MY SPORTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Oleh Blokhin

Dynamo Kyiv forward. Seven-times champion of the USSR and five-times USSR Cup winner. Scored 211 goals in USSR championships. The USSR’s best soccer player of 1973- 1975. Was entered 15 times on end in the list of the 33 Best. Twice holder of the Cup Winners’ Cup, winner of the UEFA Supercup, winner of the Golden Ball as the best player of Europe in 1975. Twice bronze-medal holder at Olympic Games. Played 109 games on the USSR national team. Member of the FIFA Club 100:

“I will always remember in all littlest details that second goal against Bayern Munich in the Supercup match. Contrary to all canons, I surged forward alone. The first two fullbacks I met only rushed by like gleams that dazzled my eyes. The third one remained behind me after I dribbled the ball around him, swaying from side to side. Then I saw Weiss and understood I wouldn’t be able to get around him — it was as plain as day. And why on earth should I dribble round him? I had to shoot! At once! I shot into the goal corner past the goalie, and the ball thrust into the net. German television would run this goal for a week afterwards. And then, no matter how many times I came out on the pitch, I would look with trepidation for a chance to repeat that beautiful and matchless goal, but I never managed to do it again.”

Serhiy BUBKA

The only track-and-field athlete to have won at all the five world championships in one event (pole-vault). Olympic champion in Seoul. 35-times world record holder. Flag-bearer of the Ukrainian national team at the Atlanta Olympics:

“Let us speak about good things on the eve of the New Year, about good human friendship. Do you remember the phrase about December 31 from the film The Irony of Fate, or Good Luck? I don’t mean the tradition to get together in public baths, I mean the tradition to meet old friends, those with whom I began my sports life, in Donetsk on December 31 each year. We are a stable and good company, about twenty. Our wives, of course, grumble, but we come back to them in the evening, fit as a fiddle. Or as a... pole.”

Vitaly KLYCHKO

World and Europe professional boxing WBO second heavyweight champion. Conducted 27 bouts on the professional ring, with 26 won by knockout. World amateur and professional kick- boxing champion:

“Our parents wanted one of us to become a doctor, but they never put pressure on us. And the life of any individual is poor without art. It’s bad when one has a one-track mind. A change of the environment is like a breath of fresh air. We listen to music for our hearts’ sake. We can also play — even now that every day of ours is planned minute by minute. Volodymyr has taken to the saxophone in earnest, with the help of an instructor. The guitar needs no explanation: we consider ourselves virtuosi here; we even appeared once on German television in a guitar duet concert.”

Viktor CHUKARIN

Olympic champion in gymnastics: twice in the overall classification and three times in individual events. Was part of the USSR national gymnastics team which twice won the Olympics. Won three silver and one bronze medals in individual events. Three-times world champion. Eighteen-times champion of the USSR:

“I thought the war would finish soon, so I put a magnesium-filled candy- can in the very bottom of my soldier’s backpack. And I would carry it in the backpack until that battle with Nazi tanks that left a lasting imprint on my mind.

I was wounded and woke up in a concentration camp. There, I had to part not only with the can but also with my name: I had number 10491 tattooed on my wrist and even the date of death calculated. But my captors had bad luck: I survived even when I was taken, with the remaining prisoners, to the Baltic Sea on a mined barge. I resumed sport activity after the victory, when I was five years older. I had gone through a most severe ordeal, but I emerged with an enlightened soul cleansed of pettiness, conceit, and uncertainty.”

Ivan PIDDUBNY

Five-times world champion in professional Greco-Roman wrestling. Holds the title of Champion of Champions. Meritorious Master of Sports and Meritorious Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic:

“I don’t think many people ever saw the amount of money I earned at the Berdiansk tournament. The latter was organized by Ataman Nestor Makhno himself (leader of an anarchist movement during the Russian civil war of 1918-1920 —Ed.), who put out against me a representative of his irregular army — a sturdy bandoleer—strapping bull of a fellow named Hrytsko. I must say many wrestlers, scary of Makhno’s wrath, would promptly give in to his favorite. And when, after Hrytsko’s next win, the Ataman dropped a phrase that nobody could match that fellow, it really put my hackle up. I came out on the mat and flatly floored the muscleman. Just fancy what kind of hell that raised! Gunshots in the ceiling, shouts. But Makhno, who, as it became known later, had seen me at a Tiflis tournament, pulled a wad of bank-notes out of his pocket and said: ‘This is my personal prize to you — from an admirer and lover of the art.’ It was unwise to reject that money, for the bills of different denominations bore such inscriptions as ‘Are ours worse than yours?’ and ‘Hey, you, cheer up! Makno is now in the money!’ “

Larysa LATYNINA

Won a total 18 Olympic medals in gymnastics: 9 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze — an unmatched achievement in the history of the Olympics. Champion of the world and Europe eight times and seven times, respectively. Twelve-times champion of the USSR. Coach of the Olympic gymnast team in 1968, 1972, and 1976:

“I learned a very great truth in my difficult childhood: good never comes on a silver platter, while talent is primarily perseverance and hard work. You should be a dreamer and see a bit further than the present. And, learning some simple turns and movements of arms and hands, you should imagine a theater hall and circles as high as the ceiling, dozens of binoculars aimed at the darkened stage, where the sole beam of light illuminates each movement of the dancer. And I always liked just to come for the classes with a battered overnight bag, get undressed, put on a simple leotard, and listen to the music, surrendering to its soothing rhythm.”

Leonid ZHABOTYNSKY

Twice overall Olympic champion in weightlifting, twice champion of the world, twice champion of Europe. Five- times champion of the USSR. Flag-bearer of the USSR team at the opening ceremony of the 1968 Olympics and at the closing ceremonies of the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games: “

I was at loggerheads with Yuri Vlasov after the Tokyo Olympics where I literally snatched the gold medal from under his nose. But it was he who first attacked me. Well before the Olympics, Yuri complained of indisposition and refused to train together with the others. He went to Podolsk, where he set stunning world records. “Then my coach and I decided to make Vlasov believe in his strength on the Olympic stage and disregard me. So he fell for it. He swallowed the bait all right, outdoing me in the press by a solid ten kilograms and setting two world records at once. And, feeling that he was running the show and almost holding the gold medal in the three combined events, he rushed to beat records and fell off. But I, forgotten by all and upstaged somewhere to the corner, cleared the weight which immediately put me on the first rung. And he had nothing to respond to answer me with: he had used up all his attempts.”

Valentyn MANKIN

Twice Olympic sailing-race champion, winner of a silver Olympic medal. Champion of the world. Eleven-times champion of the USSR:

“When we began to sail on yachts, many of us had not even seen the sea. But each of us, deep in the heart, was already a seafarer. We would sing only sea songs and compose verses only about sails. And each was sure he was bound to become the world’s strongest. I also believed in this. And not in vain, as it turned out. I would set sail on my light Finn, and the ocean darkened until it was black and menacingly roared, as if warning about dangers waiting for the bold lad who dared challenge it. Quite often my yacht was piloted by sharks. But that was no obstacle. For I had firmly decided before the Olympic regatta to get acquainted with, understand, and tame the ocean. And, in all probability, I did so, for nothing was any longer unexpected for me later on, during the races.”

Hryhory KRIS

Olympic champion and twice silver medal winner in the epee fencing, member of the USSR national team which finished third at the 1972 Olympic Games. Champion of the world. Five-times champion of the USSR:

“There was a young admirer of Dumas, the son of the proprietor of the Max Hotel in Poitiers, France, where we, Soviet epee fencers, used to put up several years on end during the Charles Martel Cup tournament. That boy found his own Athos, Porthos, and Aramis among us. For some reason, he chose me as d’Artagnan. I had never worn a mustache or broken, in anger, a sword over my knee. Frankly, I had not the faintest idea of all this until I once lost the main prize of the tournament. Standing next to the winner on the pedestal of honor, I suddenly heard someone crying! I must confess I had never felt such a burning shame for my defeat as at that moment. If only I had known! I had to wipe the tears off my little friend’s face for so long until I could to promise him that I would surely win the next time. I simply could not do anything but win. For I think there is no worse thing than to dash somebody else’s hopes.”

Valery BORZOV

Twice Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meters run, winner of a silver and two bronze Olympic medals, five-times champion of Europe, many-times champion of the USSR. Flag-bearer of the USSR team at the 1972 Olympics closing ceremony:

“We lived in Chernivtsi, on the outskirts. Little wonder, children, never recognized borderlines between the gardens. Sometimes I was waylaid near other people’s apple-trees by their guard, a vicious dog. And while the legendary Hellenic shepherd Polymnestor was trained by nanny goats, I was helped by the neighboring canines to pick up speed. And, of course, my Tuzyk was always in the lead. I think sometimes I owe to him my speed development and all my sprinting achievements. As soon as I come over the doorstep, Tuzyk rushed to meet me. You can’t count all the kilometers we ran together. Father joked at the time that there was not a single place around our house which I didn’t dig up with my nose. Indeed, very often, unable to slow down the gained speed, I would do a belly flop.”