Sport has long become part of the life of modern man. The passions boiling around major world events in this area do not leave indifferent even an outside observer. Each sport has its own outstanding personalities - Olympic champions, athletes who personify it. Ask a football fan: āWho is the king of football?ā In most cases, you will hear the answer: "Pele." The great Wayne Gretzky was awarded such an informal title in hockey , and Michael Jordan in basketball. If we take cyclic sports, then when we mention the biathlon, the current Norwegian athlete, Ole-Einar Bjoerndalen, appears in memory. It is nice that our athletes, Olympic champions, are also highly valued. Who left their mark in world history? āThe King of skis,ā that is how our athlete Nikolai Zimyatov was called after a phenomenal success at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. The guy from Moscow at that time was only 24 years old.
Childhood
The post-war years left their mark on the lives of adolescents in our country. The main hobby of most of the boys of that time was sports. There was practically no classical division into specific specializations. In the summer it was football or volleyball. In the winter season, the same teenagers picked up clubs or got up on skis and skates.
Nikolai Zimyatov, the future world star of skiing, was a typical child of that time. Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov was born in the Moscow region on June 28, 1955. The native village of Nikolai - Rumyantsevo - was in the Istra district. The Zimyatovs were an ordinary family of the time. Dad, Semyon Mikhailovich, gave his whole life to one profession. The rare and original work of the glassblower did not bring huge incomes, but was truly loved by Zimyatov Sr. Nikolaiās mom, Anna Petrovna, is also a person of the same profession. At the end of the pedagogical institute, the woman began working as a teacher of elementary grades and spent her whole life in this field. Nikolai was the 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 half a year Nikolai diligently attended classes at a music club, then the teenagerās enthusiasm began to fade, absenteeism appeared. At the family council, it was decided that Nikolai would not attend music school anymore. As time later showed, the family decision was right.
Skiing
After an unsuccessful epic with a music school, Nikolai began to live the life of an ordinary teenager: in the summer - disappearing on the football field, in the winter - playing hockey and skiing for fun. Fortunately, Nikolai Zimyatov met on his life's journey a coach who helped the guy decide on a lesson for life. Once, when there were regional skiing competitions, A. Kholostov, the ski trainer of the Novo-Petrovsky sports school, turned his attention to Nikolai, who plays for the team of his school. It was he who invited the teenager to seriously engage in skiing, attending his training. Initially, parents were against the choice of their son. The fact that the Novo-Petrovsky sports school was 5 kilometers from Rumyantsevās native was frightening. But after a personal conversation with the coach, Nikolai's parents allowed him to study with A. Kholostov.
First successes
What attracted the attention of a regular school 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 time, to show all the 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 involved in the DSO of the Moscow Region to speak in the USSR personal-team championship held in Syktyvkar. Nikolai's debut took place on a 15-kilometer run, in which he took third place. The following year, when 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. Acting as a junior, Nikolai was the third at a 15-kilometer distance, the second at a 20-kilometer run, and as part of the relay team he became the USSR champion among juniors. Everyone understood - a new star lights up in the ski horizon.
International starts
Success in the domestic sports arena did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the USSR ski team. On the eve of the eighth world skiing championship in Finland, Nikolai Zimyatov is invited to join the junior team of the Soviet Union. The debut championship brought Nikolai silver success in the 15 km race. In the remaining races of this championship, Zimyatov was close to climbing the podium, but circumstances developed against him.
Career in adult sports
Since 1977, Nikolai Zimyatov - a skier who began to perform in the adult standings. The first big success in serious sport is the bronze medal at the 30-kilometer distance earned in the USSR championship. The next all-Union ski race was special. It was the jubilee 50th championship of the country. The real triumph of the anniversary championship of the country is Nikolai Zimyatov. He has 2 gold medals: in the individual race of 30 kilometers and victory as part of his team in the relay race. By this time, the candidacy of Nikolai as the main member of the team was seriously considered by the coaches of the USSR team.
USSR team
After regular victories in the domestic arena, Nicholas was waiting for the next step - he had to loudly declare himself in the ski world and outside the Soviet Union. Chance introduced 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 with the strongest skiers on the planet. However, Nikolai was not at a loss and in a bitter struggle won a silver medal. His advantage over the bronze medalist, Polish skier Joseph Luszczek, was only 4 seconds.
A successful World Cup, stable high-level performances in subsequent starts made Nikolai Zimyatov the main candidate for participation in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Lake Placid Winter Olympics
And now the time has come for the main starts of the four-year-old, the Winter Olympic Games in the American Lake Placid. The first in the program were cross-country skiing (men) for 30 kilometers in a classic style. Strong Scandinavian skiers were traditionally named as the main favorites. Our fans expected a lot from the Soviet athletes: Nikolai Zimyatov, Vasily Rochev, Evgeny Belyaev. The draw of the starting numbers was favorable to Zimyatov. He got the 56th starting number of 57 athletes participating in this race. This starting position gave a certain advantage to our athlete. During the distance, Nikolay 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 finished second, was 32 seconds. That's how the first Olympic gold of Nikolai Zimyatov was earned. And that was just the beginning.
The next test was a relay race of 4 to 10 kilometers. At the starting stage, Rochev brought our team to first place. At subsequent stages, the USSR national team retained its leadership, but it was clear to everyone that the fate of the Olympic gold would be decided by the fourth stage. At the finish stage, the strongest skiers of their national teams were gathered. But the pace set by Zimyatov Nikolai Semenovich was beyond the strength of the other teams. With each kilometer traveled, Nikolaiās advantage over his rivals only grew. As a result, the gap between our national team and Norway, which finished in second place, was 1 minute 42 seconds. A phenomenal indicator for competitions of this rank.
Third Olympic gold of Zimyatov
On the last day of the Olympics, the most prestigious and difficult ski race for men took place. A kind of ski marathon - running for 50 kilometers. The whole world was eagerly awaiting a duel between Nikolai Zimyatov and the Finnish star Juha Mieta. For the Finnish athlete, this was the last chance to win Olympic gold. Both favorites started in the same group. The rivals walked the first part of the distance. When the skiers entered the finish line, Zimyatov found the strength to increase the pace and break away from the Finn. As a result, at the finish, the time distance between the competitors was simply enormous - about three minutes. Thus, the third Olympic gold of Zimyatov was earned.
Life after the Olympics
A triumphant performance at the Olympics made Zimyatov a bright star in skiing. "King of skis," - so called Zimyatova throughout 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 for the coming years sets himself the task of successfully performing at the 1984 Olympics. To this end, Nikolai misses a number of major international starts, including the 1982 World Ski Championships. In addition, changes are taking place in Nikolaiās personal Life. Zimyatov marries, and his chosen one becomes Lyubov Zykova - a famous skier, a participant in the Olympic Games.
Return to ski Olympus
Rare starts on the international stage 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 applicants for Olympic medals. They won several international starts, won the USSR Cup, and Nikolai is among the leaders in the Olympic Games.
And on February 10, 1984, a race of 30 kilometers was planned ā Nikolaiās 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. Then followed the relay race, where, like 4 years ago, everything was decided by the last 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 - from childhood grew up in an atmosphere of respect for the sport. Daughter Catherine, despite skiing in childhood, eventually chose volleyball. Having become a professional volleyball player, as part of the Moscow CSK she was repeatedly a winner of the Russian championship. The son, Dmitry, was engaged in skiing for a long time at a fairly serious level, he even played for the Moscow team in his age category. But in the end, a passion for drawing played a role. After graduation, he entered the Stroganov Academy of Art at the faculty of furniture design.
Coaching career
After the finale of his sports career, Nikolai graduated from the Moscow State Institute of Physical Culture. Nikolai Zimyatov did not manage to finally leave the big sport, and he took up coaching activities. He began to work with young athletes and gradually reached adult groups. The peak of the coaching career was the 2002 Olympics, in which he led the Russian ski team. The main star, which Zimyatov presented with a ticket to the big sport, can be safely considered Olympic champion Olga Danilova.
Achievements, Sports Awards
There are many heroes in the rich history of skiing, but only a few skiers managed to win more than three Olympic gold medals. This is the Swede Siksten Yernberg, the Norwegian Bjorn Daly and our compatriot Nikolai Zimyatov. For his sporting successes, Nikolai Semenovich Zimyatov was awarded the title "Honored Master of Sports", and for the success of his students - the honorary title "Honored Trainer of Russia". He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples.