Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich: biography, family, photo, growth

Many did not believe that the "age-old" skier would be able to achieve something. But everything was ahead. Persistent trainings, many kilometers of daily runs, thoroughly wet clothes and wild fatigue. And in the evening he said that tomorrow we need to do even more, work harder and get better. Because his goal is to justify the trust, run, endure and win.

Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich. Biography

Vyacheslav Vedenin was born in the village of Sloboda, Tula region on October 1, 1941. There was a war, pouring on people a hard test and excruciating grief. The cup and the Vedenins family did not pass. The father of the family went to war when his wife was in position. Sent to her from the front photo with the inscription: "Kiss my daughter." For 2.5 months before the birth of his son, he died near Smolensk.

Childhood, as Vyacheslav Petrovich recalled, was difficult, hungry. You can not even find nettles in the village - they ate everything. They ate old swans. The only delicacy was the teruns. They collected frozen potatoes from the fields, took off their skins and baked pancakes. Vyacheslav Petrovich Vedenin said that he had a terrible rickets from hunger.

Saving sport

Smoked a lot, in the second grade he already had a pack a day was not enough. Once they stole the mahorka from their grandfather and smoked up to hallucinations. They were soldered with milk. He quit smoking in grade 5, when a new teacher of physical education was sent to school. A healthy peasant, a front-line soldier caught them with cigarettes in the toilet, grabbed Vyacheslav by the legs and held it over the hole in the floor, threatening to dump him there with his head. Since he cut off, he gave up smoking.

The teacher, a passionate admirer of a healthy lifestyle, began to involve rural children in sports. Each lesson is a training session, on Sunday - competitions. He also taught the children the art of setting the hull, skiing a wide step, turning. The most important thing that their school teacher taught them is to fight for their dream.

Worked much on a par with adults, so there was no strength. Once I even got into a hospital. In addition, they left him for a second year. I did not want to learn German at all. They were released from school with a certificate of completion of 7 classes. With such a document, you can not get anywhere. I stayed at school to finish school.

Decisive moment

Subtracted in the book about Ivan Poddubny that you can tie a rope to the weight and raise it with your teeth. Trains back and neck. Tyagal easily 30-kilogram weights. But with a crossbar somehow it was not so lucky, he climbed up and wanted to twist - so he fell head first. Woke up in the ward, as the sister said, next to the patients of the last stage of tuberculosis. Persuaded the staff to give him things and left the hospital.

Waited at the station passing kartinnyak, jumped into it, and there - prisoners. He jumped from the train, and the guards thought that the zek had fled. Caught, long sat in the police. As they let him go, he decided to go to work - to cut down the forest. He went to the office, received an advance, left his passport - and ran to the market for pies.

Meeting with the trainer

There he was met by his cycling coach. I went and took back the passport of Vyacheslav, and he himself sent to the Dynamo. Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich says that only sports saved him. On kartonnyakah reached for 40 km in Tula for bicycle training. After the tenth grade I entered the railway technical school in the regional center. Went to the section of the famous coach. Engaged a lot and selflessly. But my mother fell ill, and I had to return to the village.

The coach insisted that Vedenin take the bicycle with him, which he secured. In a week, 2-3 times was chosen for training in Tula - on a bicycle there and back 80 km. Passion for skis took a back seat. In 1960 he became the champion of the Tula region and received the badge of the master of sports.

Start. The first victory

In the autumn of the same year he was enrolled in the Moscow Higher School of Border Troops. Then, of course, he liked everything except one "but" - there was no bicycle section. As it turned out, the ski section was beautiful. His coach in the "Dynamo" is the 14-time champion Vasily Smirnov. In 1966 Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich (photo below) gets in the USSR national team, taking 6 place in race on 50 km and relay race 4х10 km. And without any doubt he must go to Grenoble for the Games.

Training in Sweden

In December of the same year the Federation of Sports receives an invitation from Scandinavia - to send a Soviet athlete for joint training. They chose Vedenin. As he recalls, they were sent there without money, without everything. With him 2 pairs of skis and boots, which fell apart after a few days. And the boots were Kolchin, his coach, in which he acted for about 20 years. He sits in his room, patches his shoes, and then a Swedish man enters the door.

Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich immediately remembered the parting words of the KGB: do not talk to foreigners, do not accept gifts. The Swede grabs his shoes, throws them out the window and says that tomorrow they will bring everything new. And left. And Vyacheslav went to seek his own good in a snowdrift. Found and finished. Early in the morning, he brought 3 pairs of skis, boots, training suit, sneakers. You can not take it. He went to the head of the group, he allowed to accept gifts, but punished no longer to take anything.

Debut at the Olympics

In the capital of the X Olympic Games - Grenoble (France) Vedenin arrives already a recognized athlete. Masters ski tracks welcome him as an equal. Sports commentators do not forget to mark him as a possible winner. But at the same time they doubt whether he has enough chances next to the "ski stars".

Extraordinarily strong, experienced athletes participated in the Games. He conceded to them - this would not be anything shameful. But he managed to leave all behind, he only gave the Norwegian Ellesfert 16.7 seconds. Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich became the silver medalist of the Olympics-1968 in the race for 50 km. In the morning in local newspapers on the first page there was a portrait of a Soviet racer and the inscription: "Vedenin is a sensation!"

Two-time victory

A colossal success to Vedenin came in 1970 in the High Tatras (Czechoslovakia). At the World Championships he drove in the race for 30 km gold, and 50 km - silver. Another gold medal was brought by the 4x10 km relay race. Now everyone has recognized him as an outstanding rider. The victory made us think a lot. Vedenin and his coach Kolchin realized that in Sapporo they would be much harder.

And then there was Sapporo

Vedenin was the standard-bearer at the opening ceremony of the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo (Japan). An instructor came up to him and reminded him that etiquette obliges the emperor of Japan to incline the flag. The hockey players were indignant, they say, raise our banner above and march forward. How jokes Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich, whose growth is 164 cm, the sight of the huge hockey players standing at the head of the column was so impressive that he had nothing else left to do exactly what to do.

By the evening, all the newspapers had a photograph of the parade and an inscription saying that the USSR had challenged it. Officials from the Sports Committee attacked Vyacheslav, that this is a political issue, and will have to answer for everything. But after 2 gold medals in the race for 30 km and 4x10 km relay race, nobody remembered the incident. And the Japanese emperor personally congratulated on the victory and gave a wooden mask.

In Sapporo, he not only wins a gold medal, but also becomes the first Soviet skier to take the first place in this sport. In the relay, Vedenin performs almost a feat - wins the Norwegian Harkviken for more than a minute. In these Olympics Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich wins also silver in the race for 50 km. Robert Rozhdestvensky dedicated a poem to the winner.

At the games in Sapporo, there was curiosity. During the race at 30 km, when more than half of the skiers went to the distance, suddenly the sticky and thick snow fell. A couple of minutes before the start, Vedenin decides to smash the skis according to the weather conditions. One of the Japanese journalists approached him and asked: "Do you think it will help? There's a snow that blows! "

What Vyacheslav answered him would be understood only by Russians, and the Japanese newspapers came out the next day with headlines: "The Russian skier pronounced the Dahusim spell and won the Olympics." The word that Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich said, "dahusim", in Japan is still shrouded in legends, many think that this is a special conspiracy to win.

Further career

Vedenin was not selected for the next Olympic Games. For 12 years he worked as head coach in Dynamo.

• Since 1996 - member of the editorial board of the magazine "Ski Race", since 1998 - magazine "Skiing".
• Member of the Public Chamber of the Tula region.
• Member of the committee for control of skiing.
• Honorary citizen of the cities of Kandalaksha and Tula region.
• He was awarded the Order of Lenin (1972) and the Red Banner (1970).

Now Vyacheslav Petrovich conducts active public activity, supports children's sports. Annually children's competitions on cross-country skiing in the village of Voskresenskoye and "Extreme Cross" in Podrezkovo are held. Their organizer is Vedenin Vyacheslav Petrovich.

A family

Wife Larissa is also a skier, leads a ski section, performs at competitions of veterans of sports. Vedenin's son - Vyacheslav followed in the footsteps of his father. He is a Russian skier, coach, sports judge. Vyacheslav Petrovich is now 74 years old, but he tries not to lose form - every winter he goes skiing.