Quadruple Olympic champion in cross-country skiing Nikolai Zimyatov summed up the results of the World Championships that ended in Lahti.
“NEED TO LEGALIZE THE TITLE “KING OF SKI”
- Nikolai Semenovich, Ustyugov could become the third “king of skis” (see the section “from the history of the issue”) in Russian history.
- I didn’t, it’s a shame for Sergei. Unfortunately, this is an unofficial title. Kuzin received it at the World Championships, and I received it at the Olympics in Lake Placid in 1980. But it would be necessary to legitimize - to award this title for a specific achievement. They could present some kind of crown. Someone should come to FIS with such a proposal. I'm somehow out of my depth. And then everyone says: king, king. And the king is without a crown.
- Let's go back to the marathon. Ustyugov and Alexey Chervotkin were in the leading group of about 15 skiers, including four Norwegians. But at the finish line, Canadian Alex Harvey pulled ahead and won. Ustyugov yawned the Canadian's jerk?
- I watched the replay, the situation for Sergei at the turn was not bad. I think Harvey realized that he could win: there were 100 meters left to the finish and he went for broke. But I’m happy for Ustyugov, he continued our victorious traditions in Lahti. Sergei Savelyev won gold at the World Championships here in 1978, and my career began at that championship. And our girls - Elena Vyalbe and Anfisa Reztsova - performed excellently here.
Savelyev gave me a photograph from Lahti, it hangs at home. The last stage of the relay and our two teams pass the baton on two tracks at once: Nikolai Bazhukov to Savelyev, and I to Evgeniy Lukyanov. And all the pursuers were one and a half minutes behind. It was a commercial start, so we performed as two teams.
- How do you feel about the mass start?
- Not very good. Mass starts appeared when I was already working as a coach. Another sprint appeared, all these new styles. Athletes from non-skiing countries - Canada and the USA - began to dominate the sprint. This has already become a slightly different sport. I understand that these are the demands of television people. The races are fast and convenient for TV viewers. There has been sprinting before, but only in commercial competitions.
- How do you feel about mass start at classic distances - 30 and 50 km?
- Well, where can you get away from this? The call of the times. The only thing is that we can’t teach our guys not to lead from the very start. The others follow them. How many races have we lost this way? We need to change tactics - don’t go forward right away, stay in the lead group, but a little behind.
- You also had a case when you were in the lead, Gunde Swan sat behind you the entire distance, and passed you at the finish line.
- It was at the Olympics in Sarajevo in 1984. The last stage of the relay. Svan was young then and was afraid of me. He sat down behind me and sat there for nine kilometers. I slowed down and let him pass, but he still didn’t overtake. It was also impossible to slow down too much - then the main group would catch up with us. In general, Svan sat behind me, and in the last kilometer he took the lead. So he won gold for the Swedes, and we came second.
“THE LEADERS WERE REMOVED, AND WE PERFORMED BRILLIANTLY WITHOUT THEM”
- Do the results of the World Cup inspire optimism?
- Of course they do! I don’t know if Elena Valerievna (Vyalbe, head coach national team and president of the Russian Ski Federation. - Approx. ed.) plan for this championship, but I think it is overfulfilled. We had a whole group of leaders removed, but we performed brilliantly without leaders. We proved to the whole world that we are clean and that we have an excellent reserve.
- But all our successes rest on Ustyugov alone. A year before the Olympics, is this worrying?
- Well, listen, how was Justyna Kowalczyk the only leader in Poland for many years?! Talents like Ustyugov are not born often. And it’s good that the coaching staff managed to support great shape Sergei throughout the season. After all, some people sacrifice Tru de ski for the World Cup. And Sergei performed brilliantly at two main competitions. I think Sergei would have won the sprint at the Games in Sochi, if not for that ill-fated fall.
- Who is behind Ustyugov, where is the nearest reserve?
- Alexander Bessmertnykh, Andrey Larkov, Petr Sedov, Alexey Chervotkin - this is the closest reserve. Only the Bessmertnykhs are older, and the rest are young, they still have to perform and perform. And they are already catching up with the leaders.
- The suspended ones - Alexander Legkov, Alexey Petukhov, Maxim Vylegzhanin - aren't they reserves for the Olympics if everything ends well for them?
- These guys are experienced, they have achieved a lot. It is unlikely that they will improve, unlike the young ones. But at the Olympics, of course, if they want, if they are prepared, they can still shoot.
- But for now their future career is in question.
“I think the situation will be resolved well for them.” There is no evidence of their guilt. But the question is, who will compensate the children for this suffering? Someone will have to apologize.
FROM THE HISTORY OF THE QUESTION
In 1954, at the World Championships in Falun, Soviet racer Vladimir Kuzin became the first Soviet champion world, winning the 50 and 30 km races. The Swedish king solemnly presented him with a large silver cup for this, on which was engraved: “To the King of Skis from the King of Sweden.” In addition to Kuzin, the unofficial title of “king of skis” in different years achieved: Matti Raivio and Mika Myllylä (both Finland), Nikolai Zimyatov (USSR), Gunde Svan (Sweden) and Peter Northug (Norway).
However, Zimyatov is the only one of the “kings” who managed to win these two distances at the Olympic Games; the rest won victories at the world championships, which are held twice as often as the Olympics.
Olympic Games in Lake Placid 80 marked the birth of another “king of skis”
Moscow region racer Nikolai Zimyatov won three gold medals - in the 30-kilometer race, 50-kilometer race and in the relay. Four years later, at the Games in Sarajevo-84, he will once again win the “thirty”.
Where did this unofficial title come from - “king of skis”? 60 years ago, after the World Championships in Falun, Sweden, the first title holder was the Soviet racer Vladimir Kuzin, who won two distances of 50 km and 30. The Swedish king, delighted with Kuzin, presented him with a huge silver cup with the engraving: “To the King of Skis from the King of Sweden.” Today the story about this already looks like a beautiful legend.
For more than half a century, the list of “ski kings” includes a dozen famous names. These are those who won “thirty” and “fifty” at one of the largest competitions - the Olympic Games or the World Championship. But Zimyatov is on the right flank in this row. He was the only one who managed to do this at one Olympics. It's 80 in Lake Placid. It was then that the village of Rumyantsevo near Moscow became known throughout the world, because it is the birthplace of the “ski king”. As a child, Nikolai, like all boys, played football in the summer and hockey in the winter. But at the same time he was often susceptible to colds.
My mother was worried that I was coughing, sneezing, or falling down with a fever,” recalls Nikolai Zimyatov. - I decided that it would be better if my son went to music school. For some time I lost on the button accordion, or rather, I suffered. Five kilometers from Rumyantsev, at the Novo-Petrovsk school, the ski section was led by Alexey Ivanovich Kholostov. He did not divide the guys into promising and unpromising. The sports school did not have enough equipment and did not have comfortable locker rooms. But then they didn’t just pay attention to these things, my generation could train under any conditions. I liked studying with Kholostov. On his advice, he began to wet himself cold water and over time I got rid of colds and swam even in the fall. And most importantly, my mother allowed me to leave the button accordion and give up the “musical” (smiles).
Zimyatov's first serious success came at the 1978 World Championships in Lahti, Finland, where he came second at a distance of 30 kilometers. According to him, that silver award is very dear to him, since it allowed him to finally strengthen his faith in Olympic victory. Two years later in Lake Placid, Nikolai fully justified his hopes, Kholostov’s, everyone’s ski team. And now it’s hard to believe his words that before the start on the “thirty” his knees were shaking, and he walked the first kilometer or two “on autopilot.” I calmed down only after the tenth kilometer, and after the victorious finish I exhaled: “Well, now I’m not ashamed to return home.”
Then there will be victories in the 4x10 kilometer relay race and the fifty-kopeck relay. Before Zimyatov, at the age of 24, none of the skiers had won any Olympics three times.
Kholostov was nearby in these moments of happiness. The rural trainer was taken on a trip to the USA as an incentive. By that time, he had already transferred his best student to the USSR national team for several years. But it was clear to everyone who knows about skiing whose main contribution was in preparing the hero of Lake Placid. When journalists asked Kholostov how he managed to raise the “king of skis,” he sincerely answered: “You just have to work honestly.”
Photo from the Center's archives winter species sports of the Moscow region
After the 1980 Olympics, Zimyatov’s career hit a low point. He performed unsuccessfully at the USSR championships and did not qualify for the national team for the 1982 World Championships. The national team coaches first assured journalists that nothing terrible was happening, Zimyatov would soon become the old Zimyatov. But this did not happen, and the same mentors had already changed their tune: “We have new talented guys growing up in our team. They will be able to compete for gold at the Olympic Games in Sarajevo.”
Zimyatov was transferred to the second squad. Before the start of the 1984 Olympic season, the senior coach of the country's men's team, Boris Bystrov, directly stated that he did not see a place for Zimyatov at the Games in Sarajevo. They say that Nikolai could not bear the burden of fame and let him down training process While I was “resting”, my comrades went ahead...
You can imagine what was going on in the soul of the three-time Olympic champion then.
“Don’t pay attention to anything, Kolya! - Kholostov looked sternly into the student’s eyes. - You can prepare for the Olympic Games. Understood? You can do it!
By that time, Zimyatov had married and his daughter was growing up. Emotional balance gradually returned to normal.
And he again made us wonder and admire. He won several races at the qualifying starts. The coaching staff ordered Nikolai a ticket to Sarajevo. And there he was the only one on the team who managed to win gold.
In terrible weather, with wind and snowfall, Zimyatov won the “thirty”. But it was Zimyatov, probably, like no one else in the history of the Russian skiing was able to run in a snowstorm, in icy conditions, and in a blizzard. It was his weather, his race. With each kilometer he increased his pace, gaining further and further time ahead of his rivals. When Nikolai emerged from the forest at the stadium, he received a standing ovation. It was clear that the Olympic champion would finish. Ski king.
Soon a new stage began in the life of Nikolai Zimyatov. He switched to coaching work. I worked with juniors and biathletes, gaining experience. In the 90s, the Russian women's team, using the baggage accumulated in the Soviet Union, had no equal. And Nikolai Zimyatov made a big contribution to this. He put a lot of effort into training three-time Olympic champion Elena Vyalbe, with whom he began working in the youth team.
We grew up in a great country - the USSR,” emphasizes Nikolai Semenovich. - At international competitions we felt like envoys of a great power. In our time, patriotism was higher; hardly anyone would argue with this. We were more worried about the result. All this was imprinted in the character. Vyalbe, Lazutina, Danilova - these are all skiers from the USSR. They, of course, worked a lot, but in achieving their goal they were greatly helped by the spirit that was inherent in the Soviet Union.
Today Nikolai Zimyatov works at the Winter Sports Center near Moscow, advising leading skiers. Going to the Olympic Games in Sochi.
...At one time, Nikolai Zimyatov put both his daughter Ekaterina and his son Dmitry on skis. But they did not follow in their father's footsteps. The son, however, showed promise. According to Nikolai Semenovich, he ran well in both “classics” and “skating”, and was a member of the Moscow team. However, he still chose to study at the Faculty of Furniture Design at the Stroganov Art Academy. My daughter found herself in volleyball. She played for CSKA and was a prize-winner of the Russian Championship. She got married and gave birth to two boys. Maybe they will repeat the path of the great grandfather?..
REFERENCE
Nikolai Semenovich ZIMYATOV was born on June 28, 1955 in the village of Rumyantsevo (Istrinsky district). Honored Master of Sports in cross-country skiing, Honored Trainer of Russia. Four-time Olympic champion. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and Friendship of Peoples. Currently, he is a consultant at the Olympic Training Center for Winter Sports in the Moscow Region.
Four-time Olympic champion Nikolai Zimyatov became the most titled participant in the 50th Kazan ski marathon. About how he became the hero of the 1980 Olympics, what is still remembered in Norway, and why he ended his career after inventing skating, in an exclusive interview with BUSINESS Online.
“I DON’T THINK THE LAKE PLACID OLYMPICS TERRIBLE”
Nikolai Semenovich, according to my childhood memories, you quite unexpectedly became the hero of the 1980 Olympics. In any case, that’s what the correspondents of those years wrote.
– Well, before Lake Placid I already had “silver” at the World Championship, won, by the way, in the Finnish city of Lahti, which will soon host this year’s World Championship (starting on February 23. – Ed.) Although it was a start , which I remember for the general public of ski lovers. But in fact, I won my first medals at international competitions at the European Junior Championships. Specifically Europe, since at that time juniors competed at this level, and not at the world championship, as now. To be fair, all of our strongest skiers of those years represented Europe. In the Olympic year 1976, I successfully started in the Finnish city of Lieto. I was 20, and then I took second place.
– Who “dared” to overtake you?
– There was one such member of the Finnish national team named Matti Pitkänen. He was four years older than me (skiers have competitions in the under category, where athletes under 23 years old participate. - Ed.). Pitkänen later became an Olympic champion in the relay race; he is a famous skier. As for me, then I became the silver medalist at the 1978 World Championships in Lahti, as I already said. Then I turned out to be the youngest in our team, which included Nikolai Bazhukov, Evgeny Belyaev, Sergey Savelyev, Vasily Rochev (By the way, the winner of the Kazan Marathon was his daughter-in-law Olga Rocheva (Moskalenko) - Ed.). Alexander Zavyalov, my same age, was also in Lake Placid.
Nikolai Zimyatov with three gold medals at Lake Placid 1980
– Was the Goat part of your generation?
– You mean the Ukrainian skier Alexander Batyuk, who started competing under his own name, and then changed it. Well, he was younger, like Yuri Burlakov and Vladimir Nikitin, with whom we defended the colors of the national team at the next Olympics in Sarajevo, in 1984. Coming back to me, after the junior team I smoothly joined the national team, and became second at a distance of 30 kilometers at the World Championships in Lahti. Seryoga Savelyev won, the third, somewhat unexpectedly, was the Pole Jozef Lushchek, who at the same time became the first world champion in the history of this country. I started preparing for the Olympics in the USA, and in 1979 I went to the Pre-Olympic Week. Here, again, it is necessary to make a reservation for sports fans that there were no such starts as the stages of the current World Cup in those years; they officially appeared only in 1981, therefore, then there were fewer international starts. And in the pre-Olympic week, I again took what had become my usual second place, in my opinion, behind the then famous Oddvar Bro from Norway. But this stability of performances allowed me to count on an Olympic berth.
– The 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, America, according to the recollections of many of its participants, seemed terrible.
– Yes, no, I think it was quite normal, especially if you remember its results. What were the horrors?
– You lived in Olympic Village, which later became a prison.
- That's exactly what happens next. At the time we moved into it, it had just been rebuilt, and nothing showed what would happen in this building in the future. Then we weren’t so picky.
“SKIERS DID NOT GO TO THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE OLYMPICS”
– I read in the memoirs of Olympic champion Anatoly Alyabyev, who said that at the opening ceremony one of the local residents took a megaphone and scolded our athletes in Russian, “obscene”.
– I can’t confirm, because skiers traditionally did not participate in opening ceremonies. This happened in the USA, and then in Yugoslavia, in Sarajevo. We had to be one of the first to start at a distance of 30 kilometers, and therefore we were not allowed to attend the opening. As for the rest of the competitions, there were no excesses, and there probably couldn’t have been. We lived there in isolation, all the time was devoted to training, recovery activities, and competitions. We didn't go anywhere much. And where will you go, if it’s Lake Placid, it’s a village. True, a village in New York State, but still...
Nikolay Zimyatov in Kazan at the 50th ski marathon
– In other words, the atmosphere of the competition was no different from your debut starts in Lahti? And this despite the fact that such an event as entering Soviet troops to Afghanistan in 1979, after which the West was openly anti-Soviet.
– Well, the situation immediately became tense, roughly reminiscent of the situation that has developed now. In this regard, you are right, there were changes compared to Lahti 1978, when it was impossible to talk about any tension in relations. She simply wasn't there.
– Nowadays it is customary to approach Olympic competitions very seriously, take acclimatization into account, and conduct competitions in conditions as close as possible to those that will be expected at the next Olympics. How did you prepare in your time?
– We had a standard system of preparation for international starts, worked out for years. We settled at a base in the Georgian town of Bakuriani, and trained intensively there in high altitude conditions. It's now ski resort, and then there was the base of the Olympic team. There we modeled the Olympic tracks, their terrain, and raced them. But in mid-mountain conditions it was much more difficult, the air was thin, there was not enough oxygen, but such training conditions made it possible to then approach international competitions in optimal shape. Figuratively speaking, it was a kind of springboard, after training on which we “jumped” to the international start.
– It’s surprising, by the way, that in Georgia there were such wonderful conditions for training skiers, but there were no skiers themselves.
– Now I don’t know why, but in our time they were concentrated on game types sports The same football players of Dynamo Tbilisi thundered throughout Europe. Plus they were strong in martial arts, in the same fight.
Alas, then, after the collapse of the USSR, we lost all our Olympic bases without building anything for ourselves. And this, in addition to Bakuriani, Tsaghkadzor in Armenia, Otepya in Estonia, where we also held various training camps, Raubichi, Belarus, Koncha-Zaspa, Ukraine, lost all Olympic bases, and then we had to rent them, I’m talking about those times when he himself worked as a coach.
“IF I WAS SELECTED FOR THE USSR TEAM, I WAS AUTOMATICALLY CONSIDERED AS A MEDAL CONTENDANT”
– Well, we Russians, the “occupiers”, have built bases throughout the Union. Let's talk in more detail about your debut at the Olympics. The first was a victory in the “thirty”.
– Yes, because of her, I repeat, I missed the opening of the Games. But with my gold medal, I set a victorious mood for the entire Olympic team, as they say, hard trouble begins. Although, personally, I didn’t realize the full scale of this event at the time, I just felt that I had achieved the goal of part of my life, namely, sports.
Nikolai Zimyatov at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics
– But, based on previous competition experience, it seems to me that the leaders of the Soviet team, if they made forecasts for a medal, then saw more experienced Soviet skiers than you as contenders.
- I don’t agree. The fact is that the level of our skiing then was such that if you were selected for the national team, you already became a contender for medals. Anyone who distinguished himself at domestic competitions, the same USSR championship, the Spartakiad, would already be a contender for medals at international competitions of the highest standard.
After my Olympic debut, my second distance was a 15-kilometer start. I finished fourth, losing to the bronze medalist Ove Aunli from Norway just a little bit, three or four seconds. But it’s not even this that’s offensive, but the fact that I strayed from my running schedule, succumbing to the “provocation” of the German racer Johan Behle. In athletics, athletes who choose this running tactic are called “hares.” He then started the distance very well, which involuntarily forced the others to increase the pace. As a result, he himself broke down and took a place in the second ten, but I also broke down a little.
– The medal draw for that distance was included in world history sports Swede Thomas Wassberg beat Finn Juha Mieto by just 0.1 seconds at a distance of 15 kilometers. Our journalists later wrote that a huge bearded Finn, two meters tall, then simply destroyed the temporary locker room to hell.
– Well, I didn’t witness this, I was busy with myself, with my condition. Because I felt a certain decline in form after the Olympic victory, all the adrenaline that surged. But my form was excellent then, and by the start of the Olympic relay I was fine again.
“MY CROWN WAS 30 KILOMETERS”
– But, still, you had to be afraid of some kind of misfire. This happened, for example, with our women’s team, which lost gold to the GDR team.
“I don’t remember that they pushed us further because of this, there was enough of an independent attitude to start, this is the Olympics. And my teammates helped, I ran to the last, fourth stage, having a gap of half a minute from my pursuer Oddvar Bro, who was second. And we must take into account that, on average, we were stronger than our opponents. At some unofficial competitions, we could field two relay teams that took first or second places. Was so tall intermediate level Soviet skis at that time.
After three starts and two victories, to be honest, I already refused to start at the last distance, the Olympic “fifty kopecks”. I suggested that my teammates, veterans of Soviet skiing, for whom this Olympics would be their last, declare. The same Vasily Rochev was a champion only in relay races, I wanted him to get an additional chance. But in the end my personal trainer Alexey Ivanovich Kholostov expressed his authoritative opinion - “Run, and see how it turns out!” I ran, and everything turned out well when I “brought” three minutes to the second prize-winner. Although, to be honest, by my nature I was not a marathon runner. As well as a sprinter, because at a distance of 15 kilometers I did not have enough speed. And at the “fifty kopeck” I didn’t have enough endurance; the optimal distance for me was “thirty”. But Lake Placid was “my” Olympics, everything worked out very well there in the end. Although I didn’t fully realize it at the time, I won three out of four golds. One can only guess how such a result would be treated now.
– You became one of the heroes of that Olympics, at least of its ski program. And then we missed the World Championships in Norway in 1982. Why?
– There are a complex of reasons. Purely physically, you feel some kind of failure in your physical form, you need to recover. Added to this was emotional emasculation. We were the face of the country, we had many interviews and meetings with workers. It was very distracting. We should, for good measure, “forget” about the results of the Olympics, whatever they may be, and start preparing for new starts from scratch. But it didn't work out.
– As a result, that World Championship in Norway also went down in the history of world skiing. I mean the finish of the relay race, following which the teams of the USSR and Norway shared the gold, and Finland and Germany became bronze medalists. There was nothing like this in skiing either before or after this championship, right?
– Yes, I remember watching this championship. All that season I was plagued by some kind of illness, my immunity was undermined, and I constantly had a high temperature. My partner on the USSR ski team, Sasha Zavyalov, carries with him a video of that relay race, which is of great interest, especially among the Norwegians. If, to be honest, using the photo finish technique, as they do in athletics, when determining the winners in the 100-meter dash, we should have been the first. But, given that the start was in Norway, perhaps remembering the experience when people destroyed the locker room out of resentment, and the total distance of 40 kilometers that the relay runners ran, they did not find fault with the little things, and both were awarded gold medals teams. And according to this principle, they later gave two bronze medals to the Finns and the Germans. And this, I think, is fair.
Having thus missed that championship, in 1983 I returned to the national team, won three races at the World Cup stages, and approached Sarajevo in optimal shape. Another generation of Soviet skiers had already started there; only Sasha Zavyalov and I remained from Lake Placid.
“SKATING STYLE BECAME ONE OF THE REASONS FOR LEAVING THE SPORT”
“Not only have generations changed, the style of skiing has changed. The so-called skating move.
– Yes, at the Olympics there were already skiers who ran “skate”, but from the next World Championships almost everyone ran in this style. This, by the way, was one of the reasons why I soon had to leave the sport. The fact is that this is not my style, and, in general, this was not the style for the entire generation of our skiers.
– Yes, I noticed that there was a reassessment of “ski values”. If before the advent of the skating style the leaders were Soviet racers, Norwegians, and Finns, then already the 1985 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria, were marked by the superiority of Swedish skiers.
– Well, their racer Gunde Swan was the founder of the skating style.
- Yes, but then a whole generation of champions grew up next to him - Torgny Mogren, Christer Mybekk. The Italians appeared, and the situation in skiing, in general, changed. And for some time there was a decline, both among the men and the women's team.
– Skis have changed in general. I don’t think that the next generation of athletes who became great, including thanks to skating, would be competitive if only classic move. But we will never know the exact answer. As for us, we spent a long time adjusting to the skating move, could not understand it, and wasted time. Moreover, this applied to both the men's and women's teams, since we all prepared together. As for me, the “horse” ruined my career. I then went into coaching, worked for two years in the youth team, took a break, and felt that there was still gunpowder in the flasks. Moreover, physical fitness I didn't lose it. I decided to return to the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. And according to estimates, at that time I was sixth or seventh in the national team, which allowed me to qualify for games and go there, hoping to start. Maybe at a relay race. But at the last moment coaching staff I decided to play for the future and made a choice in favor of Gennady Lazutin.
– You mentioned his last name, but right off the bat I couldn’t even remember the achievements of this skier, besides the fact that he is the husband of the legendary Larisa Lazutina (Ptitsyna).
– Yes, he didn’t succeed either in Calgary or later, although in juniors he was a very noticeable skier. And, to be honest, I was not able to work at full capacity on my last estimated start in Bakuriani without getting caught in the grease there. If before there were no questions about me before the selection, then before Calgary they already were. Based on them, the coaching council made its choice. Then the leaders were representatives of the new, already the third during my career, generation of Soviet skiers - Vladimir Smirnov, Alexey Prokurorov, Mikhail Devyatyarov (By the way, the winner of the Kazan Marathon was his son Mikhail Devyatyarov Jr. - Ed.). And objectively I was already inferior to them.
Could I have medals if I got hit? Except in the relay race, where we ended up second. Or on your favorite thirty. I say this based on my own state in which I was during the Olympics. Because I then had a successful start at international competitions in Czechoslovakia. And, after the Olympics, I finally ended my career.
“I LEFT THE SPORT, HAVING EXHAUSTED MY RESOURCE”
– At the age of Christ, at 33 years old, practically young, if you look at those who later raced. Isn't it too early?
– In this regard, I definitely think it’s normal. I started racing very early, already in school, in the eighth grade. We can talk about unique people, like, among the current ones, Olav-Ole Bjoerndalen, a biathlete from Norway; among my contemporaries there were Galina Kulakova, who ran until she was 42 years old, or Risa Smetanina, until she was 45. But, in general, we have a certain resource, which is developed over time. And, I believe that the life of an athlete is short, and therefore you need to try to give your best, and not wait for some next competitions, believing that you will become even stronger with age and will get some more chances. And then live an ordinary life. I managed to run until I was 33 years old, while I showed decent results.
– And at this time, the Italian Maurilio de Solt had just entered the international arena, winning his first medals at the age of 34.
– I admit that he and his teammates on the national team came to the sport later, and they had the opportunity to extend their sports career.
– In the years of my youth, skiing did not leave Soviet television screens. But then biathlon was practically not shown, with the exception of the Olympics. Now the situation has changed radically, and skiing in our country is in the position of a “poor relative”, being on the margins of biathlon in popularity. Why?
– Our biathlon was successfully promoted by the Federation, at the time when it was led by Mikhail Prokhorov. A whole team came there who knew what to do to popularize their sport. Well, we must admit that biathlon is both interesting and unpredictable. Although, it must be admitted that now they are trying to make skis different, much more watchable. There are skiathlons, pursuit races, and sprint racing, team sprints, etc. Now ski competitions are completely different than during the years of my career, when the racers were launched, say, 50 kilometers with a difference of 30 seconds, and we sorted it out there for six to seven hours. Now they are launching a mass start, and the race keeps you in suspense all the time. For the athletes themselves, this may not be very convenient; there is an element of unpredictability, but for television viewers and fans on the track this is a much more optimal option. Well, the popularity of skiing on television could bring back the results, without this there’s nowhere.
BUSINESS Online dossier:
Nikolay Zimyatov.
Achievements: four-time champion Olympic Games (“gold” for 30 and 50 km, 4X10 km relay in Lake Placid 1980, “gold” for 30 km in Sarajevo 1984. In Lake Placid he became one of the heroes of the Olympics, in addition to the American speed skater Eric Hayden , who won five gold medals, and the US hockey team was a silver medalist at the 1978 World Championships at a distance of 30 km.
One of six skiers awarded for victories in the same competitions at distances of 30 and 50 km. unofficial title "King of Skis". The only one who won at these distances at the Olympics. The other five “kings of skiing” were awarded this title for victories at the world championships.
Sport has long become a part of the life of a modern person. The passions boiling around major world events in this area do not leave even an outside observer indifferent. Each sport has its own outstanding personalities - Olympic champions, athletes who personify it. Ask a football fan: “Who is the king of football?” In most cases, the answer you will hear is “Pelé.” In hockey, such an informal title was awarded to the great of basketball - Michael Jordan. If you take it, when you mention biathlon, the current Norwegian athlete, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, comes to mind. It’s nice that our athletes, Olympic champions, are also highly valued. Who left their mark on world history? “The King of Skis” - that’s what our athlete Nikolai Zimyatov was called after his phenomenal success at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid. The guy from the Moscow region was only 24 years old at that time.
Childhood
The post-war years left their mark on the lives of teenagers in our country. The main hobby of most boys of that time was sports. The classical division into specific specializations practically did not exist. In the summer it was football or volleyball. In the winter season, the same teenagers picked up clubs or got on skis and skates.
Nikolai Zimyatov, the future world star of skiing, was a typical child of that time. Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov was born in the Moscow region on June 28, 1955. Nikolai’s native village, Rumyantsevo, was located in the Istra district. The Zimyatovs were an ordinary family of that time. Dad, Semyon Mikhailovich, devoted his whole life to one profession. The rare and original work of a glassblower did not bring huge income, but was truly loved by Zimyatov Sr. Nikolai’s mother, Anna Petrovna, is also a person of the same profession. After graduating from the pedagogical institute, the woman began working as a primary school teacher and spent her whole life in this field. Nikolai was the most youngest child of three children in the Zimyatov family.
Parents saw Nikolai as a musician. Already in childhood he was enrolled in a music school, choosing to play the button accordion. For six months, Nikolai diligently attended music club classes, then the teenager’s enthusiasm began to fade, and absences began to occur. At the family council, it was decided that Nikolai would no longer attend music school. As time later showed, the family decision was correct.
Skiing
After an unsuccessful epic with music school Nikolai lived the life of an ordinary teenager: in the summer he spent time on the football field, in the winter he played hockey and skied for fun. Fortunately, Nikolai Zimyatov met a coach on his life’s path who helped the guy decide on an occupation for life. Once, when regional cross-country skiing competitions were taking place, A. Kholostov drew attention to Nikolai, who was competing for his school’s team, ski coach Novo-Petrovsk sports school. It was he who suggested that the teenager take up skiing seriously by attending his training sessions. Initially, the parents were against their son's choice. What frightened me was the fact that the Novo-Petrovskaya sports school was located 5 kilometers from Rumyantsev’s native home. But after a personal conversation with the coach, Nikolai’s parents allowed him to study with A. Kholostov.
First successes
What did an ordinary schoolboy attract the coach's attention to? According to Kholostov, Nikolai Zimyatov as a child did not have any phenomenal natural abilities. But a fighting character, the ability to gather oneself at the right moment, to show all one’s best qualities here and now they distinguished the aspiring athlete from other teammates.
The young man’s first sporting successes came at the level of school performances during his sports school. There were prizes and victories in personal races at regional competitions, successful performances in relay races. And at the age of seventeen, Nikolai Zimyatov was recruited into the DSO of the Moscow region to compete in the USSR personal and team championship, held in Syktyvkar. Nikolai's debut took place in a 15-kilometer race, in which he took third place. The following year, when cross-country skiing competitions of the same rank were held, Zimyatov finished first in the 20-kilometer race. And Nikolai loudly declared himself loudly in 1975. Speaking as a junior, Nikolai was third in the 15-kilometer race, second in the 20-kilometer race, and as part of the relay team became the USSR champion among juniors. It was clear to everyone that a new star was shining on the ski horizon.
International starts
Successes on the internal sports arena did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the USSR national skiing team. On the eve of the eighth World Ski Championships in Finland, Nikolai Zimyatov is invited to join the junior team Soviet Union. The debut championship brought Nikolai silver success in the 15-kilometer race. In the remaining races of this championship, Zimyatov was close to climbing the podium, but circumstances were against him.
Career in adult sports
Since 1977, Nikolai Zimyatov has been a skier who began competing in the adult competition. The first big success in serious sports was the 30-kilometer distance, earned at the USSR Championship. The next all-Union cross-country skiing race was special. It was the anniversary, 50th national championship. Nikolai Zimyatov becomes a real winner of the anniversary national championship. He has 2 gold medals: in the 30-kilometer individual race and a victory as part of his team in the relay race. By this time, the coaches of the USSR national team were seriously considering Nikolai’s candidacy as the main member of the team.
USSR national team
After regular victories in the domestic arena, the next step was expected from Nikolai - he had to loudly declare himself in ski world and outside the Soviet Union. The chance came in 1978 at the World Championships in the Finnish city of Lahti. In the first race of the championship at a 30-kilometer distance, Zimyatov was not considered the main favorite. Rather, it was a chance to try myself in the fight against the strongest skiers on the planet. However, Nikolai was not at a loss and, in a bitter struggle, won silver medal. His advantage over the bronze medalist, Polish skier Josef Luschek, was only 4 seconds.
Successfully held World Championships, stable performances at high level in subsequent starts they made Nikolai Zimyatov the main candidate for participation in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
in Lake Placid
And now the time has come for the main starts of the four-year anniversary, the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, America. The first thing on the program was cross-country skiing (men) for 30 kilometers in the classical style. Strong Scandinavian skiers have traditionally been named as the main favorites. Our fans expected a lot from Soviet athletes: Nikolai Zimyatov, Vasily Rochev, Evgeniy Belyaev. The draw for starting numbers was favorable to Zimyatov. He received the 56th starting number out of 57 athletes taking part in this race. This starting position gave a certain advantage to our athlete. During the distance, Nikolai, with the help of our coaches, was able to focus on the time of his opponents. For a long time, Nikolai’s teammate Vasily Rochev was the leader of the race. But already from the 10th kilometer Zimyatov took first place and subsequently only increased the lead. In the final protocol, Zimyatov’s advantage over Rochev, who took second place, was 32 seconds. This is how Nikolai Zimyatov’s first Olympic gold was earned. And that was just the beginning.
The next test was a 4 x 10 kilometer relay race. At the starting stage, Rochev brought our team to first place. At subsequent stages, the USSR team retained its leadership, but it was clear to everyone that the fate of Olympic gold would be decided by the fourth stage. At the finishing stage, the strongest skiers of their teams were gathered. But the pace that Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov set turned out to be beyond the strength of the other teams. With every kilometer passed, Nikolai’s advantage over his rivals only grew. As a result, the gap between our team and the Norwegian team, which finished in second place, was 1 minute 42 seconds. A phenomenal indicator for competitions of this rank.
Zimyatov's third Olympic gold
The most prestigious and difficult cross-country skiing race for men took place on the last day of the Olympics. Peculiar ski marathon- 50 kilometer run. The whole world was looking forward to the duel between Nikolai Zimyatov and the Finnish star Juhi Mieta. For the Finnish athlete, this was the last chance to win Olympic gold. Both favorites started in the same group. The first part of the distance the opponents walked smoothly. When the skiers set out for the finishing lap, Zimyatov found the strength to pick up the pace and break away from the Finn. As a result, at the finish line the time distance between the competitors was simply enormous - about three minutes. Thus, Zimyatov’s third Olympic gold was earned.
Life after the Olympics
The triumphant performance made Zimyatov a bright star in skiing. “The King of Skis,” that’s what Zimyatov was called all over the world. A difficult moment in the life of any athlete is to survive the burden of glory that has fallen on his shoulders. Together with his coach, A. Kholostov, Zimyatov sets himself the task of performing successfully at the 1984 Olympic Games in the coming years. To achieve this, Nikolai misses a number of major international starts, including ski championship world 1982. In addition, changes are taking place in Nikolai’s personal Life. Zimyatov gets married, and Lyubov Zykova, a famous skier and participant in the Olympic Games, becomes his chosen one.
Return to Ski Olympus
Rare starts on the international stage mean that on the eve of the Olympics in Sarajevo, Soviet skier N. Zimyatov is not among the possible favorites. But the first starts in the pre-Olympic season return Zimyatov to the list of contenders for Olympic medals. Several international competitions have been won, a victory in the USSR Cup has been won, and Nikolai is approaching the Olympic Games as one of the leaders.
And so on February 10, 1984, a 30-kilometer race was planned - Nikolai’s favorite distance. And again the lot favors our athlete - he runs last of the racers. And already halfway through the distance it becomes clear that our athlete will win his fourth Olympic gold. This was followed by a relay race, where, like 4 years ago, everything was decided last stage. Unfortunately, in his competition with the younger Swede, Nikolai lost 10 seconds. As a result, the Soviet team received a silver medal.
And the second Olympics in Nikolai Zimyatov’s sports career ended triumphantly for our athlete.
Nikolay Zimyatov: personal life
The marriage of two sports people turned out to be truly happy. Two children: a girl and a boy, grew up in an atmosphere of respect for sports from childhood. Daughter Ekaterina, despite skiing as a child, eventually chose volleyball. Having become a professional volleyball player, she was repeatedly a prize-winner of the Russian Championship as part of the Moscow CSK. My son, Dmitry, has been skiing for a long time at a fairly serious level, even competing for the Moscow national team in his age category. But in the end, my passion for drawing played a role. After graduating from school, he entered the Stroganov Art Academy at the Faculty of Furniture Design.
Coaching career
After the final sports career Nikolai graduated from the Moscow State Institute physical culture. Nikolai Zimyatov did not succeed in leaving big sport completely, and he took up coaching activities. He started working with young athletes and gradually reached adult groups. Peak coaching career became the year in which he led the Russian cross-country skiing team. The main star, to whom Zimyatov gave a ticket to big sport, we can safely assume Olympic champion Olga Danilova.
Achievements, sports awards
Skiing's rich history has many heroes, but few skiers have won more than three Olympic gold medals. These are Swede Sixten Ernberg, Norwegian Bjorn Daly and our compatriot Nikolai Zimyatov. For his sporting successes, Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov was awarded the title “Honored Master of Sports”, and for the successes of his students - the honorary title “Honored Coach of Russia”. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and Friendship of Peoples.
(born 1955)Four-time Olympic champion in ski racing. In 1980, he won at distances of thirty and fifty kilometers, and also as a member of the USSR national team in the 4 x 10 kilometer relay race. In 1984 he won the thirty-kilometer distance. At the 1984 Olympics he became silver medalist as part of the USSR national team in the 4 x 10 kilometer relay. Silver medalist at the World Championships in Lahti (1978).
Zimyatov became a three-time Olympic champion at twenty-four. Before him, no one in the history of skiing had ever managed to win three gold medals at one Olympics. Zimyatov, in twelve February days in Sarajevo, accomplished what luminaries achieved throughout their entire sports career.
Nikolay Zimyatov born June 28, 1955. As a boy, Zimyatov raved about hockey, although he also played football well. Nikolai's father Semyon Mikhailovich - a wonderful master glassblower - looked at his son's hobby condescendingly. What normal boy doesn’t kick a ball in the summer and a puck in the winter? But mother Anna Petrovna is a teacher primary classes- I was worried: I wouldn’t hurt myself, I wouldn’t break something, I wouldn’t catch a cold - Zimyatov was often sick. Therefore, Anna Petrovna insisted that Kolya enter the local music school in the accordion class. Zimyatov later admitted: “The day when I left the music school became the most joyful for me.”
By that time, Zimyatov, like many guys from Rumyantsev, went to Golovin to ski training To Alexey Ivanovich Kholostov. The paths of coach and student, the paths of Kholostov and Zimyatov crossed in 1969. And before that, four years earlier, the physical education teacher at Novo-Petrovskaya secondary school number one, master of sports in skiing, Kholostov, was offered to head a sports school that... did not exist. Kholostov agreed; he had long dreamed of training boys (later girls also came to school). He agreed and created the school from scratch. There was no room, no equipment, no illuminated tracks... In a word, there was only desire. And thanks to Kholostov’s asceticism, the school grew stronger, gained strength, and began to grow.
The coach's personality... Often for teenagers it means more than the authority of their parents. Kholostov turned out to be just such a coach. At the age of forty, for example, he fulfilled the standard of master of sports in skiing - a rare case: you need to have great perseverance and put in a lot of work. Kholostov fulfilled the standard not for the sake of prestige and not for the sake of a badge, but solely in order to confirm the motto in the eyes of the guys: “Whoever wants, will achieve it!”
And it was Kholostov, who defended the principles in the relationships of the children - justice, loyalty, honor - who himself strictly followed these principles in all cases of life. After this, is it worth saying that the overwhelming majority of Alexei Ivanovich’s students tried to be like their coach and dreamed of entering the Institute of Physical Education.
It was Kholostov who discovered the talent of a skier in Zimyatov. In a tall, thin, not very healthy teenager, he saw endurance, stubbornness, and determination - qualities without which there is no good racer. And days and months of training dragged on: cross-country, imitation, roller skiing, training on a power circle in the forest (by the way, a year after these classes, Zimyatov had already done 50 push-ups and 16 pull-ups on the crossbar). And after each training, physical labor was obligatory: they cleared and built the track, built locker rooms, and a recovery center. Zimyatov became stronger and mastered the technique better than other guys, but Kholostov, mindful of his health, was in no hurry to increase the volume of training - he moved from stage to stage carefully, prudently, gradually. It was then, after the first year of classes, that Kholostov said approvingly to Zimyatov: “You’re a fine boy, you’re just sick a lot. Brother, you need to toughen up.” And Kolya Zimyatov began to douse himself with cold water and bathe from the beginning of summer until late autumn.
Zimyatov was not a fanatic, no. It was enough for studying, and for dancing, and for walks with a girl. His life was simply more eventful than that of many of his peers. And there was a goal that helped him succeed in everything. Sports brought up courage and fortitude, perseverance and perseverance in Zimyatov. And the ability to endure is one of the most important human skills.
At first, as the coach recalled, Nikolai did not stand out in any way and went to the Moscow Region Championship in 1970 as a reserve. However, it so happened that the first number fell ill and had to flee Nikolay Zimyatov. Then he took third place, and Kholostov believed that this was only the forerunner of victories. Zimyatov’s ascent was quite smooth, without any special disruptions, but by no means easy.
In 1972, at the USSR Junior Championships in Syktyvkar, Nikolai took third place. In my heart, of course, I was rejoicing. And yet, imagine, Kholostov was upset. He was very afraid that Zimyatov would not be included in the youth team, where the workload would immediately increase by several orders of magnitude, and such a subtle pedagogical moment necessary for Zimyatov - an individual approach - would hardly find a place. Fortunately - Kholostov believed that it was fortunately - Zimyatov was not taken to the national team, and the two of them had the opportunity to work for another year calmly, seriously, and most importantly, without forcing loads. And the moment will come in this work - by that time Zimyatov will become the national champion among juniors (1973), and a year later he will win the European Championship silver award and will be included in the national youth team of the country - when Kholostov utters a sad, but great for every real coach, phrase: “As a coach, I can’t give you anything more.” He, of course, cheated - Kholostov. He understood that everyone who trained a talented athlete for the team could not become a mentor to the national team. He - Kholostov - did his job: he trained a capable skier and transferred him to the team. And now he did not want - in the interests of Zimyatov he had no right - to allow his authority - the authority of the first mentor - to overshadow the authority of the national team coaches... As for their further relationship - coach and student - everything now depended on , how much he - Kholostov - put useful and kind into the soul and heart of Zimyatov. Alexey Ivanovich knew that he had invested a lot, and knew that the seeds had fallen on fertile soil, and therefore believed that his relationship with Zimyatov would not end.
Kholostov was right here too. Kholostov will remain both Zimyatov’s first mentor and senior friend. And every time, returning from long-distance tours, he will come to Kholostov for advice and begin to sort out with him the plans for the year received in the national team. And Kholostov, unobtrusively, will insist and prove that Zimyatov does 15-20 percent less work.
In 1978, Nikolai became the silver medalist at the World Championships in the Finnish city of Lahti. At the XIII Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, Nikolai came second in the team. He was a debutant and was not well known in the sports world, so the medal in Lahti was regarded as an accident. But they believed in Zimyatov, and perhaps most of all his friend Vasily Rochev. When the coaches asked them to choose who would run the “thirty” in the fourth, strongest group, Rochev immediately named Zimyatov.
He went to bed later than usual in order to fall asleep immediately, and slept soundly, without dreams. I woke up from the cold - the room had grown cold during the night, and even the blanket did not help. And then the race began. In the morning, thick, wet snow began to fall. It was hard to think of worse weather for the guys. Our skiers are used to and love to run in the cold, on hard, almost icy ski tracks. And the weather undoubtedly unsettled some people. But not Zimyatova. He is patient by nature and does not waste his nerves over trifles.
Our trainers worked magic with ointments for a long time, hiding from prying, overly curious eyes in a small house. This, however, was done in every team. It was not in vain that they did their magic - they hit the ointment 100%, which is very difficult on such a track. The glide was good, the skis did not shoot through.
Standing at the start, waiting for my turn, Nikolay Zimyatov physically felt the expression “knees are buckling”, he was very worried at that moment. And yet he was afraid, he was worried only for the first half a kilometer, and then, when he got into the rhythm, he worked it out, calmed down and ran, as in ordinary competitions.
The trainers set Zimyatov a simple task: he must constantly, from kilometer to kilometer, increase the pace, forcing Mieto, Bro and other possible contenders to go big, as skiers say, oxygen debt. He coped with this task, it was enough for him. After the tenth kilometer, Zimyatov became the leader and did not let anyone go ahead until the finish.
This is how a skier from the hitherto unknown or little-known village of Rumyantsevo won his first ever Olympic gold medal and the first Lake Placid medal of our entire team. Then Nikolai was five seconds short of a medal at fifteen kilometers. He won his second gold medal as part of the USSR national team in the 4 x 10 kilometer relay. Ahead was a marathon, a distance that requires supermaximal effort from the skier, testing everyone who runs it for athletic and human maturity.
The Scandinavians never wanted to concede this distance: ours never won the marathon against them at the Olympics. It was also necessary to take into account that for the Finn Juha Mieto, the marathon was seen as the last chance to win an Olympic gold medal. Zimyatov started at number forty-one, Mieto - as the lot decided - at thirty-eighth.
While you’re walking “fifty dollars,” Zimyatov said, “you’ll have time to remember your whole life, it’s a long distance. And heavy. When it became completely unbearable, I persuaded myself, like a mother feeding a child: “These hundred meters are for Uncle Petya, this climb is for the sisters, for my nephew Alyosha...” At times he switched off, as if he was losing consciousness. Everything around him became indistinguishable: the trees along his long road, the figures of fans, the voices of coaches. He knew only one thing: that he would give everything, all his strength and nerves, all his sporting anger - he would give his all. “Kolya will fight for victory, even when there seems to be no chance,” these words belong to his teammate, Olympic champion Sergei Savelyev.
He caught up with Mieto on the third lap of the marathon and, gliding next to him on a parallel track, exhaled dully in German and Russian: “Kom! Come with me!” Huge bearded Finn ski poles in whose hands they looked like matches, he accepted the invitation and firmly “sat down” on Kolya’s heels. Our coaches, understandably, were not happy about this - in a marathon, the real struggle begins somewhere after the forty-fifth kilometer, and here anything can happen.
When Kolya and Mieto went on the fourth lap (each 12.5 kilometers), Kholostov realized: “Either now, or...” and shouted: “Kolya! Have a blast, have a blast on the climb!” Zimyatov shook his head heavily, saying he understood, and won ten meters from Mieto on this climb - he ran, pushing hard with his poles, as if there were no more than forty kilometers behind him hard race. After this, the Finn “got up.” No, he was still in a hurry, he tried to do something, but he no longer counted on gold. The “gold” was ours. Kholostov seemed frozen, petrified, until he was brought to his senses by someone shouting: “Why are you standing there?! Zimyatov took the third gold!”
And Alexey Ivanovich ran, falling into the soft snow, awkwardly jumping over fences. At the finish line, one of the national team coaches hugged him: “Well, thank you, Ivanovich! What a guy you raised!” And the three-time Olympic champion stood and smiled at the now famous to the sports world embarrassed smile. At this moment he did not feel any joy, only great fatigue.
Who could have guessed that Nikolay Zimyatov after Lake Placid, he will suddenly and unexpectedly disappear from the ski horizon for a long time, sowing a lot of guesses and perplexed questions both among his admirers and among the coaches of the national team.
However, Zimyatov would still win one race - in early March 1980, at the national championship. The very first race - Nikolai's favorite "thirty" - gathered an unprecedented number of spectators in Birch Grove. It seemed that everyone came to the ski track, came “to see Zimyatov”, as they come to the theater to see their favorite actor. Zimyatov understood this. And he also realized that he could not, had no right to disappoint his fans, to deceive their expectations. By that time, Zimyatov, as the skiers say, was just skating, relaxing from the stress. And, on the contrary, those who did not get into. the Olympic team - also strong skiers - prepared specially for the championship, were in “peak” shape and longed for, albeit senseless, albeit belated, but still revenge.
It is not known what that race cost Zimyatov, how much effort, but he carried it out brilliantly, in one breath, and won with a significant margin, as befits a three-time Olympic champion. That day, he seemed to convince the Krasnoyarsk residents: “You wanted to know if I’m a real champion? You see, I’m real. And winning is natural and simple for me.”
Who knew that that victory was his last. Although at first after Lake Placid and even a year later they still talked and wrote about Zimyatov. Journalists in their reports on the competitions always, as if out of politeness, mentioned: “The three-time Olympic champion also took part in the race. Unfortunately, he is still far from better shape and took..." A place in the second or third ten was called. Both at first and a year later, journalists still asked the coaches questions: they say, what is happening with Zimyatov, will he enter the ranks, will we see his victorious run?.. And the coaches at first assured: yes, yes, of course... Of course, he will enter, of course, we’ll see... And yet these assurances sounded less and less often - optimism faded a year after the Olympics, Nikolai Zimyatov performed extremely unsuccessfully. Winter Spartakiad friendly armies, a year later he was not included in the team that went to the World Championships in Holmenkollen... And they practically forgot about him. Actually, it couldn’t be otherwise: the new “stars” made people talk about themselves - Alexander Zavyalov, Yuri Burlakov, a whole galaxy of very young racers...
After Lake Placid, two and even more so three years later, it seemed to everyone that Nikolay Zimyatov has exhausted itself. At the rally of candidates for Olympic team in Sevastopol, Boris Bystrov, coach of the country's men's team, answered the question: does Zimyatov have a chance to be part of the team at the Games in Sarajevo? He answered firmly: “No!” Then he explained: “Lake Placid, huge success, speeches to students, speeches to workers, congratulations, increased attention... What do you journalists call it? The burden of fame... Not everyone can stand it. And Zimyatov at some point I couldn’t resist. I started training. Then I realized that I had to catch up: my teammates had gone far ahead. He pushed himself too far, got sick, and his health was always bad. And now, as you can see, he has to catch up. It’s impossible. The guys in our national team are young and talented. "
However, Zimyatov and his coach thought differently. Kholostov understood perfectly well that Zimyatov’s health would not allow him to race at a high competitive level. If we again bet on an Olympic victory, then there was only one way out: reduce the load, go into the shadows for some period. Zimyatov moved to CSKA, moved to. He graduated from the Institute of Physical Education, dreaming of a future profession as a coach. He married Lyubov Zykova, also an excellent skier, and they had a daughter, Katya.
And yet, in the three years since Lake Placid, Nikolay Zimyatov I trained quite a lot, although not as intensely as my colleagues on the national team. Zimyatov in Sarajevo will be the best among our skiers, the only one who can win a gold award. And therefore, whether he is right from the point of view of science or not, it is certain that Zimyatov chose for himself the most optimal option of behavior on the way from Olympics to Olympics.
However, his trip to the Olympics was in doubt. The wheel of the coach's disbelief in Zimyatov was spinning at full speed. Although, as Bystrov promised, he was taken to all the preparatory training camps, at the very beginning of the Olympic winter he was sent on a competitive tour abroad.
Perhaps, since the Olympics in Sapporo, a tradition has taken root in our skiing - to prepare for the Olympics and world championships within our own walls, at home. But in this case, how can we get an idea of the balance of power between our athletes and our rivals? Very simple. Two or three skiers from the second echelon - sort of scouts - are sent to international competitions. Then they compare and analyze the results of those competitions with the results of internal competitions and, in general, get some more or less real picture. This is how Nikolai Zimyatov and Vladimir Sakhnov went to Davos as spies at the beginning of the Olympic winter.
And now - a sensation! First in the Olympic season: Zimyatov, after three years of stubborn silence, wins the 15-kilometer distance! Accident? Literally a few days later in Ramsau, Zimyatov wins the second race - again a tag race. There was something to be surprised about, something to talk about, something to reflect on! USSR Cup in Syktyvkar, distance 30 kilometers, Zimyatov wins. Control competitions for team members - wins. A series of starts in the Urals - he wins... He rises higher and higher. And now everyone is making noise about the mysterious return of Zimyatov...
February 10, 1984 in Sarajevo, on the Igman plateau - the day of the thirty-kilometer Olympic race. A gusty wind blew, without stopping for a second, and soft snow fell. Bad weather. However, this was a good sign, because Zimyatov’s ability is known better than others to adapt to the most tricky conditions: fog, ice, rain...
Just like in Lake Placid Nikolay Zimyatov one of the last to start. As in Lake Placid, he started calmly, feeling that he could improve at any moment. And as the race progressed, his advantage inevitably grew: 10 seconds, 20, 30... No one could resist this inevitable onslaught: neither the rising “star” of Swedish skiing Gunde Svan, nor the veteran Thomas Wassberg , nor all Norwegians taken together - dangerous and strong.
And here is the finish. Victorious finish. Having not yet crossed the line, Zimyatov glances at the electronic scoreboard. The lines are still running. But it is already clear: in a moment they will freeze, indicating best time- 1 hour 28 minutes 56 seconds... Four years ago, having won the laurels of the “ski king” in Lake Placid, he unexpectedly and for a long time went into the shadows. Left to return. Return like a king.
