times World Champion, eight times European Champion and many times world and European record-holder. For many years Anatoly Bogdanov, an Army officer and a graduate of a Military Academy, lectured in philosophy at a military school. Today Anatoly Bogdanov teaches the sporting skill and technique of shooti ng — but not rifle sh oot in g. Bog dan ov was one of the first in the country to promote archery. The fact that some Soviet archers have become world champions is entirely due to the "phenomenal marksman" Anatoly Bogdanov.
Life Begins Tomorrow
Inese Jaunzeme (b. 1932), track and field athletics, Merited Master of Sport (1957). Graduated from the Riga Medical Institute. Ch am pi on at the XVI Oly mpi c Gam es (1956, Melbourne). Now a researcher at the Riga Medical Institute. Candidate of Medical Sciences. State prize-winner of the Latvian Soviet Social ist Repu bli c.
Dr. Jaunzeme has worked at the Riga Scientific Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics since 1960. She became a member of staff immediately after graduating and chose to specialize in traumatology because it seemed to her to relate directly to sport. And indeed one sel dom meets a sp ort sm an wh o has not sustained injuries at some time in his career, although Inese herself maintains that she had no serious injuries when she was active in sport. Her present work has become a vocation, an occupation for life. But what about sport? Inese Jaunzeme's sporting career began in an unusual way. She played basketball at school, then, surprising even herself, she ju mp ed a hei ght of 1 metre 30 centimetres, then, just as sur pri sin gly , too k up the javelin . Her first throw cleared 26 metres 20 centimetres. What was the attraction of track and field for this young sportswoman? Possibly the beauty of the javelin's flight, the rare sensation of movement and speed. Possibly. But first there was the work—the training, the textbooks on training methods that had to be read. In 1950, she took part in the Trade-Union Track and Field Championships in Kiev and came fourth setting a Latvian record for women's javelin throwing. Two years later she was awarded her first medal when she became Champion of the Republic. Then there was the USSR Spartakiad wh ich was fo ll ow ed by the M elb our ne Olympics when such coveted figures as 53 metres 86 centimetres flashed onto the scoreboard. This was victory! However, Inese was not in the national team for lo ng — her final ex ami nat ion s were drawing near and she no longer had the energy to compete for the top prizes. That is when the Olympic Champion Inese Jaunzeme decided to quit top sport... At first she tried not to think about the past when she was working in the Institute's clinic, but to concentrate on
Soviet Sport her chosen profession and master it com ple tel y. Thu s thre e years passed — work, work and more work. She had almost forgotten about sport. But suddenly she felt the need for physical activity, the need to train and stretch hersel f. It di d not cros s her mi nd to com pet e, but as as so oft en hap pen s circumstances dictated otherwise. This was in 1964. She discovered that the Latvian track and field team had no wo me n javelin throw ers. Moreo ver she had free time on her hands. It was cold on the coast in her spring holiday, so she started going to the stadium and training in earnest. She won the Riga Cup, then the championships and went on to take part in the All-Union competitions... "B ut I gave up javelin t hr ow i ng — I was fri ght ene d that I wo uld tear the muscle s in my arm , so I lea rne d to ski an d swim instead. They say that I look quite respectable among the veterans in the sw im mi ng p ool !" Inese Inese smiled. She is often asked what influence sport has on the individual. Apart from the positive effects there are probably negative ones as well? "The very pursuit of sport itself interested me," Inese replied, "this amazing and constant struggle with the jave li n fasc in at ed me. I am not even sur e wh ic h I liked be tt er — training or competing... And the lon ger I live the more I am c on vi nc ed that it is not only sport which can make an individual purposeful and str ong- wil led — in other wo r ds — develop those qualities which are considered to be inherently sporting. "Any occupation can help the individual to assert himself, as long as it ab so rb s all his interest. I do not agr ee that sport has any advantages in this respect, although it does have a head start..." At one of her appearances said that she was giving gradually. It is really terrible day you are told: thank you,
Jaunzeme up sport when one you have
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served sport long and honourably, but now goodbye. A person who is interested in nothing but competing and training, who is locked in his own little wor ld, loses out in thi s si tuat ion. Sport brings fame. A hitherto unknown person can become an idol overnight and one very quickly gets used to being popular. A certain danger is inherent in fame: when it goes one can be left with a great emptiness. Once Inese Jaunzeme was asked: "Do you consider that you have achieved everything in top sport that you were capable of?" "In my opinion," she answered, "every sportsman, regardless of his victories and record-breaking results, has the feeling that he could have achieved something more. This is natural for anyone who considers that he has not realized his full potential. It is another matter when the knowledge and understanding of how to achieve one's aims sometimes comes too late, when it is no longer possible to realize one's intentions. Then it is time to quit..." But how does one recognize that the moment has come when it is "too late"? Jaunzeme believes that knowing her own physical abilities helped her in this respect. She had always loved sport for sport's sake—as a form of movement which expressed life itself, but her career in medicine was also very important to her and tha t is wh y lea vin g th e nat io nal t eam was not a tr age dy fo r Inese... Inese... This is probably her "secret", the reason she was able to retire from top sport so calmly and leave behind the triumph of the arena and the fame of being a champion. To tell the truth, mu ch less is kn ow n abou t Jau nze me the doctor than about Jaunzeme the go ld medallist at at the Mel bo ur ne Olympics. Inese Inese Jau nze me was psyc hol ogi cally ready to "change her profession". She believes that every coach has the duty to prepare his pupil for a
future life when his career in sport is over. There is the view that a real sportsman is one who is totally dedicated, for whom there can be no division of loyalties. One must strive only to set new records and perfect oneself in one's chosen field. It is indeed difficult to be first all the time and simultaneously to think of the morrow. But this is both necessary and important for, then the problems which so often beset people who leave top sport will not occur. There are many instances of sportsmen who, at the height of their powers and totally dedicated to their particular discipline, still find the time to think about their tomorrow. However, it is difficult to advise how best to do this. It is is Jau nze me' s view that the sportsman himself must take the first step. After all, connoisseurs of sport will always love him and remember him. He will not be forgotten, for the title of champion always remains a very real and considerable achievement. But he himself must find his place in life as Inese Jaunzeme, Olympic Champion and now doctor, has done. In her life she has successfully combined science and sport.
Mastering Oneself "Vlasov!" Yury stands to attention. "Sports day is on Sunday. You will be in the college team. Throwing the grenade." "B ut I ca n' t! " the wo rd s were on the tip of his tongue. "Yes sir!" Yury said instead. He had already tried throwing the grenade and learned the easy holds. But where was he to find the strength for a long-distance throw which would give his team qual ifyin g poin ts? Perhaps he would be lucky if he really tried? However, the miracle didn't happen. As was to be expected, the grenade did not travel very far. The silent reproach of his commanding officer, the bitter disappointment. How he longed to be really strong like some of the senior pupils who enjoyed unquestionable authority! The syllabus of the Suvorov Military School provide d a wh ol e rang e of sp ort ing activities—compulsory morning exercises, cross-country walking and skiing, track and field athletics and swimming—all of which would develop the quali ties necessary in a fut ure offi cer. "It's not enough for me," Yury decided . He wa nt ed passionately to com bine in himself the strength of the wrestler, the dexterity of the acrobat, the speed of the sprinter and the stamina of the long-distance runner. He began with dumbbells. He provided himself with cast iron equipment and drew up a schedule of practising for not less than 40 minutes every day, regardless of the weather, how he felt, his mood and a host of other factors! He copied some of the exercises fro m text book s, others he th ou gh t u p himself. Yury discovered that literally any ob je j e c t c o u l d b e u s e d as an ai d. He c o u l d sit on a stool and hooking his feet under the radiator bend backwards to strengthen his stomach muscles. With his outstretched arm he could lift a
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heavy chair by its front leg or he could use two stools pushed close together for practising different kinds of pressups. Or... Having made it a rule to practise all the time , Vlasov con ti nua ll y increased his training load. Although he was only just seventeen, he looked like a real athlete. He grew to a height of 185 centimetres and weighed 94 kilogrammes; when he breathed in his chest measurement was 110 centimetres. The ti me wh en he w ou l d leave leave sch ool was fast approaching but the forthcoming examinations didn't worry him. The more he practised sport, the better he did in class, for the habit of a wel l-r egul ated dail y routi ne also developed his ability to put every minute of his working time to good use. The final examinations were held in the spring of 1953. The silver medal he won for distinction in his studies was his first award. On his father's advice Yury entered the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and it was there that he became seriously interested in weightlifting. Yury threw himself into his new sport in a frenzy of enthusiasm. He trained wi th s uch zeal th at it se em ed his very existence depended on the results. The coach had not so much to encou ra ge as to restr ain his pupi l's ardour. Yury Vlasov Vlasov (b. 1935), weightlifting, Merited Master of Sport (1959). Graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. USSR Champion 1959-1963, World Champion 1959, 1961-1963, European Champion 1959-1964 and gold medallist at the XVII Olympiad (1960, Rome). Holder of 31 world records. Now a writer. Chairman of the USSR Weightlifting Federation.
At that time everyone was talking about the phenomenal success of the American weightlifter Paul Anderson. All sorts of stories abounded about his incredible strength, the fantastic number of sausages he devoured and the dozens of pints of milk he drank at one sitting. This athlete from the State of Tennessee weighed 160 kilogrammes. His sporting achievements were outstanding, not to say ircredible: a 196.5 kg clean and jerk and a 185.5 kg press. The American weightlifting team came to Moscow in the summer of 1955.
They Were Educated by Sport The performance of the world's strongest man left an indelible impression on the Muscovites. The twentytwo- year- old And ers on l ifte d a tot al of of 517.5 kilogrammes in his three moves. At that time no other weightlifter in the world came anywhere near 500. Yury Vlasov was among the spectators wh o saw And ers on' s p erfo rmanc e. Single-mindedly he pursued his study of the "iron game" to discover more of its secrets. The countless books he read on the subject and the deep thinking he did developed in him an enviable capacity for self-analysis. 1957 1957 was a tu rn in g- po in t for Yury Vlasov. His total in the three attempts reache d 477 kil ogr amm es. His dre am of challenging Paul Anderson no longer seemed so audacious. He beat the All-Union record in the clean and j e r k (1 85 k i l o g r a m m e s ) a n d t h e n i n t h e sna tch (144.5 (144.5 ki log ram mes ). In t he spring he attempted a 187.5 kg. clean and jerk at the Armed Forces Championships in Lvov. His goal seemed to be in sight when a serious injury put the weightlifter out of action for a long time. There was every reason to despair! And who knows how events would have turned out had not fate sent Yury an intelligent and kno wl edge abl e co ac h and a tru e and sym pat het ic friend in the person of Suren Bagdas ar ov. Not a day pas sed th at he di d not give his pupil moral support. When Yury felt that he was ready to start training again, Bagdasarov said: "We'll change the system. We'll approach it from the other end." Seeing his pupil's perplexed expression he paused, then giving rein to his enthusiasm he went on: "Now you must develop your strength in every way possible. Yes, yes, ordinary muscular strength. You are about to object that i above all others have always criticized your excessive zeal for strength training and preferred to concentrate n»
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on mastering technique? Well, there is a time for everything. A time when it is the polishing of the movements that is all- impor tant, and a time when wha t matters is not 'how' you lift but 'at the cost of what'." The 160 kg weight fell to the duckboar ds wi th a crash and onc e ag ain the broad-shouldered figure of the athlete bent over the steel bar. A press, then another. A few minutes' rest rest and then b ack to the int erm in abl e exercises. So one, two and then three hours go by. Ten, fifteen, twenty-ton weights are lifted in one training session. In the evenings Vlasov worked on his graduation project, and if he had any free time left he would sit down to write. Memories, thoughts, images swarmed in his head. The first stories, still far from perfect but full of action and strong emotions, were put down on paper at that time. The winter of 1959 arrived. A new training schedule that built up to heavy loads soon brought the longawaited results. Yury Vlasov was near to reaching the height of his powers. At the weightlifting trials he produced clos e to rec ord -br eak in g results. When he had successfully defended his project Yury graduated from the academy and was sent to serve in a unit. He had before him one more important exam—the USSR Armed Forces Championships, and in this event the sportsman was generously rewarded for all his efforts: a world record in the snatch (151.5 kilogrammes) and another, beating Anderson, in the clean and jerk—196.5 ki lo gr am me s. He set off as as th e ack no wl ed ge d favour ite fo r the 1959 World Championships in Warsaw. There is invariably one year in the life of every top athlete when he makes a qualitative leap forward, not only in his ow n dev el opm ent but in the p ubl ic esteem. For Vlasov this occasion was the XVII Olympiad in Rome. Before a
Soviet Sport stunned audience he performed nothing short of a miracle. Appearing very early in the morning (the number of participants was exceptionally high), Yury beat Anderson's official world record in the three moves (512.5 kilogram mes ) by 25 25 ki lo gr am me s in on e go! In the clean and jerk Yury lifted 202.5 202.5 kil ogram mes, beating the wo rl d rec ord set by the Ame ri can As hm an who had been the first to lift a 200 ki log ram me wei ght. Vlasov's total for the three moves was 537.5 kilogrammes. But nothing lasts for ever and nothing stays the same. After only a few months his records too were beaten. The Ame ri can weig htli fter Norbe rt Shemansky, nearing the end of his sp or ti ng career (he was 37) 37) un exp ect edly broke Vlasov's world record in the snatch. Moreover, his total in the three moves came very close to the result achieved by Yury in Rome. Vlasov took up Shemansky's challenge. At the trials in Kislovodsk he lifte d a 205 -ki lo gra mme bar, beatin g his ow n wor ld record. Th ro ug ho ut 1960 he added new records to the list of highest achievements and completed the year with the title of AllRou nd Wor ld Ch ampi on. The contest held in Dnepropetrovsk was also an outstandingly successful one for Yury Vlasov. He exceeded his Rome Olympics total by 12.5 kilogrammes. After that the world record ceiling was raised to the seemingly unattainable limit of 550 kilogrammes. In August 1963 the Finals of the Summer Spartakiad took place in Moscow. The unusually even match of part icip ants meant that ma xi mum effort would be needed for this contest, but Vlasov had succumbed to a kind of indisposition or rather inertia. The most serious challenge came from the Ukrainian giant Leonid Zhabotinsky. Yury, however, felt the sporting fervour of a real fighter as soon as he went up to the bar and sensed the
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tension in the hall. He could not, did not have the right to, must not lose! And Vlasov found the strength to win! The season came to a close with the World Championships in Stockholm whe re a wh ol e gal axy of cele briti es gathered. Perhaps the most dangerous of the weightlifters was the everyou ng Ame ric an Norbert Shemansky. In spite of his 40 years, he was fight ing-f it for the Cham pio nshi ps. He was not however able to prevent Vlasov fr om tr iu mp hi ng. For the fo urth time Yury won the honoured title of World Champion. Even before the Olympic flame had flared up in Tokyo the top-level combat had reached fever pitch. At the contest for the strongest weightlifters in the Soviet Union which was held in Moscow in March 1964, Leonid Zhabotinsky, in the absence of his mai n rival wh o co ul d not com pet e because of illness, set three world records: he reached 168.5 in the snatch, 213 in the clean and jerk and tota lled 560 ki lo gr am me s in his his thre e moves. Yury Vlasov congratulated Leonid on his success. He was very complimentary about the Ukrainian when he was asked to comment on the contest. He ann oun ced , how ever , that he did not intend to give up. Three months later at the European Championships Vlasov regained the title of the world's stro ngest man, li fti ng a total of 562.5 ki lo gr am me s in his th re e moves. On the eve of his departure for the Tokyo Olympics he broke three out of four world records, achieving a total of 580 kilogrammes. The duel which took place in Tokyo betw een the str ong est men was fraught with tension. Although Vlasov pr od uce d an exce ll ent result — a 162.5 kg. sn at ch — he ac hi ev ed it on ly in the fourth attempt. In his three moves total Leonid Zhabotinsky, by a subtle calculation, was nonetheless able to beat Yury by 2.5 kilogrammes,
achieving a total of 572.5 kg. Even in this difficult moment of defeat Vlasov remained true to himself. He was the first to embrace and congratulate his delighted opponent. Many years have passed since the Tokyo Olympics and writing now takes up the major part of Yury Vlasov's life. It is not fortuitous that his first collection of short stories is called called Master- ing Oneself.
The Coach Valentin Mankin was not in limbo for long after he left top sport. In 1984, they started talking about him again, this time as a coach: over a short period of time he trained the crew of the Soviet national team which included Guram Biganishvili and Alexander Zybin and won three major events in one season—the USSR Championships, the Friendship-84 Regatta and the European Championships. All credit must of course go to the racing crew for this success, but at the same time it was an achievement for their coach. The question is often asked: what happens to champions when they retire from sport and how well do they do in their new profession? We shall try to answer this question taking Val enti n Mank in as our examp le. His day begins at six o'clock in the morning as it did when he himself raced, and flies by with the speed of an express train, so that only the odd hour is left for watching television or going to the cinema. But he seldom allows himself such relaxation as he spends more and more time in the evenings writing up his diary in which a day sometimes takes up several pages. It is normally the coach who is expected to draw up a plan while the spo rts man 's r esponsibil ity is to keep a diary. Valentin, however, remains true to his old habits: he writes down his assessment of the training sessions and makes a note of any ideas which occur to him so that they can be discussed and put into practice on the appropriate day. Where does the coach draw his ideas from? Perhaps new ideas are simply old ones which have either gone out of fashion or been forgotten? "I do not think that in any sport you fin d these pr inc ipl es as you so oft en do in fas hion -des ign ing, " Mank in on ce said when talking about his work. "For
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us, old ideas represent valuable experience which we make use of to move forward and progress. They say that the hockey coach Victor Tikhonov likes to watch theatre producers at work and apply some of their methods to ou r trade. I, I, to o, belie ve tha t now adays a co ac h must int erest him self in art and sc ie nce as wel l. Dis cover ies are constantly being made in these fields, and if we interpret their methods and their approach to problems correctly, we can find much that is of interest."
V a l e n t i n M a n k i n n (b. 1938), 1938), yac hti ng, Merited Master of Sport (1968), Merited Coach of the USSR (1984). Graduated from the Kiev Institute of Civil Engineering. USSR Champion 1959, 1961-1963, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1974-1977, 1980-1981, World Champion 1973, European Champion 1973, 1979 and Champion at the XIX, XX and XXII Olympic Games (1968, Mexico; 1972, Mu ni ch ; 1980, Mos co w) in diff eren t classes of yafchts. Naval officer.
Mankin's own training methods have bec ome legendar y. He He wo ul d, for instance, watch television in a squatting position to strengthen his leg muscles so that he had the stamina for the many hours of counterbalancing in a race. It It wa s th is sor t of tr ai ni ng wh ic h helped him to win his first gold medal in the Finn class at the 1968 Olympics. In one of the key races it became clear that of the four yachtsmen the one who could sail the course as close-hauled as possible would win. To do this, they had to sit out. For a time all four contestants were level, but the n tir ednes s to ok its toll and one by one they climbed into their boats. Valentin held out to the end and finished first with a big advantage. "At that time a lot rested on my own initiative," Mankin recalled in a conversation with his students. "For some reason they didn't think that any special physical training was necessary for yachting (now no-one questions its importance). We soon felt the lack of it however and set about designing special simulators. Incidentally, I have not com e acr oss a si ngl e adverti sement or article about these important training aids in any of the specialist magazines. It seems that these novelties are to be found only in our country." He converted an ordinary dinghy into a training craft. The yachtsman sits in
They Were Educated by Sport the "sai lin g" position , as wh en coun terbalancing, and paddles, using each paddle in turn, simulating the work with the sheets. The principle is an old one—training the muscles, but the method is new. It is mainly used when working with children. On one occasion when he was talking to his pupils Biganishvili and Zybin, who became USSR and European Champ ions, he to uc he d on the prob lems which invariably accompany prestigious titles. "Do you know what privilege the title of champion gives you? If everyone else gets up at 6.30 a.m. yo u get up at 6 a.m . Th en yo u can be sure that in one respect at least you remain ahead of your rivals. Now many will do their utmost to beat you in even one race. They will try to catch you out on how well you know the rules, they will find faults when they measure your vessels or your sails, you will be hindered at the start and the others will hang on your tail..." Not a singl e season wen t sm oo th ly for Man ki n himself. He He wa s co nst ant ly look ing for som eth ing , disco veri ng something new and striving to overtake his rivals. When he didn't have a modern terylene sail for the Finn event he bo ug ht a doze n ste ari n candle s in a hardware shop and ... melted them do wn to im pre gna te th e sail. It to ok a long time to press the ordinary sailcl ot h, b ut the sail was of a very hi gh quality and no-one could understand why it kept its shape so well. As far back as 1979, Guram Biganishvili was made aware of the high standards Mankin expected of him. Valentin was sailing the Star at the time and selecting his boatman for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Biganishvili was in the group which trained with Mankin. He had been through the wh ol e sc ho ol of a sai lo r on th e Star, but the choice fell on another— Alexander Muzychenko. Then Biganishvili decided to become the
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helmsman of the Star himself. In 1981 the situation had changed and Mankin was co ach in g Gur am. However, Mankin had not yet retired from top sport. His yacht took part in the 1981 USSR Championships for the last time. The fate of the gold medal was decided in the last race. If Bigani shvili w on it he wo ul d bec ome champion and Mankin would get the silver for taking part and the gold for coaching the champion. But Valentin never allowed himself to compromise in sport. The race was a hard-fought on e an d Ma nk in w o n it. He was th en 43—an admirable old age in top sport. Many people believe that a successful sportsman seldom becomes a good coach. Many champions have turned to coaching and failed. This is because they have worked with their pupils on the basis of "do as I do". Val enti n had a dif fer ent appro ach. He beg an by ma ki ng a stu dy of th e li te ra tu re —b ot h the specialist literaliterature on sailing and the literature on trai ning meth ods. He int rod uced new ideas in to each of of his tr ai ni ng sessions. He not only teaches his pupils what he himself knows and has experienced, but motivates them to think ahead and predict the future. This, he believes, is th e gua ran te e of su cce ss. When he was young and only just beginning to master the Finn, his coach set him the task of aiming to "become world champion". And Mankin achieved it. Now when he starts working with new crews, he himself sets them the highest goals in sport. He has trodden this difficult path and along it he now leads those who have inherited the Olympic torch.
The Queen of Skates
Lidiya Skoblikova Skoblikova (b. 1939), speed skating, Merited Master of Sport (1960). Graduated fr om the Chel yab ins k Ped agog ica l Institute. All -Rou nd Individual Worl d Cham pi on 1963-1964, Champion at the VIII and IX Winter Olympic Games (1960, Squaw Valley; 1964, Innsbruck) on various distances. The only spo rt sw om an to have wo n 6 go ld medals at the Winter Olympics (in 1964 she won all four events). Holder of 3 world rec ord s. Now depu ty head of th e depa rtment of physical culture and sport of the All -Uni on Central Counc il of Trad e Union s. Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences.
In February 1957, many distinguished sp or ts wo me n fr om the Urals too k part in the Chel yabi nsk wo me n' s speed skat ing cha mpi ons hi ps, but it was the newcomer Lidiya Skoblikova, a firstyear student at the Chelyabinsk Pedagogical Institute, who won the 1,000 metres. Thus this almost unknown sportswoman made her debut. In 1959, she started collecting awards at international competitions and five years later reached heights of achievement unattainable for most speed skaters. The qualities which she had possessed from the very beginning gradually developed and asserted themselves— determination, persistence, the ability to go all out for victory, and pursue single-mindedly the goals she had set herself. Qualities which, like a second wind, help the athlete when it seems he has no mor e st re ng th left, wh en he loses his sense of time and his own body tur ns into a fe ro ci ou s enemy. 1963 was not the best year for Soviet speed skaters: the USSR national team had suffered a number of defea ts on th e ice. Lid iy a, it is tr ue, w as in good form, she had won the World Championships but she too felt that it was time to update the old training methods. There was not much time left before the next Winter Olympics at Innsbruck. The entire system of training had to be revised quickly and in part icul ar the tr ai ni ng l oad had to be drastically increased. "I always loved training," Lidiya once said. "G oo d tr ai ni ng is the guar ant ee of succe ss. Th at 's w hy I never wo rr ie d about r unni ng up to tw o hund red metres twenty times, but at the same ti me I do ubt ed that I wo ul d be able able to increase the load sig nif ica ntl y!" Chance intervened to dispel her doubts. At that time the training centre was 20 kilometres outside Irkutsk and the athletes went there by bus. One of Skoblikova's team-mates announced that he had run the dis-
They Were Educated by Sport tance to the centre. The idea interested Lidiya and she quickly got tog eth er a gr ou p that wan te d to d o the same on the way back. "I'll accelerate up all the hills," Lidiya announced. How she came to regret her rash promise! There was a hill almost every kilometre. Anyone else in her place would probably have laughed it off and found an excuse not to do it. But Lidiya was not that sort of person. She ran the first few kilometres calmly and confidently but then the tiredness after the training session began to tell. Each step became more of an effort. Then there were those wretched hills and she had boasted that she would accelerate up them. Now the main thing were her heart and lungs. They were functioning like well-oiled mac hi nes and as lon g as they continued to do so there was nothing to worry about. Accelerate and once again accelerate... For a long time she went back to those endless hills in her mind. But she ran on to the end, just as she had promised. After that experience Lidya convinced herself that the well-trained body is capab le of wi th st an di ng tremendous loads. This was not the same girl who in 1957 beat her distinguished rivals in Chelyabinsk. She now possessed the most superb skill, tactical alertness and a magnificent technique. She had behind her victories at the USSR and World Championships and the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley where she won two gold medals in the 1,500 and 3,000 metres. Tha t is wh y she pr oba bly found it harder than anyone else to change her normal training schedule. But once she had done that, Skoblikova demonstrated that she could overcome circumstances—be it an unlucky draw or adverse weather. Three months later this was proved conclusively at the IX Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
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In the 500-metre race Lidiya was in the thirteenth pair. What dismayed her was not tha t "1 3" is su pp os ed to be an unlucky number—she was not superstitious—but something more serious: the thirteenth pair was the last to go. In such a situation it was largely a question of morale. On the one hand it is easier to plan the race, but on the other all her opponents had by that time "shar ed out" the wi nni ng places among themselves. Moreover one of th em h ad set a ti me of 45.4 se co nd s— an Ol ymp ic recor d. At the gun the "Urals Lightning" as her fans had long since christened her tore along the track. At the finish her ti me was gre et ed wi th a bur st of applause: 45.0 seconds! A new Olympic record. The next race, the 1,500 metres, was the normal distance for Skoblikova who was an acknowledged longdistance skater. Nonetheless no-one expected her to produce an outstanding result that day: the weather was bad and in the heavy damp air the lungs were cho ke d as th ou gh wit h cotton wool. But Lidiya was true to herself. She took only 2 minutes 22.6 seconds to set yet another Olympic record. Another day of competitions lay ahead. The 1,000 metres was a tr iu mp h for Lidiya. As t ho ug h on wings she flew effortlessly along the track to win and set another Olympic record of 1 minute 33.2 seconds. There was no other sportswoman who had achieved such heights of success. It was a feat fo r wh ic h Lidi ya S ko blikova has been named "the Queen of Skates". But there was still the 3,000 metres. So, that race had to be won too. As so often happens in such situations, fate had a surprise in store for Lidiya in this race. The freezing equipment had broken down shortly before her heat. The sun and the skates of
her rivals co mp le te d the jo b: she had to race on melting ice. What records could there be now! The main thing was not to fall, to keep going to the end, to stick it out... On the bends particles of ice flew up in spra ys, th e skat es di d no t ri ng — they cru nche d. But the sco reb oar d sh ow ed a ti me of 5 mi nu te s 14.9 seconds—the best result of the day! It should be mentioned that after two more pairs had gone the ice-freezing equipment was repaired and the remaining competitors raced on a good surface. But not one of them was able to catch up with Skoblikova. At the Innsbruck Olympics Lidiya was the first in the history of the sport to win all the speed-skating golds. After that she went on to produce more outstanding results on the ice track and she was always aided by her courage, her persistence, her dedication to work and her confidence.
The Hour of Glory
Y e l e n a P e t u s h k o v a a (b. 1940), equestrian spor t, Meri ted Mas ter of Sp or t (1970). (1970). Graduated from Moscow State University. USSR Champion 1966, 1968, 1971-1973, 1 9 79 79 , W o r l d C h a m p i o n 1 9 7 0 , a n d C h a m pion at the XX Olympic Games (1972, Mun ich ) in dressage. Sci enti fic research fellow at Moscow State University. Candidate of Biological Sciences. Vice-President of the USSR Nationa l Ol ym pi c Comm itt ee. Chairperson of the Soviet Athletes for Peace Committee.
They They Were Were Educated by Sport T h e black Trakeh ner stall ion Pepel Pepel looked superb! Submitting to his rider's will, he performed miracles. Reacting to Petushkova's commands whi ch were impe rcep tib le to the onlooker, Pepel executed the difficult steps of piaffe brilliantly. The old cl ock in the castle to we r ch im ed fou r when Yelena Petushkova's loyal friend and partner halted before the judge's box as th ou gh froz en into i mmo bi li ty. "Bravo!.. Superb!.." the stands applauded in approval. And this was not j u s t a p o l i t e a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t b u t an enthusiastic tribute to her outstanding per fo rma nce in the very dif fi cul t Grand Prix which was held in the park of Nymphenburg Castle at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The team events were taking place that day. The principal contenders were the West German and Soviet riders and the hosts of the Olympic Games were still in the lead. The fate of the gold medals depended on Petushkova. Agonizing moments of suspense. Finally the results appeared on the board. The Soviet team had beaten the West Germans who had two previous Olympic victories behind th em in Tok yo and Mex ic o. Doct or Petus hko va— as she was usua lll l y k n o w n t o s p e c t a t o r s — h a d c o vered the gap with marks to spare. This meant that the splendid Russian trio—Yelena Petushkova on Pepel, Ivan Kizimov on Ikhor and Ivan Kalita on Tariff—had won medals of the highest distinction. Even the conservative experts who bowed to the authority of the French and German schools of dressage were forced by this brilliant victory to revise their opinion about the Soviet riders and the most knowledgeable connoisseurs had to agree that their individual style set them in a class apart. Pepel—a son of the purebred black Tra keh ner P iligr im, a st and ard of his breed—was for Petushkova not just
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an intelligent partner in their work tog eth er, but a wise and dev ote d friend. She came to know and appreciate his nobility of character over the many years of training and compet ing on him in co mp et it io ns at at different levels. And their path to the gold medals won at the National and World Championships and the Olympic Games was not an easy one. In her reminiscences, reminiscences, My Life and My Dressage Horses, Petu shko va descri bes sc ien ce and spor t a as s the tw o great loves of her life: "Science and sport are my whole life. They are two separate worlds; in one the intellect prevails, in the other—strong passions, but they compliment each other." Anyo ne wh o has has fol low ed Yel ena Petushkova's academic and sporting career cannot have failed to observe this unus ual com bi nat io n of the physical and the intellectual at all stages in her development. She graduated from high school with honours and entered the Department of Biology at Moscow State University; at the same time she took up dressage. She graduated with distinction and,..went on to do research and while working on her thesis was selected to join the Soviet dressage team. Soon after she had successfully completed her post-graduate training she set off for Aachen to take part in the 1967 European Championships in which she came sixth. She was moreover the best of the women riders who, as is known compete on equal terms with the men... "I would be telling a blatant lie if I said that sport did not interfere with my work," Petushkova openly admits. "But to put it a different way. If I did not do spo rt, wo ul d I have achi eved more in science? "Sport has given me confidence, it has cured me of the fear of making mist akes. Had I not lear ned to mas ter myself , I w ou l d never have da re d
Soviet Sport undertake many of the things I now do, I wo ul d never have fo un d t he courage to stand up for my own opinions. "On the other hand, would I have ach ie ved mo re in spo rt if I had not been 'distracted' by science? "I can answer quite confidently—no, I would not." Yelena Petushkova came to the Mu ni ch Ol ym pi cs as as a research fel lo w at Moscow State University, a Candidate of Biological Sciences, many times National Champion, the winner of the USSR Summer Spartakiad, silver medal winner at Mexico and 1970 World Dressage Champion. In the Bavarian capital she added yet another title—perhaps the most cherished—to this imposing list— Ol ym pi c Ch am pi on in the tea m event. And ahead was the even greater struggle for the individual medals! At th is poi nt it is ap pr opr ia te to recal l the 1970 Wo rl d Ch am pi on sh ip s held in Aachen where there is a magnificent st adi um wit h a seat ing capa cit y of eighty thousand. For the Soviet riders this event proved to be remarkably suc ces sf ul —t hey won both the team and the indivi dual c ham pio nsh ips . Summarizing the results of the competitions, the French paper paper L'Equipe wrote: "The Russians are the first to have challenged the supremacy of the West Germans in this classical equestrian discipline. Many have called their double success 'a miracle'—what they have achieved is unbelievable— particularly in view of their position the previous day." Yelena Petushkova whose accomplishment it was to win the "gold double" commented on her victory in these words: "W he n Pepel and I cam e si xt h at th e Me xi co Ol ymp ic s I deci ded that I had rea che d my ceili ng. I co ul d never h ave belie ved that I wo ul d beco me W or ld Ch am pi on . Firstly, because I was on ly seventh at the 1969 European Cham-
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pio nsh ips and it se ld om happe ns in dressage that a rider 'leaps ahead' so suddenly. Secondly, because, generally speaking, women were not at the time 'allowed' to win." The stands in the park of Nymphenburg Castle were once again packed to capacity. Twelve riders were contending for the individual title. The USSR, West Germany and Sweden wer e eac h repr ese nte d by th re e riders, Canada, Denmark and Great Britain by one. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games both the "gold" and the "silver" were won by women. Liselot te Linse nho ff of West Ger many came first and Yelena Petushkova was second. After Munich Yelena Petushkova add ed a fur the r num be r of impre ssive victories to her list. But sorrow was to come hand in hand with success and happiness. In 1974, there was the tragic loss of two people who had been very close to her: her muchloved father and the man to whom she was indebted for all her sporting achievements—Grigory Anastasyev, Merited Coach of the USSR. In 1976, the time came when she had to part with Pepel. "I rode him for the last time in the National Championships," Petushkova wrote. "After the test I di sm ou nt ed an d kissed his magnificent black face and so we parted. "He has earned a happy and peaceful retirement, my selfless and devoted partner in sport..." If it had been any sport other than dressage, Pepel's retirement would probably have ended the story. But the great advantage and delight of dressage is that veterans of the sport can remain in the saddle for a very long time. Yelena Petushkova, senior research fellow in the Department of Biology at Moscow State University, Vice President of the USSR National Olympic Committee has always been prepared
to start afresh with the horses she acquired after Pepel. She knows that however many titles a rider may have won, he has to "row up" again with his young horse. He must be prepared to stumble, pick himself up and begin anew...
The Triumph at Sapporo It was incredible! No, it couldn't be true! It was simply incredible when Vyacheslav Vedenin skied down the slope onto the flat saucer of the Makomanai stadium. First! The Norwegian Johs Harviken reeling with exhaustion followed behind. To say that he was actually skiing would be an exaggeration. Harviken was hardly able to put one foot in front of the other . He stu mb led , fell, pick ed himself up and shuffled on... Vedenin had won the relay race! No-one believed that he would. Even more amazing was how he won the pitched battle with Ha rvi ken —a battle battle whi ch became the focal point of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. Ved eni n was bor n in a small villag e in October 1941 just after his father had been killed fighting near Smolensk. One does not need to elaborate on this single sad fact to give an idea of Vedenin's deprived and unsettled childhood. From the age of 14 the boy was obliged to earn his own living: like any adult he made hay, ploughed, felled trees and did all the man's work in the house. Vedenin's dedication to work which is so much praised today can be traced back to his childhood years when there was enough hard work for ten and certainly enough to ensure that industriousness would be one of the principal qualities of Vedenin the sportsman. It is difficult to say when the passion to compete in sport was first aroused in him. The small village where he lived was remote from the major sports centres where everything was happening and from the ski tracks where the big battles were fought out. All we know is that one January day in 1957 the boy, on his own initiative, set out for Tula where the schoolchildren's regional Spartakiad was being held. He spent the night waiting for
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the train and making the difficult j o u r n e y . He a r r i v e d i n T u l a at 7 a. m. and the Spartakiad started at 9 a.m. The boy had one rouble in his pocket and a certificate stating that he en j o y e d g o o d h e a l t h , w e n t t o s c h o o l a n d lived in the village of Sloboda. They didn't want to let him compete of course. But he went from one judge to the other trying to persuade each in turn until he had either made them all heartily sick or moved one of them to pity. In the end they allowed him to take part. He produced the best result of the day, beating his nearest rival by 3 minutes.
V y a c h e s l a v V e d e n i n n (b. 1941), skiing, Merited Master of Sport (1970). Graduated from the Moscow Regional Institute of Physical Culture. USSR Champion 19661970, 1972-1973, World Champion 1970, O l y m p i c C h a m p i o n at at t h e X I W i n t e r G a m e s (1972, Sa pp or o) in var iou s rac ing even ts. No w senio r coac h at the central cou nc il of the Dynamo sports society.
Vede nin was inv ite d to jo in th e Dynamo sports society, found a job with the Tula fire brigade and put up in a hostel. His days were taken up with the demanding work of a fireman and his eveni ngs wit h dem and ing training sessions: in the summer there was cycling and in the winter—skiing. He would come home exhausted, his shirt wet through with perspiration... So it went on, day in, day out. And it couldn't be otherwise for skiing is first and foremost hard work and victory doesn't come easily. One has to prepare for it in the heat of summer, in the snow, the rain and the slush. If Vedenin is asked what it means to be a skier he will recall the 1966 World Championships at Holmenkollen where he was leading for the first 44 kilometres of the 50-kilometre race... That year they didn't want to include him in the te am —t he y consi dered that he was still "green". The team was to fly to Oslo in the morning and Vedenin didn't know the evening before whether they would take him or not. His fate was decided at a stormy meeting of the federation which went on until after midnight. His coach ph on ed him ar ou nd 1 a.m. "Go to bed. Everything is all right," he heard the encouraging voice of his mentor say. An d the n fo ll ow ed a sens ati on! Vede-
They They Were Were Educated by Sport nin—the newcomer to the USSR te am —w as l eading in the mar ath on at at his first Wor ld Ch am pi on shi ps . He quickly negotiated the hills and came do wn the slopes as th ou gh he were weightless. And he skied on and on... The com men tat ors ment ion ed his name wit h increasing freq uency . In the m or ni ng th ere was a sli ght fros t and the sky was overcast. It seemed there was nothing to presage a change either in the weather or in the temperature of the snow. The grease on the skis was highly effective. Everything was going well when suddenly the sun appeared from behind the cl ou ds. Its wa rm rays sh on e do w n o n the hill, the fam ous Hol men kol le n hill wh ic h begins at the 44th kil omet re and goes on to the finish. The ski track began to "flow"... Vedenin did not immediately appreciate the drama of the situation. He was tired. But his rivals were tired too. There was not much further to ski. He had to stick it out. The last hill... Ved eni n ran up it, to ok a step fo rw ar d, the n another... He felt tha t s om et hi ng was wrong. He pushed forward as usual, strai ght eni ng hi s leg. leg. The ski, however, did not go forward as it was supposed to, but suddenly sprang out f ro m und er his fo ot . Disa ster ! Had he been more expe rie nced , he wo ul d of of course have stopped and greased the ski und er his foo t. He w ou l d not have wor ri ed about the tim e lost, kn ow in g that otherwise he would lose even more. But he was still ine xpe ri enc ed. In despair, he tried to hold on to each of the 120 seconds he had gained. He negotiated the last hill. Each step was like a kick in the stomach. He got cramp in his legs and then in his arms. The seconds gained at the cost of colossal effort had long since been lost... He felt like weeping in vexation, impotence and pain. He had lost... It was the coach Victor Buchin who discovered Vedenin as a great crosscountry skier. In 1960, he saw Vya-
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cheslav at the competitions in Sverdlovsk. At the time Vedenin, a beginner, was hesitating between cycling and skiing. Intuition told Buchin that the lad w ou l d mak e a fir st- rate ski er a nd he was not wrong. As coach Buchin was succeeded by Pavel Kolchin—a brilliant skier in his day and champion at the VII Winter Olympics. Vedenin and Kolchin were made for each other. Both believers in heavy training loads and both skiing fanatics, they were forthright in the defence of their views and intolerant of injustice. When Kolchin was entrusted with the task of training the national team, Vedenin immediately accepted his new coach and had im pl ic it faith in the m et ho ds he proposed. He became World Champion in 1970. He was 29 that year. In the High Tatras he came first in the 30 kilometres. He could have won the 50 kilometres too, but battling against the East German skier Grimmer, he failed to notice the spurt made by the Finnish contestant Oik arai nen. No- one else not ic ed either. When the Finn accelerated to the finish, Vedenin could only wait to see wha t th e st op wa tc h sa id — he ha d alre ady co mp le te d the race. In th e end it was Vedenin's clever tactics in the last stage which won the gold medals for the team in the relay. That was two years before the XI Winter Olympics and Vyacheslav Vedenin's triumph at Sapporo. The first race was the 30 kilometres which brought Vedenin an Olympic go ld m edal . A lot co ul d be said ab ou t that ev ent if Ve de ni n had not had t o und erg o a mu ch more dem and in g test—in the relay! He started one minute and two seconds later than Harviken as it turned out. By rare coincidence that is the exact time by which he beat the Norwegian in the 30 kilometres. Now a stretch three times shorter was ahead of him. The stands emptied. Everyone had decided that the race was over.
Soviet Sport Waving flags and singing the Norwegians carried aloft their hero Ivar Formo who had put the team in the lead. Vladimir Kuzin, the coach, met up with Vedenin one and a half kilometres after the start and shouted: "Minus fifty!" Fifty seconds, almost one minute is a long way behind! But Vedenin did not despair. He made up 12 seconds but the real work was still ah ea d— on the hills. hills. He wo ul d win the relay even if he died in the attempt! Venedikt Kamensky, the head coach of the Soviet team, left his observation post at the fifth kilometre and with a feeling of disappointment made his way to the finish. "In principle silver meda ls are all righ t," he th ou gh t, "b ut they could have been gold." Behind him a roar went up—it was the Norwegians cheering on Harviken. Kam ens ky stop ped at the six th kilometre to let the Norwegian pass. Besi de him was the Am er ic an coa ch. Wh en he saw Kam ens ky he he wr ot e " 32 " in th e sno w. He sh oo k his head, not good. But Kamensky suddenly realized that things were not going so badly after all: Vedenin would catch up with his opponent, there were still three hills ahead... Harviken tore past... The Am er ic an wro te "25" in the sno w. And suddenly Vedenin appeared. "Now you will see him!" Kamensky sho ute d, k no wi ng that it it was the seeing which was important. The Norwegians had stopped singing at the starting base. Standing at the starting line Formo craned his neck, looking intently into the distance where Harviken was due to appear. Vedenin caught sight of him at the start of the penultimate hill. "L oo k round ," he tho ught . "Just look round!" And Harviken did look round. He saw something terrible—it was Vedenin. Fro m that mom en t he was do om ed .
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Vedenin breathed out: "Ha!"—on the very top of the last hill knowing how difficult it was to make way on the track there. This was one kilometre from the finish. At the start Formo angrily struck his palm with his fist, turned on his heel and walked away. Vedenin leapt out from the white background. Behind him Harviken, stumbling, shuffled forward.
The Goal of His Life
Victor Igumenov (b. 1943), wre st li ng , Merited Master of Sport (1966), Merited Coach of the USSR (1976). Graduated from the Omsk Institute of Physical Culture. USSR C h a m p i o n 1 9 65 65 , 1 9 7 0 - 1 97 97 1 , W o r l d C h a m pion 1966-1967, 1969-1971, European Ch am pi on 1970 in the li gh twe ig ht catego ry. Sen ior coa ch of the Soviet nati onal team 1972-1976. Prorector of the Moscow Central Institute of Physical Culture. Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences.
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H e is not supe rsti tio us, he sim ply doesn't like making forecasts, looking ahead , and th at is wh y he pre fer s to give interviews after competitions. Victor Igumenov acquired this preference after the 1968 Mexico Olympics. What he endured there, the deep thinking he was forced to do would have been enough for anyone else to last a lifetime. Vict or I gum enov 's fate is a com ple x, intricate but nonetheless happy one. The history of Grec o-R oman wre stl ing has not kn ow n suc h a vi rt uo so of th e mat, such a brilliant master who could execute so effortlessly combinations that were uniquely subtle in their planning, who could wrestle so inventively, cleanly and wittily. But at the same time the history of wrestling has not known such an unlucky wrestler as Igumenov. This strongest of wrestlers wi th ou t equal in the W or ld Championships suffered bitter defeats at two Olympics and his dream of wi nn in g an Ol ym pi c awar d was never realized. OnLy in Montreal, in his capacity as senior coach of the Soviet team, did Victor Igumenov experience the joy of an Olympic victory: all the Gre co- Rom an style Soviet wrestle rs wo n med al s gnd seven of th em became Olympic champions! And Victor Igumenov who had spent three years preparing the team for this event was awarded the highest honour in the country—the Order of Lenin—for his daring, his innovative training methods and for everything he had done for the national school of wrestling. No-one had ever advised him to take up wre stl ing . In his his yo un g days Vic to r who was tall, wiry and had a good j u m p i n h i m b e c a m e i n t e r e s t e d i n basketball. He did quite well, he got into his local team in Omsk where he was born and brought up and was soon taking part in regional competiti ons . At the sam e ti me he to ok up bo xi ng an d even got his first s po rt s ranking. But Victor himself admits that he only derived real satisfaction from
Soviet Sport Greco-Roman wrestling. It does not seem so long ago— so me ti me at the be gi nni ng of the 1960s—that Victor Igumenov first appeared on the mat. Blue-eyed and of gra cef ul buil d, he wo ul d sta nd ther e and calmly size up his opponent. He did not have the bulging muscles or the pow er fu l neck of the wre stl er but he possessed the suppleness and speed of a panther. Even before his opponent had completed the first movement, Igumenov had let loose su ch a voll ey of hol ds tha t th e refer ee only just managed to count the points. "I can't remember Igumenov ever pushing on the mat, waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. He never retreated, however difficult the situation. His bouts never ended in a draw, his sole ai m was a cle an vi ct or y an d all his winning bouts were aesthetic, as t ho ug h he wer e mak in g an i nstr ucti on al f il m. If Vi ct or lost, it was li ke a bolt fr om the blue. He himsel f di dn 't expect it and his opponent even less so. His defeats were as dramatic and unfair as his finest victories were inspired and noble. Victor was always abs or bed in the wre stl ing proc ess itself. He loved the fight, not the title to be w on . He is a tr ue "p ro fe ss or " of the mat, a "gambler" but with a clear head, a subtle strategist and a clever ta ct ic ia n— th is is how he was dedescr ibe d by his fri end Gen nad y Sapunov, twice World Champion and Merited Master of Sport, who was with him in the national team for a number of years. Igumenov took part in his first World Championships in 1966 and won the tournament in brilliant style. A year later he had a similar success. The wrestler from Omsk achieved miracles at all th e pr e- Ol ymp ic co nte st s and t he authorities considered him a candidate for the Olympi c "g ol d" . However, something quite incomprehensible happened at Mexico: all the candidates for Olympic titles in the
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Soviet team were unexpectedly defeated. Later, after a careful analysis had been made, the experts reached the conclusion that the wrestlers had overtrained and that the high altitude of Mexico City had affected their coordination and caused breathlessness and attacks of dizziness. Igumenov really did feel ill. But his belief in his own powers prompted him to act in his usual impetuous fashion. In the fight against the Norwegian Harley Barleem, he pursued his opponent who was avoiding attack across the mat. At one point Victor embarked on a body-lock and lift throw—his opponent, tightly grasped in his arms, flew up in the air... But suddenly Igumenov's shoulders touched the mat—he didn't manage to fall into the bridge. The referee's whistle signified defeat for the Soviet wrestler. For a wee k Igu me no v we nt ro un d in black despair, suffering agonies over his defeat. But it was then he came to understand that the main thing was never in any circumstances to lose his head or give way to emotion. In thre e succ essi ve ye ar s— at the World Championships in Argentina, Canada and Bulgaria—Victor Igumenov proved that his defeat at the Oly mpi cs had been a one-o ff t hin g. Five times World Champion, three times European Champion and many times National Champion, Igumenov dog ged ly pur su ed his goal . He gre w in stat ure not onl y as a wr es tl er bu t as as a huma n being. After graduat ing fro m the Omsk Institute of Physical Culture, Victor moved to Moscow and became a research student at the Ail-Union Scientific Research Institute of Physical Culture. "Th e Psy chol ogy of the Wrest ler" was the title and subject of his thesis. At competitions he was seen not only on th e mat but al on gs id e it as wel l. He would take some strange-looking equipment with him and after a bout
would rush to his instruments and note down the readings on the meter and his own sensations. One can say that he wrote his thesis on the mat, on the field of battle, an d th at is wh y it proved to be particularly relevant and useful. Igumenov was in brilliant form at the 1971 World Championships. Milan Ercegan, President of the International Amateur Wrestling Federation, declared the Soviet athlete to be the best wrestler of the tournament. Three months later Igumenov successfully defended his thesis. Victor set out for the 1972 Munich Olympics as one of the main candidates for a gold medal. But fate is cruel! He broke a rib in the second bout and the doctor naturally forbade him to take any further part in the Games. In 1973, Igumenov was appointed senior coach of the USSR national team. "It hurts to lose at the Olympics," Victor Igumenov said in one of his interviews, "but not to the extent that you lose heart. Life doesn't end there. Now that I have been ap po in te d team coach, it is my duty to do everything to ensure that our athletes are the best in the world. One has to fight for one' s futur e. When I def en ded my thesis I knew that I had passed the most important examination of my life. Now I must pass on my knowledge to our wrestlers. Even th ou gh I did not succeed in becoming an Olympic Ch am pi on , I shal l see to it tha t my pupils surpass their teacher. That is the great logic of sport."
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How Chizhova "Outjumped" Beamon After the 1972 Games sports statisticians decided to work out which of the track and field athletes of recent years was the all-round individual best. They glanced at the lists of points and gasped in surprise: Nadezhda Chizhova, the athlete from Leningrad, had scored more points in her winning shot-put of 21 metres 3 centimetres than Bob Beamon in his phenomenal jump of 8 metres 90 centimetres. No-one, it seemed, had expected such a result, although many journalists in their Munich reports commented on the brilliant victory of the Soviet athlete, calling her achievement fantastic and absolutely incredible. Nadezhda was the first of the world's women shot-putters to succeed in going beyond the then seemingly impossible lim its of 19 metre s, 20 met res an d finally 21 metres; three times she had occasion to stand on the Olympic victor's podium and four times in succession won the European Championships. Wha t is th e sec ret of her suc ce ss ? The well-known track and field expert Otto Grigalka, Merited Master of Sport and Merited Coach of the RSFSR, answered the question in these words: "Chizhova's talent is her ability to work. Without this ability one cannot expect real success in shot-putting or in sp ort in gene ral. I have k no w n many talented putters for whom a great future was predicted. They heard flattering words about themselves and beli eved th at it was but a si ng le ste p to fame. But it it eluded th em —t he y did not have sufficient strength or will or dedication to work. Chizhova's perseverance, her sense of purpose and passion for work singles her out from the rest. These qualities have made her a sp ort swo ma n of wo rld class." Thousands of days of training lay between Nadezhda's early career in
Soviet Sport
N a d e z h d a C h i z h o v a (b. 1945), tr ac k an d field athletics, Merited Master of Sport (1968). Graduated from the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Culture in Leningrad. USSR Champion 1967-1970, 1972, 1974, Eu ro pe an Ch am pi on 1966, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1974, go ld med all ist at the XX O ly mp ic Games (1972, Munich) in shot-putting. Hol de r of 9 wo rl d recor ds. Now a co ac h.
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sport and her Olympic gold medal. It is virtua lly im pos sib le to calc ulat e the number of times she had to put the shot, perform various supplementary exercises and go on cross-country runs in that intervening period, but there is no doubt that the figure is very high. When training for the 1972 Olympics alone she putted the shot more tha n 5 th ou sa nd times, e xec ute d 8 thousand jumps of various kinds and ran hundreds of kilometres. On one occasion Nadezhda remarked: "The essence of sport, like life, is struggle: the faint-hearted fall by the wayside, the strong go on ahead." Chizhova has proved on more than one occasion that she is a strong, sing le-m inde d and gen uin e individual. As regards special physical qualities, Nadezhda doesn't really have any. If you met her in the street, you would not guess that she was one of the str onges t wo me n in the wor ld. She has a powerful athletic physique, a good-natured face and a relaxed, charming smile. But once Chizhova enters the shot-putting circle she is tr ans fo rm ed — her ex pre ssi on is determined, her movements powerful and vigorous. It is as though she has beco me anot her person. Nadezhda Chizhova entered the "top so ci et y" of th ro we rs in 1964 1964.. At the National Championships in Kiev where the Tokyo Olympic team was to be selected, the almost unknown young putter Nadezhda Chizhova beat many experts of standing, only finishing behind her revered older friends from Victor Alexeyev's Leningrad school where she had just started training. She did not go to the Tokyo Olympics though—it was still too early for that. When the famous Tamara Press left top sport in 1966, Chizhova began to live up to the hopes which had been placed in her. She became European Champion at her first attempt, beating Margitta Gummel from the German Democratic Republic who won the
They Were Educated by Sport silver medal. That was when their rivalry began. The following year these two sportswomen continued their duel of strength and again Chizhova acquitted herself with honour, beating Gummel on two occasions. However, all this was only a prelude. The main battles were still ahead. Nadezhda began the 1968 Olympic year in winning style. For a long time she had been aspiring to Tamara Press's world record of 18.55 metres and she finally succeeded in beating it. But her result of "almost 19 met res " was stil l not go o d en ou gh for victory in Mexico. That year, which turned out to be an unlucky one for Nadezhda, her principal rival was not in a hurry to show her hand—time and again she produced only very mediocre results and this probably reassured Chizhova. But suddenly on the very eve of her departure for Mexico came the staggering news: Margitta had beaten Chizhova's world record by 20 centimetres. How could she answer her rival? Time was desperately short! Moreover, Nadezhda had injured her leg while training and for 15 whole days was forced to operate at halfstrength. Chizhova was not in her best form in Mexico City: she did not adapt well to the change in the pace of life, could not acclimatize and was oppressed by the noisy international Olympic village where it was difficult to isolate herself and put herself in the right frame of mind for her performance. And so to the event itself. Her shot cleared 18 metres 19 centimetres which was only good enough for the "bronze". For Chizhova who had not had a single failure in two years, this "bronze" was a bitter defeat. It has to be admitted that her first impulse was to give up sport. When she arrived back in Leningrad after the Olympics she immersed herself in
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her st udi es at the ins tit ute and and for a while seemed to forget about training. How ever , Vi ct or Alexey ev was able to "revive" Nadezhda and instil confidence in her. Together with a number of his stu den ts inc lu di ng Nadezhda Nadezhda,, he left the frosts of Leningrad for the w ar mt h of Du sha nbe . He wanted to exp er im ent and wor k out a new technique which would guarantee better re sults. A nd Alexe yev did fi nd a new movement, although not immedi ate ly. H owe ver , it was not not sui table for Nadezhda. And so it was back to wor k. In a sh or t tim e the the co ac h came up with a further 12 new versions of technique and finally found what he was looking for. Then work bega n aga in for Nad ezhd a. IItt wa sn 't easy. It is, of course, always more difficult to relearn than to start from scratch. But Chizhova didn't have to be driven. The thought of taking her revenge on Gummel whipped her up and spurred her on. Her titanic effort was not in vain. Just before the 1969 European Championships Nadezhda twice beat the world records, but Margitta regained the w or l d re co rd o n the very eve eve of the event. Now few presumed to predict the outcome of the next duel between these two sportswomen, but all were agreed abo ut one th i ng —t he fight in Athens for the title of shot-putting ch am pi on wo ul d be a close one. one. An d it was indeed. In this most difficult duel whi ch d em an de d the total total mobilization of the sportswomen's strength, Chizhova set another world record and became European Champion for the second time. But Nadezhda's winning result in At he ns (20.43 metr es) was still no gu ar an te e of vi ct ory at at the Olympics. She had to clear 21 metres before she co ul d feel con fi de nt in Munich. At that time such a distance seemed unrealistic, but Alexeyev and Chizhova herself bel iev ed th at it wa s wi th in her powers. Once again Alexeyev had to change
Soviet Sport Chizhova's shot-putting technique, and the relearning process was not easy. The old stereotype was too firm in Nadezhda. Then her coach thought up 25 supplementary exercises for the different muscles, and Chizhova set about practising them. Just two weeks before the Olympics Alexeyev saw that certain elements of these exercises were performed automatically and he now had to coordinate them. Although time was short, Nadezhda coped well with the task he had set her. The coach set off for Munich with a light heart: he had done what he had to do, and now it was up to the athlete. And so to the qualifying competitions at Munich. Chizhova did not want to waste unnecessary energy, did not want to show her hand too soon. She put the shot without really thrusting and her throw did not go very far. A few minutes later Gummel entered the circle. A powerful thrust—and the shot flew several metres beyond the line which qualified her for the finals. Having done so much better than her rivals, confident in her own powers and feeling pleased with herself, Margitta went off to rest. It was obvious that Gummel was in a go od moo d. In In the wa rm -u p before the finals she four times put the shot mo re th an 20 metre s as t h ou gh to demonstrate her intentions and her potentialities. But again Chizhova was in no hurry to show her hand; she spent a long time warming up and only put the shot twice, and then not for distance but to practice her technique. At that moment the Soviet team coaches started to get worried. What if there was a repetition of Mexico? And there really was cause to worry. Nad ezhd a had cau ght a co ld the day before and went out onto the field wi th quite a hig h te mper atu re. The fate of the gold medal was decided in seconds. Nadezhda put the sho t 21 21 met res 3 cen ti met re s. Thi s rere-
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sult staggered everybody and above all Gummel for whom Chizhova's wo rl d rec ord was total ly unexp ected . Gummel was literally and metaphorically stunned. She didn't even hear her name being called and almost missed her turn. Thus the score for the defeat at Mexico City was evened up.
Fourteen Years and Two Days
Vladimir Vasin Vasin (b. (b. 1947), 1947), sp ri ng bo ar d diving, Merited Master of Sport (1972). Graduated from the Economics Faculty of Moscow State University. USSR Champion 1966, 1969, 1969, 1972, 1972, Ol ym pi c Ch am pi on (1972, M u n i c h ) i n s p r i n g b o a r d d i v i n g . N o w C h ai ai r man of the USSR Diving Federation. Member of the presidium of the USSR National Olymp ic C ommi ttee .
A few days befor e Vl adi mir V asi n's appear ance at at the Olympi c sw im mi ng poo l in Mun ic h, a jou rna lis t sh ow ed him the latest issue of the magazine Stern wh i ch foreca st the results of the XX Ol ymp ic Games. Vla dim ir qui ckl y found the section on diving. His name was among the candidates for medals, but it came only third on the list. Apparently the organisers "planned" nothing higher than a bronze for him. "A 'b ro nz e' i sn't all tha t bad, yo u know," he said cheerfully, winking at the journalist, "however, you don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Let's wait until the 31st August." The team believed that he was capable of wi nn in g a medal, al th ou gh pro bab ly not a gold . Only Vasin him self and his coach Tatyana Petrukhina could dream of that. Although he had a number of convincing wins to his credit over the past two years, beating the 1972 1972 Olym pic f avo ur it es— th e Italians Klaus Dibiasi and Franco Cagnotto and the American Craig Lincoln, his performance was not sufficiently consis tent. It someti mes happe ned in important competitions that he would actually be in the lead and then suddenly fall behind, fluffing some easy dive and'forfeiting the chance of vi cto ry. It was well kno wn tha t he lacked concentration, but only he and his coach knew that he had finally mastered the art of winning. A few days later the whole world of spor t was to discover this too. Repo rting from Munich, the correspondent of the Associated Press referred to Vasin as one of the outstanding sportsmen of the world. "This flaxenhaired Russian boy," he said in his report, "has been aiming for a gold medal for so long that everyone has become thoroughly disappointed in him. He once again arrived at the Olympics as one of the ... but nothing mor e. An d whe n he wo n, he be ca me a sensation, a new discovery." Vasin was a sensation first and foremost because he ended the domina-
Soviet Sport tion of the American divers who had not su ff er ed a sin gle defeat on th e sp ri ng bo ar d in in eleven succe ssiv e Olympics! How did this come about? Vladimir consolidated his position in the le adi ng gro up wi th his very first dive of the compulsory programme. He dived beautifully and with great technical skill. The marks he received were correspondingly high. He executed the half-twist particularly well: 9-8-8-8, 5-9-9-9—was how the judges assessed his performance. In the morning event Vasin fell slightly behind his old rival Klaus Dibiasi. In the evening Vladimir dived with equal precision and confidence. However, his programme was less complicated than that of Franco Cagnotto who was in the lead after the evening dives and Vyacheslav Strakhov, the second diver in the Soviet team. But he only fell a little way behind and did not lose his chance of winning. In the finals the following day Vasin dived before most of his opponents wh i ch put th em in a mor e advant ageous position. They could use Vasin's performance as reference and, dep end in g on the situat ion, deci de whether or not to take risks. He could only count on himself which meant he had to dive so that his rivals would be forced to worry and make mistakes. The American diver was the first to lose his nerve, gaining only 46.02 points for his first dive—an inward 2 1/2 somersault. Vasin had gained 65.52 points for the same dive, only with a backward somersault. Then it was Cagnotto's turn. His dive was an exact replica of Vasin's. However, the j u d g e s w e r e m o r e f a v o u r a b l y d i s p o s e d to Cagnotto: the Italian sportsman gained 69.72 points. It now seemed obvious that the Italian wo ul d win. But forec ast ing results is a tricky business, particularly in diving where each dive is like an equation with many variables which even the
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most distinguished experts cannot always solve. The tenth dive. All the leaders are unanimous in their choice: the 2 1/2 Auerbach somersault. The most difficult dive! Craig Lincoln executes it brilliantly—72.74 lights up on the scor ebo ard. Now it is Vasi n's turn. Afterwards, when it was all over, Tatyana Petrukhina said that Craig had helped her pupil enormously by put ti ng him in a fi gh ti ng frame of mind. Lincoln's dive acted as a catalyst. The Italian fans also "h el pe d" . They whistled and shouted trying to break his concentration. Vasin becam e angry. It wa s pr ob abl y the first time in his life that he had been so angry before an attempt. His dive was perfection: 75.86 points! The best mark of the day! Now victory was within reach. For the first time in the two days of the competitions he shot ahead. He only had to execute the eleventh and final dive calmly, without taking risks and the gold medal would be his. It is easy to say—calmly, when so much was going on around! There was uproar in the stands, the spectators were willing Cagnotto to win. A situation fraught with tension when it is easy to make a mistake. But not without good reason do they say th at " to spa re th e rod is to sp oi l the child". Defeat had taught Vasin a lot. Moreover, Tatyana Petrukhina, his friend and coach, was there with him. Knowing her pupil's impressionable character, it was she who advised Vladimir to sit in the pool and cool down in cold water before the last dive. And that is exactly what he did. He sat in the cold water right up to the moment his name was called. Then he climbed up onto the springboard and ... ... ear ned 65.25 poi nts . Vi cto ry! Vladimir Vasin had been training for an Olympic victory for fourteen years. Everything came easily to him when
he was training. He had excellent coordin ation, he was musical (whi ch is very important for divers) and possessed a go od se nse of rh yt hm. At comp etit ions , howev er, he we nt to pieces and could not maintain his inner discipline for long. To a certain extent this can be explained by his interest in his future career. His studies in the Economics Faculty of Moscow State University required just as much effort and dedication as his sport. Yes, the reasons for his failures on the springboard were quite valid. However, you can't explain that to the spectators. He was eighth at the Tokyo Olympics and even further down the list at Mexico City—in eleventh place. He could count on only one more Olympic attempt. Before he was ready for his third Olympics Vasin had to learn not only to conquer his rivals but above all himself. He had to acquire composure and presence of mind. He had to beco me a fight er. In div ing this me ans the ability to be tota lly con cen tra ted , calm and self-disciplined. That is what Petrukhina believed, and both coach and pupil set out to achieve this. After the Spring Swallows International Tournament in 1970 Vladimir told his coach that his feelings before the dives were different from what they had been previously. Not so long ago when he was poised on the springboard he would tremble with nervous excitement and try to get the dive over with as quickly as possible. Now he had acquired calm, concentration and confidence. And so the new Vasin was born.
The Hurdle of Ambition H e g rew up in in a work ing- clas s suburb of Tartu. As a child he made friends only with the older boys. When he was five they threw him in the lake to teach him to swim, when he was eight he cli mbe d a huge chest nut-t ree wi th the m, fell fr om a hig h br an ch and broke both legs. There was a devil in him which drove him to play gambling games with the other boys, to scale the 20-metre wall of the old church on Toome hill and finally to the hockey rink where once again he had no intention of being left out by his older mates. The coach of the children's hockey team said to him: "Do you know why you're so small? It's because you smoke." Aavo who was a proud boy gave up smoking and over the summer grew another seven centimetres. Now his feet reached the pedals of the adult bicycle which all the boys took turns to ride around the courtyard. That's when he first had the sensation of speed. Strictly speaking, it was the love of speed which prompted Aavo to go to the Tartu sports school and to the coach Rein Kirsipuu. This, however, did not stop him from being a "diffi cu lt " lad. He was a sl ow le arn er at school and the teachers insisted that he be expelled from the sports school. The coach knew that his colleagues were right but he also knew that the bicycle was almost the only means of escape from trouble for the boy. "You know what, Aavo," he said to the lad on one occasion, "according to all the rules you should be expelled, but since you're here, you can help me in the workshop. You can get back in the saddle when you've improved on your poor marks." The "difficult" lad commanded respect for the almost frenzied effort he put into his training. On the road he always had to be restrained. Once
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Kirsipuu sent Aavo to Tallinn to collect a new bicycle. He went there by bus and cycled back, covering the 180 km without any effort. His coach gave him a severe telling off for overexertion, but Aavo went off to play tennis for three hours. In all this there was something more than youthful recklessness. He was brimming over with talent: what for many was exhausting work was for hi m a ga me of w h i c h he never had enough. He loved to play unlikely tricks: he would brake abruptly at a corner, swing round on the front or rear wheel and cut the corner. Even at that time the bicycle was like a live horse under him. But the time for fun and games ended almost as suddenly as his childhood.
A a v o P i k k u u s s (b. 1954), 1954), cyc lin g, Me ri te d Master of Sport (1975). USSR Champion 1973, 1975-1981, World Champion 1977, Ch am pi on at the XXI Oly mpi c Gam es (1976, Montreal) in the road race. Winner of the Peace Race in 1977 (individual event) and in 1975, 1977-1979 (team event). No w a co ac h at th e Dy na mo cl ub in Tallinn.
After the 1976 Montreal Olympics when Aavo became the road race champion, Rein Kirsipuu said to him: "It's a go od th in g that I di dn' t allow you to win for a long time. That is cert ainl y wh y you have a taste fo r victory now." And indeed, victory had long eluded Pikkuus. Perhaps it was because he had competed for the older boys when he was small and for the adults when he was in his teens. He di d ind ee d lose, bu t he was al way s drawn to the stronger and more experi ence d. Co ul d th is not be the secret of the early coming to maturity of Aavo Pikkuus the racing cyclist? He already had some experience in j u n i o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l e v e n t s , b u t A a v o only tasted victory in his first AllUnion adult race. It was the spring of 1973. The best road racing cyclists in the country were taking part in the Cherepovich Memorial race and alongside world-famous names was the as yet un kn ow n ninet een-ye ar-ol d Aavo Pikkuus. And suddenly he threw do wn a cha ll en ge to t he m all — he all but broke away from the rest at the very beginning of the race. No-one took this odd character seriously. He nonetheless succeeded in winning
They They Were Were Educated by Sport several intermediate finishes, and then when the avalanche had swallowed him up and he hadn't the strength to withs tand its violent hea dlon g progress, he repeated to himself all the way: "If I co ul d onl y ho ld out. " Aft er the race it seemed to him that the blue sky was heavy with black clouds. But now he had the real taste of victory which is known only to those who are stronger than their own weaknesses. The following spring he won almost all the major races in the country and was invited to join the national team. It is surprising that even then when he was still wet behind the ears he unexpectedly led the Peace Race in the second stage. And even when he had fallen back into third place, he still continued to give his all for the sake of the yellow shirt of the leader. And in that group there were such aces as the Poles Szozda and Mytnik, the Germans Gonschorek and Hartni ck and the Sovi et racers Li kha che v and Gorelov. He dared to challenge even them. And he could have won, had he had a little more experience and a little less ambition. This ambition let him down on more than one occasion. How he longed to overtake the distinguished and shoot ahead with the leaders! But in road races he who is alone in the field can not do muc h. It is virt ually imp oss ibl e to w in without the support of the team and Aavo soon came to understand that. Indeed, it would be strange not to understand alongside such racers as Alexander Gusyatnikov, Valery Chaplygin and Vl adi mi r Kami nsk y wh o had been th ro ug h a to ug h sch ool . For For what is a road race ? It It is to ta l sel f-d isc ipl ine , a tough fight at hurricane speeds and risk fraught not only with defeat but sometimes with serious injury. All this and much else besides, where there is no place for weakness, leaves its imprint on the character of the individual.
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To be tempered in this way is for many a painful process, but for Pikku us it was pro bab ly a very nece ssar y one. Not immediately, not overnight, but o nl y after a wh ol e serie s of mi stakes did the day arrive when he was entrusted with a place in the Olympic team. They trained for Montreal on the Sochi-Sukhumi highway. The team of four—Vladimir Kaminsky, Valery Chaplygin, Anatoly Chukanov and Aavo Pik kuus —fu rio usl y pedalled their hundred kilometres almost daily, building up their speed and improving their coordination. And there were a further hundred kilometres of road in distant Montreal where they were the first in the Soviet team to win the gold medals. "I didn't realize it at once, only after several days did it sink in that we had become champions," Aavo recalled. "It' s as t ho ug h you' re the same per son and at the same time different. The attention people give you forces you to realize that for them you are not j u s t A a v o P i k k u u s a n d t h a t y o u a r e now doubly responsible for your every action." Frankly speaking, some people were app re he ns iv e" as to h ow Pik kuus would stand up to the test of fame. The intoxication of success had gone to the heads of much stronger characters. Rein Kirsipuu said: "Always remember Aavo that you are an ordinary boy, and anything you may have achieved is due to work. It is not easy to become an Olympic champion and it is no easier to win the Peace Race." To all appearances, Aavo remembered these words. In the thirtieth Peace Race he proved that he was not only the most powerful racer but a real team leader as well. Over the whole enormous distance from Warsaw to Berlin and then to Prague he never once gave away the yellow shirt of the leader.
It is easy to say—didn't give away. Towards the end of the race his body was all battered and bruised and the medi cal commi ssi on nearly nearly for ced h im to withdraw from the competition... The last stage from Sokolov to Prague was particularly hard. As he cycled each movement caused such burning unrelenting pain that in the end he bec ame a cc ust ome d to it. The n he warmed up and on the approach to the first "flying" finish was looking for a position to attack when suddenly disaster struck. The chain which had sli pped loose from the spr ocke t became entangled between the gear and the spokes. A group had already flashed past as he was revolving the loose pedal trying to put the ill-fated chain back in position. Suddenly Aavo felt that someone was pushing him forward under the saddle and after a few metres the chain was back in place. He had been helped by Valery Chaplygin. In a moment they were once again in the leading group, then they flew forward gathering the speed which took Aavo first to the white finish line... This was victory, this was courage of the highest order.
The Korbut Loop
Olga Korbut Korbut (b. 1955), gymnastics, Merited Master of Sport (1972). Graduated from the Grodno Pedagogical Institute. All-Round Individual Champion of the USSR 1975. USSR Champion 1974, 1976, World Champion 1974, Champion at the XX and XXI Olympic Games (1972, Munich; 1976, Montreal) in individual disciplines in the combined event and team competitions. Now an artiste with the Byelorussian Philharmonic Society.
They They Were Were Educated Educated by Sport Every Olympiad has its heroes. The heroine of the 1972 Munich Olympics was Olga Korbut. She astounded the wor ld, conq uer ed it wi th her charm, won it over with her spontaneity, stunned it by her fearlessness and forced the experts to argue about what should and what should not be allowed in modern gymnastics. The Munich papers wrote about her with great tenderness and emotion, calling her "little darling", she was seen all the time on television. And this great surge of universal approbation seemed to inspire Olga and carry her to new victories. But it was in Munich that she lost the race to the titl e of Al l- Ro un d Indivi dual Champion to Lyudmila Turishcheva. She won three gold medals but fell off the bars and wept openly in full view of the spectators... Olga could not conceal either her impetuous joy, or her bitter grief, or her tr ium ph or her di sap poi ntm ent and it was perhaps this openness of character which made her so popular with her fans. "She really loves her audience," the coaches shook their heads in dismay. They believed that love of success prevented the gymnast from concentrating and maintaining her inner disci pli ne wh i ch is wh y she lost to her rivals who were able to keep themselves in hand. But Olga would not have been the darling of the stands if she had forced herself to behave differently. After the Munich Olympics Olga Korbut was invited to appear in many countries. She was particularly warmly received in North America where hitherto gymnastics had not been all tha t pop ula r. This wi sp of a gir l wi th her hair in bunches came out onto the floor and thousands of spectators expressed their delight quite uninhibitedly. So stormy was the applause that it seemed the walls would cave in at any moment. But the small girl put her finger to her lips and there was
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instant silence. She was received by the President, films were made about her and sports clubs named after her... Five years later Olga Korbut retired from top sport, saying that she had acc om pl is he d all that she was capable of. What was the new quality that Olga Korbut brought to gymnastics? At the 1968 Mexico Olympics the Soviet gymnasts perf or me d less less well th an usual and once again the title of all-round individual champion was lost as it had been in Tok yo. Major chang es need ed to be made in the team. Soon after the Mexico City Games at the Olympic Hopefulls junior competitions the fourteen-year-old Olga Korbut performed an exercise that had no precedent— the somersault on the balance beam. One of the experts said to her coach at the time: "A thesis could be written about that somersault and about how you achieved it!.. This is a new feature in gymnastics!" But the coach did not write a thesis. He continued working with the girl: this new feature was not yet sufficiently established. There were the sceptics too. "It's pointless," they shook their hea ds. "S he ..w ..will ill never ma st er t ha t somersault to be able to perform it safely at international competitions. It is simpl y impo ssibl e!" Her coach, however, did not give in, but persisted with his work. If it had co me ri ght once, it wo ul d co me rig ht again and again, it had been caught and only had to be held on to! And Olga? She believed her coach and left him to think about what could and wh at co ul d not be don e in gymn ast ic s. The secret of her success lay not only in her natural gifts. At first perhaps her coach was looking for "material": a ti ny wi sp of a girl... Her Her li ght we ig ht enabled her to fly in the air as though she had overcome the force of gravity and was suspended in space, while her excellent coordination of movement helped the gymnast to land
Soviet Sport accurately. But of all the slender, fragile and mobile boys and girls who came to train, Olga Korbut was the first to perform the somersault on the beam. To do what no-one in the world had hitherto attempted called for particular daring. The sort of daring which would dismiss the mean little thought that if no-one had ever done it, perhaps it was, after all, an impossible feat and not worth attempting? Olga set out to achieve it, she had no doubts. The somersault on the beam was only the beginning. After it came the "big diagonal"—a volley of acrobatic elements from one end of the floor to the other which the gymnast per fo rme d to music as th ou gh she were da nc in g— an d then the uniqu e element on the bars which went into the textbooks on gymnastics as "the Korbut loop". She was no more than seventeen when she became world-famous. What do most girls know at that age? School, friends, amateur activities at some club and other diversions... At seventeen Olga knew hard work, inspiration, responsibility, the joy of victory and many other things that not every adult has experienced. Olga Korbut was one of the few pioneer sportswomen—she was both a pioneer and an artist. This rare and fortunate combination of talents both helped and hindered her: the creative impulse brimmed over in her, her impetuous joy turned into frustration, falls and tears. She wanted so much not only to be the champion but the all-round champion, but in her many duets and duels with Lyudmila Turishcheva she played her role with inspiration and ... lost. In those years when Olga Korbut was at the height of her powers there was no athlete like her in the national gymnastics team. But somewhere in the country Masha Filatova, Lena Mukhina, Natasha Shaposhnikova and
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others were growing up and going to training sessions... And soon the somersault on the beam was no longer unique, the "Korbut loop" was being performed in a new way and the "big diagonal" acrobatics were becoming even more complicated. The arguments about what women gymnasts should and should not do died down and were forgotten. Because progress in sport as in any other field of endeavour cannot be stopped.
Soviet athletes admitted to the Olympic Order: Medved, Alexander— wrestling Mukhina, Yelena— gymnastics Turishcheva, Lyudmila—gymnastics Skoblikova, Lydiya— skating Saneyev, Victor — athletics Kulakova, Galina— skiing Shalib ashvil i, Serg ei — diving Smirnov, Vladimir— fencing Rodnina, Irina—figure skating Yashin, Lev—football
The Sensation of Flying
Galya Chistyakova grew up in Izmail, a small town on the Danube. Her father was second engineer on a steamer. For his small daughter the special treat she always looked forward to when he returned to port was to go on ship. Her mother was in charge of a kindergarten. She had been rather good at sport in her younger days and for this reason decided to send her daughter to a sports school. During those years Galya not only worked hard to improve herself as an athlete, but coached the young children who lived nearby. "I always wanted to teach children," she said. "That's why I rounded up all the children in the yard and began to wo rk w it h th em as so on as I sta rte d at the sports school. We were always organizing competitions to find out wh o co uld run fastest, fastest, ju mp furthe st and cl im b a tree in the shor tes t time . And, of course, we ourselves made the medals which we awarded the cham-
pions on our street. (Galina Chistyakova realized her ambition: she graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture in Moscow and got her coach's diploma.) While she was studying at the sports school Galya was five times winner of the All-Union competitions for girls and in 1979 when she was 17, she set a USSR record for juniors in the long jump— 6.43 metres. After these early successes however, things didn't go so smoothly for a time. She had to make the difficult transition from the junior to the adult team. Galya knew that she could not expect anything higher than eighth place in the national team. She had to be patient and wait until she was able to compete against the strongest on equal terms. The waiting was not easy. Galya got married when she was 19 and a year later her daughter Irina was born. Everyone believed that Chistyakova would give up sport but she started training again only 20 days
The Victor's Podium
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Wh en pressed by th e in ter vie wer sh e talked about some of the dramatic incidents which had preceded the record-breaking jumps she achieved in 1985 with such apparent ease. Chistyakova was very keen to compete In the 1983 USSR Spartakiad, but to get into the team she had to come first or second at the Moscow Spartakiad. However, she only came third, losing to her nearest rival by no more than a centimetre.
many people knew that Chistyakova was forced to withdraw from the final att emp ts be caus e of a mus cle spa sm in her leg. After this it was obvious that she w o u l d have to ta ke a pr op er rest an d culti vate positive thin king . But she co ul d not fo rc e herself herself to for get ab ou t her recent failure. When she arrived in Alushta on the Black Sea, Galya opted for the stadium rather than the beach and trained there twice a day. In February 1985, the USSR Track and Field Winter Championships were held in Kishinev. Galya tuned herself to win and jumped 7.25 metres. This result w on C his tya kov a the titl e of w or ld record-holder in the indoor long jump. The fo ll ow in g mon th in Ath ens she became European Champion with a result of 7.02 metres and in the August of that year she won the Eur ope an C up wh en she j um pe d 7.28 metres at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
In 1984, Galya twice improved on the USSR outdoor record, extending her j u m p t o 7. 29 m e t r e s . A f t e r a h a r d f i g h t she won a place in the team which wa s to tak e part in th e Fr ie nds hip -84 competitions. This was her international debut as an adult and many considered that it proved to be someth in g of a di sa pp oi nt me nt . Her Her result of 7.11 metres put her in third place behind Heike Daute-Drechsler and Helga Radtke of East Germany. Not
"Can you remember your jumps?" "Of course. What distinguishes my j u m p is t h e l e n g t h of t i m e I h o v e r i n the air. Thi s is is inc or rec t, but I like t he sen sat io n. It is as t ho ug h I am fl yi ng and I ex per ie nce a feel ing of of raptu re. Vyacheslav Sokolov, my, coach, says: 'You are only in control of yourself as far as the take-off board and then you leave the rest to fate.' Now I am learni ng to cont rol my ju mp fro m the very first to the very last moment..."
after the birth of her daughter and in three months had regained her form. To all appearances she seemed to be leadi ng a highl y suc ces sfu l and ha ppy life: she com bi ned home -ke epi ng wit h her studies at the institute and her tr ai ni ng in tr ack and fiel d athle tic s without any apparent strain. She preferred not to talk about her problems. Only once in an interview with a j o u r n a l i s t d i d s h e a d m i t : "I am havi ng a very h ar d t i me in sport..."
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To Make the Shot Fly
In 1975, Natasha Lisovskaya—at that time she was in the tenth form of her school in Tashkent—was first invited to an Olympic reserve training camp in the town of Podolsk near Moscow. In the morning she went onto the cou rt and wit ho ut realizin g it, it, sto od in the place normally occupied by the fam ous discus thr owe r Faina Faina Melnik, winner of the 1972 Munich Olympics. A little later Melnik herself arrived, surprised to find "her place" occupied by an unknown girl who didn't in the least least look like a disc us th ro we r— Nata sha was th en 185 cm ta ll an d weighed 70 kg. The discus stubbornly refused to do what the girl wanted and kept landing much nearer than the line she was aiming for. Faina began to feel sorry for the young girl. "You're not holding the discus correctly and your swin g is not qui te right..." By the end of the training session when Lisovskaya had thrown the discus beyond the 45-metre line, 5
metres further than her best ever result, both were well pleased with each other. The following year Natasha enrolled as a student at the Moscow Institute of Physical Cult ure b ut it it was n't until the beginning of the second term that she brought herself to phone Melnik and remind her of their "joint" training session at Podolsk. Faina asked her a lot of questions about the institute and her studies and then announced that any day now she would be starting training. "You come too. We'll train together," the Olympic Champion invited the girl. Meln ik did mu ch m ore tha n teach her 18-year-old pupil the technique of discus throwing and shot-putting. She became not only her teacher-tutor, but even her dietician... Faina Melnik was succeeded by Yakov Beltser, and Natasha whose hard work and quick mastery of the technique of throwing suprised her coaches, began to make rapid progress. Her victories followed one after the other: at the
The Victor's Podium USSR Championships, the World Student Games, at the USSR-Great Britain and the USSR-the United States Track Meets. In May 1984, Natalya Lisovskaya became the USSR outdoor rec ord- hol der a nd exactly a week later set a wo rl d rec or d wh en she put t he shot 22.53 metres. Lisovskaya ended the season with her victory at the Friendship-84 contest in Prague when she cleared 21.96 metres beating the World Champion Helena Fibingerova. In the meantime there had been changes in her "team" of coaches. Faina Melnik who had decided to devote herself herself ful l- ti me to m edi ci ne (she was about to graduate from the Medical Institute) gave up her coaching work and Beltser started training tog ethe r wi th a fin e specia list of the technique of shot-putting Lev Mileshin. Natalya Lisovskaya's first appearance the following season was at the I World Winter Games in Paris. This event which experts refer to as the unofficial World Championships was held in January when athletes are far fr om bein g in thei r best for m. "When the trial throws started," Natasha said, "Ines Muller from the German Democratic Republic who came fourth in Prague last year, put th e sho t fu rt her th an 18 metr es. Th at se em ed a very l on g way to me... I even caught my breath. Nothing went right for me. Moreover the circle was as slippery as a parquet floor. I rubbed rosin on my soles—but then they were too sticky and my movements became jerky and uneven... The competition started. Muller was in th e lead. Finally I ma na ge d to equa li ze her best result—19.50. But overall I had lost whereas she had added to her score—her result stood at 19.68! The last last att emp t. I was so nerv ous that
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I al mo st f roz e. I was onl y awa re t hat the shot was in the air: if they had given me one more trial—the seve nth — I co ul d not even have hel d the shot in my hands—I had no more strength left. Wh en I was back in Mos cow , fr ie nds who had seen the event on television to ld me th at I lo ok ed at th e scoreboard and jumped for joy when I saw 20.07 light up..." The full extent of Lisovskaya's skill bec ame evide nt at at the Eu rop ean Cup which was held in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium in 1985. At her first attempt the shot flew beyond the 20-metre line and each of her fo ll ow in g at te mpt s was more successful than the last. Natasha's best result was 21.10 metres. She became the holder of the prestigious trophy. What are Natalya Lisovskaya's prospects in sport? Yakov Beltser answered this question: "Natasha does not possess the great natural strength of Faina Melnik for example. But she has more strength of character than most. If she is well pre par ed for a co mp et it io n she can cope with any eventuality and will give of her best. Cons equ ent ly Liso vskay a's level of achievement is in direct relation to the amount of training she does. "She has one other quality which we, her coaches, admire very much. Success has not spoiled Natasha. The knowledge that she is one of the world's top track and field athletes has not turned her head: she would not dream of holding forth on classical m us ic let us us say or gi vi ng adv ic e on any subject as "stars" are often inclined to do. She is the same Natasha Lisovskaya who is happy when she has the chance of inviting fri ends r oun d and gett ing th em t o sample real Uzbek pilaff."
The Athlete from Siberia
In 1975, 1975, thir tee n-ye ar-o ld Vitya Solodov joined the weightlifting class of the children's sports school in the Siberian town of Myski. His natural ability immediately attracted the attention of his tutors. "That one will go far," the coach Victor Reinbold announced. But after only two months of training the talented lad disappeared. "Where's Victor got to?" a worried Reinbold asked the boy's friends. "His ballroom dancing timetable has been changed and he can't be everywhere at once. Solodov likes his dancing classes more than anything else," the children explained. As it turned out they were absolutely right. This boy who was naturally gifted with exceptional strength, spent long evenings in the town's Palace of Culture being initiated into the secrets of the waltz, the tango and the charlston. Reinbold spent two years trying to persuade Victor to return to weightlifting: he invited him to competitions, talked to his parents, gave him
magazine articles about champions and record-holders and forced him to read bo ok s writ te n by Arkad y Vorobyov, Leonid Zhabotinsky, Yakov Kutsenko, Rudolf Plyukfelder and Yury Vlasov... Finally he got his way. On the 18th August 1977 the fifteen-year-old ballroom dancing enthusiast once again p rese nte d himsel f in the hall which resounded to the clang of barbells dropping to the floor. It took him no more than two years to qualify as a Mast er of Sp or t (un der 75 kg weight category) and become the USSR Junior Champion. Over the next two years he moved up to the under 90 kg weight category and qualified as Master of Sport International Class (170+215 kg). The time of the VIII Summer USSR Spar taki ad—tr adit iona lly a big festive festive occasion in the physical culture calendar—drew near and Victor Solodov was already considered to be one of the principal contenders for victory in his weight category. However, he had a number of powerful rivals: Victor
The Victor's Podium Marusov from Bryansk, Alexei Glukhov from Moscow, Vladimir Petrenko from Kazakhstan... But in the end it came do wn to a duel betw een Vict or S olodov and Israil Arsamakov from Grozny who was the same age, had won the title of World Junior Champion only the day before and was in top form. Sol odo v was unlu ck y at at the start: he got stuck at his first attempt at the snatch and lifted only 177.5 kilogrammes whereas Arsamakov lifted 182.5 182.5 kil ogr amm es. All tho se wh o were watching this duel of strength believed that the outcome had already been decided. Moreover Israil was light er than Vi ct or and he wo ul d have the advantage if they both had the same total. This meant that Solodov not only had to catch up with but overtake his opponent who had forged ahead. And the gap after the first movem ent was a big o n e — 5 kilogrammes. It is to Victor's credit that he did not falter in this very difficult situation. He began the clean and jerk carefully— 212.5 212.5 kil ogra mmes and cop ed wit h this enormous weight quite easily. Arsamakov went up to 215 but fixed the bar only at the third attempt. After this it was quite obvious what tactics Solodov would have to adopt. Israil's total of 397.5 kilogrammes had to be overtaken. Victor did not achieve this immediately however. He caught up with his rival at the second attempt and jerked 222.5 ki lo gr am me s at the deciding attempt, achieving the round sum of 400 in the two lifts! On that memorable evening he was awarded the gold medal as Champion of the VIII Summer Spartakiad and his coach Vic tor Re inb old wo n a go ld medal for training the winner. The two Siberians were congratulated on all sides. How ever , So lo do v' s achievement was not all that significant; he was still a whole 20 kilogrammes short of the world
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record. There was plenty to think about before the next contest between the world's strongest men. Was it worth sending the Siberian to major inte rnat iona l comp eti ti ons ? In spite of of everything the coaches of the national te am ha d fai th in So lo do v an d his great potential. And they were not wrong. At the 1983 1983 Wor ld Cha mpi ons hi ps which were held in Moscow, Victor was to meet one of his strongest opp one nt s, the Bulgar ian B lago i Blagoev who had twice won the title of Wor ld Cham pio n, had wo n the Wo rl d Cup and set alm ost t we nt y world records. And this fighter confronted Victor Solodov who was making his deb ut in top-l evel c om pe ti tions. It is hardly suprising that the Bulgari an wo n wit h a con vi nci ng total of 417.5 kg (190+227.5). But So lo do v was close on his heels. He achieved his best ever results in each of the mov eme nt s (185+22 5 kg), kg), im pr ov in g on his Spartakiad performance by 10 ki lo gr am mes , and setti ng his f irst w or l d re co rd wi th a 230 kg cl ean an d j e r k at t h e f o u r t h a t t e m p t . "Solodov is a„superb sportsman and I beli eve tha t he has a gre at fu tu re be fo re h im . Never hav e I had t o put so much effort into winning as I did today . I look forwa rd to meeti ng him again on the platform," the thrice World Champion Blagoi Blagoev said at a press conference. This meeting to ok p lac e at th e 1984 Eur op ea n Championships when Solodov got his revenge and beat his experienced opponent for the first time. The score of their individual encounters now stood at 1:1, and weightlifting enthusiasts awaited with interest the next meeting of these two strong men. It took place in the autumn of that year, at the Friendship-84 contest which was held in Varna in Bulgaria. Befo re the midd le-h eavyw eight contest there was much talk in the press
Soviet Sport centre about Blagoev's splendid form and unbeatable strength. Bulgarian j o u r n a l i s t s m a i n t a i n e d t h a t h e w a s ready to lift 200 ki lo gr am me s in the sn at ch and set a wo rl d re co rd in the cle an and jer k. All thi s tal k rea che d Victor's ears of course, but he behaved as th ou gh it did not co nc er n him. Always calm, unruffled and sparing of words, he literally withdrew into himself and did not react to outside irritations. Finally the day of the duel arrived. The Sovie t athlet e had a sur pri se in stor e for his opponent even before they went onto the platform. At the weighing Blagoev tipped the scales at 89.4 ki lo gr amm es and So lo do v at 89.3. The draw favoured Victor too: he went onto the platform after Blagoev. Blagoev started with 180 kilogrammes. After him Solodov stabilized the same weight. The bar was then increased to 190 190 kilo gramm es. The Bul gar ian skipped this weight and the Soviet athlete came onto the platform. At the second atte mpt Vi ctor made a tec hni cal error but succ eed ed bril lian tly at the thi rd. Now it was up to his rival. Blagoev still had two attempts. He asked for 195 kilogrammes. As an acknowledged master of the snatch he had more than once had occasion to lift this weight, but this time the Bulgarian couldn't manage it. He was
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obviously unable to control his nervousness. Having seized the lead, Solodov was master of the situation. His great strength was the clean and jerk and Solodov confirmed this yet again in brilliant style, lifting 233 kilogrammes at his thi rd at te mp t— an unprecedented achievement for an athlete in this weight category. His two lifts total was an outstanding 422.5! Thus, in one evening, Victor Solodov set two world records. The spectators gave him a st and in g ovat ion . The Bul gar ian n e w s p a p e r Naroden Sport wr ot e next day that the Soviet athlete Solodov had won over the audience with his demo nst rat ion of superlativ e skill, skill, courage and the will to win. Not without reason do they say that how eve r di ff ic ul t it is to achi eve a wo rl d rec ord, it is is even mor e dif fi cul t to hold on to it. This requires courage and determination. Victor Solodov was to find this out for himself in 1985. On two occasions—at the European Championships in Katowice in Poland and at the World Championships in Soder tal je in Sw ede n — he pro ved conclusively that there was no str onge r athlete in the mi ddl eheavyweight category. At neither event could any of his opponents lift a heavier weight. Victor Solodov has many awards in his collection but not as yet an Olympic one.
The Hearts of Four of
The brilliant perfo rmanc e of the Soviet relay team of "the snow snipers" at the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo was not in itself a sensation. The four biathletes were only continuing the tradition started in 1968 when the 4x7.5-kilometre biathlon relay was first included in the Winter Olympics programme. All the four Olympic races—Grenoble (1968), Sapporo (1972), Innsbruck (1976) and Lake Placi d (1980) — w e r e w o n by th e USSR skiers and one of them—Alexander Tikhonov—took part on each occasion. But in Sarajevo it was a new team of young Olympic sportsmen making their debut: it was their honour and privilege to carry on the tradition started by their famous predecessors. The relay race was held on the 17th February 1984. The main rivals of the Soviet biathletes were the Norwegians
and the East Germans—a tradition which went back several years. The coa che s ..decided to let D mitr y Vasilyev from Leningrad start and he acquitted himself extremely well. He tore along the ski-track like a true sprin ter, shot like an expe rie nced hunter and gave Yury Kashkarov from Sverdlovsk more than a minute in hand when he set off on the second stage! Yury tore along to the first firing line, lay down in the snow, checked his breathing and took aim... The first shot was dead on target and the second too. The black spot remained intact after the third and fourth shots but the fifth hit the target. But Yury was on the verge of trouble: he had to use the three extra cartridges without mak ing a mistake other wise he incurred the penalty of one or possibly two 150-metre detours.
Soviet Sport But the newcomer did not falter. He showed great strength of will and presence of mind and continued the course without having to make the penalty detour. The East German Frank-Peter Roetsch had, however, closed the gap by half a minute. At the second firing line where the skier shoots in the standing position, Kashkarov was quite composed and fired five cartridges as though from a submachine-gun. The first to move off at the third stage was Algis Salna the biathlete from Vilnius with a 30-second lead over the East German Matthias Jakob. Salna is an outstanding skier but sometimes makes mistakes in the shooting. This time too he had to use an extra cartridge at the first firing line and at the second (the standing position) three targets remained intact after five shots! Three extra cartridges can be used at the second firing line and Salna who hit only one target incurred two penalty detours at once. He tore along the track trying to make amends. Victory which in the early stages of the race seemed within sight, was about to slip from the grasp of the Soviet team. Jakob and behind him the Norwegian Storsveen who had done their shooting, were flying on ahead to the finishing line of their stage. Gathering all his strength, Salna threw himself in pursuit and actually managed to overtake Storsveen. However, he finished 20 seconds behind the East German. The Siberian Sergei Bulygin entered the fight at the last stage of the race. He had a difficult task ahead of him — he had to meas ure h is st re ng th against Frank Ullrich himself, the famous East German biathlete, Olympic and World Championships gold medallist. The two opponents reached the shooting range at the same time. Sergei's shots were all on target, but Ullrich had to use an extra cartridge— and the situation altered very slightly
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in favour of the Soviet team. Bulygin arrived at the next firing line 30 seconds ahead of Soebak. Ullrich was now hopelessly behind. Sergei fired like a sniper and flew along the ski-track as though on wings. For the fifth time in succession the Soviet biathletes celebrated an Olympic victory. The tradition which began in the far-off sixties was continued at Sarajevo. For one and a half hours these four racing skiers, so different in character, age and fighting tactics, became a single entity—a team. Their hearts beat in the same rhythm and that is why no-one could overtake them. Nevertheless a team is made up of people. One, two, three, four individuals. Let us get to know them better. Yury Kashkarov Kashkarov was born in the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansiisk where he took his first steps on the ski-track. His coach, Nikolai Bondarev, who saw that this obstinate lad possessed exceptional talent, advised him to continue his studies in Sverdlovsk, a large industrial town in the Urals which has all the facilities for a sportsman to improve his skills. His coach was not mistaken: today Kashkarov, Merited Master of Sport, is USSR Champion, World Champion and Olympic gold medallist. And he won all these titles at the age of twenty. Yury is a man of few words. He does not like talking about himself and whenever he has to speak anywhere, he always starts his interview by discussing his coaches. "I have several teachers: there is the national team coach and the coach with the Dynamo club in Sverdlovsk. My very first coach was Nikolai Bondarev and he is the most important of all. In six years I have never missed a single training session with him. He has always been my best adviser and what is more—a real friend. He is
The Victor's Podium always a welcome guest of the family." Kashkarov's coach in Sverdlovsk was Vladimir Putrov, a teacher at the sports boarding-school where Yury studied. The boy quickly grasped the normal school subjects and quickly mastered the skills of the biathlete. Twice, in 1982 and 1983, he won the Junior World Championships. In 1983, as a member of the adult team, he also became World Champion in the relay race. Yury commands considerable authority among his team-mates. He is always reliable. His modesty never prevents him from acting according to his principles in all situations. His principles even dictated the choice of the futu re profe ssio n — Kashkar ov graduated from a college where firemen are trained. "The profession of fireman," he explained, "is one of the noblest and most honourable. I am proud that I shall be entrusted with the responsibility of saving the lives of people who are in danger and of saving the nation's property. Firemen are always in action, even on quiet days. They are called fighters on the fire front with good reason. To win on this front requires fortitude and great physical fitness—the very qualities which are essential in the biathlon and which the biathlon helps to develop..." Dmitry Vasilyev Vasilyev is from Leningrad and a year older than Kashkarov. He considers that he became a biathlete purely by chance. When he was little he was mad about skiing, just like his elder bro ther . His brot he r "also too k him to a spor ts sch ool . He woul d probably have remained a "pure" racing skier had he not one day been sent to a training camp where he got to know "the shooting skiers". They liked the newcomer's light, skilful skiing technique. "Now try and shoot," they suggested. Dmitry hit all 14-11
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five targets at the first attempt. Vasilyev's fate was decided there and then. That was in 1981. Only three years later, in 1984, Dmitry Vasilyev, student at the Lasgaft Institute of Physical Culture, became Champion at the Olympic Games... Sergei Bulygin Bulygin was born and brought up in a small village in Siberia. There were three brothers. The boys grew up to be independent, they learned the meaning of work at an early age and knew the value of being physically fit. In Siberia, particularly in the villages, skis are part of the everyday equipment of the local people, to say nothing of the boys. The Bulygin brothers became first-rate skiers and won prizes at district and regional competitions. Sergei first discovered what the biathlon was wh en his elder bro ther Leo nid was called up for military service. Leoni d wrot e what a fasci nating sport it was and how it helped to develop a real manly character. Following in Leonid's footsteps, the middle brother Victor put his strength to the test— and with a fair,.degree of success: he is now a Master of Sport, International Class. For Sergei, as he himself says, there was no o pt io n — he had to u ph ol d the family tradition. And he was highly successful. At the 1983 World Championships at Anterselva in the Italian Alps he won the gold medal in the team relay race. At the Sarajevo Winter Olympics the twenty-year-old officer Sergei Bulygin saved the situation and brought his team to the victory they had very nearly lost. Algis Salna Salna became a devoted skier wh en he was a smal l chil d in the village of Vinciskes in Lithuania. He became one of the best racing skiers in Lithuania. In 1979, his coach Algirdas Jonkubauskas advised him to go
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in for the biathlon and in less than two years Algis was contending for a place in the national team. Salna became Champion in the relay at the 1983 World Championships. A year later he was at Sarajevo.
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For the present that is all there is to say about these young men who carried on the tradition of their famous predecessors. For the present. Because they are young and the career of a biathlete is often a long one.
T h e wor ld rec ord set set by the discus thr ow er Yury Du mc hev came as a surprise to everyone, or to be more exact, to almost everyone. For many years Yury and his coach Alexei Ivanov had worked towards this event, planned it and believed that it would eventually happen. Nevertheless his record came like a bolt from the blue. It happened on the 29th May 1983 at the Mo sco w Spart aki ad in the Luzhniki Stadium. Dumchev's discus flew 71 metres 86 centimetres—more than half a metre further than the previous world record held for five years by the East German athlete Wolfgang Schmidt. The long duration of the previous record is is anot her indica tion of Dumchev's significant achievement. That summer Yury completed his fourth year at the Institute of Physical Culture and in August he celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday—the age at which a discus thrower is at the height of his powers. The account of his principal victory at the Friendship84 tou rnam ent c omes later, later, meanwh ile 14*
let us do back several years to the time when Yury was still a teenager and just embarking on sport. He lived in a small village. In winter the boys would flood the rink in front of the school and start chasing the puck as soon as the water froze over. Recalling those years Yury joked: They always put me at the goalposts because I covered the goal com plet ely." He might have gone on playing ice-hockey had he not one day seen a television programme about boys putting the shot. "I thought to myself: I ought to try that. After all, I'm taller than they are." He arrived in Moscow in 1974 having read an announcement in the paper Sovetsky sport that the en tr anc e examinations to the children's and young people's sports school were being held. Yura's performance in the various tests was not impressive. He ran 60 metres in 8.5 seconds and even the girls beat him in the triple jump. He only managed to throw the 5-kg sh ot 10 met res. A ll in all he w as
Soviet Sport reje cted by the sele ctio n board . For so me reason, howe ver, he to ok the fancy of the school's coaches and they persuaded the board members to accept the lad. Yura did not let the teachers down, who had put their faith in him, and he very soon became the best in his group. By today's standards Dumchev at the age of 16 was late in coming to track and field athletics. But nature had endowed him generously and this is perhaps the reason for his success as a sportsman. Standing at a height of two metres and weighing more than 130 kilogrammes, he can still run the 100 metres in 11.0 seconds, jump a height of 1 metre 85 centimetres and a le ngt h of six and a half met res. How ever, his all-round physical training was only the foundation on which he and his coach built the edifice of future victories and records. Yury began with shot-putting but in 1976 he tried the discus for the first ti me and strai ght off off it it fle w bey on d the fifty-metre line! From that time throwing the discus became Dumchev's "star turn" although he does not neglect the shot as a training too l: his individual rec ord — 1 8 metres 38 cen ti met res —w oul d not disgrace a strong putter. Less th an a year aft er his d is cu s throwing debut, Yury became the leader of the junior national team: at the junior track meets between the USSR and the German Democratic Republic and the USSR and the United States he threw the discus further than anyone else. At the European Championships at Donetsk there was no-one to compare with Dumchev. In 1980, he secured the right to compete in the USSR team at the Games of the XXII Olympiad. Hardworking by nature, he did not spare himse lf in tra ini ng and a ppar entl y overdid it—he injured his arm and ca me onl y fi ft h in the 1980 1980 Oly mpi cs.
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Yury did not lose heart, however. Soon after the Olympics he won the National Championships and set his first All-Union record—68 metres 16 centimetres (the best 1980 Olympic discus throwing result was 66 metres 64 centimetres). As time went on the athlete acquired greater strength and more experience of com pet it io ns. In the spri ng of 1982 1982 he broke the All-Union record a second time. He now cleared 69 metres 16 centimetres and his discus landed very close to the flag marking the world record distance, shortly afterwards it cleared 69 metres 30 centimetres. This result moved the young thrower up to fourth place in the world ranking. That was when he and his coach gave serious thought about how best to set about achieving a world record. They sat down together and worked out that Dumchev could realize his full potential if he built up his strength and power and acquired a more rational throwing technique. His training programme was radically reorganized. Yury worked unceasingly at weightlifting. He lifted 210 kilogrammes in the bench press and 220 kilogrammes in the back squat. Yury also suffered from the "disease", co mm on am on g discu s thrower s, of clearing great distances when he was training. In the 1982 season his best result in training exceeded 73 metres! But when the competitions started the discus came nowhere near this distance. The coach and his pupil solved this difficult problem, however: Yury learned to hold himself in check and in the 1983 season did not once throw the discus f ur th er at a tr ain ing session than at a tournament. This was proof that he had matured and acquired valuable experience without which one canno t bec ome a wor ld recordholder. Yury Dumchev's performance in the 1984 season was very consistent and when the day of the Friendship tour-
The Victor's Podium name nt at at the Centr al Leni n S tad ium arrived, Yury went out onto the pitch, demonst rated his super ior f ight ing qualities and deservedly won. He not only beat such famous throwers as the Cuban Juan Martinez, the East German Jurgen Schult, the World Champion from Czechoslovakia Imrich
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Bugar and the Cuban Luis Mariano Delis, silver medallist at the Helsinki World Championships. When he threw the discus 66 metres 70 centimetres in this rival event with the Los Angeles Olympics, he beat their champion Rolf Dannenberg from West Germany by 10 centimetres.
In 1980, Oleg Protsenko's name appeared on the lists of the best athletes in the triple jump. He was third in the under-eighteen group and sixth in the j u n i o r g r o u p . P r o t s e n k o ' s r e s u l t of 15.94 m was not outstanding. Jumpers in the 17-18 age group usually achieve more. Yet just one year later Oleg produced the best under-twenty-three result not only in the USSR but in the world! The then coach of the USSR j u n i o r a n d y o u t h t e a m s Fe li x S u s l o v , Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, recalls: "After the All-Un ion spr ing comp etitio ns, when he ju mp ed 15.97, 15.97, OlegProts enko burst into the under- twent ythree national team like a meteor. He was a very indep end ent, happ y and I would go so far as to say reckless boy. Training and competing came easily to him, although he was not a consi stent perf ormer : go od ju mp s alalternated with humiliating failures. Nonetheless we decided to give him the privilege of taking part in the
Friendship contest for young people under 18 from socialist countries. In 1981, this event was held in Debrecen in Hun gar y. I wi ll not p re te nd that I di d not have certain misgivings about how he would perform there. However, Oleg's first jump proved that they were groundless. It was a remarkable feat—fast, light and even elegant. It was immediately obvious that the boy had cleared more than 16 metres. But we coaches could not believe our eyes when the result appeared on the scor eboa rd —16.6 8! In other wor ds Oleg had improved on his individual record by more than 70 centimetres. And this in his first ever international competition. Only an athlete of exceptional talent is capable of that." So, Oleg's success at the symbolically named Friendship competitions was his introduction to top sport. Could he have imagined then that three years later he would celebrate his greatest victory at the contest of the same name—a victory which was to bring
The Victor's Podium yesterday's junior the highest sporting titl e in the USSR — M e r i t e d Master of Sport.
Oleg took up sport in the autumn of 1977 when his class-mates persuaded him to join the track and field athletics gr ou p run by Vyache slav Lik hush in, now Merited Coach of the USSR. If anythi ng disti ngui shed Prot senko in this group, it was, by his own admission, the fact that he was the skinniest. It was apparently his physique which, from the beginning, marked him out for the jumpers' group. At first it was the high jump which caught his imagination and he very soon achieved some quite good results. The coach did not discourage the boy but made up his mind that later he would try him in the triple jump. Developing his speed and strength concurrently, Protsenko, in 1980, cleared 2 metres in the high jump and 15.94 in the triple jump. It was then that his choice of specialization was finally made—the triple jump. In 1982, Oleg produced consistently high results—in the order of 16.3016. 60— and wo n a nu mb er of of major competitions although he also suffered some defeats. Both coach and pupil were now gradually building up to a new level of achievement, cherishing the secret hope of taking part in the Games of the XXIII Olympiad at Los Angeles. Oleg celebrated 1983—the year of his twenty-fifth birthday—by setting an individual record. On the 7th August he cleared 17.27 metres in Kishinev. This result took even the experts by surprise. There were of course the sceptics who were quick to put his achievement down to chance, but the evidence was inc ontr over tib le— in 1983 Protsenko was fifth on the list of the world's top jumpers. Both for Oleg himself and for his coach his 17.27-metre jump was not unexp ecte d. IItt sim ply con fi rm ed that the training programme they had
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worked out to prepare for the Olympic year was the correct one. Moreover, j u d g i n g by t h e ea se w i t h w h i c h h e cleared 17.27 metres, Oleg could expect to improve further his individual record in the 1983 season. But suddenly he was held up by injury: he damaged the ligaments of his knee joint when he was training. Normal physiotherapy didn't help and an operation proved necessary. Protse nk o was only able to start tr ai ni ng agai n thr ee and a half mo nt hs befo re the selection trials for the Olympic team. In such a short time it was inconceivable that he could make a complete recovery, carry out the difficul t extensive trai ning pr og ra mm e and achieve the level of his individual records. In such situations it is usually said that the fate of the individual is in his own hands. Fortunately the hands of this particular individual were pretty strong. Striving to make up for lost time, Oleg trained every day and sometimes twice a day. He not only had to build up the muscles of his in ju re d leg, but devel op to a ne w an d hi ghe r level level the physi cal qu ali tie s wh i ch are necessary necessary in a j um pe r and which had been lost during his period of enforced rest. As a result Oleg had almost completely overcome the effects of his injury by the time of the spring instructionaltraining camp. There was a hope that he would be able to take part (and no more than that!) in the selection trials. The time of the first competition arrived. In In the Zna men sky Br oth ers Memorial qualifying competitions which took place in Sochi at the beginning of June, Protsenko cleared 16.83 metres. His leg stood the strain! There were only two weeks before the next selection trials, but that was long enough for Oleg to improve his form. The provocative actions of American politi cal intri guers resulted in the wit hdra wal fro m the Los Ange les Ol ym pi cs
Soviet Sport of sportsmen from the socialist countries. They decided instead to demonstrate their skills at the Friendship-84 competitions. Shortly before the main event of the season Soviet sportsmen and their colleagues from the other socialist count rie s pro duce d a num ber of outstanding results. Three world and four USSR records were set in Kiev where the final selections were made for the Friendship-84 tournament. And these were not just the achievements of a few individuals but of large numbers of athletes. Even in th os e sp or ts where no records had been set the results were of a high standard. Good results were also produced in the triple jump. Three athletes cleared more than 17 metres which is the international class threshold. The favourite was the Ukrainian Alexander Yakovl ev who execu te d a j u m p of 17.32 metres. Oleg' s j um ps di d not go right at first. The approach run was fast bu t his firs t at te mpt s we re t oo careful and he could not execute the j u m p at f u l l s t r e n g t h . It w a s o n l y at one of the last attempts that his action became fast and smooth. One could even see that the athlete had "flown" beyond 17.50. After the measurements had been made the ju dg es a nn ou nc ed the result—17.52. Protsenko was onl y 2 cm shor t of th e USSR rec ord an d 5 cm sh ort of th e Eu ro pe an rerecord! So he won the right to take part in the Friendship-84 tournament which was less than two months away. Fate, however, decided to set Oleg on e mor e test: wh en he to ok part in the "dr ess rehearsal" at at the be gi nn in g of July he injured the muscles of his ankle joint. This injury is particularly da ng er ou s for a tri ple j um p athlete. When he lands after the first jump— t h e h o p — h e p ut ut s t r e m e n d o u s p r es es sure on the foot muscles, a pressure that is equal ten times the weight of the athlete.
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Once again there was the endless medical trea tment . This time Protsenko did not stop training, but instead of the special technical exercises which are of such vital importance before a major event, he had to content himself with light limbering-up exercises, cross-country runs and barbell exercises. The USSR national team coaches had serious doubts about Protsenko taking part in in the comp eti tio ns, particul arly in view of the fact that the reserve— Gennady Valyukevich from Minsk— was in excellent form and had cleared more than 17.40. However, assured by the team's doctors and by Oleg himself, the coaches allowed Protsenko to remain in the team. The injury healed literally a few days before the main event... Apart from Protsenko, the Soviet team cons ist ed of Al exa nde r Yakovlev a nd Gri gor y Yemets , wi nn er of the Euro pean Winter Championships. Their opponents were the Bulgarians Hristo Marko v an d Stoi tsa lliev, lliev, the Czec hs Vlastimil Marinec and Jan Cado, the Cubans Lazaro Betancourt and Jorge Reina, the Polish World Champion Zdzistaw Hoffman and the Hungarian Bela Bakosi, one of Europe's best triple jumpers. Anxious to avenge his defeat in Kiev, Yakovlev cleared 17.41 at the first attempt. This was a bid for victory and a serious one at that. Vlastimil Mari nec also j um pe d fur the r tha n 17 metres at the first attempt—he cleared 17.06. Oleg Protsenko only managed 16.48. At the second attempt no-one could improve on Yakovlev's result and Oleg's jump was even worse—16.39. The thought of his in j u r e d l eg p r e v e n t e d h i m f r o m e x e c u t ing the j um p wit h maxi mum effort and the fear of injuring himself again made him cautious both in the approach run and the jumps. The situation was tense: Protsenko could well not be one of the best eight to get
The Victor's Podium into the finals. Oleg was only in tenth place before the third jump. The threat of defeat forced him to pull himself together, concentrate his mind and spare no eff ort. It was im por tan t not only to make a long jump, but at the same time not to go beyond the board. So Protsenko started his approach run several centimetres further back. From the technical point of view Oleg's third jump was not perfect. He
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was 10 centimetres short of the board and made up that distance in the j u m p s t h e m s e l v e s , e n d e a v o u r i n g t o use each take-off to maximum effect. This time he was successful. 17.46 flashed onto the electronic scoreboard! After Protsenko both Lazaro Betancourt and Hristo Markov cleared more than 17 metres but they could not overtake Oleg. Thus he won the greatest victory of his life.
Vyacheslav Zaitsev's Five Sets
T o wi n a volle yball mat ch a tea m only has to win three out of five sets. At major international events it is extremely rare to come across a score of 3:0 in the matches which are played for the gold medals. Generally speaking, the maximum number of sets allowed by the rules of the game has to be play ed befo re a te am can wi n. By analogy with this situation in volleyball we shall attempt to follow Vyacheslav Zaitsev's career in sport. Four time s Europea n Cha mpi on, World Champion, Olympic Champion and medal-winner, Zaitsev is now captain of the Leningrad Avtomobilist team and the USSR national team.
The First Set H e w as eig ht years old. Tog eth er w it h his friends he lavished his boundless energy on chasing stray cats and breaking windows. The punishments which ensued did
not dampe n his you thf ul high spirits. His parents decided that their son's time would be better occupied at a sports school. The nearest was the hall where the junior volleyball players of the Spartak club trained. Valentina Gladkova, in who se preparatory gr ou p young Zaitsev turned up, was a demanding but fair-minded coach. She knew how to interest the boys and her classes kept them happy and absorbed, which is why they always looked forward to each new session with their coach. Two years went by and the real training began under the direction of a new teacher, the experienced specialist Igor Igumnov who soon cast Vyacheslav in the role of corner attacker. The boy was tall, had a good physique and successfully played the part assigned to him in the team. Several years later Zaitsev was invited to join the Leningrad junior team. It was being trained for the 1969 AllUnion Schools' Spartakiad in Erevan by the well-known coach Lev Leon-
The Victor's Podium tyev. After one of the training sessions he asked Vyacheslav what he thought about the idea of testing his talent as a setter. "I admit , I was very su rp ri se d at fir st, " Zaitsev recalled. "At that time I was qui te a go od at tac ker . I also played conf ide ntl y in the blo ck. It di dn 't seem that there were any obvious reasons for me to change my position on the court. However, my coach discreetly advised me to do just that. He consid ere d that my pot en ti al as an attacker was not good enough for toplevel voll eyba ll, bu t that I co ul d get into the team of top players as a set pass specialist." Leontyev had set the boy a difficult task. After playing main attacker for so long it was not easy to decide to begin learning a new part without knowing what would come of it in the end. But optimism is an attribute of youth and Zaitsev agreed. At the Spartakiad he attacked when he was at the net and set the ball when he was at the back line.
The Second Set At the end of 1969, Vyacheslav was invited to join the Avtomobilist team which at that time was captained by Vyacheslav Platonov. They have been together ever since. "He was a pretty talented setter," Platonov recalled. "Moreover, in my opinion the boy had the qualities necessary for a player in this position: calmness, good sense and at the same time the ability to be inspired and inspire others." Al th ou gh ther e is so me diversity in the methods of training volleyball players, they all have many of the same type of repetitive exercises which have to be done up to a hundred times a day. Everyone has to train, but it is perhaps more difficult for a setter than the
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rest. Above all it is psychologically dif fi cul t. What patience is nee ded to do the same thing for two hours on en d — pass, pass an d pass ag ai n! A setter also has considerable physical loads. Zaitsev accepted his fate without a mu rm ur . His persis tence and cap aci ty for hard work helped him to grasp the subtleties of the game and become an expert in his field.
The Third Set Th e day w hi c h is eager ly awai te d by every young sportsman finally arrived. The day when he becomes a player in the first team of the top league. At the end of 1970, Vyacheslav Platonov the playe r-coac h of of the Avt omob ili st team retired from the court and gave his sports shirt to the 18-year-old Zaitsev. Everything that had gone before—the children's sports school, playing in the city's under-eighteen team was now well and truly in the past. There began a new chapter of his life in which responsibility for his actions and for the game would be more critically assessed. It is di ff ic ul t to recall a si mi la r s itua tion in the history of Soviet volleyball wh en a yo un g player player was en tr ust ed wi th suc h a responsible and dif fic ult ta sk —t ha t of bei ng a setter an d wh at is more in such a prestigious club as Av tom obi li st . It was a cha ll eng e th at had to be met. There was the added difficulty that in those years Avtomobilist was one of the few teams which adhered to a style of play ab ou nd in g in speed com bin ati ons . As a rule the Leningrad team attacked at high speed which was possible only when the passes were worked out down to the last finest detail. This Zaitsev learned to do together with the expe rie nced player Anatol y Fedotov.
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The Fourth Set He justified the hopes that had been pla ced on him. He ac qu ir ed experience with the assistance of older colleagues who helped the young man in every way possible both at training sessions and in matches. In 1971, when he was in the youth team Vyacheslav became European Champion. Next season he was invited to a training camp with the "adult" team, but he was not selected for the 1972 Olympiad. He made his debut a year later—at the Student Games in Moscow. Since that time he has played for the top team in the Soviet Union and became its captain in 1977. That same year, 1977, Vyacheslav Platonov was appointed coach of the USSR national team which under his
direction has done cham pio nshi ps. For is due to th e cap tai n of the volleyball heslav Zaitsev.
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well at official this mu ch cre dit and "c on du ct or " ensemble—Vyac-
The Fifth Set Vyac hesl av is no w lo ng past past thi rty . He has given more than twenty years of his life to sport. He has a good prof essi on—t hat of engineering economic adviser. When will Zaitsev give up volleyball? Perhaps it is wr on g to specu late abo ut this. The authorities maintain that if he is not hampered by injury, Zaitsev wi ll r em ai n No. I set ter in wo rl d volle ybal l for a long ti me t o come.
Moments of Free Flight of
which had never before happened at T h e world of gymnas tics discovered any tournament. However, it was not Olga Mostepanova in November 1983 at the World Championships in -only a question of "tens". At this tournament Olga Mostepanova beBudapest. The interesting fact is that came the wo rld 's No. No. 1 wo ma n gymshe had been in the USSR national nast. Experts maintain that in its puriteam since 1981, performed at internaty, complexity and aesthetic quality, tional tournaments and won on more her programme was far superior to than one occasion, but only in Budathat of the American gymnast Mary pest did it become obvious that a new Lou Retton, Champion of the XXIII Los star would soon appear in the Soviet team. In In the Hun gar ian capital Mo- Angeles Olympics. stepanova came second to Natalya Mostepanova's career is inextricably Yu rc he nk o (already a sensa tion!) , in bound up with that of her coach the individual all-round championVladimir Aksenov, in so far as the one ships, won gold medals along with the started thanks to the other. other members of the winning team Aksenov moved to Moscow from Tashand became Champion on the balance kent in 1975. He was forty at the time. beam. This experienced coach had been invit ed to work in the cap ital and A year later Olga won five gold medals offered the position of head of the at the Friendship-84 tournament which Dynamo sports school. That same year was held at Olomouc in Czechosix-year-old Olga Mostepanova was slovakia. Only four of her sixteen brought to the school by her parents. marks were under ten, something
Soviet Sport Their plans, however, very nearly came to nothing: the coaches took on e l ook at the ti ny wi sp of a gi rl and suggested that she came back the following year. Her father and mother pleaded that their daughter should at least be giv en a ch an ce to sh ow wh at she could do. The coach Yury Danshin took her up to the horizontal bar. She began her chin-ups and did eight of them. Then she went into the half lever position. All right, the coach agreed, let her run around the hall for some months and then we'll see... It was no secret that Elvira Saadi planned to retire from top sport after the Montreal Olympics. Aksenov had to look for someone to replace her. In the autumn of 1975, he took on five little girls who had just started at Dynamo. Mostepanova was one of th em . For a ti me, wh en he was still working with Saadi, this little quintet was taught its first steps in gymnastics by Anna Anikina. Aksenov's experienced eye singled out Mostepanova immediately. Outwardly the little girl made no particular impression—she had long arms and a big head. What made one notice was the grace of her leg moves. Then the whole proportion of her body changed instantly: she was tra nsf orm ed fr om an awkward "duckling" into a little princess—and one could see immediately that she would grow into a beauty. When training with Aksenov began the games in the hall stopped and serious wo rk start ed. It wa sn' t easy for the coach either: he had worked with adult gymnasts for fifteen years and sud den ly he was prese nted wit h little girls of five and six. How to talk to them? How to explain things to them? Would they understand the importance of the tough training he was to insist on, without which top-class athletes can not deve lop? After several months Aksenov came to the conclusion that he had to talk to
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his small pupils just as he did to the adults. Their eagerness to learn the secrets of gymnastics was no less intense than that of trained sportswomen. Olga Mostepanova was particularly keen. The coach noted with great satisfaction that her muscles were elastic, supple and strong for her age. When she was only 9, Olga started competing in adult tournaments and wh en s he wa s 13 to ok part in th e USSR Championships, demonstrating the "Delchev somersault" on the bars—a men's exercise which is performed on the horizontal bar. At that time this was her "ultra-C" exercise and she was very proud of it. She followed this with the "Tkachev flight"—an extraordinarily difficult men's exercise which is rarely demonstrated. Olga's performance showed stabilit y even even th ou gh it was n't al ways a hundred per cent accurate. But, literally on the eve of her first World Championships, she shot up, put on weight and had to give up "the flight". Aksenov wanted to reintroduce it in the Friendship-84 event, but Olga continued to grow. When will she manage to perform it again? Perhaps in time for the 1988 Olympics? People love to compare champions. In world gymnastics there are two great and diamet rical ly oppos ed tal ent s— Olga Korbut and Lyudmila Turishcheva. Here is not the place to discuss how they differed from each other— gymnastics enthusiasts still remember them well. With wh o m is is Olga Mos tep ano va m or e in sympathy and whom does she resemble more—Turishcheva or Korbut ? "Mo st ep an ov a is is like herself and no-one else," Aksenov assures us and quotes the well -kno wn sport swoman Larisa Latynina who keeps a kind of "dossier" on all the famous women gymnasts. At one time Latynina gave much tho ugh t to the qu est io n—t o which type of gymnast does Olga belong? Having convinced herself that
The Victor's Podium Mostepanova has all the best qualities which women gymnasts of former years possessed, Latynina concluded that at the present time Mostepanova is th e ideal gy mn as t of the last last two decades. "She has a splendid strong physique," Aksenov said. "She performs all her exceptionally difficult exercises easily and elegantly. I di dn' t get exci ted about all these "tens" they talk so much about. Even if they had not been tens—that's not what is important. The fact that her high marks singled her out from the rest is absolutely justified. She pleased me more as a fi ght er an d an ath let e wi th a go od strong psyche. In the four days of the competition she did not make a single mistake in her sixteen exercises on the apparatus. On the second day she blotted her copybook only once on the bars. She caught her heel on the bar just as she did at the World Championships." Aksenov and his pupil had their ups and down but on the whole they work together well. They work to a strict plan. Aksenov not only draws up the schedule for years ahead but decides on the number of exercises to be done in each training session. Olga loves precise plans. When she arrives for training her coach tells her: you must do this five times, that five times and this twi ce mo r e— t he necessary necessary mi ni mu m whi ch has to be accomplished. And Olga took it upon herself to measure her strength. Aksenov expected that Olga would give a con fid ent wi nn in g perf orma nce at the USSR Cup shortly before the Friendship-84 tournament. But she suddenly began making mistakes: once again she caught her heel on the bar in the ill-starred bars exercises, in the floor exercises she suddenly opened out in mid-flight towards the ceiling and spoiled her jump. After the event her coach sat her down beside him: "Tell me honestly what hap-
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pe ne d? I wo n' t sco ld you, I just wa nt to understand. You should have won all four events." Olga hummed and hawed for a long ti me before admi tti ng: "Yo u k now, Vla dim ir Filippych, I wasn't interested, I wa s in a bad mo od . " "Your moment has come and if you miss it because of some mood, you'll be left with nothing. You've grown up now and you haven't worked for eight years to be bored at the critical moment," her coach answered her. Many coaches say that they have a telepathic link with their pupils during a performance. Aksenov is one of them. He believes that the invisible threads connecting him to Olga are the outcome of their long and uninterrupted working relationship. "She will turn her head slightly," Aksenov says, "I will nod and we are both calm, everything is going well. But if someth i ng is w r o n g I only have to sit wi th a frown on my face for Olga to feel wi th ou t lo oki ng at me that I am not satisfied." You wou ld not call their wo rk in g re la ti on sh ip ideal — it had its go od mo me nt s and its its bad mom en ts . O nce Ak se no v dr ove ~Ol ga out of th e hall — adm it ted ly t hat was a lo ng ti me a go w he n she was still a ch il d. Now th e worst punishment for her is an instructional discussion with endless examples of what to do and what not to do and how to do and how not to do it. In eight years they have never been apart longer than a m o n t h — i n 1978 when Aksenov wetit to work in Indones ia. On other oc cas io ns it was a matter of weeks. Aksenov spent a week in hospital and Olga was away at a to ur na me nt in Lon don for a week. Olga is reserved and serious in Aksenov's presence, but the coach admits that he can spend hours looking at a photo of Olga lying on the balance beam with a smile. "There it is, the real face of a child," he will say.
He Loves the Music of Attack
They call him a lucky person, they say that everything comes easily to him. Why easily? Simply because everything that Sanasar Oganisyan has done or is now doing interests him. He studied at a music school—that was sheer pleasure. He plays the piano—sheer delight. He went to a school which specializes in physics and mathematics—he was an enthus iast ic pupil. He bec ame interes ted in chess—and it absorbed him totally. In wrestling he decided that he would definitely become Olympic Champion—and he did. Why did Oganisyan enter the Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering? Because civil engineering is interesting too. Mathemati cs and tec hnic al drawing are greatly to his liking. He says that the builder sees the work of his own hands: he lays bricks and erects walls—and all that is there to see. It gives a feeling of achievement... Yes, in many respects Sanasar Oganisyan who celebrated his twen-
tieth birthday on the 5th February 1980 and five months later became one of the youngest Olympic champions in the history of wrestling, is a happy individual. And the secret of Sanasar's happiness is his total involvement in whatever he does. The Ogani sya ns are a spl end id fami ly and ardent supporters of their oldest son. Sanasar's father, Razmik Oganisyan is a Candidate of Economic Sciences and enjoys skiing and singing. His mother, Tamara, who was a gymnast in her younger years graduated from the Institute of Forestry and Forest Industries and now works as an engineer at a project design institute. Beside s Sanasar they have thr ee son s — Va rd an , Ovane s an d G or — and a daughter loanna. The family lives in a larg e flat in the cent re of Mo sc ow . Sanasar was introduced to sport by his parents. Initially his mother took him to a gymnastics school, but the coaches would not accept the tall, well-developed 11-year-old boy and
The Victor's Podium advised him to try his strength at wrestling. Some time later Razmik Oganisyan saw an announcement in the paper that the Spartak club was taking on children in their freestyle wrestling school. Sanasar joined the group coached by Mikhail Maksimchenko who recruited his first beginners in 1971. As so often happens, it took about four years before the lively lad got anywhere. He demonstrated surprising powers of imagination at training sessions: the coach would show him one hold and Sanasar immediately thought up a combination of two-three holds. But at competitions he became so heated that he lost control of himself and was often beaten by wea k opp one nt s. Maksimchenko was philosophical about Sanasar's defeats: for the time being the result was not so important, he said, the main thing was to derive pleasure from wrestling and study your rivals. In 1976, Oganisyan won the undereighteen National Championships and the fol low ing season M aks imc hen ko asked Yury Shakhmuradov, the senior coach of the national team, to let Sanasar take part in the Tbilisi International Wrestling Tournament. That was how 17-year-old Oganisyan got to the tou rna men t whi ch in the stren gth and quality of its contestants is in no way inferior to the World Cha mpi onships! The young man got on well in Tbilisi. A mo nt h later, how eve r, he suf fe re d a setback: he only came fourth at the youth World Championships in the United States. In In freesty le wre stl ing su ch a set bac k can dama ge a sportsman's career prospects for a long time. But when he talked it over with Sanasar on his return from the States, Mikhail Maksimchenko realized
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that his pupil was not depressed, quite the contrary, he sorted out his behaviour, analyzed his two defeats and was ready for further bouts. Since that memorable tournament in the United States Sanasar has learned to discipline himself on the mat. He still gets heated, but it is now a calculated tactic. The senior coach of the national youth team gave Sanasar the opportunity of ta ki ng part in the ju ni or Eur ope an Championships the following year. His deci sion was the right on e— Sa na sa r wo n. An d in 1979, 1979, Oga nis yan ca me first in the youth World Championships as well! In spite of the advice of colleagues not to overdo it with training loads and competitions, Maksimchenko prepared Sanasar for victory at the 1980 tournament in Tbilisi. The winners of this tournament usually go on to take part in the Europe an Cha mpi ons hi ps wh ic h, if they dis tin guis h the msel ves, is their route to the Olympic team. Apar t fr om Oganis yan, Anat oly Proko pc hu k the 1977 1977 Worl d C ha mp io n and Hasan Ortsuev the 1979 World Champion were contenders for this place in the team,. Oganisyan won both the tournament in Tbilisi and the European Championships, and as a result this skilled young athlete was included in the Ol ym pi c team. His str engt h, def tne ss and ability won him the gold medal, the same award went to his coaches for their daring and accurate assessment of his ability. After the Olympics Sanasar tried to forget that he had become a champion and look ahead. He had set himself the task of adding to his collection of Olympic medals and he is not likely to give up this ambition yet.
"Salnikov's Phenomenal Quality is His Absolute Calm"
N u m b e r one sportsma n of of the Games Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow, holder of three Olympic medals, World Champion and record-holder, the swimmer Vladimir Salnikov who was nominated the world's best sportsman in 1980 by the Union of Spanish Spo rts Journ alist s, is fre que ntl y asked the same question although it is put fn different ways: "Don't you ever get fed up with the hours of training you have to do every day? Don't you sometimes have to force yourself to go to the swimming pool?" But the same answer is always given: "Our coach knows how to make each training session so interesting that there is never time to be bored..." All the swimmers trained by Igor Koshkin, Merited Coach of the USSR—and there are many of them—will certainly agree with that. Four of his pupils took part in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and seven in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. All seven were in the finals. Igor Koshkin became interested in
gymnastics while he was still at school, and he continued to appear on the floor when he was doing his army service. A serious injury put paid to any further training and the doctors were adamant that he should give up gymnas tics. By way of co nsol atio n, the young soldier who was so keen on sport was sent on a sw im mi ng instructors' course. Igor literally fell in love wi th his new sport. He dre ame d of becoming a coach, of training champions and record-holders and even starting his own school of swimming. When he returned to Leningrad after his army service, Koshkin worked at his main trade—that of radio fitter at one of the city's scientific-research institutes. But his dream of becoming a coach gave him no peace. This dream came true in 1954: as unpaid social work he undertook to train a small group of children. At that time the institu te rented various s wi mm in g pools in the city and together with his first pupils the new coach had to travel round Leningrad from one pool
The Victor's Podium to another. Several years later the school got its own pool called Ekran that had five 25-metre lanes. Every morning Koshkin got up at the crack of dawn and took the first tram to the pool. He did not return home until after midnight. No doubt it was at that time that word got around the city about the three eccentrics from Ekran — Igor Ko sh ki n, Evgen y Gub enko and Gleb Petrov—who spent day and night at the ir pool , fir mly convinced that one day their pupils would swim faster than anyone else in the world... In the meantime the young swimmers fr om Ekran beat oth er s in the ir ag e group in convincing style whether it was in the traditional races of the All-Union Happy Dolphin tournament or in competitions organized for children's sports schools from different cities of the country. Koshkin and his colleagues experimented boldly, trying out new ways of selecting children, new teaching methods and new training schedules. Firstly, Ekran took eightyear-old boys and girls who lived within easy reach of the pool. The young coaches imposed this condition because they felt strongly that the j o u r n e y f r o m h o m e t o t h e p o o l a n d back sho ul d not take up to o mu ch time. Secondly, they warned the parents that intensive training in the pool required a high-calory diet. And, thirdly, ly, they im po sed the fur th er co ndi ti on that only those who did well at school could train at Ekran. With such strict rules of ad mi ss io n it was of co ur se inevitable that many would fall by the wayside. Only the most persistent and dedicated children stayed on at Ekran. At the end of 1973, Koshkin took on only one pupil from Gleb Petrov's group—13-year-old Volodya Salnikov. Why? "I don't know," the coach shrugged his shoulders. "I liked the boy and that's all there was to it..." 15"
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But such was Igor Koshkin's pedagogical talent that he instantly recognized the character in the boy. And even tod ay the coa ch is co nv in ce d that many other swimmers have greater natural physical ability, and movement coordination than Salnikov. But already at that time Volodya had something which set him apart from the other boys who were learning to swim at Ekran — a tr em en do us cap aci ty for work and great self-discipline. "Sal nikov is indisputa bly tale nted, " his coach said. "Otherwise he would never have achieved such heights in the sport. But the talent of a swimmer accounts for roughly ten per cent of his success. The other ninety is work and more work!" In 1976, four of Koshkin's pupils— Vladimir Salnikov, Mikhail Gorelik, Evgeny Seredin and Anatoly Smirnov—were selected to take part in the Montreal Olympics. They swam their distances with varying degrees of success... Only Salnikov succeeded in reaching the 1.500 metres freestyle finals where he came fifth out of eight contestants. He lost by a little over 27 seconds to the American winner Brian Good ell wh o' set the then phe nom ena l re co rd of 15 mi nut es 02.40 sec ond s. This record was unbroken for four years—until the 1980 Moscow Olympics. But even at Montreal the most knowledgeable experts noticed the 16year-old boy who tried to assert himself against the eminent swimmer. Th eir la ck of of suc ces s in th e M ont re al Ol ym pi c po ol acted as an inc enti ve for the Soviet swimmers. Each year they performed with greater confidence. In 1978, they won medals at the European Championships and then at the Wor ld Champi ons hip s in West Berlin. Vladimir Salnikov won two gold medals straight off—in the 400 metres and the 1,500 metres. The American team lost its "p er man ent p lac e" at at the t op of the vic tor 's po di um in the "s wi mmi ng mara tho n" (as (as the one-and-a-
Soviet Sport hal f-k il ome tre race is called). True, th e world record-holder Brian Goodell had not come to Berlin. He sent the new Cha mpi on a greeti ngs tel egr am congr atu la ti ng him on his vic tor y and reminding him that their Olympic duel would take place in Moscow in two year s' ti me. The t w o alr eady kne w each other: on more than one occasion the Soviet team had flown across the Atl ant ic to trai n wi th and co mp et e against the American swimmers. Brian Goodell could not of course have foreseen that President Carter's boyco tt of the Mo sc ow Olym pics would deny him the opportunity of meeting Salnikov in the lanes of Mosco w' s Olym pic pool. Salnikov's brilliant performance at the Wor ld Cham pio nsh ips in West Berlin did not pass unnoticed by the sports press. The authoritative American m a g a z i n e e The World of Swimming for the first time nominated the Soviet sportsman Vladimir Salnikov best sw im me r of the year. "A man wi th ou t nerves", "Salnikov's phenomenal quality is his absolute ca l m" —a nn ou nc ed the headlines of the newspapers and magazines!
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broke Brian Goode ll's wor ld recor d fi ni sh in g fir st wi th a ti me of less th an 15 minutes! Millions of people saw this moment on their television screens. Touching the side of the pool the winner glanced round at the illuminated scoreboard on which the figures 14.58.27 lit up! Hundreds of lens focussed on the happy smile which lit up the swimmer's face and on his arms thrown up in triumph! Everyone in the packed stands spontaneously rose to their feet and cheered the new champion and record-holder!
And this likeable boy really did look amazingly calm when he stood on the starting block. Perhaps only he and his coa ch kne w at wh at cost th is o ut er calm was achieved! "Are you nervous before a race?" Vladimir was asked at the traditional match between swimmers from the USSR and the GDR. "Of cour se. Par tic ula rly wh en I am sw im mi ng in fr ont of peop le I kn ow in my home town where relatives, friends and colleagues from the school and the institute are rooting for me. But it's a lot easier to hide your nervousness when you feel confident in your own powers..."
At the press conference afterwards the questions came thick and fast: "Wh en di d yo u realize that the rec ord would fall?" "A 100 metres before the finish. It was very hard, but I t h ou g ht — n ow or never!" "Do you have any regrets about the boycott?" "Only one: that Brian Goodell isn't here. We were both preparing for our duel that could have produced an even better result..." The answer was very honest. And honesty is perhaps the main feature of Salnikov's delightful personality. He is a top-class sport sman wi th the character of a real fighter. The following day the azure-blue swimming pool was literally foaming at the start of the 4x200 freestyle relay finals. Along with Sergei Koplyakov, Ivar Stukolkin and Andrei Krylov, Vladimir Salnikov made up the USSR national team. Making a concerted effort this close-knit quartet over took all all thei r opp one nts . On the 24th July fans saw Vladimir Salnikov give yet another brilliant performance in the 400 metres freestyle wh ic h wo n hi m his thi rd Oly mpi c g ol d medal.
Eye-witnesses and all swimming enthusiasts will never forget the 22nd July 1980 when the 1,500-metre finals to ok place and Vl adi mi r Sal niko v
Afterwards Vladimir and his coach were asked the same question time and again: "C oul d ther e have been a wo rl d re-
The Victor's Podium cor d at thi s dis tan ce to o? " "At the Olympics the main thing is not the record but the victory," was Koshkin's reply. "The 400 metres final was Salnikov's fourth Olympic race, moreover he swam the distance virtually without competition. Everything at its right time..." When the Soviet National Team began preparing for the 1988 Olympics Igor Koshkin said to his charges: "You must model yourselves on Vladimir Salnikov and train as he does." What does it mean to train as Vladimir Salnikov does? Koshkin explains: "It means to have the same strength of will. You could say that it knows no limit. Experience in competing is something that comes with time. But I as a coach have no power over my pupi l's state of min d, I can not motivate him for the difficult work of training. The class and international aut hor it y of a sp or ts ma n sho w less less in his ac hi ev in g r ec or d levels levels th an in his ability to maintain these levels and at the same time to progress with each
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year. For many sportsmen who set world records for the first time, their achievement subconsciously acts as a psy cho lo gi cal barrier. In the first place it has an adverse effect on their training where no detail can be overlooked. Each such detail that is overlooked will soon turn into an irreplaceable loss. The end result is that the sportsman cannot pull himself together, cannot make the effort to master himself even more. Salnikov is perhaps the only swimmer over whose tr ai ni ng I cou ld have al lo we d to have no control altogether, either when he embarked on his career in sport or after he became so successful." The Goodwill Games, a prestigeous tournament, were held two years before the 1988 Olympics. Vladimir Salnik ov b rok e a wo rl d rec ord on the first day of the Games in the 800 m freestyl e wi th a ti me of 7 mi nu te s 50.64 seconds. The first world record of the Games was the athlete's thirteenth world record.
The Music of Speed
Fans at the Krylatsky have already become used to this picture: the figure of a cyclist races round the golden track, the figures flash onto the electronic scoreboard... The sportswoman crosses the finishing line and once again the recordbreaking seconds freeze on the scoreboard. The triumphant voice of the commentator announces that Erika Salumae has yet again won her fight against time. Another world record to add to her long list. ...Erika was born in the health resort of Pyarnu in Estonia. Later the family moved to Elva. Her father died at an early age and her mother was left to bring up the girl alone. She had no real problems with her daughter who was hard-working, affectionate and obedient. Things went well at school too. Erika herself recalls her school days with pleasure: "I loved music (I studied piano at a music school) and literature, particularly Pushkin. There is music in every
word and line of his poetry. You want to sing his poems. I had another great love love t o o — t h e theatre. I acted in school plays. My friends said I was go od a nd I was pleased wi th my per for ma nce s t oo. I felt that I was doing rather well. "I didn't even dream about fame in sport at that time, although I was better at gym than many of the boys." After she left school Erika went to Tallinn where she became a plasterer. It was there that she met her present coach Stanislav Solovyov whose great interests were cycling and speed. His enthusiasm inspired his pupil as well. "I didn't imagine then that I could ach ieve real resu lts, " Erika said. "It was simply that my coach genuinely loved his work, the sport of cycling. He gave everything of himself to us, his pupils. I was immed iate ly str uck by thi s qua lit y of his. It wo ul d be shame ful to work half-heartedly alongside such a man." And Erika really did try. Success was
The Victor's Podium not long in coming: National junior Champion (girls) in the sprint, the individual pursuit race and the group race, winner of the 1983 Student Games when she won two gold medals, and National Champion (adults). And finally—a number of world records. "For me a record-breaking result is not an end in itself. That is not the most important thing after all. Victory is wha t one sho ul d aim for ," Erika admits. "Saving seconds does not reassure me. Although time is a serious rival it is at least a straightforward one. It is not capable of tactical manoeuvres." In everyday life Erika is a surprisingly sweet, gentle and warm, but before a competition she becomes a different person—purposeful and intent on the uncompromising fight to win. It is amaz ing how muc h inner str eng th and self-confidence this small delicatelooking girl possesses. The most serious test in Erika's career in sport came at the 1984 World Championships in Spain. Although she has broken records in all the track disci pline s, her great st ren gth is the sprint and it was in the sprint that she competed at the 1984 Championships. Before they left for Spain someone said to Solovyov that third place would be a great achievement for Erika. The coach did not tell his pupil how her prospects had been assessed and set her the task of "going for the gold". Contrary to the opinion of certain sceptics she got through to the finals without any difficulty and convincingly beat the American girl Connie Paraskevin there. A happy, radiant Erika was about to put on the champio n's shirt wh en the ju dg es su dden ly stopped the presentation ceremony which had already begun: the American coaches had protested against one of the heats and there was a
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rerun which Erika lost. Everyone who had seen the finals of the women's sprint in Spain believed that the gold medal was simply taken away from Erika. And although the "silver" was an honour for this newcomer to the World Championships, she could not stop the tears of frustration which welled up in her eyes... She repeatedly proved her superiority over her opponents and previous recor ds. In Jul y 1986 1986 she w o n the sp ri nt at the Goodwill Games held in Mosco w and set set a wo rl d re co rd of 11.489 se co nd s in th e 200 m r ace. Journalists are great sticklers for detail and among the questions they asked her at press conferences there were some quite unexpected ones: "Erika, don't you regret giving up your school interests—music, poetry, the theatre?" She thought for a moment and then replied with a smile: "N o, I do n' t regret it. I der ive eno rmo us satisfa ctio n fr om wha t I do in cycling. After all, you have to give up many things if you want to achieve resul ts. Anywa y, I still have my w ho l e life in front oi me." And then, after a pause, she added: "T o be qui te hon est , I do reg ret it a litt le, al th ou gh I have not giv en up my interests, they are still with me. It's easy to imagine that the cycling track is the stage and the f a n s — t h e audience... The music? It remains inside me. Only now it's a sli ght ly dif fer ent kind of music—the music of speed. Hone stl y, I can hear it! May be t ha t' s why I love racing so much and why it comes so easily to me." The familiar figure of the racing cyclist is poised at the start. Beside her is her coach . His stro ng His conf ide nt hand steadies the bicycle. For these two— coach and pupil—the enemy is time and the ally is music—the music of speed.
The Third Champion
After he had completed the last Olympic cycle, the American "king of singles figure sk atin g" Scot t Ha milt on — World Champion 1981-1984 and gold medallist at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics retired from top sport. Who wou ld occupy the vacated "th ro ne "? "I^he Wor ld Fig ure Skati ng Cha mp ion ships held in Tokyo in the spring of 1985 revealed who was next in line of succession. In the brightly lit banqueting-hall of Tokyo's Prince Hotel Alexander Fadeev presented the organizers of the Championships with a commemorative pennant on behalf of the Soviet team. At that reception the organizers expressed their admiration of the performances given by the Soviet figure skaters and commented in particular on Fadeev's flawless technique and brilliant artistry. It was not difficult to see why they were so enthusiastic. Alexander had achieved the unique result of winning all the events in the programme. The
Japanese papers lavished their praise on Fadeev. Fadeev. Mainichi wro te: "Wh en he performed the truly brilliant free skating programme to Russian folk melodies, the Soviet sportsman began the "Fadeev epoch" in men's singles figure skating." Even before the Tokyo Championships the world press held Fadeev's skill in high esteem. Long before the events described here the famous American figure skaters Carol Heiss and Alan Jenkins said to the coach Stanislav Zhuk that in the near future his pupil would set the tone in men's singles figure skating. Al th ou gh he very qui ckl y be came popular, Fadeev needed a victory which would establish his leading position and gain him world recognition. Alexander required official confirmation so to speak. In this respect the bronze medal he won at the 1984 World Championships in Ottawa did not reflect the class of a figure skater such as Fadeev. Before the Tokyo Championships
The Victor's Podium Anna Alberg the Swedish admirer of figure skating sent a letter addressed to: "Alexander Fadeev, USSR". The messa ge read si mp ly : "I wi sh yo u victory with all my heart." Fadeev went to Tokyo as the team leader. Such a responsibility can affect and even inhibit an artist's performance and Fadeev had to be totally relaxed on the ice, otherwise a gold medal would have been out of the quest ion. That is wh y the out wa rd ease with which he performed the very difficult jumps and combinations on the ice of the Jojogi stadium was applauded with even greater enthusiasm... Stanislav Zhuk admitted that the small gold medal which Alexander won in Tokyo for his performance of the compulsory programme meant a great deal to him. "Wh en I wo rk ed wit h Sergei Chetverukhin the freestyle programme didn't always go right for him at first," Zhuk said. "I was happy when Sergei won this event at the Sapporo Olympics. With Fadeev it was the other way rou nd. For a lo ng tim e it was t he compulsory programme that didn't go right for him. That's why it was so important for us to win this event." Fadeev understood this too. In an interview with the correspondent of the paper Sovetsky sport he sai d: "I n my opinion those who don't like the compulsory programme don't like figure skating." At first Fadeev was criticized for his lack of artistry to which Zhuk always strongly objected: "At one time Irina Rodnina was criticized for the same reason. Everything comes in time." And it did come in time. Alexander Fadeev's "moment of glory" was at Tokyo when the American and Canadian ju dg es awa rde d him high er marks for artistic merit than their compatriots Orser and Boitano who
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were serious challengers for the Cha mpi ons hi ps. Is thi s not real recognition? Stanislav Zhuk believes in including as many difficult elements as possible in the free skating programme. Talent alone is not enough to learn these j u m p s a n d c o m b i n a t i o n s . It r e q u i r e s a strong character to practice these j u m p s d a y a f t e r d a y a h u n d r e d , e v en a thousand times, and above all not to falter in a competition. At the Sarajevo Winter Olympics Fadeev spoiled his three and a half revolution jump. Those who knew his programme said afterwards that they were convi nce d he wo ul d not attem pt the four r e v o l u t i on on t o e lo op —b ut he did. Moreover he was the first in the history of figure skating to execute this jump at such a major event. Even now Zhuk maintains that at that mo me nt the ju dge s di d not realize what had happened on the ice. They reduced his marks for the fault but add ed n ot hi ng for thi s rare ju mp . It was then that Zhuk started to have faith in his pupil's strength of character. In Tokyo Fadeev would have performed the four-turn jump, had not injury prevented him. Two months earlier he had hurt his leg at the USSR Championships in Dnepropetrovsk, which stopped him from taking part in the European Championships. But in To ky o no- one reali zed tha t Fadeev was performing with an injured leg, so coolly and confidently did he skate in his events. After Kovalev and Volkov Alexander Fadeev is the th ir d Wo rl d Ch am pi on in the history of Soviet men's singles figure skating. Both of the former champions contributed new and original ideas to figure skating. Fadeev's skates to o are are tr ac in g thei r uni que pattern on the ice...
An Audacious Headlong Flight
T h e event that to ok place on the evening of 13th July 1985 in the small Jean Boin Stadium in Paris became the talking point of the whole world of sport the following day. The French the mse lve s react ed in a fre nzy of enthusiasm. The front pages of the Paris newspapers carried the headlines: "Bubka flies over Paris" Paris" (Le Matin), "B ub ka —t he super man of the pole!" pole!" (Le Parisien), "B ub ka the cosm o n a u t " " (Le Figaro), "B ub ka in the (France Soir). six-metre heaven" These headlines were accompanied by numerous photographs of the Soviet athlete Sergei Bubka who set a world pole-vaulting record when he cleared the bar at 6 metres. But even more sensational was the headline carried by the leading French sports paper L'Equipe. Rem ind ing its readers that this event took place on the eve of France's national holiday commemorating the storming of the Bastille, le, it an no un ce d: "Six metres! Bub ka has taken the Bastille!"
The French of course are particularly interested in pole vaulting. Over recent years they have produced a large group of strong pole vaulters who together with the Soviet athletes lead the world. They love pole vaulting in France and appreciate the finer points of this technically difficult track and field event. At least two French vaulters—the Olympic Champion Pierre Quinon and the former world recordholder Thierry Vigneron—set out to clear the six-metre limit, but Sergei Bubka was the first to make "the leap into the XXI century" as the Swiss newspapers put it. The new champion was besieged by reporters immediately after his recordbreaking vault. "Of cours e I am del igh ted ," th e record-holder said with an embarrassed smile. "I have realized a longcherished ambition in being the first to clear the six-metre limit. I could probably have cleared this height last year, but I was a little un luc ky, an d
The Victor's Podium you can't set records without an element of luck. Thank you,Paris! Thank you, Parisian fans! "I do not think that my recordbreaking vault was ideal from the technical point of view. But at that moment the main thing was to clear the height. Now my next aim is to vault even higher." And so it happened that on the 13th July 1985 Paris gave an enthusiastic rece pti on to Sergei B ub ka w ho ha d set a new world record at the international event held in the Jean Boin Stadium. In actual fact he did not even plan on taking part at first. Several days later there was the Grand Prix in Nice where he was to meet the best pole vaulters of France, and it was in Nice that he and his coach Vitaly Petrov had decided to make an attempt to break the world record. According to Grand Prix rules additional premium points are added for a world record which could make all the difference to the overall result of this prestigious competition. On the way to Nice Sergei stopped over in Paris, and hearing about the competition which was being held there, he phoned his coach. Petrov realized that the unscheduled event in Paris co ul d affe ct Bub ka' s perfor mance in Nice, but one could not disregard the emotional uplift that Sergei had felt over the last few days. They decided to compete in Paris. It was warm and sunny with a light breeze. Despite the fact that there were some very strong pole vaulters headed by the Eur ope an Ch am pi on Alexander Krupsky and the former US record-holder Bill Olson, Bubka decided to take his turn when the others had completed theirs. Krupsky and the Frenchman Philippe Colle vaulted hi ghe r than t he othe rs, cle ari ng 5 m 70 cm. Serge i sta rte d at that heig ht. At the first attempt he cleared the bar with room to spare and asked for it to be rai sed t o 5 m 96 c m — t w o cen-
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timetres higher than the world record he had set in August 1984. While the j u d g e s w e r e r a i s i n g t h e b a r a n d ad j u s t i n g t h e s t a n d s B u b k a h a d s e c o n d thoughts and asked them to put it up another four centimetres. When the figure "600" appeared on the scoreboard the applause from the stands was deafening. The bar was on a level with the last row of the main st an d in the st ad iu m so tha t Bu bk a seemed to fly over it when he vaulted. The first attempt was unsuccessful. The second, as Sergei himself said, went well, but when he cleared the bar he was unable to distance himself from it and touched it as he was landing. The six-metre limit he aspired to was cleared at the third attempt. The correspondent of of L'Equipe ga ve a gra phi c accoun t of of this recordbreaking vault: "Sergei Bubka soared up t o hi s El Do ra do of 6 me tr es as t ho ug h on win gs. It It was a mag ni fi ce nt run up and his movements were absolutely faultless. The vault was successful. Bubka stood up proudly and saluted his public with great dignity. It was a sp le nd id lesson in be auty , pow er and self -cont rol! " Sergei himself, however, was less enthusiastic enthusiastic his record-breaking vault, co ns id er in g that his succ ess was du e more to the animation he felt and his will-power than to great technical skill. The second attempt, he thought, was bett er fr om a tec hni cal p oi nt of view. Bubka possesses one quality which is extremely important for an athlete: he has a very fine fee li ng fo r all the nuances of movement. He masters new and difficult techniques with considerable ease and can accurately pinpoint any mistake. When he has ex ec ut ed a vault, Sergei analy zes it down to the last detail, breaking it do w n into its co mp on en t parts and deciding what he has done correctly and what not. Such ability usually comes with experience, it is developed over years of training, but with Bubka
Soviet Sport it appears to be inborn. When he was stil l in his tee ns and only ju st begi nning to master the difficult technique of pole vau lt ing , Ser gei ama zed Petrov by the speed with which he assimilated new movements. Undoubtedly, this has a lot to do with his rapid progress to record-breaking results. The world of sport discovered him in 1983 when 19-year-old Sergei became the first World Pole-Vaulting Champion. Incidentally, you nearly always have to add "first" or "for the first time" when you list Bubka's achievements . There is not a si ngl e po le vault er wh o has ever suc cee ded in setting four world records in the co ur se of a seaso n. B ub ka di d it in j u s t f o u r m o n t h s : i n M a y 19 84 h e se t the scene for his world records by cl ea ri ng 5 m 85 cm in Br ati sla va, in Ju ne he cle ar ed 5 m 88 cm in Paris and 5 m 90 cm in London, and finally, in August, he achieved the height of 5 m 94 cm in Ro me. In th es e fo ur months the world record shot up by 11 centimetres and Sergei Bubka's indiv idu al reco rd by 22 cent imet res. To co mpl et e the pictu re it sh ou ld be added that Bubka began to smash re cor ds as far back as Jan uar y 1984 w he n he cl ear ed 5 m 81 c m in t he Vilnius indoor stadium—the greatest world achievement for indoor events. That same win ter he tw ic e imp rov ed on this performance. Thus, in 1984, Sergei Bu bka achieve d a gr an d total of seven world records in indoor and outdoor events. Sergei set his fifth world record in outdoor events when he cleared six metres in 1985 (which, incidentally, no other pole vaulter has done) and began a new chapter in the history of track and field athletics. In July 1986 at the Goodwill Games held in Moscow the most outstanding athlete in his first attempt cleared the bar at a heig ht yet u nc on qu er ed —6 m 01 cm. Wha t is the reason fo r Ser gei Bu bk a' s
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impressive list of achievements? What is the secret of of his rec ord -br eak ing vau lt s? In deed, is the re act ual ly a secre t? Once a we ll -k no wn expert was asked what you had to do to vault high wi th the pole. He exp lai ned that it was all very simple—you had to grip the pole higher up, run up more quickly and put more power into the take-off. Bubka's coach, Vitaly Petrov, believes tha t the ideal pol e vaul ter is an ath let e who can run 100 metres in 10 seconds, jump a height of more than two metres and a length of more than eight metres. But such an athlete does not as yet exist, nor is one likely to appear among pole vaulters in the near future. An athlete with such talents can become a magnificent sprinter, hurdler or decathlete. Sergei Bubka is closer than anyone to the ideal described by his coach. Tall and with an athletic physique, Bubka has the speed of the real sprinter. In his run up Sergei accelerates to a speed of 9.54 metres a second. And this with a five-metrelong pole in his hands! Without the pole Bub ka can run a hu nd re d metr es in 10.2-10.3 seconds. Another unique technique of Bubka's is the height of his grip. What could be simpler you might think: the higher you grip the pole, the higher it carries you up, the lower you grip—the less height you clear. However, too high a grip can stop you from clearing the bar at all—the pole will simply not do its work and all the force of the elastic catapult is wasted. Bu bk a not onl y has a very hi gh g r i p — he holds the pole at a height of 5 m 15 cm -5 m 20 c m — bu t a very r i gi d pole. Each pole is designed to cope wi th a spec ifi c weig ht and only th en can it operate with maximum efficiency. The more rigid poles, i.e. those designed for the heavier weights, are of course stronger. The problem is, however, that the vaulters cannot
The Victor's Podium bend them, cannot "load" them in the preparatory phase of the jump. And as a pole is "loaded", so it will "fire". Bubka learned to "load" the most rigid poles that are made. As if that were not enough for him, for he used this technique to set so many records as he won competitions in 1984. It was obvious that such poles were just right for him. Seeing that Sergei had become even stronger and faster over the last year, his coach suggested that he try an even more rigid pole and use a higher grip. The winter, spring and part of the summer were spent mastering the new pole which turned out to be more obstinate than could have been expected. When things started to go well, the coach and his pupil realized that the problem of the sixmetre limit had been solved and that they now had to think about heights of t he or de r of 6 m 20 cm an d 6 m 30 cm. The readaptation of his technique and the mastering of the new pole did not prevent Bubka from acquitting himself brilliantly in the very difficult 12 mo nt hs of 1985 w he n he was n om inated best sportsman of the year. Why should 1985 have been such a difficult year? Because there had not been a longer season in the entire history of track and field athletics. The I World Winter Games were held in Paris in the middle of January. They were in effect the first World Winter Championships which proved so successful that the International Amateur Athletics Federation decided to hold official world championships. The brothe rs Sergei and Vasily B ub ka had something to do with this decision. Their rivalry with Thierry Vigneron, the darling of the Paris public gave an edge to the contest in Paris and kept the whole of the huge Sports Complex Palace at Paris Bercy in suspense. The outcome was that all three stood on the victor's podium. Sergei Bubka won the gold medal,
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Thierry Vigneron—the silver and Vasily Bu bk a— th e bronze. This track and field marathon lasted for ni ne month s. In In Oc to ber the strongest teams competed for the World Cup in Canberra. Sergei Bubka was in excellent form for the entire per iod : in Marc h he wo n the W int er European Championships in Athens, he then went on to win the European Cup and the World Cup, the Grand Prix, the match against American athletes and a wh ol e nu mb er of oth er competitions. The only event he was unable to take part in was the National Championshi ps to de fe nd his tit le wh i ch he had w o n a year ago at ho me in th e m in in g town of Donetsk. However, Bubka still became the 1985 USSR Champion, only not Sergei but his elder brother Vasily. Yes, 1985 proved to be not only a difficult year but also a highly suc cess ful one for bot h br othe rs. It jus t so hap pen ed that the yo un ge r brother Sergei was the first to gain rec ogn it io n. He also beg an vau lt ing at an earlier age. It all started in Voros hi lo vgr ad. In the au t um n of of 1973, 1973, Vitaly Petrov, the coach of the local children's sports school, made his periodic selection of new talent. Among those he recruited for his younge st gro up was Sergei Bub ka who was going on for 10 at the time. Petrov was in no hurry to introduce the children to pole vaulting. They did a lot of run ni ng and ju mp i ng , played different games and took part in all ki nd s of relays. relays. Each tr ai ni ng ses sio n was sheer pleasure for the children but Petrov was wa tc hi ng th em car eful ly without their realizing it. Sergei first drew attention to himself when the chil dren were com pet in g in the chinups. The boy did fifteen. Sergei's training would soon have come to an end had it not been for his elder brother. To get to the sports school the ten-year-old boy had to travel to the other end of the town and
Soviet Sport change twice. His parents wanted to put an end to all this travelling and would have done so had not Vasily stepped in and promised that he would take Sergei to the school. So the problem was solved. Soon the elder brother too became interested in pole vaulting and was coached by Petrov. Vasily's progress was slower, but once he had taken the next step up, he never fell back. Sergei, however, climbed the ladder of success more quickly and in his second year of training literally astounded his tutor. By this time Petrov's pupils had begun to master the elements of the vault. On one occasion Sergei cleared 3 m 50 cm with an aluminium pole. And it was not even a proper pole but simply a metal stick which didn't even bend. What amazed Petrov was not so much the height as the fact that the boy cleared the bar which was set half a metre higher than the level of his grip on the pole. The astounded coach praised Sergei say-
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ing that one day he would clear 5 m 80 cm. Th e w or l d re cor d was 5 m 65 cm at th at ti me . Eight years later Sergei became World Champion and the year after that—world record-holder with his 6 m vault. The limit which Petrov had predicted was past history. His dream had come true! Or had it? Aft er he had set set his wo rl d rec ord , Bu bka w as in vited to a ce rem ony at the Town Hall where he was awarded t h e Grande medaille d'or de Paris for his outstanding achievement in sport. Repl ying t o quest ion s after the .ceremony, Bubka said one thing in particular: "For the rest of my life Paris will remain in my memory as the city where part of my dream has come true." "Part of your dream?" "Of course, there are still so many championships and Olympics ahead. I do not believe that six metres is the limit. Real pole vaults only begin at that height..."
Dear Reader, You have turned the last page of SOVIET SPORT. The Success Story. We ho pe tha t thi s bo ok has giv en y ou some idea about Soviet sport in general and about the road it has travelled over the last 70 years. It was a difficult and thorny path from the first governmental decrees of 1917 to the state plans for developing sport and raising the physical fitness level of the population. The sports movement in the Soviet Union has taken on a truly mass character. More than 80 million people, or ab out a th ir d of the co un tr y' s po pu la tio n, are are involve d in it. It is these millions that have produced outstanding athl etes fr om thei r ranks, and it is is these mil lio ns tha t will produce more champions whom sports fans the world over will admire. We hope that this book increased your love of sport and enriched your knowledge and emotions. Raduga Publishers would appreciate your comments on the book, its translation and design. Our address is: 17, Zubovsky Boulevard, Moscow, USSR.
The reader may see testimony from the many examples in this book to the noble mission of immense state importance that is being pursued in the USSR. For the first time in the history of humanity sport has become the privilege of the millions, and physical culture has become part and parcel of the socialist way of life. As is testified to by Soviet and overseas experts, it is a progressive system of physical education of a new tvne with no historical precedent.
ISBN 5-05-001188-4
