On October 1, Vyacheslav Petrovich Vedenin, a two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion, 13-time champion of the USSR, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, celebrates his 71st birthday. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Red Banner of Labor, and is an honorary citizen of the Tula region and the city of Kandalaksha (Murmansk region).
Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich was born on October 1, 1941 in the village of Sloboda, Dubensky district, Tula region. The first steps towards sports were dictated by the need to get to school every day, located 5 km from home. Biking in summer, skiing in winter. In his youth, Vyacheslav Petrovich was seriously involved in cycling, which is confirmed by the “Master of Sports of the USSR” standard, which he achieved.
Life put everything in its place and at the age of twenty, skiing was firmly established as the main direction of Vyacheslav Petrovich’s life. Only at the age of 25, Vedenin entered the USSR national cross-country skiing team, taking sixth place in the 50 km race. Many did not believe in the “age” skier, but everything was still ahead (Vyacheslav Petrovich Vedenin - 13-time USSR champion). In 1968, at the X Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble (France), he won a silver award in the 50 km race. Two years later, at the World Championships in Strebske Pleso (Czechoslovakia), he became a two-time champion at a distance of 30 km and in the 4x10 km relay.
Memorial in Strebske Pleso (Slovakia). The World Ski Championships took place here in 1970.
The XI Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo (Japan) brought resounding success to Vyacheslav Petrovich. At a distance of 30 km, Vedenin wins gold, becoming the first Soviet skier to win gold in this discipline. In the 4x10 km relay, Vedenin accomplishes a real sports feat, winning more than a minute from Norwegian skier Jos Harviken. Many years of training and inexhaustible hard work made it possible to win back a minute on the last leg of the relay - to do what many thought was impossible.
Currently, he is active in public activities and supports children's skiing in the Tula region. Every year it holds the “Vedenina Ski Track” competition in the village of Voskresenskoye (Tula region) - a competition that brings together up to 500 young athletes, and “Extreme cross” in the village of Podrezkovo (Moscow region).
A new school was built in his native village of Voskresenskoye, and a memorial plaque was installed on it.
Robert Rozhdestvensky
"Report on the ski race"
(dedicated to Vedenin’s victory)
This craving is endless,
Like a road to a distant light.
Behind you through the noise
The Swede skates amazingly!
You beat him
Half a second, half nonsense!
Cool climb!
Who wins: Either he or you.
Your destiny has become ours,
Tears welled up at the very eyes.
And we don’t have an order to come to you
And not a request - just a plea.
You win! - add it!
You win! - press!
For a moment, clinging, crouching,
- If you want, take our strength!
Why do we need them now?..
Please run.
Be patient, dear!
Reach, reach, wheeze, do it!
Through all the strangers “not in life!..”,
Through all my “I can’t...”
Well, more! Hold on just a little longer!!
...Oh, how hot it is in this snow!
The Russian Ski Racing Federation congratulates Vyacheslav Petrovich on his birthday, wishes him happiness, good health and long life!
FLGR press service
Yesterday, while watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics, I heard Robert Rozhdestvensky’s wonderful poem “Report on the Ski Race.” I decided to find it, and at the same time I read an interesting interview with Vyacheslav Vedenin (I copied the most interesting sports part below), to whom it was dedicated.
REPORT ABOUT THE SKI RACE
This craving is endless,
Like a road to a distant light.
Behind you through the noise
The Swede skates amazingly!
You beat him
Half a second, half nonsense!
Cool climb!
Who wins: Either he or you.
Your destiny has become ours,
Tears welled up at the very eyes.
And we don’t have an order to come to you
And not a request - just a plea.
You win! - add it!
You win! - press!
For a moment, clinging, crouching,
- If you want, take our strength!
Here!
Why do we need them now?..
Please run.
Be patient, dear!
Reach, reach, wheeze, do it!
Through all the strangers “not in life!..”,
Through all my “I can’t...”
Well, more! Hold on just a little longer!!
...Oh, how hot it is in this snow!
Excerpts from the interview:
His legendary relay race in Sapporo 1972 is an illustration: miracles happen in sports. The impossible happens. At the 10-kilometer distance, Vedenin played a minute and became a two-time Olympic champion! Today, the great skier of the twentieth century lives quietly in a village near Tula.
...........................
-Do you know Robert Rozhdestvensky’s poem dedicated to you by heart?
- “Report about the ski race”? Just a couple of lines: “Please, run. Hold on, dear! Hold on, hold on, keep on wheezing...” He was at the Games with the support group. True, he didn’t stay at the relay either, he rushed to the shops. We didn't really talk in Sapporo. We met at the Palace of Congresses when I was awarded the Order of Lenin. Rozhdestvensky came up to the banquet and drank a glass.
........................................ ...
- We read about the trick with ointment during the relay race in Sapporo. How did you come up with it?- Once at a competition I asked the Finn Mäntyuranta: “There’s a problem with the ointment. What do you recommend?” He pointed out: “This is a good one.” I foolishly listened. And she didn’t go at all! I remembered that episode and before my stage, in front of the Norwegian Harviken, I allegedly began wiping my skis with ointment. At the same time, he held the tube a centimeter away and moved it with a clean finger. I was wondering: will he bite or not? I even managed to congratulate him on his gold medal: they say, I have no chance. All of this played a role.
- Did you guess what would play?
- The Norwegian was one of those people whom I studied. If a guy was a little spoiled in childhood, everything worked out for him without stress - rotten inside. All you have to do is find the place where this foulbrood is. Press there. And I felt - he really wanted fame. I could already imagine how happy the country would be with gold.
- He ran to smear himself?
- Whispers to the coach: “For the third time, Vedenin is buttering up...” They look askance at the blue Swix in my hands. And your own skis from tip to toe! Consider that I played 15 seconds. Then on the descent - 12. Cheated again. I told our guys in advance: “Stand there and shout “Vedenin!” That’s what they did. Harviken turns his head, loses two seconds on this. The stick slips - and you win back three. And he turned around several times.
- If it weren’t for the trick, would you still have won?
- Don't know. But there was a lot of evil!
- To whom?
- On our fans. 800 people arrived by ship from Vladivostok. They left the stands without waiting for the end of the relay.
- Why?
- They didn’t believe in success. And most importantly, the stores were open on the last day. I had to spend my daily allowance. The correspondents followed suit. Not a single photograph of me survived from this race, not a single interview! Before the start I ran into coaches Kamensky and Kuzin. A flat bottle of cognac, they take a sip from the throat: “Glory, second place is also a place!”..........................
- Do you have any unfavorite routes?
- After the Prague spring of 1968, the most disgusting trip was the High Tatras. They hated us there! Czech skiers, when we entered the hall to oil our skis, shouted: “Occupiers, get out!” They threw stones at the windows of the hotel where we lived. We went to the kitchen to get a kettle or a saucepan - they didn’t give us any. To drink tea, water was heated in the sink. You plug the hole and turn on two boilers. Madhouse! Yes, and there were provocations in the race. Workers stood on the rises and swung their shovels at us. They tried to hit me on the back. You grab the spatula with your hand and curse at them. But you lose seconds. And in 1970, at the World Championships in the Tatras, my gold medal was stolen!
- How?
- At a distance of 50 km I beat the Finn Oikarainen by a minute, everything was under control. Suddenly, around the bend near the barn, the boys began to rustle, ran up and sprinkled washing powder. I looked back, and they were leveling it with a rake and covering it with snow. That's it, they stopped skiing! I somehow finished second on my hands, my palms bled.
- Have you filed a protest?
- How to prove it? The skis are dirty. Then the circle was 25 km, cameras were not everywhere. Today they are stuck everywhere, the circles are smaller - 7-8 km. It was also a shame in Sweden at the Vasaloppet supermarathon. He took Finn Siitonen and Swede Bjöling away from the main group for nine minutes. We started on green wax at a temperature of minus 8. And at the finish, when we passed through the pass, it was plus 3. The skis did not hold up. At the 78th kilometer I see the inscription “Servi with e fix”. I think I’ll oil myself up, and that’s fine. The Swede, who was already barely holding on, suddenly accelerates. The first one rolls up to the backpack, pulls out a red Rex, smears his skis - and throws the tube into the forest. Moreover, the infection, he waved his hand at us.
- What a bastard.
- Siitonen and I open the backpack - there is nothing there except semi-liquid soap. Again I had to run on only my hands. In the end I beat the Finn. I lost six kilograms during this race. When I started to undress, the skin on my legs peeled off from sweat and salt like stockings.
........................
- What prevented you from getting to the third Olympics in 1976?
- I dreamed of winning fifty dollars in Innsbruck. But I was deceived. I agreed to drain the blood. Now this is called blood doping. It was officially banned in 1985. And in our team they suggested using it before Innsbruck. When the team refused, Zakhavin, the deputy chairman of the Sports Committee, and the coaches took me into consideration. They insisted that I, the only communist in the team, had to convince the guys. By the way, he became a member of the CPSU under interesting circumstances. After Sapporo, they were summoned to the KGB: “With the Order of Lenin, non-party people are prohibited from traveling abroad.” And they issued a party card within a day! Without any experience, meetings.
- Did you donate blood?
- Yes, 680 grams. First. Acted as a guinea pig. Those who trained in Kolchin’s group came to the Blood Institute - me, Volodya Lukyanov, Tolik Shmigun... And others managed to evade. Ivan Garanin said: “Vedenin has nothing to lose, he is an Olympic champion. Why should we take risks?”
Three weeks later - the qualifying national championship. The coaches say: “Petrovich, don’t worry. In any case, the 50 km race in Innsbruck is yours.” In the "tag" I lost 11 seconds, in the "fifty" - 8.
- Didn’t pass the formal selection?
- Yes. And I was removed from the Olympics. Before that I was in excellent shape, fluttering through the mountains. There used to be great skiers! Rustic sourdough, strong, hardy.When watching biathlon broadcasts, Dmitry Guberniev more than once urged viewers to find Robert Rozhdestvensky’s poem “Report on the Ski Race.” And today, during the victorious race of our men’s biathlon team, Dmitry also mentioned this poem. Relevant to this day, the strongest masterpiece, the best poem about sports, authored by Robert Rozhdestvensky, I present to you on my blog.
REPORT ABOUT THE SKI RACE
This craving is endless,
Through all the strangers “not in life. ",
Through all my “I can’t. »
Well, more! Hold on just a little longer!!
Oh, how hot it is in this snow!
I re-read this poem several times. Just think about its depth:
You beat him
Half a second, half nonsense!
Cool climb!
As these lines show, the whole weight of victories, some half a second, half a nonsense, and immediately after these lines the strongest line “lifting” shows what inhuman efforts must be made for the sake of this half a nonsense.
How fans are ready to give everything, all their strength, if only the athlete wins, and again the lines follow that show the whole severity of the battle - Dotyan, Dostoni, hoarse, smog.
If you want, take our strength!
Why do we need them now?
Please run.
Reach, reach, wheeze, do it!
Truly a literary masterpiece about sports. Bravo Robert Rozhdestvensky. I think we could dedicate these lines to the performance of our biathlon team in today’s relay.
THESE PEOPLE NEED YOUR HELP
This craving is endless,
Like a road to a distant light.
Behind you through the noise
The Swede skates amazingly!
You beat him
Half a second, half nonsense!
Cool climb! Who wins:
Either he you, or you.
Your destiny has become ours,
Tears welled up in my eyes.
And we don’t have an order to come to you
And not a request - just a plea.
You win! - add it!
You win! - press!
For a moment, clinging, crouching, -
If you want, take our strength!
Why do we need them now?..
Please run.
Be patient, dear! Reach out
Do it, wheeze it, do it!
Through all the strangers “not in life!..”,
Through all my “I can’t...”
Well, more! Hold on just a little longer!!
...Oh, how hot it is in this snow!
Robert Rozhdestvensky, February 1972, Sapporo, Winter Olympics
When I recently participated in the meeting of the Olympic flame in my city, I remembered these lines and the events with which they are connected.
It seemed all was lost. One minute and one second gap; at the Harviken distance one of the best skiers in Norway, behind (very close) the Swede Lundbeck - winner of the 15 km race. Whether we have a silver medal or a bronze one - that seemed to be the question. The Norwegians believed that victory was guaranteed. They lined up with flags outside their house. Harviken was about to emerge. But everyone present saw Vedenin, and it was more than a miracle.
Robert Rozhdestvensky was then in February 1972 as part of our delegation at the Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, and saw everything with his own eyes. He decided to reflect in his poetic “Report” precisely that moment when our skier was still on the sidelines, and complete victory was only far ahead. Later Rozhdestvensky will say: “Vedenin is a legend in sports.”
Irina Rodnina, who also performed remarkably well at that Winter Olympics, recalled: “I was on the relay track when Vedenin did the seemingly impossible. Even former world champions and ski coaches who saw all sorts of things on the slopes couldn’t believe their eyes... Vedenin fought for himself, for the team, for our entire team. And this gave him additional strength, as triumphant as he was at the finish line, saying exactly three words about what happened: “Pressed, caught up and won” - he will remain so. in my memory forever."
Honored Master of Sports in cross-country skiing, two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion, thirteen-time champion of the Union, holder of the Order of Lenin and the Red Banner of Labor, retired colonel of the internal service Vyacheslav Petrovich Vedenin wrote his name in golden letters in the sporting history of the country.
A long time ago, when I was still a child, my now deceased grandmother Maria Grigorievna showed me letters signed “Slava Vedenin”. They were addressed to her brother Leonid Grigorievich Kharitonov, whom I don’t remember at all - he passed away in the mid-1970s. He worked as a physical education teacher at a rural school in the village of Sloboda, Dubensky district. On the photograph from the Sapporo Olympics, sent by Vedenin to Kharitonov, there is an inscription: “You helped win all the medals!”
Dmitry Ovchinnikov, Tula.
