Finally I was left alone. The gloomy silence of the room under the stands contrasted sharply with the noise, bustle, and bright colors olympic stadium. And everything that I experienced in these last hour and a half - the agonizing wait for the start, the tension of the struggle, the dramatic denouement of the competition - began to go somewhere deep into my consciousness, to lose the features of reality. This feeling was familiar, experienced many times in hundreds of competitions, and yet new. This was all for the last time.
Even waiting for the usual and always unpleasant anti-doping control procedure did not cause irritation now. This was also the last time.
Sitting in a small room, separated from the rest of the world by a door, a barrier and a police post, I tried, as far as possible, to put my thoughts and feelings in order. Thoughts and feelings of an athlete who competed in his last competition, who completed a long sports path.
Recent rivals - my comrade Jaak Uudmäe, who became an Olympic champion, and bronze medalist Brazilian Joao Oliveira - were released before me. Therefore, the organizers of the final press conference decided, given the late hour, to start a meeting with journalists without waiting for us to get together. I wonder what Jaak, for whom this is the first press conference as a winner, and Oliveira, who so wanted to win the Moscow Olympics and yet, like four years ago in Montreal, managed to take only third place, are talking about now?
I remembered how in 1976 in Montreal at a press conference I was asked the question: how long am I going to stay in big sport? Despite the outward tactlessness of this question - after all, it is probably not very logical to ask an Olympic champion when he will retire from sports - its essence was close and understandable to me. In seventy-six I was already over thirty. You really can’t jump indefinitely! Then I answered firmly: I will try to do everything to perform in Moscow at XXII Games. I remember the surprised faces of the journalists: after all, there were still four years left before the Moscow Olympics. For a thirty-year-old athlete, this is a long time.
Time flew by quickly. It’s as if these four years never happened, and here I am again preparing for the Olympic press conference. True, now I don’t have gold, but silver medal. I wonder what the journalists will ask me today?
Over many years of communicating with representatives of the press, I seem to have developed quite a trusting relationship with them. Of course, our meetings were not always interesting. Sometimes they asked standard, insignificant questions, the answers to which did not require thought, but there were also very interesting interlocutors who were well versed in the intricacies of the sport and my event - the triple jump. Such conversations were always welcome. For example, I always wanted questions to be asked that would be interesting to answer. And although we, athletes, go to meetings with journalists with ostentatious ease, in reality we are preparing for meetings and for us they are a pleasant duty. Well, after Olympic competition In Moscow, I prepared for the press conference with all care. This meeting was also my last.
When I went to the journalists after the control, I tried to anticipate possible questions along the way and formulated the answers in advance. By nature, I am a man of few words, and on this unusual day I could not even mentally compose short answers. I wanted to launch into lengthy discussions; I was captivated by memories of various episodes of my long life in sports, almost a quarter of a century long. Only on the threshold of the press conference hall did the decision come naturally: to be extremely frank today!
I opened the doors a little. The correspondents were finishing their “interrogation” of Oliveira. An employee of one of the newspapers of a Western country, whose athletes did not participate in the Olympics, asked the Brazilian why he demonstratively shook hands with the judges after the competition?
This seemingly completely harmless question was, in fact, provocative. The fact is that, trying to beat Jaak Uudmäe, Oliveira in his last attempts rushed too excitedly along the runway and over and over again stepped over the limiting plasticine roller. Naturally, his jumps were not counted. At the same time, after each step, the judges showed the athlete the place of take-off. But, of course, this did not make the spade any less offensive.
The person asking about all this was well aware. He also knew how the Brazilian experienced his second Olympic failure. I knew and expected that in these first, especially bitter, hours after a defeat, an athlete’s self-control could fail. What if he really confirms that the handshake with the judges was demonstratively ironic, that he blames biased referees for his defeat?
Even outwardly, it was noticeable how concentrated, searching for the right words, Oliveira was preparing for a worthy answer. I prepared myself as if I was making one more, last attempt. He spoke very clearly, deliberately slowly, swaying to the beat of his words. index finger, as if giving a lesson to a dull student:
Yes, I shook hands with the judges after the competition. Soviet judges were extremely objective and correct. Their actions contributed to the competition being interesting and fair. wrestling. After jumping, athletes always shake hands. And since I consider the judges to be the same participants in the competition as the athletes, I felt it necessary to thank them.
The response to this statement by Oliveira was unanimous applause from everyone present at the press conference.
After a short silence, Joao continued:
Of course, I’m very upset that I didn’t manage to get on the podium higher than in Montreal, but my opponents were stronger today. And while congratulating Jaak Uudmäe on his Olympic gold medal, I would like to point out that absolute champion Among the jumpers, I still consider Viktor Saneev. I told him about this in the sector (indeed, immediately after the competition, despite my objections, Joao congratulated me on the victory) and I can repeat it now.
How do you feel about this statement? Olympic champion? - one of the journalists turned to Uudmäe.
“I agree with Oliveira,” Jaak replied, “None of us can repeat what Saneev did.”
Then applause rang out again, and to this noise I entered the hall. He quickly walked to the microphone and immediately said, as if in cold water jumped:
Today you saw my last performance in the competition. I have finished my journey in sports and am ready to answer all your questions.
The hall became very quiet. Everyone looked with curiosity at the jumper who managed to “survive” four Olympics. Nobody asked me anything. And then I decided to help my listeners a little:
Probably, if I had not said that I had finished my sports career, they would have immediately asked me how much longer I was going to compete? But is this really the only question journalists care about?
But either all those present had already satisfied their curiosity in a conversation with Uudmäe and Oliveira, or were simply tired at this late hour, but I was unable to stir up the correspondents. True, they did ask me a few questions, mainly about the specifics of the struggle in the Moscow sector. These questions were ordinary, I answered them without difficulty, already understanding that no “confession” would be possible today. And suddenly, when the presenter was about to close the press conference, the famous journalist from the GDR, Eberhard Bock, asked to speak.
Not forgetting to demonstrate his awareness - Bock meticulously listed the results of my performances at the Olympiads, European and USSR Championships, European Cups, Universiades - he asked me:
How does Viktor Saneev explain his numerous victories, what are the secrets of his successful performance at the Olympics and such longevity in big-time sports?
On Friday, October 3, the legendary Soviet athlete, three-time Olympic champion in the triple jump Viktor Saneev turns 69 years old. Correspondents of the R-Sport agency Maria Vorobyova and Andrei Simonenko reached distant Australia, where an outstanding athlete now lives, about whom nothing has been heard for many years. And they simply asked him: how are you?
The idea of contacting Viktor Saneev was suggested to us by the bronze medalist of the European Championship in the triple jump, Alexey Fedorov. “For the last few years we have been calling Sydney and congratulating Viktor Danilovich on his birthday, but in general it seems that they have forgotten about him,” he told us, and this was a guide to action. Moreover, in fact, no interviews with Saneev, who left for the Green Continent in the early 1990s, have appeared for a couple of decades.
Victor Danilovich, the first question suggests itself: how are you doing? Nothing has been heard from either you or you for a long time.
For three years now, one might say, I have been retired. Once a week I go to school and train children.
You once said that in Australia it is very difficult to get children interested in athletics, and in particular, the triple jump. Is the situation changing now?
Athletics in general is difficult to get excited about. Not just in Australia, but all over the world. This is not such a commercial sport, and besides, in order to achieve serious results here, you need to train a lot. And have a desire to be an athlete.
- You athletics I was captivated at the time.
This has been true since childhood. But it wasn’t just athletics that attracted me. If I may say so, I have come a long way in sports. At the age of five he started playing football. Until I graduated from school, until I was 15-16 years old, I played it. I also played basketball, which was good, and volleyball. He was probably just a player by nature. But when I tried to jump long and high, I liked it, and it worked out fine. He jumped 1.65 meters in high school.
- Are you seriously interested in heights?
More like at the school level. Then he switched to triple, and when he competed at the Schoolchildren’s Spartakiad in 1963, he took third place in this event. Although I had been training in the triple jump for only six months at that time.
- And at that moment you decided to continue triple jumping?
No. I was both a long jumper and a good 100-meter runner. I left the height because my knee hurt a lot. In 1967, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, he became second in the long jump after Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, the world record holder at that time. But this is a difficult event - long jump. It's easier to get injured there than anywhere else. Therefore, I decided to train only in the triple jump for two years before the 1968 Olympics. And the differences between the long jump and the triple jump are significant. Different repulses, different rhythms in jumping. Completely different technology.
We watched a film about you, where your coach Hakob Kerselyan said that when asked if you would go in for athletics, you answered: what should you do there? He said we need to run. And you asked again: are we going to jump? So, jumping was your area of interest from the very beginning?
Yes, rather, everything was interesting at once. After all, in athletics you need to be fully physically developed, otherwise you will not achieve success in any of its types. I went through the training system as a multi-athlete. Long jump, high jump, shot put... I did a little bit of everything during training to be physically strong.
- But what attracted you to the jumps themselves - the fact that they turned out better, or the flight?
I liked flying, of course. The triple jump is the only type of jump in athletics where you actually fly! Delightful feelings.
In your letter to the senior coach of the national team, Witold Kreer, after you were injured in the mid-1960s, you said: “How you want to accelerate as hard as you can and jump! Yes, so that they will not be found.” This was before your first Olympics.
Yes, the injury was so severe that not everyone would have found the strength to return to sports. He treated her for two years. And I didn’t train during this time, and didn’t overload. This is probably one of the most difficult stages of my sports career.
- Have you thought about finishing?
Almost no one believed in me at all.
- Did you believe in yourself?
Believed. I believed that I could return. And he endured.
At the first Olympics I was bolder than the rest. But not bolder
Viktor Danilovich, when you were previously asked which Olympic victory was most valuable to you, you especially singled out the first Olympics. Probably, simply because she was the first, and because of the incredible intensity that was in the triple jump competition. How do you remember the 1968 Games now?
I fought in Mexico until the last try. Until the very end it was unclear who would become the champion. It so happened that I became him. Fought like a real man, probably, what else can you say here.
You have been called the king of the last ditch on numerous occasions. How did you manage to get ready for the final jump so often?
I had this technique: I always thought that the last attempt was the first. I was preparing for the last jump as if it were my first. And I performed it easily, naturally and freely, without thinking that I would never have another chance in these competitions.
How long did it take to learn this skill? It’s generally impossible to imagine that at the Olympics it’s possible to really prepare yourself like this for the last jump, when it’s the decisive one...
It's really difficult. And how to do this is probably impossible to explain. But I psychologically prepared for the competitions in training. I simulated competitions and before the last attempt I convinced myself that this was the first. And the feeling that you were tired and couldn’t do it anymore went away, the jump turned out better.
- Did you pay attention to your opponents when you competed?
In general, yes, I watched who jumped and learned from those who did it well. I tried to adopt some things and use them in my technique. And at the competitions themselves, of course, I didn’t pay attention to the competitors’ jumps. I just followed the results. And I always knew: as long as you have attempts, you shouldn’t be upset, even if something doesn’t work out. It's not over yet.
If someone told you that at that 1968 Olympics five world records would be broken, and you would break two and jump 17.39 meters - would you believe it?
I also believed in a higher result. When the Italian Giovanni Gentile jumped 17.10 in qualifying and set a world record, my friends and coach asked me: what will the result be in the final? Well, I answered them - 17.50. They say - are you laughing, or what? No, I answer, I’m not laughing. So I was getting ready to jump far. I just didn’t tell anyone that I could. I told myself that I should.
- How exactly do you think you managed to set two world records at that Olympics?
He was probably braver than the others. Not bolder, but bolder. This quality must be present.
- Many athletes at the Olympics are lost - the situation is pressing, the responsibility...
That's true. Before my third Olympics in Montreal, many athletes at the training camp asked: tell me, what is Olympic Games? I answered like this: it is impossible to explain. Go to the start line and find out.
- What are the Olympic Games for you? Scary? Interesting? Is it terribly interesting?
It was never scary. I generally loved performing. The only thing I was afraid of was getting injured. Because it’s difficult to jump with an injury.
- Were the second, third and fourth Olympics easier for you than the first?
Of course, I grew up, I went to my first Olympic Games at the age of 23, and to the last at 35. Age and experience matter. But still, all the Olympics were different for me. We had to prepare for each one in a special way.
I won the Olympics to prove to myself that I am no worse than others
We read that an injury prevented you from preparing for your second Olympics, so you were determined to show the best jump in your first attempt. Was there really a tactic to knock out your opponents right away?
Honestly, no. It just so happened that the first attempt turned out to be very good (laughs) - at 17.35. And I didn’t think it would be victorious. I was ready to add. Actually, it turned out that in the last attempt I jumped about 17.50. But with a spade. Kreer later said that there was no spade, but now it doesn’t matter, what difference does it make...
In Munich, at first glance, there was not such a passionate struggle between several participants at once, when people broke world records one after another. Everything seemed to go smoother. Or is this a false feeling?
For the spectators, perhaps it really was calmer. But for an athlete, the Olympic Games are never calm. This is the kind of stress that takes a very long time to recover from. If he is a real athlete, of course.
- What were your emotions after the second Olympic gold?
I thought that winning the Olympics twice would be great, but three times would be something out of fantasy. After the third Olympic gold, I thought: maybe I’ll be lucky and win the fourth (laughs). Kidding. I thought I had to fight.
After the first Olympics, you said: I’m so tired of going to meetings and awards, I’d rather go to the sector and train.
This happened both after the second and third Olympics. I just wanted to forget about these victories, to feel like an ordinary person. And move on. I didn't think about breaking records. It was interesting for me to jump.
Now Olympic champions in Russia receive huge prize money and expensive cars... Were your victories encouraged at that time?
By today's standards, those incentives, of course, do not look serious. They received a hundred rubles for that money. Yes, of course, they gave it to me state awards athletes, it was very pleasant. But they didn’t pay much money.
- And there was no talk about Mercedes at that time...
What a Mercedes! "Volga" could not be bought! It was necessary to go to the authorities and beg. And I don’t like asking anyone for anything at all. And I never loved.
Did you set yourself a goal in advance to compete at four Olympics, or did it happen just like that, one after another?
I just didn’t want to stop there. If at some point I began to think that I was so outstanding, then I would have to finish and leave the sport.
- Why didn’t you want to stop? Did you want to win more and more medals or set records?
No, I just wanted to constantly prove to myself that I was no worse than others. Everything else didn't matter much to me.
- Can an Olympic champion feel that he is somehow worse than others?
So my rivals are people just like me. What difference does it make how many medals I won before? I never flaunted any medals or titles.
15 years after the Moscow Olympics, I decided something for myself
Speaking of records: there was a moment when a world achievement was taken away from you. And you, soon after the Olympics in Munich and a couple of days after your own wedding, brought it back to yourself, jumping to 17.44.
I just felt at that moment that I could set this record. At the Olympics the conditions are different, there is struggle, it puts pressure. And here I knew that I was ready. I went to Prague and jumped 17 meters at a temperature of plus three degrees. I'm frozen there! And then back home in Sukhumi I think, the weather is good, I should try to set a record, there’s a competition going on. I tried it. Installed!
- Is it true that you promised to give this record to your wife as a wedding gift?
Come on! Inventions of journalists. How to give such a gift - to tell someone: now I’m going to jump for a world record? This is impossible. I could only say this to myself, but not to anyone else.
By the way, speaking about your wife, she once said that after each Olympic victory you started training as if from scratch, because only by forgetting about past successes can you move forward. That is, it turns out that she was on your wavelength and understood you?
No, it was completely impossible to understand me (laughs). It is very difficult for a person who has not engaged in such work to understand what it is. How much sweat I shed... Only my mother knew. But I never complained about my fate, and I don’t complain now.
You mentioned your mother, and she once said this about you. “As my husband ordered me, that’s how I raised my son. In strictness. I never kissed or pitied him. And my son was grateful to me for this.” Maybe your character is due to this upbringing?
Or maybe just because I'm a Cossack? (laughs) In fact, building character, I think, is difficult. An Australian, my student, once said to me: “You have character!” I just gave him some moral teachings, I won’t say what about now. And he answered me: “Yessss... You, of course, turned out to be right.”
If we return to the Olympic Games, then I would like to ask: what actually happened at that fourth Moscow Olympics?
At home, of course, it was very difficult to perform. And it was doubly difficult for me. I approached the Moscow Olympics with an injury. The mood was either hit or miss. I think that my result was influenced by participation in the fire lighting ceremony. If not for this, I would have performed better. This is my opinion. This ceremony took a lot of emotions from me. Two days - first a dress rehearsal, then the opening itself. And then I have competitions. It was very difficult. Nervous, I was completely exhausted.
There are many different opinions about your latest attempt. In your opinion, did you jump too far or not enough?
It was a long shot. But the Brazilian Oliveira had further ideas. Only he noticeably stepped up. And I...
-Have you reviewed those competitions?
After 15 years, I have determined something for myself.
-Have you come to any conclusion?
Yes, I just saw on the film that the champion (Jaak Uudmäe) had a spade in his best attempt. In 15 years, let me think, I’ll take a closer look. And there it was filmed from one point, but it is clearly visible that his leg is standing behind the block. But I’m not a judge, I don’t want to speak badly about anyone. My job was to perform.
- Did you take that defeat hard?
And I didn’t consider it a defeat, but I was just glad that I did everything I could. I fought until the very end, to the depths of my heart. I gave away all my feelings and emotions. And the rest did not depend on me.
- But is this really the point in your career that you dreamed of?
Before my last attempt at the Moscow Olympics, I knew that I wouldn’t jump again. So I did. At 35, it’s time to relax and lead a normal life.
- And how did this normal way of life seem to you?
After the intense emotions of the competition, it was boring, of course. I continued to play sports for myself, constantly doing exercises. And now I do the same. I had three surgeries on hip joint, but even after them I lead an active lifestyle. I walk and jog a lot. I play tennis. Yes, for myself.
When you and I were trying to arrange an interview a couple of days ago, you said that you had to go to bed at 9 pm. Do you follow the regime?
No, what are you talking about! I just had to get up at 4 am to watch the Champions League (laughs). Match "Atlético" - "Juventus". I follow football very closely. And not only football - tennis and other sports.
- What club do you support?
There is no such thing. For good game I'm sick. Here, Atlético Madrid with Juventus good football showed.
- Don’t you follow our football?
I watch matches when they are on. So, I watched Zenit and Monaco. I also follow Shakhtar.
- What about athletics?
I followed the Moscow World Championships last year. On TV, of course. I follow my native triple jump. It doesn’t seem to stand still, but on the other hand, the world record has not been broken for 19 years. It's a long time (laughs).
- Why didn’t you go to Moscow for the World Championships? Not invited?
I would come to Russia, but they would rather invite me to Georgia
- Viktor Danilovich, do you have any connection with Russia?
We have friends, we communicate. Evgeny Chen, Igor Ter-Ovanesyan.
- Last time Have you been to Moscow for a long time?
In 1995, almost 19 years ago. We were invited to Moscow for our 50th anniversary. They organized the competition and did everything beautifully.
You won three Olympic golds and one silver as a citizen Soviet Union. But then the USSR collapsed into 15 different countries. Where do you consider your homeland?
My homeland is Georgia, I was born and raised there. My mother lived there all her life.
- Are you bored?
Certainly. But fate decreed that I am in Australia. Therefore, there is no need to be bored - you need to get busy. Sports, housekeeping - do what you can. Then it won't be boring.
- Do you have something at home in Sydney that reminds you of your homeland - a tree, for example?
I graduated from the Sukhumi Institute of Subtropical Crops. Therefore, I understand this topic (laughs). I planted two lemons, two tangerines and one grapefruit here. In five years they have grown so big! They give a rich harvest, just like I did at the Olympic Games (laughs).
They wanted to ask a completely joking question, the answer to which is probably of interest to those who only know about Australia that there are kangaroos there. Do kangaroos jump into your yard?
No, come on, I live in a big city. Even more Moscow! That's why I don't have kangaroos. But a joke is a joke, and the press once called me “the Georgian kangaroo.”
- Why did you leave Georgia? You lived and worked there after finishing your sports career.
That’s how the war started, that’s why I left. But I came to Australia, rather, by accident. I gave lessons here for a month and decided to stay and work. Started from scratch. At one time he was a teacher at school. In principle, there were successes.
- Do you know what happened to your house in Sukhumi?
He is no more. But there was not a house there - an apartment. It's in everyone's home now.
The war ended a long time ago, and as far as we know, you came to Georgia in recent years. Did you have any desire to return there?
To do this I would have to start a new life again. And I’ve already started it so many times... After finishing my sports career - new life. After moving to Australia - a second life. The third one is probably underway now. And I'm getting old. I am already 69 years old. No matter how you turn this number upside down, it will still be 69.
- How many people wish you a happy birthday?
Those who remember congratulate, those who do not remember do not congratulate. I try not to think about this day. Who cares.
- Viktor Danilovich, last question. If you were invited to Russia now, would you come?
Of course I would come. Only I’m from Georgia, so they’ll invite me there sooner. But to Russia - no, I am an antagonist for Russia. Although I am an athlete, not a politician. And through you I want to convey to my fans in Russia, and in Georgia, and everywhere - a huge greeting, wishes for health and all the best.
Viktor Danilovich Saneev(October 3, 1945, Sukhumi, Abkhaz ASSR, Georgian SSR) - Soviet track and field athlete, the only three-time Olympic champion in the triple jump in history. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1968).
He played for the Dynamo sports society.
Awarded the Order of Lenin (1972), the Order of the October Revolution (1980), the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1969), the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1976)
Sports biography
He began his athletics career in 1956 in Gantiadi (Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Georgian SSR) as a high jumper, but in 1963 he retrained as a triple jump. He lived in Sukhumi, where he trained under the guidance of Hakob Samvelovich Kerselyan.
Three-time Olympic champion in the triple jump (1968, 1972, 1976). Silver medalist Olympic Games 1980. Two-time European champion (1969, 1974). Six-time European indoor champion (1970-72, 1975-77). Eight-time champion USSR (1968-1971, 1973-75, 1978). Three times he broke the world record in the triple jump (17.23 m, 17.39 m, 17.44 m).
After finishing his career as an athlete, he worked in the apparatus of the Dynamo sports society in Tbilisi (Georgian SSR). After the collapse of the USSR, he went to Australia, where he worked as a physical education teacher at school and as a pizza delivery man. He subsequently managed to get a job as a jumping coach at the New South Wales Institute of Sports. Lives in Sydney.
Olympics in Mexico City
All the strongest athletes in the world came to the 1968 Olympics. Viktor Saneev had only about a year of experience playing for the USSR national team.
Already at the qualifying stage, the Italian athlete Gentille set a new world record of 17 m 10 cm. In the first round of the final, he improves his record to 17 m 22 cm. In the third round of the final, Saneev exceeds this result by a centimeter. In the fifth round, the world record is again updated by the Brazilian Prudencio to 17 m 27 cm. And only in the last sixth attempt, not reaching the bar by more than 20 centimeters, Viktor Saneev sets the winning point - 17 m 39 cm.
This is a unique case in history athletics, when during one final the world record was exceeded four times and twice by one athlete.
World records
- Triple jump 17 m 23 cm - October 17, 1968, Mexico City, Mexico
- Triple jump 17 m 39 cm - October 17, 1968, Mexico City, Mexico
- Triple jump 17 m 44 cm - October 17, 1972, Sukhumi, USSR
When the legendary triple jumper Viktor Saneev, winner of three gold Olympic medals, had recently lost his job, he turned to Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Athletics Federation, for help. The now deceased famous Italian exclaimed in bewilderment: “God, for the glory that you, Victor, brought to your country, you are owed a million dollars.”
But before his first Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, Victor didn’t think about it. The rivals were strong and ambitious. They flew from all over the world to claim Olympic laurels. Jozef Schmidt arrived as a world record holder. Since 1960, he remained the only jumper in the world to reach the 17-meter mark in the triple jump. Brazil claimed the third gold medal in the person of the light-footed Nelson Prudencio. Athletic Africa straightened her shoulders. Senegalese Mansour Dia, as if carved from a huge piece of ebony, amazed with his dazzling smile and long jumps in training. Tall Phil May came from Australia, not inferior to sprinters in running. The fragile-looking American Arthur Walker and the powerful, bearded Italian Giuseppe Gentille did not hide their ambitious hopes. There were three of us. Representative of the "old guard" USSR record holder Alexander Zolotarev and young Nikolai Dudkin and Viktor Saneev. All of them were Olympic debutants. And by that time Victor had only one year of experience in professional sports...
Victor Saneev recalls: “...Giuseppe Gentile already broke the world record in qualifying - 17 meters 10 centimeters. What will happen next? We played chess with Kerselyan (Victor’s first coach), and Kreer (coach of the USSR national team) kept walking nearby and He insisted that Giuseppe would burn out and everything would fall into place and that there was really no point in worrying about this jump.
I wasn't worried. I suspected that Giuseppe was unlikely to burn out. And if it burns out, then others will remain. And they will jump like hell. And that this is just the beginning.
Despite the state - all of nerves - my head is quite sober. I understand that this is the Olympics, that I should jump now, but the scream is like at a bullfight. I think: why are you shouting so much? I watch how the Italian, our yesterday's record holder, jumps... 17.22 - again a world record! Behind him is the Brazilian Prudencio - 17.05.
My third try. I'm running away. I'm jumping. 17.23. New world record. The stadium is roaring. And I'm waiting, what will happen next? Who will stop first? Prudencio goes to the start of the jump and takes a long time to get ready. Outwardly he is calm. The run starts - 17.27. The world record has been broken.
And then something happens. The Italian Gentile immediately somehow becomes gloomy and withdraws into himself. American Walker, a most capable guy, just can’t pull himself together. He fails attempt after attempt. Some are nervous, some place their feet incorrectly out of excitement, some faint - you can’t jump over 17.27!
This is my last try. And Prudencio’s result is 17.27. It's a lot, too much. But you still need to jump further.
Best of the day
I have a strange condition. There is shouting all around, but it’s quiet inside me. And only my head is pounding coldly: my legs are like strings! Just don't let your feet drop. I ran...
Already leaving the pit, I realized from the screams of the spectators that the result had been improved. But how much? 17.39. Everything was like a dream. They shouted, patted me on the back, congratulated me, kissed me... But I was silent. Lips are dry and cracked. He knew that he had won, but somehow the meaning of it still didn’t sink in...”
He played for the Dynamo sports society.
Awarded the Order of Lenin (1972), the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1969), and the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1976).
Sports biography
He began his athletics career in 1956 in Gantiadi (Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Georgian SSR) as a high jumper, but in 1963 he retrained as a triple jump. Lived and trained under the leadership of Hakob Samvelovich Kerselyan in Sukhumi.
Three-time Olympic champion in the triple jump (1968, 1972, 1976). Silver medalist of the 1980 Olympic Games. Two-time European champion (1969, 1974). Six-time European indoor champion (1970-72, 1975-77). Eight-time USSR champion (1968-1971, 1973-75, 1978). Three times he broke the world record in the triple jump (17.23 m, 17.39 m, 17.44 m).
After finishing his career as an athlete, he worked in the apparatus of the Dynamo sports society in Tbilisi (Georgian SSR). After the collapse of the USSR, he went to work as a coach in Australia, where he currently lives.
Olympics in Mexico City
All the strongest athletes in the world came to the 1968 Olympics. Viktor Saneev had only about a year of experience playing for the USSR national team.
Already at the stage of qualification for the main competitions, the Italian athlete Gentille broke the world record of 17 m 22 cm. In the final, Saneev exceeds this result by a centimeter. In the next attempts, the world record falls again, the Brazilian Prudencio is 17 m 27 cm. And only in the last sixth attempt, not reaching the bar by more than 20 centimeters, Viktor Saneev sets the winning point - 17 m 39 cm.
This is a unique case in the history of athletics when, during one final, the world record was exceeded three times and twice by one athlete.
