Born on June 28, 1955 in the village of Rumyantsevo, Istra District, Moscow Region. Father - Zimyatov Semyon Mikhailovich (born in 1917), a man of a rare profession - a glass blower. Mother - Anna Petrovna Zimyatova (born in 1921), teacher primary school. Wife - Lyubov Alexandrovna Zykova (born in 1959), skier. Daughter - Ekaterina (born in 1981). Son - Dmitry (born in 1987).
Nikolai was the third and youngest of the children in the Zimyatov family. The future Olympic champion mastered the ski alphabet at the Novo-Petrovsky sports school, located 5 kilometers from his home. His personal trainer for many years became A. Kholostov, a real enthusiast skiing. It was he who considered the makings of a great athlete in Kolya and managed to “reconfigure” his student from simple skiing to a serious passion for them - fortunately, the boy already had a stubborn character and the ability to overcome difficulties that had been brought up from childhood. It cannot be said that nature endowed Nikolai with heroic health, but from birth a unique quality was laid in him - his body in extreme conditions seemed to be able to stir up, “flare up” at the peak of loads. True, after such tension, he needed a longer rest than others.
The first significant successes came to Nikolai in 1973 at the individual-team championship of the USSR in Syktyvkar, when he, speaking for the rural DSO of the Moscow Region, took 3rd place in the 15-kilometer distance. The following year, Zimyatov won the 20-kilometer race, and in 1975 he distinguished himself as a junior in 3 disciplines: he was third at the 15-kilometer distance, second at the 20-kilometer distance, and climbed to the highest step of the podium in the relay.
The first performances of Nikolai Zimyatov in international competitions also took place in 1975: at the 8th European Championship among juniors in Finland, he won a silver medal in a 15 km race. Moving to the category of adults (1977), Zimyatov wins bronze at the USSR Championship in a 30 km race. And at the next, 50th anniversary championship of the country, Nikolai won 2 gold medals - at a distance of 30 kilometers and in the relay. Subsequently (1979-84) he became the champion Soviet Union at various distances.
Nikolai Zimyatov made a serious step towards the ski Olympus in 1978 as a member of the USSR national team at the World Championships in Lahti (Finland). At the 30-kilometer distance, he was second.
And here is the XIII Winter Olympic Games in 1980 in the American Lake Placid. program ski competitions was opened by the 30 km race in classic style. Nikolai got a good starting number - 56th (a total of 57 athletes started). From the very first kilometers, the coaches saw that Nikolai was ready to give battle to the main competitors who were walking ahead. From the 10th kilometer, he went ahead, ran in his favorite manner - with a wide, as if flying step, managing to listen to the information of the national team coach Boris Bystrov.
Finish - Zimyatov's time is 1 hour 27 minutes 2 seconds, and he accepts congratulations on his victory. When Nikolay was told that the second place went to his teammate Vasily Rochev, who showed the result of 1 hour 27 minutes 34 seconds, the joy of the victor knew no bounds. When asked by journalists what he was thinking about now, Nikolai Zimyatov replied: “Now it’s not a shame to return home!”
Zimyatov achieved another success with his teammates Vasily Rochev, Nikolai Bazhukov and Evgeny Belyaev in the 4x10 km Olympic relay. As a result, our main rivals - the Norwegians - were satisfied with the silver medals, more than 1 minute 40 seconds behind the winners. So Zimyatov became the owner of the second golden "snowflake".
And 3 days later, with an unprecedented time for races of this level, Nikolai Zimyatov wins the most prestigious race - 50 kilometers, ahead of the Finn's silver medalist Juha Mieto by almost 3 minutes. Never before have Soviet skiers been the first on marathon distance winter olympics!
It is hardly calculable how many times in the evening of that victorious day Nikolai Zimyatov was called the “king of skis”. And “His Majesty” himself modestly sat on the sidelines and embarrassedly repeated: “Here they are. Well, what kind of king am I to you? .. ”And even upon arrival in Moscow, he could not realize that an impressive crowd of people in front of the ramp of the Il-86, which arrived from Montreal, had gathered on the airfield for the most part for him.
Journalists inquired: “Did your success result from the use of some special tactics?” To this, the three-time Olympic champion replied: “I try to choose the most rational pace. I never start a race with all my might, after the first 2-3 kilometers I ask the coaches to give time to the main competitors and based on this I choose tactics. To keep the race in a winning vein, you need absolute self-confidence, based on a clear knowledge of the nature and capabilities of the body.
Soon an important event takes place in the life of Nikolai - he creates a family; the famous skier Lyubov Zykova became his chosen one, in the 1970s she was a repeated silver and bronze medalist of the European junior championships, and later a participant in the Olympic Games.
After victories in Lake Placid, Nikolai, together with coach A. Kholostov, set themselves preparations for the next Olympics as a “super task”, which is why Zimyatov “goes into the shadows” for a while. Unfortunately, Nikolai is beginning to be haunted by colds, which also causes the disappearance of his star from both the domestic and international sports horizons for a very long period by sports standards (2-3 years). He misses another 1982 World Cup. Gradually they cease to associate with him big hopes, and almost the only people who believed in Zimyatov at that time were himself and his coach.
Zimyatov trains a lot, shows himself well in the selection for the team for the Olympics-84 and goes to Sarajevo. Fate favors Nikolai - at a distance of 30 kilometers he receives the last, 72nd number. The chance was good, but they still had to be able to take advantage, because another Zimyatov went to the start - a 28-year-old army man, more mature, matured and, obviously, understanding that he did not have to scatter opportunities to rise to the highest step of the Olympic podium.
The Yugoslav weather turned out to be capricious - it snowed all night before the race. By the time the 30-kilometer race started, the temperature was minus six, a blizzard was falling - it was quite “Zimyatovo” weather. Nikolai knew the names of his main competitors perfectly - they were Alexander Zavyalov, the Swede Gunde Svan and the Finn Aki Karvonen. As a result of a difficult struggle on the track best time showed Zimyatov - 1 hour 28 minutes and 56 seconds. The cost of this victory can be judged from his words, uttered in response to a journalistic question to the winner, what he now feels: “I’m still all there, on the ski track ... We’ll feel something later.”
And then on Olympic Stadium the weather was almost ideal for cross-country skiing - frost minus 10-12, hard skiing, windless, sunny. In such impeccable conditions, it was easier for our opponents to show themselves, and Swann did it better than others. A correspondent of the UPI agency wrote then: “The Swede, who prayed to the sports gods for the end of the snow storm, waited in the wings and won gold medal in a 15 km race. The best of ours then was Nikitin (4th place), and Nikolai Zimyatov finished sixth.
Everyone was looking forward to the 4x10 km relay. Of the 17 starting teams, the contenders for gold were determined by the third stage - the Swedes and the Russians. The race was held in the sharpest struggle. Two champions, Zimyatov and Svan, entered the last, decisive stage. Leading alternately - one, then the other. It was an exciting confrontation between the two titans of skiing. As a result, the young Swede still beat Nikolai Zimyatov by less than 10 seconds. Authoritative experts noticed then: “If Nikolai hadn’t run “tag”, he could have had enough strength to win ...”
The last race of the Olympics - a 50-kilometer marathon - Nikolai, as they say, did not go. However, even without this, Zimyatov's participation in the Olympic Games-84 deserves admiration.
In the entire history of world skiing, only three athletes managed to become owners of 3 or more gold medals in individual races, one of which was a marathon - this is the Swede Sixten Jörnberg (champion of the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics), Nikolai Zimyatov (“gold” at the Olympic games in 1980 and 1984) and the Norwegian Bjorn Dali (winner of the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Olympics). Each of them is rightly called the "king of skis". And no matter how ironically our compatriot treats his “monarchist” title, we perceive it that way.
Now your winning principle “Believe in yourself!” Nikolai Zimyatov, as the coach of the national team, instills in his pupils. Every year in the area of the village of Golovino, which is not far from the homeland of an outstanding athlete, open competitions for the prizes of Nikolai Zimyatov.
Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov - four-time Olympic champion, Olympic silver medalist, awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1980), Honored Coach of the USSR. He was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1980), Friendship of Peoples (1984), medals for sporting achievements.
Four-time Olympic champion, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Honored Coach of the USSR
Born on June 28, 1955 in the village of Rumyantsevo, Istra District, Moscow Region. Father - Zimyatov Semyon Mikhailovich (born in 1917), a man of a rare profession - a glass blower. Mother - Anna Petrovna Zimyatova (born in 1921), a primary school teacher. Wife - Lyubov Alexandrovna Zykova (born in 1959), skier. Daughter - Ekaterina (born in 1981). Son - Dmitry (born in 1987).
Nikolai was the third and youngest of the children in the Zimyatov family. The future Olympic champion mastered the ski alphabet at the Novo-Petrovsky sports school, located 5 kilometers from his home. A. Kholostov, a true skiing enthusiast, became his personal trainer for many years. It was he who considered the makings of a great athlete in Kolya and managed to “reconfigure” his student from simple skiing to a serious passion for them - fortunately, the boy already had a stubborn character and the ability to overcome difficulties that had been brought up from childhood. It cannot be said that nature endowed Nikolai with heroic health, but from birth a unique quality was laid in him - his body in extreme conditions seemed to be able to stir up, “flare up” at the peak of loads. True, after such tension, he needed a longer rest than others.
The first significant successes came to Nikolai in 1973 at the individual-team championship of the USSR in Syktyvkar, when he, speaking for the rural DSO of the Moscow Region, took 3rd place in the 15-kilometer distance. The following year, Zimyatov won the 20-kilometer race, and in 1975 he distinguished himself as a junior in 3 disciplines: he was third at the 15-kilometer distance, second at the 20-kilometer distance, and climbed to the highest step of the podium in the relay.
The first performances of Nikolai Zimyatov in international competitions also took place in 1975: at the 8th European Championship among juniors in Finland, he won a silver medal in a 15 km race. Moving to the category of adults (1977), Zimyatov wins bronze at the USSR Championship in a 30 km race. And at the next, 50th anniversary championship of the country, Nikolai won 2 gold medals - at a distance of 30 kilometers and in the relay. Subsequently (1979-84) he became the champion of the Soviet Union at various distances.
Nikolai Zimyatov made a serious step towards the ski Olympus in 1978 as a member of the USSR national team at the World Championships in Lahti (Finland). At the 30-kilometer distance, he was second.
And here is the XIII Winter Olympic Games in 1980 in the American Lake Placid. The program of skiing competitions was opened by a race of 30 kilometers in the classical style. Nikolai got a good starting number - 56th (a total of 57 athletes started). From the very first kilometers, the coaches saw that Nikolai was ready to give battle to the main competitors who were walking ahead. From the 10th kilometer, he went ahead, ran in his favorite manner - with a wide, as if flying step, managing to listen to the information of the national team coach Boris Bystrov.
Finish - Zimyatov's time is 1 hour 27 minutes 2 seconds, and he accepts congratulations on his victory. When Nikolay was told that the second place went to his teammate Vasily Rochev, who showed the result of 1 hour 27 minutes 34 seconds, the joy of the victor knew no bounds. When asked by journalists what he was thinking about now, Nikolai Zimyatov replied: “Now it’s not a shame to return home!”
Zimyatov achieved another success with his teammates Vasily Rochev, Nikolai Bazhukov and Evgeny Belyaev in the 4x10 km Olympic relay. As a result, our main rivals - the Norwegians - were satisfied with the silver medals, more than 1 minute 40 seconds behind the winners. So Zimyatov became the owner of the second golden "snowflake".
And 3 days later, with an unprecedented time for races of this level, Nikolai Zimyatov wins the most prestigious race - 50 kilometers, ahead of the Finn's silver medalist Juha Mieto by almost 3 minutes. Never before have Soviet skiers been the first in the marathon distance of the Winter Olympics!
It is hardly calculable how many times in the evening of that victorious day Nikolai Zimyatov was called the “king of skis”. And “His Majesty” himself modestly sat on the sidelines and embarrassedly repeated: “Here they are. Well, what kind of king am I to you? .. ”And even upon arrival in Moscow, he could not realize that an impressive crowd of people in front of the IL-86 gangway, which arrived from Montreal, had gathered on the airfield for the most part for him.
Journalists inquired: “Did your success result from the use of some special tactics?” To this, the three-time Olympic champion replied: “I try to choose the most rational pace. I never start a race with all my might, after the first 2-3 kilometers I ask the coaches to give time to the main competitors and based on this I choose tactics. To keep the race in a winning vein, you need absolute self-confidence, based on a clear knowledge of the nature and capabilities of the body.
Soon an important event takes place in the life of Nikolai - he creates a family; the famous skier Lyubov Zykova became his chosen one, in the 1970s she was a repeated silver and bronze medalist of the European junior championships, and later a participant in the Olympic Games.
After victories in Lake Placid, Nikolai, together with coach A. Kholostov, set themselves preparations for the next Olympics as a “super task”, which is why Zimyatov “goes into the shadows” for a while. Unfortunately, Nikolai is beginning to be haunted by colds, which also causes the disappearance of his star from both the domestic and international sports horizons for a very long period by sports standards (2-3 years). He misses another 1982 World Cup. Gradually, high hopes are no longer pinned on him, and perhaps the only people who believed in Zimyatov at that time were himself and his coach.
Zimyatov trains a lot, shows himself well in the selection for the team for the Olympics-84 and goes to Sarajevo. Fate favors Nikolai - at a distance of 30 kilometers he receives the last, 72nd number. The chance was good, but they still had to be able to take advantage, because another Zimyatov went to the start - a 28-year-old army man, more mature, matured and, obviously, understanding that he did not have to scatter opportunities to rise to the highest step of the Olympic podium.
The Yugoslav weather turned out to be capricious - it snowed all night before the race. By the time the 30-kilometer race started, the temperature was minus six, a blizzard was falling - it was quite “Zimyatovo” weather. Nikolai knew the names of his main competitors perfectly - they were Alexander Zavyalov, the Swede Gunde Svan and the Finn Aki Karvonen. As a result of a difficult struggle on the track, Zimyatov showed the best time - 1 hour 28 minutes and 56 seconds. The cost of this victory can be judged from his words, uttered in response to a journalistic question to the winner, what he now feels: “I’m still all there, on the ski track ... We’ll feel something later.”
And then the weather was almost ideal for cross-country skiing at the Olympic stadium - frost minus 10-12, hard skiing, windless, sunny. In such impeccable conditions, it was easier for our opponents to show themselves, and Swann did it better than others. A UPI correspondent wrote at the time: "The Swede, who prayed to the sports gods for the end of the snow storm, waited in the wings and won the gold medal in the 15 km race." The best of ours then was Nikitin (4th place), and Nikolai Zimyatov finished sixth.
Everyone was looking forward to the 4x10 km relay. Of the 17 starting teams, the contenders for gold were determined by the third stage - the Swedes and the Russians. The race was held in the sharpest struggle. Two champions, Zimyatov and Svan, entered the last, decisive stage. Leading alternately - one, then the other. It was an exciting confrontation between the two titans of skiing. As a result, the young Swede still beat Nikolai Zimyatov by less than 10 seconds. Authoritative experts noticed then: “If Nikolai hadn’t run “tag”, he could have had enough strength to win ...”
The last race of the Olympics - a 50-kilometer marathon - Nikolai, as they say, did not go. However, even without this, Zimyatov's participation in the Olympic Games-84 deserves admiration.
In the entire history of world skiing, only three athletes managed to become owners of 3 or more gold medals in individual races, one of which was a marathon - this is the Swede Sixten Jörnberg (champion of the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics), Nikolai Zimyatov (“gold” at the Olympic games in 1980 and 1984) and the Norwegian Bjorn Dali (winner of the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Olympics). Each of them is rightly called the "king of skis". And no matter how ironically our compatriot treats his “monarchist” title, we perceive it that way.
Now your winning principle “Believe in yourself!” Nikolai Zimyatov, as the coach of the national team, instills in his pupils. Every year, in the area of the village of Golovino, which is not far from the homeland of an outstanding athlete, open competitions are held for the prizes of Nikolai Zimyatov.
Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov - four-time Olympic champion, Olympic silver medalist, awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1980), Honored Coach of the USSR. He was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1980), Friendship of Peoples (1984), medals for sporting achievements.
Lives in Moscow.
Nikolai Zimyatov was born on June 28, 1955. Skiing since 1969. Plays for "Spartak" (Moscow region). In 1979, Zimyatov was the champion of the USSR at distances of 15 km, 30 km. At the last world championship in Lahti (Finland), he won silver award. In Lake Placid, an athlete from the Moscow region became the owner of three top awards at once: he won the 30 km, 50 km races and, together with his comrades, the 4X1 km relay. Honored Master of Sports N. Zimyatov is a student of the Moscow Regional Institute of Physical Education. He is a member of the Moscow Regional Council. Lives in Krasnogorsk. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
In Lake Placid, Nikolai Zimyatov made a "gold" initiative in our team: the day after the opening of the White Olympics, he finished with the best result at a distance of 30 km. Then there was the relay race, which ended in the victory of the Soviet athletes, and, finally, on the penultimate day of the competition, Zimyatov excelled in the most difficult marathon race. Three gold medals! Such success has never been achieved by any of the skiers in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
In Lake Placid, Zimyatov became the "king" of skiing. Although outwardly there is nothing royal about him: he is modest, sometimes even shy. In a conversation, he necessarily emphasizes that his victory is the merit of his teammates, his first mentor Alexei Kholostov and, of course, the current coaches. “They taught me to fight to the end, for every fraction of a second, and on the Lake Placid ski track I remembered these lessons with a kind word,” says Zimyatov. On the track, there is no trace of his shyness. On the track, Zimyatov is a fighter. Powerful, fast running. Fine technique. Self confidence. Accurate tactical calculation.
The last quality is usually inherent in experienced craftsmen. But the young Zimyatov also has it in full. At the World Championships in Lahti, experts were amazed at how skillfully the debutant of the USSR national team distributed forces over the 30-kilometer distance.
Of course, Zimyatov is gifted by nature. However, it was primarily hard work and perseverance that made him a great athlete. Demanding of himself, he is extremely kind and attentive to people, especially to children. With his busy studies, training, Nikolai always chooses the time to visit his native school, chat with the guys. How much such meetings mean to them!
“Zimyatov is a real person,” says Finnish skier Juha Mieto. - In Lake Placid, the 50 km race was very difficult for me. But Nikolai encouraged me, and I was his rival. Thanks to him, he won a silver medal. If all the teams had guys like the Soviet one...
Nikolai Zimyatov, Olympic champion in cross-country skiing
Hello ski king!
There were not so many of them - racers who were given the high-profile title of "king of skis" by rumor and the press. Finns Veiko Hakkulinen and Eero Mäntyuranta, Swede Sixten Ernberg, our Vyacheslav Vedenin... Who else? It is unlikely that we will be able to add to this list, no matter how much we sort through the pages of history, because we are talking about truly outstanding racers, whose ski career- an example of almost asceticism, an example of incredible perseverance, diligence, patience.
So can Nikolai Zimyatov stay on this list?!
I remember the evening of February 23rd in Lake Placid. In the afternoon, Zimyatov's last ski race ended with a brilliant victory - 50 kilometers. We were sitting in a tiny room no. 103 of block H in Olympic Village. Let the coaches forgive us, we drank champagne - the victory was worth it: never before in any of the Olympics, none of the Soviet skiers became the first in the marathon. They kept knocking on the door. Someone would open it a little, squeeze through and, realizing that it was no longer possible to penetrate beyond the threshold, smiling, playfully asked:
- Does Nikolai Zimyatov live here? Let me congratulate the three-time Olympic champion...
And every time a merry uproar reigned in the room. Pale, exhausted from the races, with deep sunken eyes on his emaciated face, Vasily Rochev - Zimyatov's friend on the USSR national team and roommate - loudly shouted:
- What kind of Zimyatov is this ?! What three-time Olympic champion?! The ski king needs to be asked! And pa-a-pra-shu with respect!
The “king” himself at that moment was sitting on a hard bunk of the lower tier, flushed, happy and, rising to accept congratulations, was ridiculously embarrassed and said:
- Come on... You've become attached: the king, the king... Well, what kind of king am I to you?
Indeed, what kind of "king" is he?! Zimyatov became a three-time Olympic champion at the age of 24, having won three consecutive victories at one Olympics. Nobody in the history of men's cross-country skiing has been able to do this - to win three gold medals at once, especially at such a young age. Say, the great Ernberg has four gold medals, but they were won at three Olympics. And the famous Hakkulinen went the same way to become the owner of three gold medals...
But the point is not only in the number of awards and age, but also in the ease, at least external, with which they were won. In amazing lightness! Truly - he came, he saw, he conquered. And how now to bow before other "skiing kings", when their heir in some 12 days accomplished what they achieved at the cost of a long sports career.
Yes, indeed, to win three minutes at a 50-kilometer distance from the nearest of the rivals is a case in recent championships World and Olympic Games unprecedented. Recall that the Norwegian Uwe Ellevsetor in 1968 won in Grenoble at a distance of 50 km from Vedenin 17 seconds. His compatriot Paul Tildum won the marathon in Sapporo with a margin of 15 seconds. Again, the Norwegian Ivar Form in Innsbruck at the same distance "brought" the nearest of the rivals 43 seconds. And here is three minutes!.. It remains to assume only one thing: everyone who could claim something in this race, remembering the unconditional victory of Zimyatov in the "thirty", making sure on the day of the relay that the champion would not yield to anyone in speed, gave up in a marathon without a fight. Or let's put it mildly - without serious resistance, having wisely decided that to fight Zimyatov in this moment useless: you still can’t reach the gold medal and it’s better to think about other awards - silver and bronze.
But was it all that easy? There was only a month left before the Olympic Games in Lake Placid. The national team of skiers from Austria moved to final stage training in Bakuriani, and there on the very first day Zimyatov fell ill. No, no, I didn’t get sick with either a sore throat or the flu, but nevertheless I lay in bed. Day, two, three ... Insomnia tormented me, my appetite disappeared, the desire to train disappeared. I wanted to lie down and not think about anything. Boris Bystrov Sr., coach of the men's team, went into Zimyatov's room, exhorted, got angry. Finally, he said to Venedikt Kamensky, the head coach of the national team: “I don’t know what to do with him. At least send to Moscow ... "But then Zimyatov got up, began to slowly ride, move away ...
What's happened? In Austria, Zimyatov trained furiously. It was not necessary to customize - just hold. Ski rollers, running, imitation. Two or three workouts a day. And the breakdown came. Zimyatov was incredibly tired. Physically and psychologically. Every cell of his body, every muscle, every nerve protested against work, begged for rest. And Bystrov's wisdom in this case was that, while admonishing Zimyatov, being angry with him, he nevertheless left him the opportunity to do as his body prompted him. Bystry, in principle, trusted Zimyatov, knowing his conscientiousness and commitment.
Arriving from Bakuriani to Moscow, just before the USSR Cup in Krasnogorsk, as it happened to him more than once in previous years, Zimyatov really fell ill and could not start, although the starts were very necessary. That is why the first race in Lake Placid demanded a colossal effort from him. After all, he didn’t really know anything: neither how ready he was, nor how ready his main rivals were, or who they were, finally ...
True, he had experience performing in Lake Placid. A year earlier, he had been there and in the 30 km race - his favorite distance - he took second place behind the Norwegian Oddvar Bro, who knew no equal in the 1979 season. Zimyatov lost 25 seconds to him, but started in an uncomfortable position - far ahead of his opponent. I ran the distance very easily and felt that I could improve and maybe win. But then it was not important. The main thing was that he liked the climate and the terrain, and that the hope of victory was born in him, which, like a guiding star, led him for a whole year - until the very Games.
He was born and raised in the village of Rumyantsevo, Istra district, Moscow region. Rumyantsevo stretches along the Volokolamsk highway. There is a fork from it - another highway, Sergeevskoye. A small street flows like a stream into an asphalt river - it is called New. On it stands the Zimyatovs' house. Built by his parents. Zimyatov remembers that time. Together with his sisters, he came here to watch the walls rise day by day. Now it is a home, with its own smells, with its nightly creaks and rustles. In it, Zimyatov owns a small room - his room since childhood - now full of sports prizes and awards. He loves this room and always returns to it after long and difficult journeys. Friends of childhood and youth are sure to gather, tea drinking begins - something like a solemn ritual in the Zimyatov family - and calm conversations flow about ski racing, about sports, about the fate of friends and comrades, about life - about everything you can talk about with friends.
Now, recalling meetings with Zimyatov, turning over the pages of scribbled notebooks, restoring the events of Lake Placid, I am trying to determine the main character trait of my hero, which one way or another is revealed in him in all life situations. Loyalty ... Yes, exactly loyalty.
This is loyalty to friends. And loyalty to their home on Novaya Street. And loyalty to this street. On it, as on all streets, two companies, personifying good and evil, fought and coexisted. Zimyatov, of course, was the one who chivalrously defended and implanted the principles of justice. However, the difference in positions did not prevent the companies from uniting when the time for furious football and hockey battles began - street to street. Zimyatov played hockey and football well.
Return to the house... Every year in the spring Zimyatov comes to Rumyantsevo with his teammate Anatoly Ivanov to dig a garden. The sun warms, the earth, damp and greasy, sticks to the shovel, the breeze spreads the smell of humus around, clouds slowly float in the sky. Gradually, jackets, sweaters, shirts, T-shirts are pulled off the shoulders. And now both are naked to the waist. Losing weight after the end of the season - at least study the structure of the spine.
Mom, Anna Petrovna, a primary school teacher, for a long time could not get used to the fact that her son deliberately exhausted himself with training, and every time, critically looking at him, she asked:
- Well, how can you compete with them? They are so healthy.
They are Yevgeny Belyaev, Yuri Vakhrushev, Nikolai Bazhukov - really very strong guys ... Mother was worried and as soon as her son appeared at home, she sold him fresh milk. She calmed down only after one day Zimyatov arrived home with Rochev. He was in good shape, and therefore thin almost to transparency, where is Zimyatov.
Television filmed a tape about Zimyatov. There is such an episode - the future three-time Olympic champion is chopping wood. Tall, slender, flexible - he wields an ax with dexterity, almost with grace, crushing log after log with strong accurate blows. An amazing fortress lives in his outwardly frail body.
Yes, Zimyatov does not look like Vyacheslav Vedenin, Ivan Garanin, and even more so, Evgeny Belyaev. He is a completely different type of skier. Strength, perseverance, courage are hidden behind his boyish fragility. But I saw him on the track, I saw all three of his Olympic gold finishes.
Zimyatov was incomparable. Thin lips, eyes white with anger, sunken cheeks. Extraordinarily wide with quick steps, strongly pushing with sticks, stretching out with a string, after two hours of a grueling race, he swiftly flew to the finish line, surprising with his ability to draw inexhaustible reserves of strength from the hiding places of the body.
Zimyatov built all his winning races in Lake Placid tactically ingenuously, without thinking about what his starting number is, profitable or not, and in what position the rivals start - in front or behind. He increased the pace immediately, from the very first meters he began to win, crossing out all the temporary layouts of the leaders. At such a pace, with wide, light steps, he overcame the entire distance. Thirty kilometers or fifty - it didn’t matter to him, just as it didn’t matter what the weather was like: whether it snowed (on the day of the 30-kilometer race it fell), whether the temperature changed (it changed on the day of the marathon). By the way, in Zimyatovo, not only the inner strength invisible to the eye is surprising, but also the rare ability to adapt to any weather conditions and the state of the ski track. Even recoil, which is most disliked by skiers, is not a tragedy for him - somehow he always finds the best option when recoiling.
However, reader, we digress from the main topic: the character of Zimyatov, or rather, one of his features. Following her, one must pay tribute to Zimyatov's relationship with his first coach Alexei Kholostov ... Frankly, the concept of "coach" is too narrow in relation to Kholostov. He became a master of sports in skiing at the age of 40 - a fact that speaks of a person's immense love for skiing. AND sports school in the Novo-Petrovsky village, close to Rumyantsev, he organized it solely out of an impulse to tear the guys off the street. How much he managed to create a strong childish team can be judged at least by the fact that Kholostov's students - for several generations - once a year must gather together at their school. These evenings are beautiful, Zimyatov did not miss a single one.
It was Idle who discovered in Zimyatov the skier's talent - such exists - and gradually, carefully, from entertainment and distraction, he transferred his ward to the rails of a serious sports hobby.
However, the time will come in their joint work when Idle will utter a sad, but also great phrase for every real coach: “As a coach, I can’t give you anything else ...” Zimyatov will have other mentors, well-known experts: in the youth team - Nikolai Anikin, in the adult team - Boris Bystroye. But through all the years he will carry a touching attachment to Kholostov and will retain the need to turn to him in moments of spiritual anxieties and doubts.
I understand that loyalty to friends, to the first coach, to family is not yet a comprehensive manifestation of loyalty. There are its highest criteria, fidelity to duty, for example.
Once Zimyatov told me not without pride: “I can’t study badly at the institute - I built this institute with my own hands.” It was about the Malakhov Institute of Physical Education, which Zimyatov is graduating this year. And after his first brilliant victory in Lake Placid - on the "thirty" - to my question:
- What are you thinking about now?
He replied:
- About the fact that now you are not ashamed to return home ...
This idea was born two years ago, when, having first got into the national team of the country, he won a silver medal in the 30-kilometer distance at the World Championships in Lahti and realized that he would probably go to Lake Placid.
This relentless thought, the thought of not being ashamed to return, urged him on in training: on the first snow in the taiga mountain village of Vershina, where nature was preserved in its pristine beauty, and in popular print Austria, when in his zeal he intercepted over the edge. The thought of this made him bathe from early spring until late autumn - to temper himself, because he was prone to colds.
He realized the need to win at the Olympic Games as his duty, and, having become a three-time Olympic champion, Zimyatov was truly happy, as a person is happy, proud of the consciousness of a duty fulfilled.
Speaking about Zimyatov's high sense of duty, I would like to note one more fact from his biography: Zimyatov is a deputy of the Moscow Regional Council of People's Deputies. He was nominated for this honorary and binding post by the staff of the institute and one of the Malakhov factories. Zimyatov's meeting with voters took place shortly before leaving for Lake Placid. Then Zimyatov wished to return with a victory. This was not a serious order, and it was not specifically about Zimyatov, everyone understood that winning the Olympic Games was a serious matter. However, Zimyatov took the wish precisely as a mandate, and people elected him to the deputies already in the rank of Olympic champion.
He returned to Moscow on the morning of 27 February. IL-62, which made a non-stop flight on the route Montreal - Moscow, landed at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Zimyatov went out onto the ladder and saw a sea of people. "I wonder who they're meeting?" he thought, and automatically turned back. He was affectionately pushed forward: “Go, go, you are being met ...” And then he saw in the crowd of his Rumyantsev friends Slavka and Tolya Polunin, Kolya Yegorov, Vasya Ananyev ... He saw familiar Spartak players. They picked him up, lifted him up and carried him across the square ... Honor and the road to the "skiing king"! Finally, they carefully set him on his feet. Rumyantsev's friends, on the one hand, dragged him to the bus, Spartak's friends, on the other hand, pulled him to the "Seagull". A situation was created as if the forces were equal in tug of war. But then the "king" plaintively pleaded:
- Let me go brothers...
He left that day for Rumyantsevo.
In the last days of March, Nikolai Zimyatov and I sat in a room at the Polyarnye Zori hotel in Murmansk. Remembering the past, talking about the future.
- What would you like now? I asked him.
- Rest, - he honestly admitted. - Five or six days at sea. And a few more days in the fall at home. Walk with his father for mushrooms: he has one place in mind - a bulk of mushrooms.
Semyon Mikhailovich - Zimyatov's father - a man of a rare profession, a glass blower. Produces original finest instruments for chemical laboratories. After the Olympics, Nikolai came to work with him at the Academy of Public Utilities. Gathered workers, employees, comrades of the father. And Nikolai was pleased to see with what respect everyone treated his father, and Semyon Mikhailovich was pleased with the deep respect people had for his son. Zimyatov the father is rightfully proud of Zimyatov the son...
We sat in the hotel room and talked about the difficult skiing. I peered into Zimyatov's face - cute, still boyish and not at all royal. I rejoiced at the optimism, humor and some kind of childish naivety of my hero. But at the same time I felt his independence, and strength of character, and civic maturity ...
"King of skis"... Well, three gold medals give full right to this title. But when they call him "king", he gets embarrassed and says: "Well, what kind of king am I to you?"
Well, maybe he's right. But he is a brilliant skier. A skier of a modern, if I may say so, design. And we can only hope that the first Olympics in his life in Lake Placid is not the last for him, that we still have to rejoice at Zimyatov's victories and be proud of them.
(born in 1955)Four-time Olympic champion in cross-country skiing. In 1980, he won at distances of thirty and fifty kilometers, and also as part of the USSR national team in the 4 x 10 kilometers relay. In 1984 he won the distance of thirty kilometers. At the Olympics-84 became silver medalist as part of the USSR national team in the relay race 4 x 10 kilometers. Silver medalist at the World Championships in Lahti (1978).
Zimyatov became a three-time Olympic champion at the age of twenty-four. Before him, in the history of skiing, no one has yet managed to win three gold medals at one Olympics. Zimyatov, in twelve February days in Sarajevo, accomplished what the luminaries achieved throughout their entire sports career.
Nikolai Zimyatov was born on June 28, 1955. As a boy, Zimyatov raved about hockey, although he also played football well. Nikolai's father Semyon Mikhailovich - a wonderful master glass blower - looked at his son's hobby indulgently. What normal boy does not drive a ball in summer and a puck in winter? But mother Anna Petrovna, a primary school teacher, was worried: she wouldn’t hurt herself, wouldn’t break something, wouldn’t catch a cold - Zimyatov often got sick. Therefore, Anna Petrovna insisted that Kolya enter the local music school in the button accordion class. Zimyatov later admitted: "The day I broke up with music school became the most joyful for me.
By that time, Zimyatov, like many guys from Rumyantsev, went to Golovin to ski training To Alexei Ivanovich Kholostov. The paths of a coach and a student, the paths of Kholostov and Zimyatov crossed in 1969. And before that, four years earlier, the physical education teacher of the Novo-Petrovsky secondary school number one, the 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 a school from scratch. There was no room, no inventory, no illuminated trails... In a word, there was only a desire. And thanks to the asceticism of Kholostov, the school grew stronger, gained strength, and began to grow.
The personality of the coach ... 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 a 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 approve the motto in the eyes of the guys: "Whoever wants, he will achieve!"
And it was Kholostov, who upheld the principles in the relationship of the guys - justice, loyalty, honor - he himself strictly followed these principles in all cases of life. Is it worth it after that to say that the vast majority of the pupils of Alexei Ivanovich tried to be like their coach, dreamed of entering the Institute of Physical Education.
It was Kholostov who discovered the talent of a skier in Zimyatovo. In a tall, thin, not very healthy teenager, he saw endurance, stubbornness, and determination - qualities without which there is no good racer. And the days and months of training dragged on: cross-country skiing, imitation, ski rollers, classes on a power circle in the forest (by the way, a year after these classes, Zimyatov already did 50 push-ups and 16 pull-ups on the crossbar). And after each training session, it is necessary to do physical labor: they cleared and built the track, built locker rooms, a rehabilitation center. Zimyatov got stronger, he mastered the technique better than the 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 nothing but a boy, you just get sick a lot. You have to harden yourself, brother." And Kolya Zimyatov began to pour himself cold water, swim from the beginning of summer until late autumn.
Zimyatov was not a fanatic, no. It was enough for study, and for dancing, and for walks with a girl. It was just that his life was richer than that of many of his peers. And there was a goal that helped him keep up with everything. Sports instilled in Zimyatov courage and resilience, perseverance and perseverance. 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 substitute. However, it so happened that the first number fell ill and had to run Nikolai 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 major disruptions, but by no means easy.
In 1972, at the USSR Youth Championship in Syktyvkar, Nikolai took third place. In my heart, of course, I rejoiced. And yet Kholostov, imagine, 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 have found a place. Fortunately - Kholostov believed that it was fortunate - Zimyatov was not taken to the national team, and the two of them had the opportunity to work calmly, seriously, and most importantly, without forcing loads for another year. And the moment will come in this work - by that time Zimyatov will become the country's champion among juniors (1973), and a year later at the European Championships he will win a silver award and will be included in the country's youth team - when Kholostov will say sad, but great for everyone a real coach's phrase: "As a coach, I can't give you anything more." He, of course, cheated - Kholostov. He understood that everyone who prepared a talented athlete for her could not become a mentor to the national team. He - Kholostov - did his job: he brought up a capable skier, 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 obscure the authority of the coaches of the national team ... 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 ground, and therefore he believed that his relationship with Zimyatov would not end.
Kholostov turned out to be right here too. Kholostov will remain for Zimyatov both the first mentor and the senior friend. And every time, returning from long-distance tours, he will come to Kholostov for advice and begin to shake up with him the plans for the year received in the national team. And Kholostov unobtrusively, but insists on proving that Zimyatov does 15-20 percent less work.
In 1978, Nikolai became the silver medalist of the World Championship in the Finnish city of Lahti. Nikolai came to the XIII Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid as the second number of the team. He was a debutant and was not well known in the sports world, because 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 offered 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 got cold during the night, and even the blanket did not save. And then the race started. In the morning it started to fall thick wet snow. It was hard to think of worse weather for the guys. Our skiers are accustomed to and love to run in the cold, on a hard, almost icy track. And someone the weather, of course, unsettled. But not Zimyatova. He is patient by nature and does not waste his nerves on trifles.
Our coaches conjured with ointments for a long time, hiding from extraneous, too curious eyes in a small house. So, however, did in each team. It was not in vain that they conjured - they hit the ointment completely, which is very difficult with such a track. The glide was good, the skis "didn't shoot through".
Standing at the start, waiting for your turn, Nikolai Zimyatov physically felt the expression "knees 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 got used to it, calmed down and ran, as in ordinary competitions.
The task was set by the trainers to Zimyatov simple: he must constantly, from kilometer to kilometer, increase the pace, forcing Mieto, Bro and other possible contenders to go on a big, as the skiers say, oxygen debt. He coped with this task, it was enough. After the tenth kilometer, Zimyatov became the leader and did not let anyone go ahead until the finish line.
This is how a skier from a hitherto unknown or little-known village of Rumyantsevo won his first Olympic gold medal in his life and the first Lake Placid medal of our entire team. Then Nikolai did not have enough to win the medal in five seconds at fifteen kilometers. He won the second gold medal as part of the USSR national team in the 4 x 10 km relay. Ahead was a marathon, a distance that required a super-maximal exertion of strength from a skier, testing everyone who runs it for sports and human maturity.
The Scandinavians did not want to give up this distance for anything: at the Olympics, our marathon has never been won against them. It was also necessary to take into account that for the Finn Juhi Mieto, the marathon was seen as the last chance to win an Olympic gold medal. Zimyatov started under the forty-first number, Mieto - so the lot decided - under the thirty-eighth.
While you are walking "fifty kopecks," Zimyatov said, "you will have time to remember your whole life, this is a long distance. And heavy. When it became completely unbearable, I persuaded myself, like a mother feeding a child: "Here are these hundred meters for Uncle Petya, this climb for the sisters, for my nephew Alyoshka ..." At times he turned off, as if losing consciousness. Everything around him became indistinguishable: the trees along his long road, the figures of the fans, the voices of the coaches. He knew only one thing, that he would give everything, all his strength and nerves, all his sports anger - he would give everything to the bottom. "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, sliding along the parallel track, breathed out muffledly in German and Russian: "Come! Come with me!" Huge bearded Finn, ski poles in whose hands they seemed to be matches, he accepted the invitation and firmly "sat" Kolya on his heels. This, of course, did not please our coaches - in the marathon, the real struggle begins somewhere after the forty-fifth kilometer, and then anything can happen.
When Kolya and Mieto went the fourth round (12.5 kilometers each), Kholostov understood: "Either now, or ..." - and shouted: "Kolya! Take off, take off on the rise!" Zimyatov shook his head heavily: he understood, and won ten meters from Mieto on this climb - he ran, pushing hard with sticks, as if there were not more than forty kilometers behind him hard race. After that, the Finn "got up". No, he was still in a hurry, he tried to do something, but he did not count on gold. "Gold" was ours. Kholostov seemed to freeze, petrified, until someone's cry brought him to his senses: "What are you standing about?! Zimyatov took the third" gold "!"
And Alexei Ivanovich ran, falling into the soft snow, awkwardly jumping over the fences. At the finish line, one of the coaches of the national team hugged him: "Well, thank you, Ivanych! What a guy you raised!" And the three-time Olympic champion stood and smiled at the now famous sports world embarrassed smile. At that moment, he felt no joy, only great weariness.
Who could have guessed that Nikolai Zimyatov after Lake Placid, it will suddenly and unexpectedly disappear from the ski horizon for a long time, sowing a lot of conjectures and perplexed questions both among its admirers and among the coaches of the national team of the country.
However, Zimyatov will still win one race - in early March 1980, in, at the national championship. The very first race - Nikolai's favorite "thirty" - gathered an unprecedented number of spectators in the Birch Grove. It seemed that everyone came to the ski track, came "to 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, deceive their expectations. By that time, Zimyatov, as the skiers say, was already just skating, moving away from the loads. And, on the contrary, those who did not get in. the Olympic team - also strong skiers - were preparing for the championship on purpose, were in the "peak" of form and longed for revenge, albeit senseless, albeit belated, but still.
It is not known what that race cost Zimyatov, what kind of effort, but he spent it with brilliance, in one breath, and won with a solid margin, as befits a three-time Olympic champion. On that day, he seemed to convince the Krasnoyarsk people: “You wanted to know if I was a real champion? You see, a real one. And it’s natural and easy for me to win.”
Who knew that that his victory in was the last. Although the first time after Lake Placid and even a year later, Zimyatov was still spoken and written about. Journalists in the reports on the competitions necessarily, as if out of courtesy, mentioned: "The three-time Olympic champion also competed in the race. Unfortunately, he is still far from better shape and took ... "The place was called in the second or third ten. And at first, and a year later, the journalists still asked the coaches questions: they say, what is happening with Zimyatov, will he enter the ranks, will we see his winning run? .. And the coaches at first assured: yes, yes, of course ... Of course, he will enter, of course, we will see ... And yet these assurances sounded less and less - optimism melted away. A year after the Olympics, Nikolai Zimyatov performed extremely unsuccessfully at Winter Spartakiad friendly armies, a year later he did not get into the team that went to the World Cup in Holmenkollen ... And he was almost forgotten about. Actually, it could not be otherwise: the new "stars" made people talk about themselves - Alexander Zavyalov, Yuri Burlakov, a whole galaxy of very young riders ...
After Lake Placid, after two and even more so after three years, it seemed to everyone that Nikolai Zimyatov exhausted himself. At a gathering of candidates Olympic team in Sevastopol Boris Bystrov - coach of the men's national team - to the question: does Zimyatov have a chance to get into the team for the Games in Sarajevo? He answered firmly: "No!" Then he explained: “Lake Placid, a 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 didn't resist. impossible. The guys in our national team are young, talented. Miracles don't happen..."
However, Zimyatov and his coach thought differently. Kholostov was well aware that health would not allow Zimyatov to race at a high competitive level. If you again bet on Olympic victory, then there was only one way out: to reduce the load, to go into the shadows for some period. Zimyatov moved to CSKA, moved to. He graduated from the Institute of Physical Education, dreaming of the future profession of 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, Nikolai Zimyatov I trained quite a lot, although not as intensively as my teammates. Zimyatov in Sarajevo will be the best among our skiers, the only one who can win a gold medal. And therefore, whether he is right from the point of view of science or not, it is for sure that Zimyatov chose the most optimal behavior for himself on the way from the Olympics to the Olympics.
However, his trip to the Olympics was in doubt. The wheel of coaching disbelief in Zimyatov was spinning at full speed. Although, as Bystrov promised, he was taken to all the preparatory camps, but at the very beginning of the Olympic winter they were sent on a competitive tour abroad.
Perhaps, since the time of the Olympics in Sapporo, a tradition has taken root in our skiing - to prepare for the Olympics and World Championships within our walls, at home. But how, in this case, to get an idea of the balance of power between our athletes and rivals? Very simple. Two or three skiers from the second echelon - a kind of scouts - are sent to international competitions. Then they compare and analyze the results of those competitions with the results of domestic competitions and, in general, get some more or less real picture. This is how Nikolai Zimyatov and Vladimir Sakhnov went to Davos as scouts at the beginning of the Olympic winter.
And now - a sensation! The 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 the "fifteen". There was something to be surprised, something to talk about, something to think about! The USSR Cup in Syktyvkar, a distance of 30 kilometers Zimyatov wins. Control competition for members of the team - wins. A series of starts in the Urals - 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 ceasing for a second, soft snow fell. Bad weather. However, that was a good sign, because Zimyatov’s ability is known better than others to adapt to the most tricky conditions: to fog, to ice, to rain ...
Like in Lake Placid Nikolai Zimyatov started one of the last. As in Lake Placid, he started calmly, feeling that he could improve at any moment. And as the race unfolded, his advantage inevitably grew: in 10 seconds, in 20, in 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 put together are dangerous and strong.
And here is the finish line. Winning finish. Having not yet overcome 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 the best time - 1 hour 28 minutes 56 seconds ... Four years ago, having won the laurels of the "skiing king" in Lake Placid, he unexpectedly and for a long time went into the shadows. Gone to return. Return "royal".
Sport has long been a part of the life of a modern person. The passions boiling over major world events in this area do not leave indifferent even an outside observer. Every sport has its own outstanding personalities - Olympic champions, athletes who personify it. Ask a football fan a question: "Who is the king of football?" In most cases, you will hear the answer: "Pele." In hockey, such an informal title was awarded to the great in basketball - Michael Jordan. If you take it, at the mention of biathlon, the current Norwegian athlete, Ole Einar Björndalen, comes to mind. It's nice that our athletes, Olympic champions, are also highly valued. Who left their mark on world history? "King of skis" - this is how our athlete Nikolai Zimyatov was called after phenomenal success at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The guy from the Moscow region at that time was only 24 years old.
Childhood
The post-war years left their mark on the life 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 took sticks in their hands or got up on skis and skates.
Nikolai Zimyatov, the future world skiing star, was a typical child of that time. Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov was born in the Moscow region on June 28, 1955. The native village of Nikolai - Rumyantsevo - was located in the Istra region. 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 the glassblower did not bring huge incomes, but Zimyatov Sr. was truly loved. 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. Nicholas was the most youngest child of three children in the Zimyatov family.
Parents saw a musician in Nikolai. Already in childhood he was enrolled in a music school, choosing to play the button accordion. For six months, Nikolai diligently attended the classes of the music circle, then the teenager's enthusiasm began to fade, there were missed classes. 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 a music school, Nikolai began the life of an ordinary teenager: in the summer - disappearing on the football field, in the winter - playing hockey and skiing for pleasure. Fortunately, Nikolai Zimyatov met a coach on his life path who helped the guy decide on an occupation for life. Once, when the district competitions were held cross-country skiing, A. Kholostov drew attention to Nikolai, who plays for the team of his school, ski trainer Novo-Petrovsky sports school. It was he who suggested that the teenager seriously take up skiing, attending his training. Initially, the parents were against the choice of their son. The fact that the Novo-Petrovskaya sports school was located 5 kilometers from his native Rumyantsev was frightening. But after a personal conversation with the coach, Nikolai's parents allowed him to study with A. Kholostov.
First successes
What attracted an ordinary student to the attention of a coach? According to Kholostov, Nikolai Zimyatov in childhood did not differ in any phenomenal natural data. But the fighting character, the ability to get together at the right moment, to show all your best qualities here and now favorably distinguished the novice athlete from other teammates.
The first sports successes came to the young man at the level of school performances for 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 perform in the individual and team championship of the USSR, held in Syktyvkar. Nikolai's debut took place on a 15-kilometer run, in which he took third place. The next year, when cross-country skiing competitions of the same rank were held, Zimyatov finished first in the 20-kilometer race. And really loudly, Nikolai loudly declared himself in 1975. Speaking as a junior, Nikolai was third in the 15-kilometer distance, second in the 20-kilometer run, and became the champion of the USSR among juniors as part of the relay team. It was clear to everyone - a new star lights up in the ski sky.
International starts
Successes on the inside sports arena did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the USSR national skiing team. On the eve of the eighth world championship in cross-country skiing in Finland, Nikolai Zimyatov is invited to the junior team of the Soviet Union. The debut championship brought Nikolai silver success in the 15 km race. In the rest of the 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 to compete in the adult category. The first big success in serious sports is at the 30-kilometer distance, earned at the USSR Championship. The next all-Union cross-country ski race was special. It was the jubilee, 50th national championship. Nikolai Zimyatov becomes a real triumphant of the jubilee national championship. He has 2 gold medals: in the individual race for 30 kilometers and a victory in the relay race as part of his team. By this time, the coaches of the USSR national team were seriously considering the candidacy of Nikolai as the main member of the team.
USSR national team
After regular victories in the domestic arena, Nikolai was expected to take the next step - he had to loudly declare himself in ski world and outside the Soviet Union. The chance presented itself in 1978 at the World Championships in the Finnish city of Lahti. In the first race of the championship at the 30-kilometer distance, Zimyatov was not considered as the main favorite. Rather, it was a chance to try yourself in the fight against the strongest skiers on the planet. However, Nikolai did not lose his head and won a silver medal in a stubborn struggle. His advantage over the bronze medalist, Polish skier Josef Luszczek, was only 4 seconds.
A successful World Championship, 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 period, the Winter Olympic Games in the American Lake Placid. In the program, the first were cross-country skiing (men) for 30 kilometers in the classic style. Strong Scandinavian skiers have traditionally been named as the main favorites. Our fans expected a lot from Soviet athletes: Nikolai Zimyatov, Vasily Rochev, Evgeny Belyaev. The draw of starting numbers was favorable to Zimyatov. He got 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 passage of the distance, Nikolai could, with the help of our coaches, focus on the time of his rivals. For a long time, the leader of the race was Nikolai's teammate Vasily Rochev. But already from the 10th kilometer, Zimyatov came out on top and in the future only increased the gap. 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 challenge was a 4 x 10 km relay race. At the starting stage, Rochev brought our team to the first place. At subsequent stages, the USSR national team retained its leadership, but it was clear to everyone that the fourth stage would decide the fate of the Olympic gold. At the finish stage, the strongest skiers of their national teams were assembled. But the pace set by Zimyatov Nikolai Semenovich turned out to be beyond the strength of the rest of the teams. With each kilometer passed, Nikolai's advantage over his rivals only grew. As a result, the separation of our team from the Norwegian team that finished in second place was 1 minute 42 seconds. A phenomenal figure for a competition of this rank.
Zimyatov's third Olympic gold
On the last day of the Olympics, the most prestigious and difficult ski race for men took place. Peculiar ski marathon- 50 km run. The whole world was looking forward to the duel between Nikolai Zimyatov and 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 rivals were exactly. When the skiers reached the finish line, 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 huge - about three minutes. Thus, Zimyatov's third Olympic gold was earned.
Life after the Olympics
The triumphant performance made Zimyatov a bright star of skiing. "King of skis" - so called Zimyatov 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 successfully performing at the 1984 Olympic Games in the coming years. To do this, Nikolai misses a number of major international competitions, including ski championship peace in 1982. In addition, changes are taking place in the personal life of Nikolai. Zimyatov marries, and Lyubov Zykova, a famous skier and participant in the Olympic Games, becomes his chosen one.
Return to the ski Olympus
Rare starts in the international arena lead to the fact that on the eve of the Olympics in Sarajevo, the Soviet skier N. Zimyatov is not among the possible favorites. But the first starts in the pre-Olympic season return Zimyatov to the number of contenders for Olympic medals. Won several international starts, won the USSR Cup, and to Olympic Games Nicholas is among the leaders.
And on February 10, 1984, a 30-kilometer race is planned - Nikolai's favorite distance. And again, the lot favors our athlete - he runs the last of the riders. And already in the middle of 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 final stage. Unfortunately, in a rivalry with a younger Swede, Nikolai lost 10 seconds. As a result, the Soviet team received a silver medal.
And the second Olympics in the sports career of Nikolai Zimyatov ended triumphantly for our athlete.
Nikolai 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 in childhood, eventually chose volleyball. Having become a professional volleyball player, as part of the Moscow CSK, she was repeatedly the winner of the Russian championship. His son, Dmitry, has been skiing at a fairly serious level for a long time, he even played for the Moscow national team in his age category. But in the end, my passion for drawing played a role. After leaving school, he entered the Stroganov Art Academy at the Faculty of Furniture Design.
coaching career
After the final of his sports career, Nikolai graduated from the Moscow State Institute physical education. Nikolai Zimyatov did not succeed in finally leaving the big sport, and he took up coaching. He started working with young athletes and gradually reached adult groups. Peak coaching career was the year in which he led the Russian national cross-country skiing team. The main star, which Zimyatov gave a ticket to big sport, we can safely assume Olympic champion Olga Danilova.
Achievements, sports awards
The rich history of skiing 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 of "Honored Master of Sports", and for the success of his students - the honorary title of "Honored Coach of Russia". He was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples.
