Voronin, Mikhail Yakovlevich. On the birthday of the USSR ZMS Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin - “the legend of domestic artistic gymnastics We remember

20.11.202327.05.2017

The fate of the famous gymnast Zinaida Voronina is reminiscent of the fairy tale about Cinderella, but, alas, with a tragic end

Zinochka Druzhinina burst into gymnastics when it was not teenagers without gender who won, but athletes who had everything that a woman should by nature. But even in this company she was known as a beauty and, more importantly, smart. In the late 60s, no one would have believed that an Olympic champion and the wife of an Olympic champion Mikhail Voronin, happy mom – will die in obscurity, having lived just over 53 years.

Star ticket

Zina was born on December 10, 1947 in distant Yoshkar-Ola. Like many post-war children, she was small and thin, and the family, they say, was dysfunctional - my mother drank. I invited a girl to gymnastics Antonina Levshevich. Back then, coaches went to schools and looked out for promising children, and gymnastics was not a sport where at the age of 20 you were already too old.

Sport turned out to be a ticket to a completely different life for Zinochka; success and victories quickly came to her. One day, little Zina decided that she had already won everything in the world, and almost quit gymnastics. Levshevich convinced her to return. And when the girl was in ninth grade, she was recognized at all-Union competitions and invited to train at Dynamo Moscow Vladimir Shelkovnikov.

They say that Druzhinina arrived in the capital in a thin coat and her mother’s worn-out shoes; there was nothing else to wear. But for the girl all this was unimportant. Moreover, she quickly joined the national team, where there were very good conditions. That period was triumphant for Soviet women's gymnastics. Our girls won the team championship at the 1964 Games and, despite the change of generations, were preparing to repeat their success in Mexico City in 1968.

A moment of happiness

Even then, the coaches noticed that Zinochka Druzhinina and the younger Tamara Lazakovich sometimes they “relaxed” with the help of alcohol, but they thought: it would pass. Zina was a very promising athlete: at the age of 18 she went to the World Championships for the first time, where she and her team won silver and personal bronze in floor exercises.

By the way : The body of 38-year-old Tamara Lazakovich was found at the railway station in Minsk in the fall of 1992. At first, no one was interested in the deceased tramp, but on her neck they found a gold medallion with the inscription “Munich 1972 (place and year of the Olympic Games - approx. edit.)". Only from this little thing was it subsequently established that the deceased was an Olympic champion in gymnastics.

Everyone said that if the competition had been judged by men, Druzhinina would have been the absolute champion: she was so good in both face and figure. They also noted her taste in clothes and her ability to carry on a conversation on a variety of topics.

She had many fans, but she gave her hand and heart to Mikhail Voronin, an outstanding Soviet gymnast who won two gold medals in Mexico City. Zina also performed very successfully at the 1968 Games. She became second in the overall championship, losing only to the Czech Chaslavskaya, won two bronze medals in individual events, and in team competitions there were no equals to Soviet girls at all.

Mikhail looked after the bride very beautifully and dedicated poems to her. The gymnastics-champion Voronin family was considered the most beautiful couple in Soviet sports; the young people had fame, wealth, an apartment, in general, live and be happy. Son born soon Dimka. And Zina, now Voronina, was one of the few who, after giving birth, managed to return and win the 1970 World Championship in Ljubljana.

Out of the window

Alas, this turned out to be a swan song: gymnastics was changing, “ambitious understudies” were taking the first roles, and, apparently, Zina did not want to work in the gym. Or it didn't work out. Things didn't work out in the coaching field either.

Already at that seemingly happy time, people who were staying in the Voronins’ house noticed that “something wrong” was going on with the hostess. And then this “wrong thing” began to acquire completely terrifying consequences: Zina, for example, might have forgotten to pick up her son at kindergarten. When the star family broke up, very little Dima remained to live with his father, which was unprecedented for Soviet times. They say that since then Voronina has not communicated with either her son or her husband.

When Moscow won the right to host the Summer Olympics, many former athletes experienced a second wave of fame. For the first time, the Games were entrusted to a socialist country, which not everyone was happy about, and back in 1979, the Soviet leadership sent troops to Afghanistan as “help.” Famous athletes of the USSR then performed in various media, on radio and television, involuntarily decorating the “showcase” of socialism.

At the same time, it was decided to remove everyone who did not fit this showcase from Moscow. Dissidents, prostitutes, people with criminal records were resettled beyond the so-called 101st kilometer... Zinaida Voronina was among them.

Not much is known about the last years of her life. They said that she served a short sentence for theft, and then got a job at the Balashikha Foundry and Mechanical Plant in hazardous production. She lived very modestly, rented a corner.

Almost no one knew that an Olympic champion was working at the plant. She coped well, but the fact that she drank – would that really surprise the hard workers?

She was buried in her native Yoshkar-Ola, where a sports school was later named in honor of her fellow countrywoman. They said that her ex-husband never came to say goodbye to her, but her son did.

Dmitry Voronin also followed in the footsteps of his parents, practiced gymnastics, and then became a coach and helped his father save the Dynamo gymnastics club, which was being attacked from all sides by the “market economy.” This struggle cost Mikhail Voronin his health. The legendary gymnast outlived his first wife by only three years, dying in 2004 from cancer.

wikipedia

, Russia

Awards and medals

Olympic Games

Gold

Mexico City 1968

vault

Gold

Mexico City 1968

crossbar

Silver

Mexico City 1968

team

Silver

Mexico City 1968

all-around

Silver

Mexico City 1968

bars

Silver

Mexico City 1968

rings

Bronze

Mexico City 1968

horse

Silver

Munich 1972

team

Silver

Munich 1972

rings

World Championships

Gold

Dortmund 1966

all-around

Gold

Dortmund 1966

rings

Silver

Dortmund 1966

team

Silver

Dortmund 1966

horse

Silver

Dortmund 1966

bars

Silver

Ljubljana 1970

team

Bronze

Ljubljana 1970

bars

Bronze

Ljubljana 1970

rings

Government awards

Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin (March 26 ( 19450326 ) , Moscow, USSR - May 22, Novo-Nikolskoye village, Krasnogorsk district, Moscow region, Russia) - Soviet gymnast, two-time Olympic champion in 1968, two-time world champion, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Honored Coach of the USSR.

Sports achievements

Olympic Games

Year	Absolute	Team	Floor exercise	Horse	Rings	Vault	Bars	Crossbar
	2	2		3	2	1	2	1
	12	2		5	2

Year	Championship	Absolute	Team	Floor exercise	Horse	Rings	Vault	Bars	Crossbar
1964	USSR Championship	3
1965	USSR Championship	2
1966	World Championship	1	2		2	1	5	2	4
	USSR Championship			1	6	1		2	4
	USSR Cup	1
1967	European Championship	1			1	1		1	2
1967	USSR Championship	1			1	1		1
1968	USSR Championship	1
1969	European Championship	1			3	1	3	1	5
	USSR Championship			2	2	1	3	1	5
	USSR Cup	1
1970	World Championship	4	2			3		3	5
	USSR Championship	1		2	1	1	4	2	2
	USSR Cup	1
1971	European Championship	2			3	1	5	2	2
1971	USSR Championship	1		3		1	4	3	1
1972	USSR Championship	2				1	8	4	6
1972	USSR Cup	3

Biography

Graduated from SCOLIFK (1973). He was deputy chairman of the USSR Gymnastics Federation (1973), president of the RSFSR Gymnastics Federation (1978-1988), senior (then chief) coach of the Dynamo Central Council (1973-1994). Since 1992 - President of the Dynamo gymnastics club. Author of the book “First Number” (1976).

The first wife is the 1968 Olympic champion in gymnastics Zinaida Voronina (Druzhinina).

Awards

., 2006)
- Olympic statistics on the website Sports-Reference.com(English)

An excerpt characterizing Voronin, Mikhail Yakovlevich

When he woke up in a cold sweat and stirred on the sofa, Natasha came up to him and asked what was wrong with him. He did not answer her and, not understanding her, looked at her with a strange look.
This was what happened to him two days before the arrival of Princess Marya. From that very day, as the doctor said, the debilitating fever took on a bad character, but Natasha was not interested in what the doctor said: she saw these terrible, more undoubted moral signs for her.
From this day on, for Prince Andrei, along with awakening from sleep, awakening from life began. And relative to the duration of life, it did not seem to him slower than awakening from sleep relative to the duration of the dream.

There was nothing scary or abrupt in this relatively slow awakening.
His last days and hours passed as usual and simply. And Princess Marya and Natasha, who did not leave his side, felt it. They did not cry, did not shudder, and lately, feeling this themselves, they no longer walked after him (he was no longer there, he had left them), but after the closest memory of him - his body. The feelings of both were so strong that the external, terrible side of death did not affect them, and they did not find it necessary to indulge their grief. They did not cry either in front of him or without him, but they never talked about him among themselves. They felt that they could not put into words what they understood.
They both saw him sink deeper and deeper, slowly and calmly, away from them somewhere, and they both knew that this was how it should be and that it was good.
He was confessed and given communion; everyone came to say goodbye to him. When their son was brought to him, he put his lips to him and turned away, not because he felt hard or sorry (Princess Marya and Natasha understood this), but only because he believed that this was all that was required of him; but when they told him to bless him, he did what was required and looked around, as if asking if anything else needed to be done.
When the last tremors of the body, abandoned by the spirit, took place, Princess Marya and Natasha were here.
– Is it over?! - said Princess Marya, after his body had been lying motionless and cold in front of them for several minutes. Natasha came up, looked into the dead eyes and hurried to close them. She closed them and did not kiss them, but kissed what was her closest memory of him.
“Where did he go? Where is he now?..”

When the dressed, washed body lay in a coffin on the table, everyone came up to him to say goodbye, and everyone cried.
Nikolushka cried from the painful bewilderment that tore his heart. The Countess and Sonya cried out of pity for Natasha and that he was no more. The old count cried that soon, he felt, he would have to take the same terrible step.
Natasha and Princess Marya were also crying now, but they were not crying from their personal grief; they wept from the reverent emotion that gripped their souls before the consciousness of the simple and solemn mystery of death that had taken place before them.

The totality of causes of phenomena is inaccessible to the human mind. But the need to find reasons is embedded in the human soul. And the human mind, without delving into the innumerability and complexity of the conditions of phenomena, each of which separately can be represented as a cause, grabs the first, most understandable convergence and says: this is the cause. In historical events (where the object of observation is the actions of people), the most primitive convergence seems to be the will of the gods, then the will of those people who stand in the most prominent historical place - historical heroes. But one has only to delve into the essence of each historical event, that is, into the activities of the entire mass of people who participated in the event, to be convinced that the will of the historical hero not only does not guide the actions of the masses, but is itself constantly guided. It would seem that it is all the same to understand the significance of the historical event one way or another. But between the man who says that the peoples of the West went to the East because Napoleon wanted it, and the man who says that it happened because it had to happen, there is the same difference that existed between the people who argued that the earth stands firmly and the planets move around it, and those who said that they do not know what the earth rests on, but they know that there are laws governing the movement of it and other planets. There are no and cannot be reasons for a historical event, except for the only cause of all reasons. But there are laws that govern events, partly unknown, partly groped by us. The discovery of these laws is possible only when we completely renounce the search for causes in the will of one person, just as the discovery of the laws of planetary motion became possible only when people renounced the idea of \u200b\u200bthe affirmation of the earth.

After the Battle of Borodino, the enemy’s occupation of Moscow and its burning, historians recognize the most important episode of the War of 1812 as the movement of the Russian army from the Ryazan to the Kaluga road and to the Tarutino camp - the so-called flank march behind Krasnaya Pakhra. Historians attribute the glory of this ingenious feat to various individuals and argue about who, in fact, it belongs to. Even foreign, even French historians recognize the genius of the Russian commanders when speaking about this flank march. But why military writers, and everyone after them, believe that this flank march is a very thoughtful invention of some one person, which saved Russia and destroyed Napoleon, is very difficult to understand. In the first place, it is difficult to understand wherein lies the profundity and genius of this movement; for in order to guess that the best position of the army (when it is not attacked) is where there is more food, it does not require much mental effort. And everyone, even a stupid thirteen-year-old boy, could easily guess that in 1812 the most advantageous position of the army, after the retreat from Moscow, was on the Kaluga road. So, it is impossible to understand, firstly, by what conclusions historians reach the point of seeing something profound in this maneuver. Secondly, it is even more difficult to understand exactly what historians see as the salvation of this maneuver for the Russians and its detrimental nature for the French; for this flank march, under other preceding, accompanying and subsequent circumstances, could have been disastrous for the Russians and salutary for the French army. If from the time this movement took place, the position of the Russian army began to improve, then it does not follow from this that this movement was the reason for this.

One of the most beautiful sports is gymnastics. It combines grace and strength, courage and grace. But often sports fans see only a pretty picture at gymnasts’ performances, without thinking about what an athlete has to go through in order to achieve the required level and look convincing to both fans and judges. Behind the beautiful façade of performances lies daily painstaking work on oneself. And all in order to show your best side within just a couple of minutes. Forgetting about injuries, failures and falls, with a smile on his face... This is exactly what the famous Soviet gymnast Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin was like.

Childhood

Mikhail was born in Moscow, March 26, 1945. Left without a father at an early age, Mikhail had to experience all the hardships of post-war life as a child. The family budget consisted only of the salary of Mikhail’s mother, and she worked as a simple cleaner. There was no time for excesses; at some moments there was simply not enough money even for groceries. The teenager’s leisure time was influenced by the place of residence of the Voronin family. They lived nearby and little Mikhail Voronin spent all his free time at the sports arena. The teenager saw with his own eyes many training sessions and personally observed the activities of famous athletes of that time. In fact, even then Mikhail set himself the goal of connecting his life with sports.

Sports choice

Initially, Mikhail Voronin tried to enroll in the gymnastics section that operated at the Dynamo stadium. But the coaches did not take the boy. The reason for the refusal was the frail figure of the teenager. Nevertheless, the teenager could no longer imagine his life without sports. Once in the hockey section, Mikhail Voronin studied there for several years, achieving certain success at the school level. But everything was turned upside down by an ordinary physical education lesson. Konstantin Sadikov, Mikhail’s school physical education teacher, himself did gymnastics at one time. And it was he who managed to discern a future world sports star in an ordinary teenager. The thirteen-year-old boy liked gymnastics so much that hockey faded into the background. After studying for some time at his home school under the guidance of Konstantin Sadikov, Mikhail Voronin enrolled in the “Young Dynamo” section, where he became his first professional coach. And from that moment on, the guy’s sports career began a rapid upward movement.

Professional career

Mikhail's entire career was closely connected with the Dynamo sports society. And his first major successes came to him when he performed under the flag of this society. Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast who, at the age of nineteen, made his debut at the adult USSR championship and immediately achieved success, winning the overall championship. And this takes into account the fact that Mikhail’s opponents were the best gymnasts of the Soviet Union. Next year's championship brings Mikhail a silver medal. The progress of the talented young man was visible to the naked eye. Consistent results and composure beyond his years did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the national team. And in 1966 there followed an invitation to the main team of the country, the national team of the USSR.

Mikhail Voronin: USSR gymnast

The first major international competition at which the athlete made his debut was the World Gymnastics Championships, held in Germany. Spectators at the sports complex in Dortmund were simply amazed by the performances of the young Soviet star. Already at the end of the first part of the competition, after performing on the rings, Mikhail took the overall lead. This was followed by performances on pommel horse and uneven bars. Before the floor exercises, Mikhail's advantage over his opponents was overwhelming. It was enough for him to get 8.6 out of 10 possible points, and the title of absolute world champion would be his. And so it happened, having performed cleanly in floor exercises, Mikhail became the absolute world champion in gymnastics. Before Mikhail, no athlete had won such a title at that age. Success in Dortmund brought Mikhail the title of Honored Master of Sports. Also, by decision of the coaching staff of the USSR national team, Mikhail becomes captain of the team. Mikhail’s coach at that time was Evgeniy Viktorovich Korolkov. A former excellent gymnast himself, Evgeniy Viktorovich did a lot to develop Mikhail Voronin as a real athlete.

Participation in Olympiads

The next two seasons after the triumphant performance in Dortmund further established Mikhail Voronin as the best gymnast on the planet. All major competitions in which Voronin took part almost invariably ended in his landslide victory. And this was not surprising. By Mikhail’s own admission, he considered even second place as a huge failure. Such high results in the competitions automatically made Voronin the main favorite of the 1968 Olympic Games, held in the Mexican capital. However, the possible triumph turned into the biggest sporting disappointment in Mikhail’s life. Excellent performances during the Olympic gymnastics tournament brought Voronin into the lead in the overall all-around standings. They had to perform in the last event, exercises on horseback. Everything was going great, but at some point Mikhail got his finger caught in his tights. This mistake cost Mikhail a loss of 0.3 points. As a result, Voronin earns 9.5 points for his performances on pommel horse. And winning the title of absolute Olympic champion depended on the performance of the Japanese gymnast, Kato. He had to perform in floor exercises, and in order to beat our gymnast, the Japanese had to score at least 9.9 points. According to eyewitnesses, the performance of the Japanese gymnast was not flawless. But what a surprise both fans and specialists were when the panel of judges gave Kato the 9.9 points necessary for victory. But even despite such an unfortunate setback, Mikhail pulled himself together and completed these Olympic Games perfectly, winning 2 gold and 3 silver medals in certain all-around events.

It would seem that there is still a lot of time ahead, there will still be chances at subsequent Olympic Games, but the fate of the athlete is unpredictable. Mikhail approached the age of one year with a full bouquet of sports injuries, which ultimately pushed him to the decision to end his career as an active athlete.

Trainer

Mikhail simply could not leave the sport completely. After the Munich Olympics, Voronin was appointed head coach of the Central Council of the Dynamo society. From 1978 to 1983, he was one of the coaches of the USSR national gymnastics team. And yet, the main place in Mikhail’s soul was occupied by his native Dynamo. Mikhail Voronin's whole life is closely connected with this sports society. In the dashing 90s, it was Voronin who saved the Dynamo gymnastics club, making it one of the best in the world over time. It is Dynamo gymnasts who have formed the basis of our gymnastics team for more than the first Olympic cycle. And this is the great merit of Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin.

Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin: family

Mikhail's first wife was Zinaida Druzhinina, Mexico City Olympic champion in gymnastics, a beauty. With Mikhail Voronin they looked like an ideal couple. But, unfortunately, Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast whose personal life did not work out in the best way. After finishing her sports career, Zinaida became addicted to alcohol. Even though by this time a son had already appeared in the Voronin family, Zinaida leaves the family. The second wife, Vera Ivanovna, had nothing to do with sports. She worked all her life at school as an ordinary teacher. She met Mikhail Yakovlevich in 1979, but they officially became legal spouses only in 1991.

Disease

According to relatives, Mikhail Voronin was a very healthy person. At some points he was worried about the consequences of sports injuries, but this happens to all athletes. Everything turned upside down in the summer of 2002. The temperature rose, which could not be brought down. I had to go to the Botkin Hospital for examination. And it was there that a terrible diagnosis was made - oncology, and already at a fairly advanced stage. A series of operations were carried out that only delayed the inevitable. On May 22, 2004, at the age of 59, Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin passed away. The cause of death is unfortunate, incurable oncology. The famous Soviet gymnast was buried at

Achievements

Injuries forced Mikhail Voronin to end his sports career quite early, but even after eight years in big-time sports, the athlete has a huge number of awards. Two Olympic golds, six silvers and one bronze Olympic medal. Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast who became a world champion twice, a silver medalist five times and won bronze medals twice. To this can be added a huge number of awards in the domestic sports arena.

Mikhail Voronin, a gymnast whose biography was discussed in the article, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, For Merit to the Fatherland and the Badge of Honor for his services to domestic sports.

On March 17, 2001, the famous Soviet gymnast, 1968 Olympic champion in the team tournament, died in Balashikha. Zinaida Voronina. According to some reports, she died 12 days earlier, and on March 17 this became known. But this circumstance only emphasizes the fact that in the last days of her life no one needed her, just like almost 30 years before that. How did she get to such a life and could it have been different?

Genes are to blame

Zinaida Druzhinina was born in Yoshkar-Ola in 1947. Little is known about her family, but many acquaintances, including coaches and teammates on the national team, claimed that Zinaida grew up in a dysfunctional family, her mother suffered from an addiction to alcohol, and these genes were passed on to her daughter. The world of sports saved her for a while, but could not protect her completely.

Druzhinina dabbled in alcohol even during the USSR team training camp, and it was not so easy to do. The coaches of the national team immediately noticed that the girl often drinks alcohol, at first they considered it a prank and mischief, and they tried with all their might to influence the athlete. But both Druzhinin and Tamara Lazakovich, whose life was cut short very early due to an addiction to alcohol, still managed to drink themselves and treat others.

Beyond the 101st kilometer. How vodka ruined a Soviet gymnast

In 1968, gymnast Zinaida Voronina became an Olympic champion. And in 1980, due to her addiction to alcohol, she was sent beyond the 101st kilometer.

Greenhouse conditions

Zinaida moved to Moscow in 1965, and three years later became an Olympic champion. At that time, members of the USSR national team lived in greenhouse conditions, with absolutely everything ready. They had no everyday problems, they could eat and dress normally. Their task was only one thing - to train and perform.

Of course, they did not have the freedom that athletes received after the collapse of the USSR, but in comparison with the overwhelming majority of the country’s population, they lived much better, traveled abroad and were heroes. But after sports, not everyone could adapt to ordinary life, when it was necessary to adapt to the fact that it would no longer be possible to live with everything prepared. This moment was the most difficult for those who were ending their careers.

At that time, members of the USSR national team lived in greenhouse conditions, with absolutely everything ready. They had no everyday problems, they could eat and dress normally.

Star sickness

Zinaida Druzhinina was prone to star fever. It manifested itself in childhood, after winning several local tournaments, and then the girl gave up sports, considering that she had already achieved everything. True, her first coach Antonina Levshevich, showing pedagogical wisdom, convinced the student to return to the section.

And later this manifested itself in the fact that Voronina, who had become famous by that time, did not want to work as patiently and monotonously as other candidates for the national team did. Gymnastics developed, and new leaders replaced the previous leaders. And to compete with them, you had to have character Lyudmila Turishcheva– a steely will to work, resistance to everyday temptations, fanaticism and perseverance. Zinaida Voronina did not have such a character - she was married to a famous gymnast Mikhail Voronin, gave birth to a child - and when I realized that I would no longer make it into the national team, I decided to leave the sport.

There was talk that she spent some time in prison for petty theft, from where she returned not to Moscow, but to Balashikha, where she worked at a factory for six years.

Problems in personal life

A large amount of free time, worries that my sports life is over, and attempts to forget about everything, first in the company of friends, and then in any company. It is quite possible that the Voronins had problems in their personal lives, but they did not tell anyone about them. Many people sought Zinaida’s favor, and Mikhail was very jealous of his wife, especially since he had to spend a lot of time getting ready.

Nobody knows anything for sure, especially since Voronin never spoke about his wife. But the fact that Mikhail filed for divorce when their son Dima was two years old suggests that the problems did not start suddenly.

Death without a purpose. The sad story of a drunken champion

Tamara Lazakovich became a star at the age of 14, won the Games at 18, but could not stand the test of fame and everyday life. Alcohol ruined the gymnast.

Sport didn't save me

Zinaida Voronina, 12 years after winning the Olympics in Mexico City, was expelled from Moscow because she had become an “asocial element.” There was talk that she spent some time in prison for petty theft, from where she returned not to Moscow, but to Balashikha, where she worked at a factory for six years. Now many say that it was then that the former athlete needed to be helped and protected from a complete fall.

It turns out that Zinaida Voronina did not cultivate such qualities in herself, and sports only temporarily saved her from the life she lived for almost 30 years. And who is to blame for this?

But Lydia Ivanova, who was the state coach of the USSR national artistic gymnastics team, believes that if a person does not have the will, it is impossible to help him; it’s not like hitting a small child on the hand and it’s impossible to say. “If you start raising such an athlete, he will send you to hell. I don’t believe that when athletes become drunkards, there is a whole system and that this is inevitable. Everyone is capable of avoiding this disaster. Another thing is that for some it will be easy to do this, for others it will take considerable volitional effort. But it is sport that should cultivate such qualities in a person.”

It turns out that Zinaida Voronina did not cultivate such qualities in herself, and sports only temporarily saved her from the life she lived for almost 30 years. And who is to blame for this?

Childhood

Mikhail was born in Moscow, March 26, 1945. Left without a father at an early age, Mikhail had to experience all the hardships of post-war life as a child. The family budget consisted only of the salary of Mikhail’s mother, and she worked as a simple cleaner. There was no time for excesses; at some moments there was simply not enough money even for groceries. The teenager’s leisure time was influenced by the place of residence of the Voronin family. They lived next to the Dynamo stadium, and little Mikhail Voronin spent all his free time at the sports arena. The teenager saw with his own eyes many training sessions and personally observed the activities of famous athletes of that time. In fact, even then Mikhail set himself the goal of connecting his life with sports.

Sports choice

Initially, Mikhail Voronin tried to enroll in the gymnastics section that operated at the Dynamo stadium. But the coaches did not take the boy. The reason for the refusal was the frail figure of the teenager. Nevertheless, the teenager could no longer imagine his life without sports. Once in the hockey section, Mikhail Voronin studied there for several years, achieving certain success at the school level. But everything was turned upside down by an ordinary physical education lesson. Konstantin Sadikov, Mikhail’s school physical education teacher, himself did gymnastics at one time. And it was he who managed to discern a future world sports star in an ordinary teenager. The thirteen-year-old boy liked gymnastics so much that hockey faded into the background. After studying for some time at his home school under the guidance of Konstantin Sadikov, Mikhail Voronin enrolls in the “Young Dynamo” section, where Nikolai Balashov becomes his first professional coach. And from that moment the guy’s sports career began a rapid upward movement.

Professional career

Mikhail's entire career was closely connected with the Dynamo sports society. And his first major successes came to him when he performed under the flag of this society. Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast who, at the age of nineteen, made his debut at the adult USSR championship and immediately achieved success, winning a bronze medal in the all-around championship. And this takes into account the fact that Mikhail’s opponents were the best gymnasts of the Soviet Union. Next year's championship brings Mikhail a silver medal. The progress of the talented young man was visible to the naked eye. Consistent results and composure beyond his years did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the national team. And in 1966 there followed an invitation to the main team of the country, the national team of the USSR.

Mikhail Voronin: USSR gymnast

The first major international competition at which the athlete made his debut was the World Gymnastics Championships, held in Germany. Spectators at the sports complex in Dortmund were simply amazed by the performances of the young Soviet star. Already at the end of the first part of the competition, after performing on the rings, Mikhail took the overall lead. This was followed by silver medals in performances on pommel horse and uneven bars. Before the floor exercises, Mikhail's advantage over his opponents was overwhelming. It was enough for him to get 8.6 out of 10 possible points, and the title of absolute world champion would be his. And so it happened, having performed cleanly in floor exercises, Mikhail became the absolute world champion in gymnastics. Before Mikhail, no athlete had won such a title at that age. Success in Dortmund brought Mikhail the title of Honored Master of Sports. Also, by decision of the coaching staff of the USSR national team, Mikhail becomes captain of the team. Mikhail’s coach at that time was Evgeniy Viktorovich Korolkov. A former excellent gymnast himself, Evgeniy Viktorovich did a lot to develop Mikhail Voronin as a real athlete.

Participation in Olympiads

It would seem that there is still a lot of time ahead, there will still be chances at subsequent Olympic Games, but the fate of the athlete is unpredictable. Mikhail approached the 1972 Olympic Games with a full bouquet of sports injuries, which ultimately pushed him to the decision to end his career as an active athlete.

Trainer

Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin: family

Disease

According to relatives, Mikhail Voronin was a very healthy person. At some points he was worried about the consequences of sports injuries, but this is par for the course for all athletes. Everything turned upside down in the summer of 2002. The temperature rose, which could not be brought down. I had to go to the Botkin Hospital for examination. And it was there that a terrible diagnosis was made - oncology, and at a fairly advanced stage. A series of operations were carried out that only delayed the inevitable. On May 22, 2004, at the age of 59, Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin passed away. The cause of death is unfortunate, incurable oncology. The famous Soviet gymnast was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

Achievements

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We remember. He forbade himself to lose. About the life and death of the great gymnast Mikhail Voronin

On May 22, 2004, at half past five in the evening, in his own country house in the village of Novo-Nikolskoye, Krasnogorsk district, Moscow region, two-time Olympic champion, absolute world champion in artistic gymnastics, president of the Dynamo gymnastics club, Mikhail Voronin, died. He was only 59 years old, but cancer is a disease that does not count with age...

FINGER FOR TRETS

Olympic Mexico City. October 24, 1968. Eight o'clock in the evening. At that moment, many believed that the intrigue under the huge sombrero dome of the Auditorio Nacional, where the men's gymnastics tournament was taking place, had already died. Before the last exercise in the fight for absolute championship, the leader, Soviet gymnast Mikhail Voronin, was 35 hundredths of a point ahead of his closest pursuer, Japanese Sawao Kato, and seemed to have insured himself against defeat. “Our neighbor in the press box, a correspondent for the Japanese agency Kyodo Tsushin, shook our hands, saying that he had already conveyed information about Voronin’s victory,” I read the report of special correspondents of “Soviet Sport” who worked at those competitions.

But then the incredible happens. While performing a “cross” on the horse, Voronin somehow incomprehensibly catches his finger on his leggings, loses momentum and receives only 9.50 points. Very little, but even this, in theory, should be enough to win. Chairman of the USSR Sports Committee Sergei Pavlov hurries to Mikhail with congratulations. No one believes that Kato will be able to score 9.90 points in the floor exercise: only such a result will allow him to get ahead of Voronin. The task is almost impossible, considering that over the past four days of gymnastics competitions, the judges' scores only reached this level once. And Kato himself was not ready for such a brilliant performance then.

STOLE FIVE HUNDREDTHS

In a word, everything, as Voronin himself later claimed, was on his side: the sympathy of the audience and excellent psychological self-confidence.

“Moreover,” I further quote the Olympic correspondents of “Soviet Sport,” “on floor exercises Kato faltered and made a bunch of mistakes, for which he should have had his grade reduced by at least two-tenths of a point. Voronin's teammates rushed to him with hugs, and suddenly the Japanese was awarded 9.90. It is strange that the judges, to put it mildly, reacted liberally to the miscalculations of the Japanese gymnast. But it’s even stranger that Valentin Muratov, a Soviet referee on the panel of floor exercise judges, essentially resigned himself to a clearly overestimated assessment of Kato’s performance. But the discussion was about who should be the absolute Olympic champion..."

Why Valentin Ivanovich, who led the team of judges, did not gather them and point out the mistake remains a mystery to this day. Kato and Voronina ended up separated by only five hundredths of a point...

“I spent the whole night after that in some kind of oblivion,” Mikhail later recalled. “I lay on the bed with my eyes open, and by morning... I lost four kilograms...”

The next day, he managed to pull himself together and win two gold and three silver medals in individual all-around events.

But absolute Olympic championship remained his pipe dream. The second attempt, made four years later in Munich, was hindered by a serious injury, which forced him to eventually leave the gymnastics platform.

SAVED DINAMO GYMNASTICS

To put it mildly, I am touched by some of our former sports idols, favored by the Soviet regime, who, having sat out the troubled times of the collapse of the Union somewhere in prosperous countries (under the cliched pretext: “I turned out to be unnecessary at home”), today, having returned, are actively offering their services on the “revival of domestic sports”. At the same time, they certainly want to “revive” from leadership positions.

Mikhail Voronin, in my opinion, is an example and a reproach to these people. Because then, in the early 90s, when funding for Russian sports stopped, when children's schools were closed one after another, and coaches retrained as taxi drivers, he could easily go abroad. There were dozens of invitations, but he did not leave and saved (the most accurate word in this case) Dynamo artistic gymnastics.

Having received offers to give the hall of the Dynamo gymnastics club he created to a car dealership or to set up a shoe warehouse there, Voronin could become very rich. But he did not agree even when the proposers resorted to outright threats. The Dynamo clothing market, known to every Muscovite and guest of the capital, did not penetrate only the territory of the Dynamo gymnastics club, which Voronin called “his child” and which now bears his name.

"HE WAS OUR SHIELD"

Viktor Melnikov, vice-president of the Dynamo gymnastics club named after Mikhail Voronin, says:

Mikhail Yakovlevich occupies a huge place in my life. He has always been my idol, although we are almost the same age. I started doing artistic gymnastics at the age of seven in Ukraine, he started a little later, in Moscow. In 1963, while playing for our national teams at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, we met and from then on, one might say, we were together until his death. And I started working directly in the same team in the 80s, when, under his protégé, I became the senior coach of the Dynamo CS. He was in charge.

Lyudmila Turischeva, Natalya Shaposhnikova, Alexander Dityatin, Tatyana Arzhannikova... These are all Dynamo athletes, great gymnasts who passed through our hands. And our job was to create for them all the conditions for quality training. I can proudly say that Dynamo gymnasts were among the leaders of the national team for four (!) Olympic cycles. And this is primarily the merit of Mikhail Yakovlevich.

Today there is a lot of talk about Alexei Nemov’s show in Russian cities, but few people know that Mikhail Voronin was the first in our country to prolong the sports life of famous Soviet gymnasts in this way. Moreover, we even went to Holland and Italy with demonstration performances.

I don’t want to now analyze the activities of Leonid Yakovlevich Arkaev as president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation and head coach of the national team, but Voronin foresaw that the policy he pursued was bound to invariably lead to the collapse of our gymnastics. That’s why he was so concerned about the continuity of generations in his club. Almost half of the Dynamo players in the current Russian national team are, I believe, a kind of monument to Mikhail Yakovlevich. His son Dima also now works as a children's coach in our club.

Voronin was the brain of the club, our shield. Work comes first. And at the same time, nothing human was alien to him. I am proud that, not without my participation, Mikhail Yakovlevich quit smoking, and somewhere from 80 to 85 he smoked black: almost two packs a day. We argued with him. “From the first of May you will no longer see me with a cigarette,” he once told me and kept his word.

“In Revenge” made me quit drinking because I was irrevocably done with it myself. He says I can’t drink too little, but too much could end badly...

When he got sick, of course, we felt that things were very serious, because he began to lose a lot of weight. I poured out coffee in buckets. He used to go out with a cup onto the balcony hanging over the gymnasium and think about something for a long time...

At the funeral, the doctor who operated on Mikhail Yakovlevich said that they, of course, knew that he had cancer a year and a half before his death. And I will never forget the day Misha left. It was Saturday. I was going to the dacha. I got to the Leningradskoye Shosse, and suddenly there was a call. “Viktor Ivanovich,” I hear the voice of Vera, Misha’s wife, on the phone, “if you want to say goodbye to Mikhail Yakovlevich, come!”

I change the route and drive to the Krasnogorsk region, where Voronin had a country house. I arrived and went up to the second floor. Vera Ivanovna and son Dima were next to him. After looking at me, Misha looked away. Didn't say a word. To this day I don’t know whether he recognized me or whether he was even conscious….

A PAIN IN THE HEART

Vladimir Golubev, a journalist for Soviet Sport (from 1968 to 1999), master of sports in gymnastics, friend of Mikhail Voronin, says:

Although Mishka and I had the same coach - Helsinki Olympic champion Evgeniy Viktorovich Korolkov, I was unable to keep up with him: at the age of 17 he went up the hill so steeply that I could only envy him.

I remember the Moscow championships, which were held at the Krylia Sovetov Sports Palace. Fans specifically went to see Voronin. This young man with a thin, dark face, serious beyond his years, unsmiling, was head and shoulders stronger than us, his peers.

In 1964, he won the national junior championship and was seriously considered as one of the candidates for participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He was proud to have trained at the training camp next to such masters as Boris Shakhlin, Yuri Titov, Viktor Lisitsky, Valery Kerdemelidi... Moreover, at the last test he beat them all. But at the Olympics, the coaches still gave preference to experience, and 19-year-old Mishka remained in reserve.

The era of the gymnast Voronin began in 1966, when he first became the youngest absolute world champion at that time in Dortmund, and then the best athlete of the USSR. After that, for two years in a row, he won all the tournaments in which he participated, both in the country and abroad. Throughout his entire career, I don’t remember any big failures for him. And where would they come from, if Misha considered even second places failures? He forbade himself to lose at all...

The Olympics in Mexico City, by all indications, should have turned into another triumph for him. But what happened happened. He later could not remember those competitions without shuddering. This thorn sat in his heart until his death. And this despite the fact that in Mexico City he won a total of six medals, including two gold.

Another tragedy that left an incurable trauma in his soul was the breakup with his first wife, the famous gymnast, Mexico City Olympic champion Zinaida Druzhinina. After finishing performing, Zina, unfortunately, became addicted to alcohol. Where did this extraordinarily beautiful woman, who seemed to have everything for happiness - a loving star husband, a beautiful son, financial wealth - come up with this destructive passion? I have only one answer to this: the whole point, in my opinion, is in the bad heredity of Zina, whose parents were also susceptible to this disease...

Misha fought as best he could, tried to treat his wife, but failed to save the family. In 1973, if my memory serves me correctly, they broke up. Zina left and never saw her ex-husband or son again, and in 2001 she passed away...

Shortly before their divorce, I offered Misha to write an autobiographical book and my services as a note taker. He agreed, and this work made us even closer friends, since it was carried out mainly at his home, on Skakova Street near the Belorusskaya metro station. Communication, naturally, did not stop even after the book was completed (it was published in 1975 under the title “First Issue”), moreover, I continued to visit Misha almost every evening free from numerous business trips.

We had another friend - the bard Mikhail Rysakov, in whose repertoire Voronin especially singled out two songs: “Lanka,” very popular in the 70s, and another one, I don’t remember the name, but that’s not the point. The first - about unfulfilled love and the second - about a son abandoned by his mother - corresponded with the then state of Misha’s soul with a one hundred percent hit. He cried every time he listened to them, nevertheless he asked to sing ten times a night...

But all these parties began to slowly fade away when Misha met Vera. And when they got married, he stopped drinking and smoking overnight. How cut!

ALEXANDER - YOUNGER

Vera Ivanovna, wife of Mikhail Voronin, says:

Misha and I were introduced by mutual friends. In 1979. I had nothing to do with sports either then or now: I worked at school as a history teacher for 20 years. But it so happened that we managed to find a common language, and although we officially got married only in 1991, we began to walk through life together ten years before that.

What was he like? First of all, he is a man of his word. I sometimes told him: “Misha, why are you suffering? Well, I promised to help, but not everything depends on you?” And for him, situations “when things don’t work out” were simply unacceptable: I’ll hurt myself, but I’ll do it, since I promised!

I was sure that in the almost 25 years that I was next to him, I learned everything about him. But you can’t imagine how many discoveries I made for myself on the day of his funeral, when almost everyone who said goodbye to him at the coffin or raised a funeral glass thanked Mikhail Yakovlevich for some very serious help in life...

And also about his human qualities. You know what tragedy Misha experienced during the competition for absolute championship at the Olympics in Mexico City. For example, if I found myself in such a situation, I would be offended by that judge for the rest of my life and would stop talking to him. But Mikhail Yakovlevich did not stop. Moreover, when he headed the Dynamo club and began helping veterans, Muratov was almost the first on this list.

I remember a story that happened in 1992. Our car was stolen. A trivial situation: we came to the market to buy groceries, went into the store, and when we left five minutes later, there was no trace of our family’s Zhiguli. It is clear that they were worried, and then one lady friend advised that Mikhail Yakovlevich should not be too nervous, buy him a cat or a dog. And I myself have long wanted to have a cat. I went quietly, bought it, and brought it home. She took a risk, of course, and at the same time hoped that everything would be fine, since Mikhail Yakovlevich’s reaction was unpredictable. But I never thought that this tough person with dictatorial, I would even say, inclinations could love animals so tenderly and reverently. He then told everyone: “Alexander (as the cat was named by his previous owners) is my youngest...” Sanechka, by the way, still lives in our house.

IN BOTKINSKAYA THEY TURNED OUTSIDE OUT

Mikhail Yakovlevich’s health was excellent. At least he never complained about anything,” continues Vera Ivanovna. “Or rather, if something hurt, it was either a joint or a muscle - the consequences of professional sports. I don’t even remember him having a common cold. The clinic opened a card for him only so that he could get an insurance policy.

And then suddenly, on one summer day in 2002, his temperature rose sharply, which was not relieved by anything. When it became clear that I couldn’t cope on my own, without telling Misha anything, I went to Igor Semenovich Elkis, our neighbor, at that time the chief doctor of the Moscow Ambulance. I asked to influence my husband, who did not listen to me and categorically refused to go to the doctors.

Elkis's authority worked - Misha was admitted to the Botkin hospital and there, as Igor Semenovich put it, he was turned inside out. Then cancer was discovered, and in an advanced form. The doctors advised me not to hide anything from Mikhail Yakovlevich, but I did not listen. Moreover, she insisted on this, because the phrase he once said was firmly stuck in my head: “I will never be a lying and infirm patient, I will do everything not to be one...”. I was afraid that, having learned about the incurable disease, he would actually do something to himself...

He was transferred from Botkin Hospital to Hospital No. 24, where he underwent surgery in August. The operation was performed by the chief physician - coloproctologist of Moscow, Vladimir Borisovich Alexandrov. I think that if it had been someone else, Mikhail Yakovlevich would hardly have lasted so long after that. Moreover, during the entire period after the operation he felt unwell only in the last month and a half before his death, but was practically able to work. In winter, for example, he even climbed onto the roof of the house to remove snow.

Did you realize that he had cancer? It seems to me that at first, no. He was convinced that he had polypos, which without chemotherapy could develop into a serious illness. I am very grateful to the doctors of the First Oncology Center who said: “Mikhail Yakovlevich, only we have the appropriate equipment for you to undergo a full rehabilitation course after surgery...” Again, they referred to Elkis’s protégé, whom Misha trusted very much.

For all its toughness, it was not made from special cloth either. But he endured all the painful procedures steadfastly. I fought the disease as best I could, following all the recommendations, walking a lot, and doing special exercises. But it was impossible to stop the development of the disease...

When Mikhail Yakovlevich became very ill, and this happened in the spring of 2004, he was admitted to the intensive care unit of an oncology clinic: they hoped to prolong his life with some kind of injections. But in May, he abruptly and categorically asked to go home. The chief oncologist of Moscow, Alexander Mikhailovich Sdvizhkov, literally begged to stay, but no amount of persuasion worked. And I took him home. They told me: “You have no idea what you are dooming yourself to,” but at that moment I prayed for only one thing: that Mikhail Yakovlevich would not have such pain that I could not cope with. And, thank God, they weren’t there.

Maybe only the last three days were a bit difficult, but I made an agreement with a private doctor who injected drugs. So that Mikhail Yakovlevich could sleep at night.

"BURY ME IN THE GARDEN"

He was lying downstairs, on the first floor: it was more convenient, since at any moment you could go out and sit on the balcony, fortunately the weather in those days was good,” Vera Ivanovna makes a long pause. “On the morning of May twenty-second, Mikhail Yakovlevich woke up: I’ll go to the bedroom,” he said. I climbed to the second floor on my own. Everything seemed to be fine. But around lunchtime, my condition suddenly began to deteriorate sharply, and my blood pressure began to drop. I first called the intensive care unit (where Mikhail Yakovlevich was lying) to get the necessary consultations, then I called Elkis: “Igor Semenovich, what should I do: leave it alone or call an ambulance?” He replied: “My principle is to fight to the end.” Dima, the son of Mikhail Yakovlevich, and I called an ambulance. First one, then another...

I can’t even say whether Misha was conscious, since he was no longer talking to anyone. But after the injections he seemed to feel better. I began to breathe more evenly and, it seemed to me, began to fall asleep. In order not to disturb him, I left the house. It was a beautiful sunny day. The garden was full of dandelions - I walked around, for some reason, collecting them and did not even notice how Dima returned, who went along with the ambulance doctors, who promised to give him a set of medicines for Mikhail Yakovlevich. No more than fifteen minutes passed, since the ambulance substation is located next to our house. Dima went up to the second floor, and then came down to me in the garden and said that... dad died...

Alas, I was unable to fulfill the will of Mikhail Yakovlevich. She resisted, but could not resist the pressure of the Dynamo public, who insisted that Mikhail Voronin be buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. Even before he got sick, he sometimes told me: “If anything happens to me, cremate me and bury the urn in our garden.” It took a lot of effort to get him to give up this idea. Then he asked to be buried at the Khovanskoye cemetery next to my dad: Mikhail Yakovlevich did not know his own, and he had a very good relationship with Ivan Mikhailovich, who passed away ten years ago...

Every time I visit my husband’s grave, I am convinced that the Vagankovskoye cemetery is like a passageway. There it is absolutely impossible to be alone with the soul of a loved one. There will definitely be onlookers who will unceremoniously stand nearby and point their fingers at the monument: “Yes, this is the same Voronin!..”

PERSONAL MATTER

Voronin Mikhail Yakovlevich. One of the strongest gymnasts in the world of the late 60s - early 70s. Born on March 26, 1945 in Moscow. Honored Master of Sports. Honored Coach of the USSR. "Dynamo" (Moscow). Two-time Olympic champion (1968) in vault and horizontal bar exercise. Absolute world champion (1966, the youngest at that time). Silver medalist of the Olympics (1968) in the all-around, team competition, rings and uneven bars exercises. Silver medalist of the Olympic Games (1972) in the team championship and ring exercises. Absolute champion of Europe (1967, 1969) and USSR (1967, 1968, 1970, 1971). Three-time winner of the National Cup in all-around (1966, 1969, 1970). World (1966), European (1967–1971) and USSR (1966–1972) champion in certain all-around events. Since 1973 - first senior, then head coach of the Dynamo Central Council. In 1992, he was elected president of the Dynamo gymnastics club. He died on May 22, 2004 in the village of Novo-Nikolskoye, Moscow Region. He was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

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Mikhail Voronin - biography and family

Biography

Champion of the Olympic Games in vault (1968) and on the horizontal bar (1968), silver medalist in the all-around (1968), in the team championship (1968, 1972), in exercises on the rings (1968, 1972) and uneven bars (1968), bronze medalist in pommel horse (1968). Absolute world champion (1966). World champion in the ring exercises (1966), silver medalist in the team championship (1966, 1970), pommel horse (1966) and uneven bars (1966, 1970), bronze medalist in the ring exercises (1970). Absolute European champion (1967, 1969). European champion in pommel horse (1967), rings (1967, 1969, 1971) and uneven bars (1967, 1969), silver medalist in all-around (1971), uneven bars (1971), high bar (1967, 1971) and vault jumping (1969), bronze medalist in pommel horse exercises (1969, 1971). Absolute champion of the USSR (1967, 1968, 1970, 1971), winner of the USSR Cup in all-around (1966, 1969, 1970). USSR champion in floor exercise (1966), pommel horse (1967, 1970), rings (1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972), uneven bars (1967, 1969) and high bar (1971), silver medalist in all-around (1965, 1972), in floor exercises (1969), in exercises on uneven bars (1966, 1970) and high bar (1970), bronze medalist in the all-around (1964), USSR Cup in all-around (1972), USSR Championship in floor exercises ( 1970, 1971), vault (1969) and uneven bars (1971). President of the RSFSR Gymnastics Federation (1978 - 1988). President of the Dynamo gymnastics club. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1968), Honor (1993), "For Services to the Fatherland" IV degree (1998), and other insignia.

The great gymnast Larisa LATYNINA recalls: “I always admired his courage and willpower. After all, he managed to develop gymnastics even at a time when children's sports throughout the country were in decline. Misha was not only the greatest gymnast, but also a wonderful person. He happily organized meetings of veterans and held competitions. I never refused anything to anyone...”

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Valery Voronin, football player: biography, sports career

The Soviet Union has always strived to educate worthy youth. For this purpose, many creative clubs and sports sections were created. Football occupied a special place in my upbringing; they loved it and played it. As a result, we are able to raise a generation of amazing athletes. And one of the greatest Soviet football players was Valery Voronin.

The Making of a Young Star

Valery Ivanovich was born on July 17, 1939 in the capital of the USSR. In early childhood he developed a love for football and began playing it at the age of 13. His first children's club was “Kauchuk”. Then, in 1953, he had a chance to break into serious football. He ends up in the Torpedo sports school, where after just 5 years he begins to play in the youth team. He played for this club throughout his entire sports career.

He won his first serious victory in 1960, becoming one of the most significant players in the USSR Championship and Cup. After 2 years, he reached the quarter finals of the World Championship as part of the national team. In 1964 it reached the final of the European Championship. For this he receives the title of one of the best football players in Europe. Also, a year later, he retains this title, making the Torpedo team the national champion. As a result of the changes made in the arrangement of the national team players, he receives the position of central defender, where he reveals his talent to the maximum.

In 1967, he reached the semi-finals of the World Championship, making it to the symbolic team of the tournament (Voronin became the only domestic player to receive such an award). In 1969, he was involved in a serious car accident. This event put an end to his sports career. Because of this, Valery begins to have problems with alcohol. On May 19, 1984, he died from a blow to the head. Investigators were never able to find out the cause of the crime. According to one version, it was a robbery, according to another, it was a quarrel between drunk people.

Personal life

During his short and tragic life, the Soviet sports star managed to find a reliable life partner. He wasn't the type to show off his relationships with girls. Valery Voronin preferred to keep his personal life secret. That is why various gossip constantly circulated around his personality. However, we can definitely say that he enjoyed enormous success with the opposite sex from a young age. Once during an interview, he could not remember a single childhood friend, but named two girls who were in love with him and who helped him train in the yard. But with all this, Valery carefully approached the choice of his girlfriend. This was Valery Voronin - a football player with a strong conscience.

Soon the guy married a promising and beautiful dancer Valentina. The young man tried to successfully combine his personal life and the career of a great athlete. This is how everything turned out in the eminent family: Voronin is a football player, his wife is a famous ballerina from Berezka. His close friends told him something about them. Valery Voronin (football player) courted his wife beautifully. Unfortunately, his children never appeared.

Family

Before the war, my father was the head of the entire trading network in Odessa, but due to troubles at work, he was forced to leave his small homeland and go to Moscow with his wife, Valera’s mother. So Valery Voronin (football player), whose family was large and friendly, lived in the capital after the war. He had several brothers and sisters. Due to the large number of children and difficult times, there was often a lack of money. However, Valery Voronin did not experience problems with attention. The future footballer was loved in the family and cared for.

Life after the disaster

In the summer of 1968, he was in a terrible car accident. Due to his heavy workload, Valera did not have time to recuperate and did not have enough time to rest. This was the cause of the accident. Having fallen asleep at the wheel of his car, he fell under a multi-ton truck, which crushed his Lada. Then the car driven by Voronin overturned four more times. The football player miraculously survived. He experienced clinical death and, in fact, returned from the other world. However, irreparable damage was caused to health. The athlete's entire face was covered in scars. All his former beauty had left him.

A few months later, Voronin appeared on the field of his native Torpedo. The footballer played difficultly, and terrible injuries made themselves felt. Valery never put on his sports uniform again. Later, Voronin began to have problems with alcohol. He drank a lot of alcohol and often in dysfunctional companies. This was how Valery Voronin was for the rest of his life. The football player was unable to recover after the accident.

Great athlete of the 20th century

Valery Voronin was one of the most titled athletes not only in the USSR, but throughout the whole world. Some of the awards were only received by him. So, in 1967 he was included in the symbolic world team. However, his victories were not only sports. Thanks to his perseverance and diligence, he learned English and spoke it flawlessly. Even the Queen of Great Britain fell in love with him for this. She presented him with an award as the most elegant player at the European Championship. Voronin himself spoke about this with pride. The footballer also enjoyed fame among ordinary fans around the globe. During his short career, Valery managed to twice be included in the ranking of the 10 best players in the world, compiled by the famous French magazine - France Football. Valery was able to achieve a lot.

Unhappy Ending

In the spring of 1984, death overtook its seeker. Voronin received an injury incompatible with life. He was hit on the head with a blunt object. At the funeral in Moscow, everyone pitied Voronin. He was exhausted - that’s what those around him thought about his death. And this was indeed the case. The last years of his life he felt more moral pain. Not every person is able to withstand such a blow of fate. Valery Ivanovich struggled with himself for quite a long time. I tried not to despair, to look for new meaning in life. He was often even treated for alcoholism in psychiatric hospitals. And they helped him quit his bad habit. He was refreshed, became more cheerful, but this still did not last long. Severe pain and resentment for life sat deep in my chest. Only alcohol allowed him to interrupt them, to forget himself, to distract himself, which only made things worse, and ultimately killed him.

Many watched with tears in their eyes as the former team leader walked out to the stadium in his slippers to watch the match. It was especially difficult to see him so close and dear. This is how the famous Soviet athlete ended his life tragically.

Forever young

However, the great athlete continues to live in the hearts of millions of people. Documentaries are being made about him, young aspiring football players have looked up to him and continue to look up to him. Just recently there was an anniversary. Valery would have turned 75 years old. They talked about him, wrote about him and simply remembered him. Despite his controversial life, he left a good memory of himself. Voronin is a football player with enormous talent and a kind heart. Modern sports are now in dire need of such experienced individuals who could revive domestic football.

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Voronin Mikhail Yakovlevich - Church of the Resurrection of the Word on Vagankovo

Mikhail was born in Moscow, March 26, 1945. Left without a father at an early age, Mikhail had to experience all the hardships of post-war life as a child. As a child, he spent all his free time at the Dynamo sports arena, next to which his family lived. Mikhail’s entire career was closely connected with the Dynamo sports society. And his first major successes came to him when he performed under the flag of this society. Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast who, at the age of nineteen, made his debut at the adult USSR championship and immediately achieved success, winning a bronze medal in the all-around championship. The first major international competition at which the athlete made his debut was the World Gymnastics Championships, held in Germany, where he became the absolute world champion.

The next two seasons after the triumphant performance in Dortmund further established Mikhail Voronin as the best gymnast on the planet. All major competitions in which Voronin took part almost invariably ended in his landslide victory. Such high results in the competitions automatically made Voronin the main favorite of the 1968 Olympic Games, held in the Mexican capital. However, the possible triumph turned into the biggest sporting disappointment in Mikhail’s life when, due to an unfortunate mistake, the victory eventually went to the Japanese gymnast. Mikhail approached the 1972 Olympic Games with a full bouquet of sports injuries, which ultimately pushed him to the decision to end his career as an active athlete.

He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, section 25.

vagankovo.net

Mikhail Voronin - Soviet athlete (gymnastics), Honored Master of Sports, Honored Coach of the USSR

1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

“Remember, there is no ligament, if the leg turns in, the bone will burst...” - these are the words of Zoya Mironova, who gives Mikhail Voronin a novocaine blockade as he loses consciousness. There is no question of not going on the platform. The captain has no right to let his young partners down. Voronin knows this very well. Despite the crazy pain: not only performing, it hurts to walk, he leads the team with him all four days on all the equipment...

With his actions, he not only instills confidence in his comrades, but also regularly scores points. Yes, we were objectively unable to resist the Japanese at that time. But they could well have missed out on silver in the team championship. They didn’t miss out, first of all, thanks to Voronin, who managed to win a silver medal in ring exercises with a swollen leg that no painkillers could help with. Medal with a gold tint. And this was his last performance...

Gymnastics is for the strong and brave. Contrary to the famous song, a coward can play hockey. The only question is how. But never do gymnastics. Although Mikhail Voronin could well have become a hockey player, or rather, he might not have become a gymnast...

“We lived next to the Dynamo stadium, where I spent whole days watching famous athletes train... My father passed away when I was little, and it was hard for my mother to raise me. Her income was small - she worked as a cleaner, we didn’t live from hand to mouth, but we didn’t dress smartly,” Voronin later recalled. “My first timid attempt to enroll in the gymnastics section ended in nothing: the coach looked at me, at my puny figure, at my thin long neck and refused.”

Mikhail was not upset and started playing hockey. Success was not long in coming. But one day, school physical education teacher and former gymnast Konstantin Sadikov suggested that the 13-year-old boy “try to work on the apparatus.” And this captivated him so much that he no longer thought about hockey. The gymnastics took a long time. It dragged on for the rest of his life... Soon Misha was accepted into the “Young Dynamo” section, where he ended up in Nikolai Balashov’s group. Then Voronin’s career developed rapidly.

Mikhail Voronin's finest hour struck in 1966 at the World Championships in Dortmund. There he had no equal either among his teammates or among Japanese gymnasts. He led throughout the entire tournament. Floor exercises remained ahead. This is how Mikhail Yakovlevich himself later recalled this:

“... One of our tourists ran up to the platform and shouted either to me or to all of us: “It’s enough for Voronin to get even 8.6. Still, he is a champion! This calculation, this “service” unsettled me for a moment. I need these numbers! I have to do 9.6, no less... I finished the exercise. He turned to the judges. Then he calmly walked to the stairs leading from the platform. There were no big mistakes. This means the score will be more than nine points. In this way... In this way... In this way...”

Thus, at the age of 21, Voronin turns out to be the youngest absolute world champion at that time. He receives the badge of an Honored Master of Sports and is elected captain of the gymnast team. He will transfer his powers to Nikolai Andrianov six years later, at the end of the Munich Olympics...

Journalist Vladimir GOLUBEV, master of sports in gymnastics, recalls: “Voronin entered big gymnastics with his own style: a synthesis of Chukarin’s precision, Azaryan’s athleticism, Muratov’s elegance. ...Voronin tried to bring all his “combination products” to perfection, polish them to a dazzling shine. However, they were not covered with superficial gloss; they amazed with their inner strength and spirituality. He was the world's first performer of the handstand flip and the big back flip on rings with straight arms. The angle flight on the crossbar is also named after him. Coordinated, slender, thin, Voronin had the so-called muscular feeling - he quickly learned the elements.”

After Dortmund, Mikhail won all tournaments for two years in a row - both in the country and abroad. Throughout his entire sports career, he never had any major failures. He considered even second places to be failures, since he forbade himself to lose at all. In the late 60s, he gained fame as one of the best gymnasts in the world.

A word from photojournalist Evgeniy USPENSKY, who has known Mikhail Voronin for many years: “Filming Voronin’s performances has always been very interesting and exciting. At any competition, he never forgot that he was on the platform primarily for the audience. Mikhail had his own unique, Voronin style. He was called the most elegant gymnast of that time. Moreover, he was elegant in everyday life. He was the idol of many. In popularity, he was not inferior to football and hockey players. Hundreds of people have repeatedly asked me to photograph them with Voronin...”

...The Games in Mexico City '68 should have turned into another triumph for the 23-year-old gymnast. But fate was willing to come up with such a scenario that even many years later, Voronin could not remember the Mexican tournament without a shudder. And this is what happened.

Before winning the all-around, he only had to perform in the pommel horse exercises. Everything was going great, but at one point he caught his finger in his pant leg. Stopping for a split second cost him 0.3 points. The gold medal of the absolute champion floated into the hands of the Japanese Sawao Kato, who eventually beat Mikhail by 0.05 hundredths...

Many experts then blamed the judges for everything, who gave the Japanese, who made a lot of mistakes, a 9.9 for floor exercises! But Mikhail Yakovlevich reproached only himself: “Yes, Valentin Muratov was a referee on the mat and could have gathered the judges for a meeting to find out why the Japanese received such a high mark... But the fact is that, if I hadn’t gotten caught in the leggings, no judges would would help Kato."

But Voronin would not be Voronin if he left the capital of Mexico without gold. In the finals of certain all-around events, no one was able to compete with him in the vault and in the horizontal bar exercise.

...In the early 70s, Voronin was immediately appointed head coach of the Central Council of the Dynamo society. However, he did not like tedious work. And when he was offered to coach Alexander Tkachev for the Moscow Olympics, he agreed without hesitation.

In the early 90s, Voronin became president of the Dynamo gymnastics club. There was no money, the coaches fled. Voronin was offered to go abroad, give the hall to a car showroom, and set up a shoe warehouse. They threatened, they scared. But Mikhail Yakovlevich did not give up and did not let anyone into his club. The clothing market at Dynamo has not penetrated only here! Having found funds, Voronin, together with his coaching friends, built a canteen, a sauna, a small hotel and a summer camp for children. In terms of equipment, this hall is considered today one of the best in the world.

Voronin once said about gymnastics: “My craft.” And he practiced this craft for the rest of his life, without complaining or regretting anything. Several abdominal surgeries at the cancer center helped him return to work for a while. But... The captain's bridge, as the Dynamo gym workers sadly joke, was left without its captain.

P.S. For young gymnasts, Voronin is still an unquestioned authority. I was convinced of this while returning from a football match. Near the gym there is a curly-haired boy with his grandmother. The kid cried loudly and explained that he couldn’t do some element and he didn’t want to do gymnastics anymore. The grandmother, after listening to her grandson, uttered only one phrase: “Well, what would he say, looking at you, Mikhail Yakovlevich?” The boy sniffed and immediately wiped away his tears...

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Once upon a time there was a girl... - A real person's corner

Once upon a time there was a girl. Very beautiful. And she’s also talented: she was sent to gymnastics at the age of five. The girl made progress, and at 18 she was noticed by Moscow coaches. The girl was taken from Ioshkar-ola to Moscow, and one of the most venerable mentors of that time began to train her. She herself studied like one possessed. At the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, she won four medals, including gold in the team event. The girl's name was Zinaida Druzhinina. Back in Mexico City, she captivated everyone not only with her most difficult exercises, but also with her beauty - slender, with chiseled legs, and unusually full breasts for a gymnast. Moreover, Zina was well educated, spoke English, and she had no end to gentlemen and admirers. But she was waiting for love and a prince on a white horse. He came to her in the guise of a teammate, Olympic champion gymnast Mikhail Voronin. They got married. Newspapers trumpeted about the most beautiful couple in Soviet sports...What happened then? At what point did Zina start drinking and increasingly forgetting about sports and family? Teammates recalled that in those days there were no other doping agents except alcohol; all members of the team drank - except for Lyudmila Turishcheva, who never touched a glass. But alcohol broke Zinaida. Perhaps genes affected her: her mother was an alcoholic. Perhaps the “prince on a white horse” did not live up to expectations. Only Zina was seen more and more often drunk, she completely abandoned sports, forgot to pick up her son from kindergarten. Voronin filed for divorce, and soon for deprivation of her maternal rights. Zinaida was sent 101 kilometers away; her son Dimka was raised by his father from the age of two. She still tried to resist: she got a job as a coach in children's sports schools, tried to get treatment... But nothing worked. The traces of the former athlete, the public's favorite, were lost behind that 101 kilometer...After her death, one of the journalists of a sports publication decided to find Zinaida Voronina. He found traces of her in Balashikha, where in the last years of her life Zinaida worked at a foundry and mechanical plant in the most unskilled profession as a navvy. She had to pull bales with the ground and shovel crushed stone onto the conveyor. At the same time, none of the workers said a single bad word about her. They felt sorry for Zinaida. She died at 54 years old. Then the leadership of the Mari Republic decided to bury the athlete in her homeland with honors worthy of an Olympic champion. A children's sports school in Ioshkar-Ola is named after Zinaida. Despite the tragedy of her relationship with her son, he came to see his mother off on her last journey. This was their third meeting...Zina was not the first and last in her fall. Belarusian gymnast Tamara Lazakovich, a talented athlete, left the sport and began drinking. Then it came to theft... In the end, she was found dead on the rails. She was 38 years old. Little is known about the fate of two-time world champion gymnast Lyudmila Savinkova. Her traces ended in 1968. According to rumors, she left Moscow and became a tramp... They say that the stars do not go out. That's right, they don't go out. Only they fall from a great height and crash to death....

Star ticket

A moment of happiness

Out of the window

Sports achievements

Biography

Awards

An excerpt characterizing Voronin, Mikhail Yakovlevich

Childhood

Sports choice

Professional career

Mikhail Voronin: USSR gymnast

Participation in Olympiads

Trainer

Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin: family

Disease

Achievements

Genes are to blame

Greenhouse conditions

Star sickness

Problems in personal life

Sport didn't save me

Childhood

Sports choice

Professional career

Mikhail Voronin: USSR gymnast

Participation in Olympiads

Trainer

Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin: family

Disease

Achievements

We remember. He forbade himself to lose. About the life and death of the great gymnast Mikhail Voronin

Mikhail Voronin - biography and family

Biography

Valery Voronin, football player: biography, sports career

The Making of a Young Star

Personal life

Family

Life after the disaster

Great athlete of the 20th century

Unhappy Ending

Forever young

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