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One of the heroes of the 1972 Winter Olympic battles. became the Moscow skier Vyacheslav Vedenin. He became the first Olympic champion in Sapporo, winning the gold medal in the 30 km race. Before Vedenin, none of the Soviet athletes managed to win the men's individual race on the Olympic track.

But the real feat was accomplished by Vedenin in the 4x10 km relay. In this competition, the great skiing powers presented the strongest compositions: Norway - Oddvara Bro, Paul Tuldum, Ivar Formu and Jos Harviken, Sweden - Thomas Magnusson, Lars Åslund, Ingvar Sandström and Sven Oke Lundbek, USSR - Vladimir Skoboronkov, Yedriy Simoboronkov and Fedor Vyacheslav Vedenin. Every thousand kilometers traveled on skis has many wonderful victories behind him. Nevertheless, the Norwegians' chances were regarded a little higher, their quartet seemed to be more evenly matched ...

The teams passed the first stage at the same speed. Voronkov had a task from the coaches - not to be outdone, and he basically fulfilled the plan, yielding to Bro and Magnusson a few moments. Skobov, starting his way third, tried to immediately catch up with his rivals. It didn't work out. Gaining patience, he "checked" Aslund, and the Swede was unable to respond to the Soviet athlete's jerk. Tyuldum turned out to have stronger nerves and more strength, however, in the end, he also gave up in front of Skobov. After the second stage, the USSR team took the lead.

Nobody understood how it happened that Simashev could not keep the advantage. And he himself, after the finish, only shrugged. ... ... He went to the stage first. And then the news came from the track that by the beginning of the 5th km Form was won by 21 seconds. The gap grew with every kilometer. And by the end of the stage I reached a minute. It is, of course, impossible to play so much on a 10-kilometer stretch. Inexperienced Vyacheslav Vedenin (he was 32 years old) believed: if you do not believe in victory, there is no need to go to the start. But is this motto applicable when the opponent has a huge head start?

Vedenin started as if he had not heard the advice of the coaches “not to miss the silver”. He began the race for Harviken, whom he did not see: the Norwegian managed to hide in the forest, into which the ski track went. From the 3rd km a message came: Vedenin played 6 seconds, after 6 km the gap narrowed by 24 seconds .... But there is only 3 km ahead!

In the stands of the stadium, the spectators could not believe their eyes when the first athlete in a white uniform appeared on the track coming out of the forest. Vedenin still managed to bypass Harviken! His onslaught was so rapid that the Norwegian lost the track. So the USSR team in the relay became the Olympic champion.

http://www.peoples.ru/sport/skiing/vyacheslav_vedenin/index.html

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The first Soviet skier to win gold in the individual men's race. He was especially famous for the fact that he was able to win at the last stage of the 4x10 km relay in Sapporo (), leaving it 1 minute behind the Norwegian Harviken. Earlier, in 1970 at the World Championships, he similarly eliminated the gap of 40 seconds from the GDR national team. The personal trainer of Vyacheslav Vedenin was another famous Soviet skier, Olympic champion, Honored Master of Sports and Honored Coach of the USSR Pavel Konstantinovich Kolchin.

Achievements

• Two-time Olympic champion - 30 km and relay. At the same time he received a bronze medal in the 50 km race.
• Two-time world champion, Vysoke Tatry (30 km, relay), silver medalist in the 50 km race.
• Silver medalist at the 1968 Olympic Games in the 50 km race. He also took 4th place in the relay and 14th in the 30 km race.
• He made his debut in the USSR national team at the World Championship. In the 50 km race, he was in the lead up to the 45th kilometer, but took 6th place.

Miscellaneous

A 30 km skier race in Sapporo 1972. The history that there, in Japan, is still transmitted in legends. Then there were no mixed zones and press conferences, and journalists calmly wandered among the athletes right in the starting town. And suddenly, when a good half of the racers had already fled, snow fell. Thick, sticky. And Vyacheslav Vedenin, a minute before his start, undertook to lubricate his skis. And a local journalist, who speaks Russian, turned to him: they say, you think he will help - is it snowing?

What Vedenin answered him, only we in Russia understand. And in Japan, the next day, the newspapers came out with the headlines: "Saying the magic word" Dahusim", Russian skier won the Olympics."

• Since 1996 - a member of the editorial board of the Ski Race magazine, later (since 1998) - the Ski Sport magazine.

"Vedenin" and "Sapporo" - these two words are inseparable. In his life there were the High Tatras of the 70th, from where he returned to the rank of two-time world champion, adding to these two gold medals also the “silver” on the “fifty kopeck piece”. But still, what he did two years later at the last stage of the men's relay in Sapporo back in 1972 outweighs everything that was before in his sports biography.

Then there was an Achilles injury, an attempt to heal him as soon as possible, a hasty (as it turned out later) return to the ski track, again treatment, again a return ...

Alas, by that time his train had left. In 1976, a new generation of Soviet racers flourished in Innsbruck, Vasily Rochev, Evgeny Belyaev, Nikolai Bazhukov, Ivan Garanin, Sergei Savelyev burst into the world elite. They returned from Innsbruck with two gold medals in the individual races and a bronze medal in the relay. What a "bronze"! With a broken toe of a plastic boot, Evgeny Belyaev in the first stage, with a return from 17th place in the first stage to the third step of the podium as a result of this race. And 34-year-old Vedenin had to leave the sport under-demanded, unfulfilled, who did not run ...

He returned to Sapporo after 35 years, returned to the city of his youth and the city of his glory. Of course, you can return to the city of your youth, you can return to the city of your glory, but in your youth, alas, you will never return, right? I saw him, standing on the side of the picket fence in front of the man's fifty kopeck piece - Vyacheslav Petrovich was squinting at the sun, looking at the stadium, the ski track going into the hills, thinking about something of his own ...

- Vyacheslav Petrovich, can I talk to you?

About what? - he looks at me a little ironically, a little with a squint. He saw so many correspondents in his life, he told them so many times about that relay race that his irony and seeming unwillingness to speak are quite understandable.

About Sapporo, about 72nd. We will be making a photo album after this championship, the same as after Turin, and I just cannot imagine this album without interviews with you.

He saw the Turin 2006 album and liked it.

He turns to me:

What exactly are you interested in?

For example: when you found out that the 2007 World Cup will be held in Sapporo, did you have the idea that it would be nice to come here?

There was, of course, - he again turned towards the stadium, looked at the hills. Then he shrugged his shoulders slightly. “But this trip is too expensive. Thanks to the Russian Olympic Committee and the federation for organizing all this, for bringing all of us together - I finally saw all my comrades ...

Remember how you flew to Sapporo in 1972. You were already a mature racer, you had a triumphant 70th year behind you, when you returned from Czechoslovakia with two gold and silver medals; The 68th year, when you brought an individual silver medal from the Grenoble Olympics. With what attitude did you get on the plane then?

Looking forward to winning. Because every athlete has a dream to become an Olympic champion. And dreams come true if you really want it. And our entire team, in principle, flew to Japan with this attitude ...

You had some phenomenal, tremendous success here ... Where did all this come from, how did Soviet skiers manage to win so many medals?

All athletes were already adults, run-in. Behind were Grenoble, the High Tatras ... At the same Lakhtinsky, Falun Games - we won everything there too. That is, we were already a fairly experienced, mature team to Sapporo, so we flew with the spirit to win.

Then, after all, the experiments with height had just begun? In fact, it was the first major competition to which the Soviet team came, descending from the mountains?

No, why not? We were in the mountains before Grenoble at an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level. Everything has already been tested.

- Remember how you ran the "thirty"? Then the snow was falling like a wall ...

Yes, the mess on the track was the same. Skobov started with the seventh number, on the first two kilometers he caught up with all those who started in front and went first to trample the track. I ran 74 ...

- How much did you beat the second then?

The second was Tildum, I won over 50 seconds. I could have won more, but three kilometers before the finish line I had already won 45 seconds against him, so I thought to myself: "Why break down?" There, near the finish line, there were such viscous climbs, they had to jump with a fir-tree in them ... D think - why? There were three more races ahead ...

I remember Kolchin shouting to me: "Glory, plus nine seconds!", And I answered him: "Konstantinich fell, not nine, but thirty-nine!" And he, it turns out, from the excitement of the wrong timing. In general, I finished calmly, without much straining, I saved my strength for the remaining races.

Before, there were no computers, coaches with stopwatches worked, and I deliberately started very quietly so that the coaches of other teams would throw me off the stopwatches, so that they would not continue the race for me. When I came here to the stadium after the first “ten”, I looked at the scoreboard and saw that I was going seventh, losing to the leader for 40 seconds.

- Did you feel panic? Still, 40 seconds at the top ten ...

No. Because right after the stadium, a long, long climb of 3.5 kilometers began. I played all these 40 seconds on this climb, and when I finished the second "top ten", I looked at the scoreboard, and it was already +12. And all the competitors were ahead, so it was easy for me to navigate. Well, that's all - when they received the information, maybe they began to "turn on", but some of the distance was not enough, some of the finish climb had already passed, so there was nowhere to win back. Therefore, it was easier for me ...

- It turns out that you and the coach deceived everyone ...

Deceived (smiles). That's why he and Kolchin ...

- And you originally planned so - to start quieter? Did you discuss tactics before the race?

Of course we did. This was our idea with Kolchin. He offered, and I agreed. I was immediately sure that on this big rise I would win back the gap with everyone.

Wow, I did not know these details yet ... But in general it is interesting, of course ... Sapporo-1972 was the place of our loudest victories, wasn't it? I cannot remember that some other world championship or the Olympic Games brought such glory to the USSR national cross-country skiing team ...

I agree. Then the girls won everything too. Everything literally - all three gold medals were brought home! The guys took two "gold". Yes, even on the "tag" Fedya Simashov - after all, he was there second, took the "silver".

- And is this famous relay? .. You are probably already tired of remembering, but still tell us, please, briefly, how it was?

The composition of the relay was first made up by the coaches. But later, as the team captain, I said that I had to run Skobov. And the coaches instead of Skobov wanted to see Dolganov in the relay. But Skobov is a fighter, and Dolganov more than once "signed" in the Union in relay races. That is, I caught up with him, overtook him, and he could do nothing with me. Therefore, the team came to the conclusion that instead of Dolganov, Skobov should run the baton.

As for Simashov ... I, in principle, knew that he would lose at his stage. But I thought that if he lost thirty seconds, I would still win back this gap. But I, of course, did not think that he would bring a whole minute.

- Why were you sure that Simashov would lose?

Because at the World Championships he also lost a minute, and even before that he sometimes brought a gap ... But it was also impossible not to put it. Still, the second place was taken by a person in a personal race ... But my heart was not lying to put him. I told him at the same time: "If you were not the second on the tag, but in the top ten, you would not run." He replied, "I know."

- Did you tell him straight into his eyes, or what?

And I always say everything to my eyes.

- And Voronkov, for example, remembers this story in a different way. He told me that the coaches chose between him and Dolganov at the first stage, and not between Skobov and Dolganov.

No, he is confusing. After all, they called me to the coaching council, and then the coaches began to walk from room to room to their students and ask all the guys their opinion. I immediately named the composition. Voronkov could not be removed from the first stage, since this is a real starter, he was already checked by Grenoble, and Czechoslovakia, and Falun. This man ... Well, what can I say - a starter, in a word.

And so the relay began, the first two stages went well, and then Simashov started. And there information on the stadium was transmitted from every kilometer. I see that Tildum has already caught up with him. I think, well, Fedka will catch on to him now, and the Norwegian will bring him 30 seconds at most, I think, well, okay, I'll play it back. But after a while I look - the loss is more and more.

Well, I started to cook Harviken on the sly ... P walked over, congratulated him on his victory. We had a normal relationship with him. Then they said that the gap was already forty seconds, I took the ointment and began to conjure over the skis - I put the can in my hand and began to drive my finger along the ski, pretending to be smearing. And yet they always keep their ears open, they are watching each other, so he came up to see what I was putting under the shoe. I show him the blue Swix. And then the stadium reports that the Russians are already fifty seconds behind. He comes up to Gröningen and says to him: "Vedenin is greasing himself for the third time." And the latter speaks rudely, harshly to him, almost shouts: "Ninhta, ninhta!"

- Don't you mean?

Sure! "Ninhta" is not Norwegian. But, you see, nerves are nerves, you can't get away from it. And already more than fifty seconds of separation, I once again approached Harviken - let me, I think, I'll hang a medal on your chest - will you take it, won't you take it? I hugged him, shook his hand, I feel that he had already accepted congratulations internally for himself ... It was a purely psychological trick so that he would go to the track relaxed. Further I see: he began to smear with a blue Swix, but the blue Swix did not go that day. Here, with just one ointment, I played him for another 20 seconds, without even starting.

When the baton was passed to me, Lundberg followed me - there were twelve seconds between us. I see Kuzin and Kamensky walking, they are already drinking brandy and shouting: "Glory, second place is also a place!" Such anger took me! Why don't they believe in me? I received the first information only at the mark of 4.5 kilometers from Sasha Privalov. I tell him: "Zaseki, how much I will win back from him on the rise." And there was such a loop in the sun - it was convenient to jump over and spot. In the end, I played him eight seconds on this loop.

Then I started to drive. There is no one behind. I came up to that 3.5-kilometer ascent, it was so uncomfortable: traction with sections of the "Christmas tree" about fifty meters. I look, the Norwegian is just jumping with a "Christmas tree". I think: "He takes two steps, and I, therefore, must take one." And our guys stood at the top of the ascent, and I, as my heart felt, warned them in advance: "Guys, do not shout to me either" Petrovich "or" Slava ", but shout the name." So they started yelling, as soon as I appeared: "Vedenin, Vedenin, Vedenin!" Harviken began to turn around. And what does it mean to turn around on a "Christmas tree"? The smallest is minus two seconds, or even three. And when he turned and saw me, of course, it was a shock for him. A little more time passed, and 800 meters before the finish line, I was already level with him.

Then, as Manturanta taught me in 1968 in Grenoble, I "rocked" him on the track ...

- How did it "rock"?

Well, so ... I leaned on a stick, showed that I was falling on him, as if I had no strength at all. Naturally, anyone will stop if he sees that they are falling on his side ... He stopped from there - he was reluctant to fall, and I won back a second from him.

Then, when we had already reached the stadium, 70 meters remained to the finish line, a lot of tracks were cut. I see that now, for some reason, only two tracks are cut for the relay, but in our time they cut at least four, and in some places even six. And I started to go from one ski track to another. I looked, I "stirred" him, and he fell 30 meters before the finish line, got entangled in his own legs ...

- That is, in fact, you and "put" it?

No, I didn't even touch him.

- No, I am in a figurative sense. So you somehow provoked him to this fall?

Yes, that's how you can say that provoked. It's just that when your legs are not held, you can fall out of the blue, and then the ski tracks are cut ... Then there was frost, the ski tracks were hard, deep, you had to somehow keep your legs at the same time.

Then, when I finished, my head stopped working. I remember sitting in the house, asking the guys: did I win? They answer: "I won!" That is, I was thinking on the track, I remembered that I had to cross the beam at the finish line with sticks or with my foot, but then, after the finish, I switched off. Still, such rises ... But they could work. Not like now ...

- Are the tracks easier here now?

Sure!

But this very difficult ascent (I point with my hand in the direction of a long, gentle ascent with a steep exit located to the left of the stadium).

So what? One climb for the whole circle? And we had such climbs in the hills! We jumped with a "Christmas tree" on each circle, but here - only in one place.

Having recognized Vedenin, the famous former skier, multiple Olympic champion and world champion Norwegian Vegard Ulvang comes up to greet us. Despite my not very good English, I have to act as a translator.

- Vegard, Vyacheslav Petrovich says that now the tracks in Sapporo are much easier than they were before ...

Vegard nods his head with a smile. Then he asks:

- Mr. Vedenin, do you manage to ski in your home country now?

Sometimes it succeeds (Vedenin smiles).

Do you want to ride together today, see the track? The weather is wonderful, the sun is shining, the track is ready very well ...

No, I already had time to walk, to try. Unfortunately, we are already leaving today.

- What do you think about modern cross-country skiing, about mass starts?

It's beautiful, interesting for the audience, but to be honest, I don't like it. This is not much like skiing in its former understanding. How was it before? The one who wins “fifty dollars” and “thirty” is the king of skis. King! And now ... one sits, sits all 50 kilometers behind, then breaks ahead at the finish line, once - and he is a champion. No, I miss the separate "fifty dollars" ...

- I completely agree with you (laughs)! What can you say about the championship?

The impressions are good, but it would be much better if the world championship was held in Norway or in Russia, otherwise there are not enough spectators in the stands.

- I agree. I have not been in Rybinsk this year, but I heard about the World Cup stage in Demino, that there were a lot of spectators there. I believe that you could host the highest level competitions in Russia. We expect that the next season's World Cup will also be held in Rybinsk.

Vegard moves away from us, and we continue our conversation with Vyacheslav Petrovich.

- What respect does Ulwang treat you, have you noticed? Nice, right?

Nice, I agree.

- Tell me, has the city changed a lot since then?

Yes strong. The city has become more beautiful, cleaner, already in wheelbarrows, as before, Japanese women with hot potatoes and fish do not drive through the streets. Now I walked around the city - this is no longer there.

- Do you mean freshly cooked potatoes and fish?

Yes, they fried right in front of you: she had a fire in her car there, and she fried it all right in front of you. But, of course, the city does not live by the championship, as it did at the Olympics thirty-five years ago. Then on every corner there were posters, all kinds of souvenirs, badges, pennants were sold everywhere, the city simply breathed the Olympic Games. Now there is none of this. Even a World Cup T-shirt cannot be bought anywhere. There are also very few people. There are no local residents in the stands - mainly tourists from other countries, visitors ... In 1972 there were no vacant seats here, everything was packed. At the opening of the Olympics, athletes walked in columns of 100 people, and then 4 people came out, as in the championship of the housing office ...

- Vyacheslav Petrovich, what do you think is the team captain?

First of all, it is the assistant of trainers. Everyone comes to him with their joys and sorrows. He, the captain, must be the first to know about everything, and then everything who needs and does not need. The captain is a big responsibility ...

- You are now watching the current team, who is the captain Vasily Rochev?

I talked with him a long time ago, about five years ago, you can say that I almost only know him from photographs ...

- Why? Doesn't add up, you don't have time to follow the national team, talk to the athletes?

No, why, I just have a lot of time now ... But oh, I'm not used to getting into my soul, and they are on the road all the time, when should you keep an eye on them?

- What are you doing now?

I'm a pensioner, I don't do anything special.

- How is your club to them. Vedenina, is it working?

Yes it works. We have two groups. We are not giving up the base in Podrezkovo. Dynamo come there, undress, train. We work with children at a base that has no price anymore. It was built in 1939. Now, after all, in Khimki, on Skhodnya, there is nothing left - everything is paid everywhere, and we have 70 boys go to training for free. We recently held a cross, and 370 people started. In general, we are slowly tearing the guys off the smoke, otherwise it’s happening in the yards ...

- Do you think it is possible to restore the ski track in Podrezkovo?

No-no, that you ... They've already built everything up there - some fences. In general, there is no way out from the base to the former tracks! But we have enough space to train for children, on the other side, if we go from Planernaya, there is a school, in the park we have a three-ruble note this year. During the competition, the adult boys had two laps, the smaller ones had one.

- And what, Vyacheslav Petrovich, was it impossible to somehow keep, keep the track?

What do you mean! Who needs it? Moscow or what?

- Well, including Moscow ...

Yes, well. Throw you!

- Well, we have a Moscow federation, a Russian one. Don't they need this track? The same Courses, Golovatov, Loginov ... They have contacts with the heads of the Moscow Sports Committee, the city - what, they could not explain that the ski tracks are being destroyed in the city, that they are needed by Moscow, Moscow region skiers? ..

I don’t know, I don’t go there. And then you know: in the same Bitsa, Putin presented this land to the SVR, and what will you do now? I told Luzhkov about this, I spoke to him in the eyes. He sent me to Shantsev - he was then vice-mayor of Moscow - Shantsev sent me to Kofman - the chairman of the Moscow sports committee. So what - that's it? I told them all: "Moscow is the only city in Russia where there is no ski stadium."

- And what are they?

Never mind. I was sent to each other in turn. Ah-ah, none of this and no one needs: everyone has one business on their ears. Therefore, there is no one to take to the army in Moscow. Because everything around is paid, those who have money to pay for the same sailing, for the same skis, still somehow hold on, and the rest ... Well, at least, skis were introduced again as a compulsory lesson. I have three schools around me - in five years I have never seen anyone skiing! Now they are starting to return it all. After all, we have how: first they destroy, then they begin to rebuild.

Bittsa - only one outlet remained, and that will soon be taken away. What can you do here? .. If the president of the country gave this land to the scouts, then at least you burst here! Soon they will block everything with a fence and that's it.

- But do you think there is no chance to defend the ski tracks in Moscow?

As long as these Moscow sports schools - "Spartak" and "Babushkino" - will be allowed to "steal" athletes from the regions, and Moscow will pay for these "Varangians", so long as our schools do not work, there will be nothing in our city ... Everything will continue in the same spirit until they begin to educate their skiers. And to educate your skiers, you need tracks. Then, perhaps, they will think about all these questions, not earlier. I quarreled with all of them on this topic - it's useless.

- And "to steal" - you mean to invite nonresidents?

Sure. Look at those who are now in favor of Moscow! Are there any native Muscovites there? After all, all are "stolen", starting with me, with Simashov, with Savelyev. Here is now Shiryaev - Nizhny Novgorod, Sidko ... I don't remember where she is from ...

- I don't remember now either.

See, don't remember. But she is not a Moscow girl. It is a pity for the Moscow athletes who really want to ski: the same Zelenograd, Khimki sports schools ... They are not allowed to develop, they are not allowed to work, because this "stolen" money is eaten up, all the budgets are devastated. The same Chepalova ... Now she's married to Rochev - that's it, Chepalova is gone. But for three years it was she who ate all the Moscow estimates with her family, right?

- I do not know…

Come on, you do not know ... In this you know. Talk to Povzner over there, he will tell you ...

Well, but still, can you do something in the Moscow federation, somehow move the situation off the ground?

I haven’t been there for five years and I don’t even know who the president is now.

- Are you not interested in this?

No, because I know that trying to achieve something there is like throwing peas against the wall. Why do I need this?

- Okay, Vyacheslav Petrovich, let's return from this mournful topic to a more pleasant one - the World Championship. Voronkov told me that when you came here before the Olympic Games, you had a long acclimatization, is that really so?

We spent ten days in Sapporo before leaving for the start. How else? Here the snow is completely different! At that time, we did not have so many doctors or servicemen, we only had our own head and hands. They smeared it themselves, did everything themselves. The trainers helped, and not all of them. Kolchin, Anikin, Ivanov, and the rest of the ointments did not understand anything. So they themselves comprehended everything, they themselves reached everything. Here, at the stadium, you can smear skis like this, but there, in the hills, everything is different - the snow is different, the temperature is different, the humidity is different. We need to combine all this, find a middle ground. And now, as far as I know, the servicemen are responsible for all this, the athletes themselves are not smeared.

- But you, when you arrived here, did not have any disturbances with sleep?

What are you talking about ?! We came here from Sakhalin, already accustomed to this time zone and climate. Back in 1971, we tried both of them. Part of the team trained in Bakuriani, part - in Sakhalin. And it turned out that coming here from Sakhalin is much better. Right there from Sakhalin to Sapporo - forty kilometers. The same time zone, in fact, the same climate, the same snow, so we did not undergo any acclimatization here. It has been proven empirically that acclimatizing to Japan on Sakhalin is much better than training in Bakuriani. For the official samples of the Olympic Games tracks, which were attended by all the strongest, Simashov and I descended from the mountains, from Bakuriani, and Skobov and Tikhonov came from Sakhalin, and they felt much better.

And then, in Kamchatka, we had camps before that more than once, so we already knew how to act in such situations: you don't have to go to bed on the first day - it is better to endure, overwork, but you will go to bed at eleven local time, get up at seven, and then everything will be fine.

- Were you surprised that the team came to the championship this year without temporary acclimatization? How do you generally feel about the experiment of Yuri Viktorovich Borodavko, which consists in the fact that the athletes came here immediately from Tsakhkadzor, from a height?

Personally, my opinion is the following: it is not necessary to experiment here! This is the world championship. M-and-r-a !!! And he thinks that here is the primacy of the housing office ...

- Somehow you spoke harshly about him ...

Because I'm sorry for the guys. Do not repeat old mistakes. We did not make these mistakes later, but they are now back to where we started in '68.

- Do you think that a mistake was made here?

Yes, I just feel sorry for these guys - today look at them, what they will show. * They came here from slippery snow. Slip-on! And here the snow is completely different, you have to adapt to it ... Now look what will happen here, when the sun looks out - everything will float ...

- Is it just unusual snow or also insufficient acclimatization?

I don’t know ... Here Yurka Skobov always came to Murmansk on the eve of the race and the next day he always ran, be healthy! There, too, there is a big difference, but he proved that right from the plane to the start is better. And when three days have passed - maybe this is worse, they already fall into the "pit". But maybe I'm wrong, maybe Wart is right - we'll see today.

When you found out what the composition of the men's relay will be, weren't you surprised? What do you think about the fact that Shiryaev was not included in the composition?

What do I think? .. Sorry for the boy. But a team is a team. The captain said that he entrusted the baton to these people, which means that the question is closed. When there is trust, then the result is not far off. And the boy, of course, is a pity ... He earned his right to run in the relay.

- Whose right is stronger - the captain and the coach, who form the team at their own discretion, or the person who, according to the sports principle, was selected for the team?

Everyone is right in their own way, but the captain has the last word. If Rochev took on such responsibility, then he is right. I really don’t know, Rochev said the last word there, or the coaches, I wasn’t there, I didn’t speak to anyone. But, to be honest, I thought that Shiryaev would run, I thought that he would be put on.

- Well, in general, what is the general impression of the performance of the Russian team here? After all, you were rooting for ours from the very first to the last day ...

The impression is like everyone else's. Few. Four medals are very few. I was also surprised why the quotas were not fully used ... It is necessary, for example, that four people run, and three run. Is there no one in Russia to run? So many boys, so many girls ... And it turns out, there is no one to go to the start.

But such a story is not only for us, for all in waves. Ditto for the Norwegians, so do the Finns. Look how the Finns began to rise in recent years: Kuitunen for two years missed due to disqualification and see what is doing now. And in our country they think that you can go out on young animals. And here - look, everyone over thirty - everyone is running. This is pure muzhik and feminine strength begins to work after thirty.

- But in different ways ... Look, Steira or the same Johaug are young girls, and they run a little worse than Kuytutnen.

These are still exceptions. And in the bulk of the skiers open up much later, you need to be able to bring them to this state. Such giants as this Johaug are not born every day and every year. You will remember how she worked yesterday - like a sewing machine, her performance is simply amazing!

- Have you noticed?

How not to notice this? And I'm not alone - Kolya Bazhukov was sitting with us, Vasya Rochev - everyone noticed. If only one of ours worked like that ...

It would be nice if the guys showed something today. Perhaps Wartko is right that he left the guys in Tsaghkadzor so that he would not bother in this stable. Here, too, when you cook in all this, it hits your nerves. And when you see nothing, it is also good.

- Well, let's see ... Shall we get sick today?

Of course, that's the only way.

talked Ivan ISAEV,

preparation for printing - Andrey ARIKH,

* This conversation with Vyacheslav Petrovich took place early in the morning before the 50-kilometer race.

Victory is victory. And yet each of them has its own color. Its price. Its own special subtext. Paradoxical as it may seem at first glance, there are victories "ordinary", "ordinary", or something, and there are those that remain in the memory of people forever. Attracting everyone's attention. Making their authors the heroes of world sports. Such were the victories of Vladimir Kuts in Melbourne, Yuri Vlasov and Viktor Kapitonov in Rome, Vyacheslav Ivanov at three Olympic lakes, Boris Lagutin in Mexico City. Now the name of Vyacheslav Vedenin has been permanently included in this glorious list of great athletes.

In order to understand the true value of the accomplishment of this or that person, it is imperative to know the path traveled by him from zero to the top.

Vyacheslav Vedenin was born on October 1, 1941 in the small village of Sloboda, which is forty kilometers from Tula. Around the war rumbled, an ordeal and a huge, incomparable grief that fell upon the people. It did not escape the Vedenin family: two and a half months before the birth of Glory, somewhere near Smolensk, in desperate battles with the Nazi invaders, his father, a private in the Soviet Army, died.

Hard childhood. Work on a par with adults from the age of 13.

Difficulties ... It is not easy to endure them, but, apparently, it was they who tempered the boy's character, taught him to fight and endure, gave strength for what he had to accomplish in his life. Where is the starting point of his dedication to sports? At the school doorstep. The village teacher Leonid Kharitonov himself was an ardent fan of sports and in every possible way instilled love for him in his students. Each lesson is an intense workout. Every Sunday there is a competition. Yes, not simple ones, but with encouragement, with unpretentious, but coveted prizes, with an invariable question:

Well, and today who will win?

Glory learned from Kharitonov the art of staging the body, a wide ski stride, bold turns ... But most importantly, the school teacher gave him his broad, serious view of sports and the mandate: never be content with what you have achieved, dream and fight for your dream.

After finishing ten years, Vyacheslav went to study in the regional center, successfully entered the railway technical school, and two days later - in the sports section to the famous Tula coach Pavel Smirnov. It was at the very beginning of autumn, and the main training was on a bicycle. And could it be otherwise in the city of Tula. Slava fell in love with this simple machine, he was the first to come to classes, the last to leave, trying to accurately fulfill the task of his mentor.

Everything seemed to be going well. But it is not for nothing that they say that life, like the sky, is never cloudless. Mother fell ill. To help her, she had to return to her native village. But Slava came here with his bicycle, which, at Smirnov's insistence, was assigned to Vedenin in the section.

There is not enough time for training, but even here, in the village, devoid of any constant control, Slava trained a lot and selflessly. And in the early hours of quiet village sunrises, and in the hot midday "gaps", and in the evening twilight, one could see him on the dusty winding and difficult country roads. Two or three times a week I went to train in Tula. Eighty kilometers back and forth, and an hour and a half of intense training, which not all city residents could withstand, but he did.

In short, the first hobby of childhood - skiing - receded into the background, giving way to a new one. And in the year when Viktor Kapitonov became the hero of the Roman Olympics, Vyacheslav Vedenin won the title of champion of the Tula region and the right to receive a silver master of sports badge. Pavel Smirnov said to his beloved disciple:

Five years ago, Victor also did not think that he would defeat Trape himself. But come on ...

But we do not always act the way we want: very often circumstances govern our actions.

In the fall of 1960, a boy from a Tula village, the son of a soldier, was enrolled in the Moscow Higher Red Banner School of Border Troops. He liked everything here, except for one thing: this famous educational institution did not have a bicycle section. And at first this upset the young man very much. He stood in front of the chief of physical training, who told him this news, upset, and no longer believing that he would hear anything pleasant, but rather so, for the sake of order, he asked:

Isn't there a ski one either?

What are you, our ski is beautiful. And it is led by one of the most talented Soviet trainers, Viktor Buchin ...

A year later, the Central Council of the Order of Lenin of the Dynamo Voluntary Sports Society, of which Vedenin is a member, held a meeting of generations, a meeting of the old sports guard with talented youth. This event was timed to coincide with the release of a special issue of the newspaper, in which the "newcomers" answered a kind of questionnaire, which included the following question: "Who is your ideal in sports - tell him his name and explain what is the basis of your respect, your love for him?" "

Before me is the answer of the master of sports Vyacheslav Vedenin. I rewrite it verbatim: "For me, Pavel Kolchin has always been a model, or, as we now say, a beacon, in sports. I like his dedication, will, hard work, modesty and dedication to skiing." Several years have passed, and in Sapporo, at a press conference after the 30 km race, Honored Master of Sports, Honored Coach of the USSR Pavel Kolchin described Vyacheslav Vedenin with exactly the same words.

They really have a lot in common - they were born in the village, and a difficult childhood, and boundless loyalty to the business they choose.

Probably, the commonality of characters and the commonality of dreams in the end determined the fact that they became not only a teacher and a student, but also true like-minded friends, who know how to understand each other in everything.

Loud, ceremonial victories have not yet come to the Tula, but experts in skiing more and more often call his name when they dream of future victories. And when, in December 1966, the USSR Ski Federation received an invitation from the Scandinavian skiers' union to send one of the Soviet athletes for joint training, the choice fell on Vedenin.

Not accustomed to special attention, not spoiled by fame, the young border guard officer accepted this honor without much enthusiasm.

Why? - I asked him.

It takes a long time to explain, - he waved his hand, and that's all.

But then Kolchin explained everything. It turns out that Vedenin was very worried whether he would be able to properly justify the trust placed in him, to translate it into real values.

But, as soon as the decision was made, he went there, in foreign countries, already being himself a proven master, a strong tournament fighter, behaved with the attentiveness and diligence of the most important student. This was one of the most characteristic expressions of his nature: a deep respect for someone else's experience, a thirst for knowledge, new information that would help to move at least one step towards the intended goal.

When, in distant Sapporo, Vyacheslav achieved his greatest victory, journalists from all countries vied with each other to write about his high fighting spirit, indomitable will, constant striving forward.

He showed these qualities much earlier, at the 1966 World Championships in Holmenkollen. He arrived there as a green newcomer, whom no one - neither the participants nor the journalists - took seriously. But after the 10th kilometer, his name sounded in all portable radios:

Vedenin! - the controllers shouted.

Vedenin! - the astonished mentors, who did not understand anything, nervously repeated to their disciples.

Vedenin! Vedenin! Vedenin! - rushed along the distance with a signal of alarm and joy.

It seemed to many that the leader's extraordinary pace was just a whim of a debutant, that he would not stand it and turn sour before he had time to scare anyone. But twenty, thirty, forty kilometers and forty-five passed, and he still showed the best time, still kept the race under high voltage current. And it’s not his fault, but his misfortune, that for the last four kilometers he didn’t have the reserve of strength he needed - he had not yet been able to spend it accurately and expediently in tournaments of this rank.

He could have been the first then, but just before the finish he was passed by five "whales" of modern skiing. However, the name of Vyacheslav Vedenin was included in the notebooks of the coaches of all the strongest national teams with the "especially dangerous" stamp. And all the famous sports publications devoted their reviews to him, unanimous in the opinion that now everyone will have to reckon with this Russian!

There is still a lot of work to be done. And a lot to learn.

Two more seasons passed. During this time, Vyacheslav has replenished his collection of medals: he twice received "gold" for victorious finishes in a fifty-kilometer race at the USSR championship and one - in the relay race 4 X 10. And without any doubts or hesitation he was awarded a "ticket to Grenoble".

He came to the capital of the X Olympiad by a famous, popular master, and all the famous ski aces greeted him as an equal. And popular observers, compiling their "horoscopes", did not forget to add his name to the list of possible candidates for victory.

And yet ... These same observers believed that the Muscovite still had insufficient chances to fight on equal terms with such famous "stars" as the Norwegians H. Grenningen, P. Tildum, W. Ellefseter, the Finns K. Laurila and E. Mäntyranta, Swedes G. Larsson and M. Risberg. It really was a cohort of unusually strong, experienced, wise athletes, and even to yield to them in an equal fight would be honorable.

Vedenin left everyone behind his back, and only U. Ellefseter managed to get ahead of him by 16.7 seconds. Moreover, this insignificant gap was formed as a result of the battle, which they fought without seeing each other, participating in essence in a correspondence duel. In a duel, where the advantage was on the side of the Norwegian: he started a dozen numbers later.

Knowing a little French, in Grenoble I bought the French sports newspaper "Equip" every morning. I have also preserved such a number of the newspaper. On the first page there is a huge portrait of our driver, and across the entire page Vedenin's name is printed in bold letters and below the phrase, which in translation sounded like this: "Vedenin is a sensation! Vedenin is a hero!"

The whole world recognized him as a hero of the Olympics, except ... us. We, journalists, did not try, could not properly explain the greatness of what was done to them, and at home Vedenin was greeted very restrainedly. We were met not as a great stayer, who won the Olympic silver for the first time in the history of our sport, but rather as a member of a losing team. Vedenin was not offended.

Since people demand more, then I must achieve it!

And in this answer, in this conclusion, there was the whole person who knows how not to submit to fate and to consider any demand made to him completely fair and natural.

The people entrusted me to speak on his behalf, the people are my judge, ”he once said.

But the strictest, most furious and irreconcilable judge of Vedenin was himself. Every performance, every race he passes through a critical sieve and after every start, no matter what it ends, he says to himself:

We need to work even harder! Need to work!

"The work of a skier! How I would like some courageous poet to meet her and describe her. Yes, this is a topic for a heroic saga. Work in the literal sense of the word! Logging, mowing, sawing wood. Many kilometers of daily cross-country runs The roar of the barbell And the silence of the ski track Daily passing difficult distances, where exhausting "traction", where whirlwind descents, where the snow blows your eyes, the wind blows or the thaw knits your legs.

And then you come to the base - in a small house, lost somewhere in the forest, hang up your soaked uniforms and, knocked over with severe fatigue, lie on your bunk. And you think of the big city, where crowds flow along the brightly lit streets, where smart people fill the theaters and concert halls, where your wife and children, your relatives and friends stayed. And you lie there, listening to the howling of a blizzard, to the creak of swaying boards, and think that tomorrow you have to go even more, work even harder. Because your highest goal is to justify your trust and perform better in the upcoming race than in the previous one. "

These wonderful, inspired and at the same time marked by strict truth words belong to one of the famous skiers of the past, Honored Master of Sports Ivan Ragozhin, the author of the essay dedicated to Vyacheslav Vedenin.

I would like to add a few specific facts and figures to this lyrical reasoning. Pavel Kolchin and I somehow counted, and it turned out that in ten years of playing "big sports" Vedenin at least twice skied around the globe along the equator, ran twice along cross paths and at least three times swept by bicycle. I think that all this will be correctly perceived by your imagination and will help all of us to imagine the price of his champion awards even more clearly and visibly.

In 1970, in the High Tatras, a colossal success by modern standards came to the Moscow Dynamo. No joke: at the World Championships, he won gold and silver medals in individual races and one more gold medal in the relay. Now everyone was forced to admit that in his person the world has one of the most outstanding racers.

But the victory was not only pleasing - it made me think about many things. There, on the snowy slopes of Czechoslovakia, a guy from the Soviet team provoked many giants, just like him, who dreamed of a ski crown. Both Vyacheslav and his coach Pavel Kolchin understood perfectly well that it would be much more difficult in Sapporo than in the High Tatras. Someone, let alone them, was well aware of the wisdom of the seemingly banal phrase that it is much more difficult to keep what has been won than to get it.

After the High Tatras, after his victory at the World Championship, Vedenin seemed to have receded into the shadows. He occasionally took part in competitions, but he did not finish first, as if tired of the constant repetition of his name, from the outbursts of journalistic "blitz" and numerous interviews. He "rested", if such a word can define the colossal, incomparable amount of work that he performed under the leadership of Pavel Kolchin. And this his mental rest, this tactic built on preserving as much nervous energy as possible for the Olympics, was perceived by some foreign observers in their own way. They began to write that "the Upper Tatras were the highest point in the sports biography of Vedenin, that it was there that he crossed the peak of his sports form." Well, maybe they really thought so, or maybe they just dreamed that it would be so.

It was a warm winter evening. The evening before the 30 km cross-country skiing race. The celebrations on the occasion of the opening of the XI Winter Olympic Games, a holiday colored with thousands of colors, have just ended, and the next morning was supposed to be their working beginning.

With the special permission of the management of our team, we got "for a minute" to our skiers. They knocked on Vedenin's room. Pavel Kolchin was also here. The coach told us:

We have already discussed the whole race. Slava has just sent his theory excellently: he knows the track, like a path to his own home. Not like every climb - every bump, every turn. And tomorrow we will take practice.

It seemed tactless to ask questions. Vedenin himself suggested: read the telegrams. Interesting.

They lay on the table in a rather noticeable pile. News from the Motherland. Best wishes. From the village of Sloboda, Tula region, where a seven-year-old boy started skiing for the first time. From the command and cadets of the border troops school. From the workers of the famous arms factory ... And suddenly - "You must win the first race on the first working day of the Olympiad. Your Alexey Maresyev"!

I also know all this by heart, - said Vyacheslav suddenly. - Good, kind words. I'll take them with me on the road.

When we woke up, for a moment it seemed that the end of the world began: incessantly, inexorably, thick snow was falling. He began to fall, it seems, at night and fell even harder when we arrived at the stadium. It was a pity to look at our coaches. Especially worried was Venedikt Kamensky, who seemed to me to be imperturbable before. He kept repeating:

Scandinavian weather ...

Lucky for the Norwegians.

For a moment, Pavel Kolchin could not resist, he made a noise:

We'll see who is lucky!

The clock shows exactly 9 am local time. And immediately, at the judge's signal, the first participant dived into a thick white veil - a cheerful, carefree Frenchman Gilbert Faure, who managed to please everyone. Thirty seconds later our young skier Fyodor Skobov broke into the distance. And he knew, and we all, that he was unlucky with the draw, but in skiing someone is always unlucky.

The distance of the race consisted of three ten-kilometer rings. Three rings of the same length, but completely different in degree of difficulty. The first is the easiest. Like an overture to the symphony of courage that the participants were to play. But the second is a real hell: a heavy two-kilometer climb at the beginning and a few more such, but less steep ones.

When the local press center, where we were expecting news from the highway, was informed about the situation after the top ten, I remembered Vedenin's quiet room in the Olympic village and a telegram from Alexei Maresyev, which was lying there on the table.

"Does Slava remember about her?" - for some reason I thought at that moment. I confess, it seemed to me that the world champion would not be able to fulfill the request of the famous war hero. Our Fyodor Simashev had the best time (30.24), then Dolganov, the Norwegian Harviken, the Swiss Kelin, the Swede Larson, the Norwegian Tildum, and only then, however, losing a little to him, our Slava. But it was necessary to take into account that Pal Tildum, a formidable and experienced rival, is walking behind and, with the help of his numerous "entourage", placed at a distance, can correct his actions.

And then I remembered Grenoble and our failures in the first starts, which, perhaps, in the end determined the mood of the delegation and became the cause of the general failure. I approached the chairman of our ski federation Vyacheslav Petrovich Zakhavin and asked him:

Do you think Simashev and Dolganov will hold out?

Have you already dropped Vedenin from the account? he asked in turn. - It's early. Too early.

Second circle. It starts, like the first, right here, at the stadium. And we had the opportunity to see all the participants in this extraordinary snow drama face to face. They made a big U-turn and went on parallel straight tracks to a new test.

We know how hard it is for them. But, believe me, it was hard for us, the spectators, or rather, the listeners of these competitions. After all, we did not see the struggle, did not see what was happening there, in the white boil, but eagerly listened to what the coaches were transmitting, huddled at the radio connected with the distance. And then, when the deadline came, we were just as eagerly peering at the light board to see how the forces were distributed after twenty.

But if we did not see the struggle, then we felt all its nuances. Every news that came to the stadium became the subject of general discussion, disputes, guesses and excitements. Believe me, we have experienced them no less than the spectators in the stands of the hockey stadium, who have the opportunity to catch every detail of the match.

So, the "twenty" ended. First, we see the time of Simashev - 1.06.23. But it doesn't say anything yet. Only when the Swede Larsson passes the intermediate finish (1.05.56), we understand that our skier has passed. We are silent. We know that he is not to blame, in fact it fell to his lot in this race to lay a track, on which fluffy snow was pouring for so long. Dolganov also passed (and after another two kilometers he broke his ski and practically dropped out of the fight).

And suddenly the name of Vedenin lights up on the scoreboard, and the best time of the day is in front of her - 1.05.39.

Hooray! - someone shouted, but one of the coaches abruptly cut him off:

Wait. Tildum is on his heels.

And immediately someone else ran up, said in a half-whisper:

You want to jinx it, devils ?!

All were immediately silent. And I just prayed to myself:

Slavochka, dear, don't let me down. Now, after all, the only hope is for you.

And Vedenin, as it always happens recently, did not disappoint our hopes. He confirmed that the success that came to him in the High Tatras was not accidental and that he is indeed the most powerful rider on the planet in the top 30.

But to say about a person that he has won is to say nothing yet. Won by his excellent physical training, his will, his thoughtful tactics instead of with a coach. The first third of the way is reconnaissance and, to some extent, disorientation of the rivals: they say, look, Vedenin is not ready for a real battle, he is trudging somewhere in the middle.

The second third is a decisive jerk, exhausting all the main competitors. A rare and unexpected way forward. And the final one is a tactical game with those who still retain the ability to fight. Exact comparison of their schedule with theirs. And winning decisive seconds.

So the years of work, self-sacrifice, courage of an athlete and a coach brought the first outstanding success - the first in the history of our national skiing, an Olympic gold medal in the individual competition. And this alone would be quite enough to remain forever in the memory of people. Remain an example for generations. But Vyacheslav had already “worked out” so much that he was destined to accomplish new feats here, in the Olympic capital. Destined, although neither he, nor his coach, nor even more so millions of our fans knew nothing about it yet.

That day Sapporo reminded me of distant Innsbruck with its general tone. Great joy settled in the houses of the Olympic village assigned to the Soviet delegation. Vedenin not only won himself. He gave a winning spirit to our entire Olympic team. At the same time he turned the weather vane of general attention in our direction. Once again, as once in Innsbruck, we were attacked by numerous of our colleagues. Right at the finish of the thirty-kilometer race, the correspondent of the Swiss sports newspaper Karl Mater ran up to us and begged:

Tell us something interesting about your Vedenin ...

We tried to help as best we could. The Swiss thanked him and shouted goodbye:

This guy did a great job. Tomorrow the whole world will start talking about sports Russia. Congratulations!

So the white weeks in Sapporo began with congratulations. And every day there were more and more congratulations.

I remember Grenoble again. The last day of the ski tournament. The Norwegian team, which has already won two Olympic champions before, wins the 4 X 10 relay with extraordinary persuasiveness for such competitions. Norwegian radio correspondent, a famous skier in the recent past, champion of the VI and VII Olympic Winter Games in the 15 km race Halgeir Brenden is right there, at the finish line, shouting into the microphone:

Yes, today the whole world takes off its hats to Norwegian skiers. They do not have and will not be equal in the world for a long time to come.

Sapporo. February 13, 1972. The last day of the ski tournament. From the second stage, it is reported that the Norwegian team is ahead - one minute ahead of the nearest rival. One by one, journalists leave the ski stadium, including many Soviet ones - some are in a hurry to Mount Teine, where slalom competitions are taking place, others are in a hurry to keep up at all costs for the final periods of the hockey battle. Nothing stops them here: everything is crystal clear!

Of our journalists, I remain almost alone on the podium. I will not say that I was held back by some premonition, I just wanted to watch everything to the end, personally make an impression about this battle of our team. I stand and listen to the tireless Brenden reporting in a voice in which Grenoble's delight has reappeared.

The minutes are in a hurry. Skiers are running somewhere in the woods. We are all looking at the point where the Norwegian driver should appear. And suddenly, like the noise of a mountain collapse, frantic screams come to us. And then we saw a skier with the first number on his chest appear. And how Harviken, still trying to fight, still trying to catch up with him, fell.

When Vyacheslav Vedenin crossed the finish line, victoriously and proudly carrying the baton first, I accidentally saw Brendan with a microphone in his hands. His voice was not heard in the general confusion. I came close and asked the translator:

What he says?

He listened, smiled:

He tells Norwegian radio listeners that what the Russians have done now, no one in the world can do. He speaks of the true greatness of Vedenin. It is a great honor to hear such words from his lips.

The victory of the Moscow Dynamo player in the thirty-kilometer race, his 50 km bronze medal was greeted with enthusiasm and once again strengthened Vedenin's glory as a "star" of the first magnitude. But he secured true fame on February 13 at the last stage of the 4 X 10 relay.

Here I want to make a small, but, as it seems to me, a very important digression. When what I just said happened, many journalists, including our observers, began to write about Vedenin's speech as something bordering on a miracle. I no longer take newspaper reports, which can be forgiven for some haste and emotional agitation. But here are the lines from a sports magazine, published a few months after the end of the Olympics. Here is how Vedenin's performance in the relay is characterized there: "He, in whose victory at the G30 we did not see even a shadow of a sensation, on the last day won such a sensational victory that it still does not fit into the mind and seems incredible."

These are beautiful but imprecise words. Two years ago, in the High Tatras, Slava proved that he was capable of such a thing. In Sapporo, he did not perform a miracle, but only repeated it. In order to confirm this, I will allow myself to quote one of the descriptions of Vedenin's performances at the 1970 World Cup.

“Vyacheslav Vedenin won the gold medal in the race at“ thirty. ”He also behaved courageously in the 50 km race. True, one practical mistake was made here: focusing all his attention on the Trimmer, Vyacheslav lost sight of the experienced Finn K. Oikarainen. the result is a silver medal here. "

And yet, in my opinion, Vyacheslav's greatest feat was accomplished in the 4 X 40 kilometers relay.

When three of its stages were passed, when Vladimir Voronkov, Valery Tarakanov, Fyodor Simashev had already finished the fight, it turned out that we were losing to the GDR team for almost a minute. This is a colossal gap. And already no one doubted that the victory was for the German racers.

This confidence was reinforced by the fact that Klause, one of the strongest sprinters in the world, who took fourth place in the individual 15 km race, started from the GDR team at the final stage, while Vedenin was only fifteenth at this distance.

So, few people believed in a miracle, but Vedenin performed it. He snatched the "lost" minute from the German driver and finished first.

Isn't it an extremely similar situation? And repeating it even higher raises the significance of what Vyacheslav Vedenin did and what he did in Sapporo. What some of my colleagues had forgotten was remembered very well by the Norwegian Harviken. And one Japanese newspaper correctly wrote that "the horror of the inevitability of defeat in any dispute with Vedenin hovered over the Norwegian and deprived him of the necessary moral strength to fight this giant."

I am writing all this so that the image of our leader appears before us with utmost precision. I am writing all this because the High Tatras and Sapporo are included in his biography as a whole. Two gold medals in the "thirty", "silver" and "bronze" for 50 km, two gold medals in the relay races, which in fact belong to him more than anyone else - such baggage pushes him into the ranks of great racers.

And now let's return to Sapporo, on that day of February 13, which, no matter how far away it may be, will always be remembered, dear and close to us.

In moments of joy, friends and compatriots of the winners are characterized by excessive enthusiasm, and they reward their idol with loud epithets and often overestimate the importance of the perfect. But imagine a man who almost held gold in his hands and lost it. A person who is extremely tired and extremely disappointed. I'm talking about the 50 km Olympic champion Pal Tildum from Norway after the relay. This is who, of course, least of all was inclined in those moments to exaggeration and sentimentality. I confess that we - several journalists - did not even dare to approach him for a long time. But work is work, and we dared. And they asked him what he thought about the finished competition.

This is the triumph of the Russian team. And, first of all, the triumph of your Vedenin, who has secured sports immortality for himself today.

To top it off, I will say that, while in Sapporo, I had the opportunity to talk with many famous Russian and foreign skiers and asked everyone what, in their opinion, especially distinguishes the Dynamo Moscow from his comrades and rivals. The answers, oddly enough, were very similar, but, perhaps, Vedenin's friend and mentor, Honored Master of Sports, Honored Coach of the USSR Pavel Kolchin formulated the common idea more accurately and vividly:

He leaves all his strength at a distance - to the last drop. He never regrets himself for the sake of fighting and for the sake of victory.

This is the quality that made an ordinary Tula boy, the son of a soldier, a Soviet officer a hero of world sports and a favorite of his people.