Meanwhile, Anatoly did not go home (to the new apartment that he, his wife and daughter had received a week before), preferring to go on a party with friends. It was with them that the next day he went to the concert.
It lasted for about three hours, and when it was all over, it was already deep night outside. Having difficulty getting home, Anatoly rang the doorbell, but his wife did not let him in. She said: go back where you came from. In general, you can understand her: she has a small child in her arms, and her husband, instead of helping, prefers to spend time with friends. Anatoly stood at the door for some time, then waved his hand and went to his friend Tolya Bondarenko. He spent the rest of that night with him.
The next morning, around half past nine, the friends left the apartment door to go down to the courtyard (at that time a group of men always gathered there to play “hole-hole”). There were two elevators in the house, and the friends, as usual, called both. The one on the left arrived first, and they boldly stepped into the cabin. However, they did not travel for long: somewhere between the fourth and third floors he suddenly got stuck. Friends began to press the button to call the dispatcher, but no one responded to their calls. Only about fifteen minutes later the elevator operator passed by, but was in no hurry to help those who were stuck - he had already taken it “on his chest” in the morning. Seeing that this could continue indefinitely, Kozhemyakin and Bondarenko began to manually push the doors apart. They succeeded. Bondarenko invited his friend to jump to the ground floor first, but he refused. He said: “I’m wearing new jeans - it’s a pity...” And Bondarenko jumped first. Finding himself on the landing, he shouted to his friend that everything was fine and began to hold the elevator door to make it easier for Kozhemyakin to descend. But he, instead of quickly following his friend, began to adapt, as if to descend more smoothly and at the same time not get his jeans dirty. He did not know that at this time the elevator operator had already returned back and was about to start the elevator again.
The tragedy occurred at the moment when Anatoly had already grabbed the edge of the elevator with his hands and reached the landings of the third floor with his feet. Another moment and he would have gotten out. But at that moment the elevator started moving. Kozhemyakin let out a terrible scream and fell into the elevator shaft. His death was almost instantaneous. Thus, the star of one of the most talented football players in the Soviet Union had barely begun to shine.
Fatal 1975
Victor ANICHKIN. Valery POPENCHENKO. Vladimir KUTS
By an evil irony of fate, 1975 was the most fruitful year in terms of deaths of famous athletes. This list was first opened by a football player from the capital's Dynamo (1959–1972) and the USSR national team (1964–1968) Victor Anichkin.
Anichkin was considered one of the best central defenders in Soviet football in the 60s and early 70s. But his star went down with a scandal. In 1970, in the additional gold medal match of the USSR Championship in Tashkent, Dynamo lost to CSKA with a score of 3:4, leading 3:1 with 20 minutes left. Dynamo coach Konstantin Beskov believed that three of his players deliberately gave up the game: Anichkin, Valery Maslov and Gennady Evryuzhikhin. They say they sold the game to some scammers who bet more than a million rubles on the bet for CSKA. And although the players themselves claimed that this was a form of libel, the coach was adamant. After this, Anichkin began to be allowed on the field less and less, and in ’72 he was completely removed from the team. And he began to seek peace in alcohol.
After his wife and little daughter left him, Anichkin began to live in the apartment of his widower father on Sheremetyevskaya Street. In 1974, his affairs seemed to be improving: he was offered a coaching job at the Avangard stadium, on Entuziastov Highway. Everyone who saw Anichkin in those days claims that he looked good: cheerful, stylishly dressed. And suddenly, on January 5, 1975, Anichkin suddenly dies. According to V. Maslov: “I still don’t really know what caused this unexpected death? According to one version, they celebrated the birthday of their father, Ivan Vasilyevich, got very drunk, and the next day Vitya got drunk with a bottle of beer and died. According to another, he seemed to have quarreled with his father, and at the moment of the quarrel he had a heart attack... Honestly, there was no one to ask what they say, in hot pursuit, since I was not at the funeral - I flew to Sweden for the World Bandy Hockey Championship ..."
E. Mudrik recalls: “There was a lot of talk about Vitina’s death, but I am sure that he died of a heart attack. Igor Chislenko and I went to the morgue after this happened: Victor’s face was cyanotic - a sure sign that the cause of death was a massive heart attack. At that moment, by the way, I immediately remembered that back when he was playing for Dynamo, he often said that his heart ached..."
Anichkin was buried 40 kilometers from Moscow, in the Solnechnogorsk region, where his parents had a dacha. The football player found his last refuge in a modest village cemetery, where his mother, who also passed away very early, was buried.
A month after Anichkin’s death, the famous boxer passed away Valery Popenchenko. The name of this athlete in the 60-70s was well known not only in our country, but also abroad. His career in sports developed powerfully and rapidly, delighting and bewitching everyone who watched it.
V. Popenchenko was born in 1937. Mother Rufina Vasilievna raised her son alone and always dreamed of seeing him as a handsome and strong man. Therefore, in 1949, she brought him to Tashkent and sent him to the Suvorov School. There Valery first became acquainted with boxing: captain Yuri Matulevich came to the school and immediately opened a section on this sport. This man will be destined to become Popenchenko’s first mentor on the way to boxing heights.
Training in the boxing section was held four times a week. Several dozen people attended them, and at first Valery did not particularly stand out among them. But from month to month his successes grew, and now he is already listed among Matulevich’s most gifted students. At city competitions he won his first boxing awards.
It is worth noting that these competitions were very loved by boxing cadets, since at least occasionally they allowed them to leave the walls of the school. Therefore, as soon as they were released through the gates, they immediately rushed into the city and wandered around its streets for hours. And although the Tashkent of that time was no match for the present one, the boy cadets were not bored there either. They went to the outskirts of the city to Khodra, where the Spartak stadium was located, combed Aksalinskaya, Navoi and Kommunisticheskaya streets up and down (the Dynamo hall was located on the latter), and explored all the nooks and crannies of Gorky Park.
In 1955, Popenchenko graduated with honors from the Suvorov School: his certificate showed only A’s, and he had a gold medal in his hands. That same summer he was included in the Uzbekistan youth team, and in August he went to the Union championship in Grozny.
Valery won the preliminary battles against his opponents relatively easily and reached the finals. There he was opposed by the champion of the previous year, a boxer from Moscow Kovrigin. Their fight amazed many.
The first round went quite calmly, the opponents seemed to be taking a closer look at each other. In the second, Kovrigin powerfully went forward and already in the first minute struck Popenchenko with a strong blow to the head. Valery fell, but immediately managed to get up. The audience rejoices, fully and completely supporting the champion. Inspired by this, Kovrigin again begins the attack and inflicts a new blow on the enemy: an uppercut to the solar plexus. Popenchenko finds himself on the platform again. The judge starts counting: one, two, three, four... And then the gong rings. The second round is over.
When the third round began, probably no one in the hall had any doubts that Kovrigin would finally kill the “newcomer from Tashkent.” And indeed, the champion went forward, delivered a whole series of blows and at some point, apparently believing in his victory, opened up. And Popenchenko did not miss his chance. Seeing a gap in the enemy’s defense, he struck his signature blow, polished in school, called “cross”. Kovrigin collapsed on the platform and was unable to continue the fight. The gold medal of the champion went to Valery Popenchenko.
There was a time when amateur boxing was incredibly popular in our native Fatherland (more precisely, just boxing, because the terms “amateur” and “professional” did not exist in the lexicon of Soviet sports). But even in this mega-competitive firmament, Valery Popenchenko’s star shone brightest of all. Without any exaggeration: at the peak of his career, Popenchenko was considered a real national hero.
Reference
Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in boxing. He performed in the second middle weight (up to 75 kg). Champion of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, two-time European champion (1963, 1965), six-time USSR champion (1960-1965). The only Soviet boxer awarded the Val Barker Cup (award for the most technical boxer of the Olympic Games).
He fought 213 fights and won 200 victories. He is included in the top 10 rankings of the greatest boxers of all time according to WBC and AIBA.
He ended his career at the age of 27, having decided to engage in scientific work. Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Physical Education of the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical University. Knight of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
Informal
There are several reasons for this: both sporting and everyday, purely human.
To begin with, Popenchenko’s boxing technique did not fit into the classical canons of that time. He allowed himself such liberties in the ring that eyewitnesses - and most importantly, his opponents - had their eyes wide open. Those who saw the fights of Roy Jones Jr. in his best years can easily imagine this incredible picture: arms lowered along the body (the left dangles like a stepfather, the right in a sluggish half-swing), the head slightly thrown back, the body tilted. The blow is not a concentrated, targeted one, but a street one, almost from the shoulder, almost a sweeping blow.
Jump-jump, twitch-tug, slam - you look, and the opponent is already wiping the ground with his nose...
In the late fifties, when Popenchenko was just beginning his rise, the experts of the big Soviet ring scolded him for all he was worth. No one would bet a penny on this guy going far. “Idiot stance” and “clumsy technique”—these characteristics accompanied all the young boxer’s fights without exception.
And only after Popenchenko first won and then confidently defended the title of national champion, the experts were forced to change their point of view. Moreover, there was a completely logical explanation for the peculiarities of this particular manner of combat.
Valery Popenchenko (right). Photo: RIA Novosti / Yuri Somov
Street Fighter
The fact is that he quite deliberately supplied Valery with a special technique coach Yuri Matulevich, subtly grasping the exclusive abilities of his student.
Valera grew up without a father, who died at the front, and was, as they say, a difficult teenager. In the area of Trubnaya Square, where he spent his childhood, Popenchenko was considered the most daring and fearless among his peers, and in the harsh post-war period such “titles” were very expensive. To guide her son in the right direction, his mother sent him to the Suvorov School, which was based in Tashkent.
It was there that the coach of the boxing section, Matulevich, noticed the hooligan cadet.
Yuri Borislavovich considered it inappropriate to break the street fighting skills he had developed over the years. He simply improved them, “combed them” a little, and adapted them to the classics of a boxing match. When seventeen-year-old Popenchenko already had more than 20 victories in competitions at various levels, they learned about him, the “clumsy one,” in Moscow. And they invited me - as part of the Uzbekistan national team, however - to the USSR youth championship in Grozny.
After a landslide victory, skepticism began to decline, and expert terminology began to shift towards a “peculiar manner of fighting.” In 1960, as soon as Popenchenko won his first “adult” Union championship, his technical and tactical equipment was officially recognized. By that time, having graduated from the Suvorov School with a gold medal, he moved to Leningrad, entered the Higher Border School and came under the control of another remarkable specialist: Grigory Kusikyants.
This tandem received the nickname “Brawler and Psychopath” in the world of Soviet boxing, but is it worth paying attention to the delights of oral folk art if titles are pouring in one after another? Until 1965, when Popenchenko, having won his second European Championship, decided to hang up his gloves, he simply had no equal in the second middleweight.
"Light" gold
Popenchenko’s main victory is, of course, the Olympic one. By 1964, he was already a four-time champion of the Union and a champion of Europe, so no other task was set for him in Tokyo other than a medal of the highest standard. And so it happened: he took his gold outwardly easily, without particularly straining.
In the first fight he knocked down a Pakistani Sultan Mahmud, in the second - won on points (but by unanimous decision: 5:0) Joe Darkey from Ghana, defeated a Pole in the semi-finals Tadeusz Valasek, to whom he had previously lost twice in international tournaments.
Well, with the German Emil Schultz, whom Popenchenko knocked out shortly before Tokyo in the USSR-West Germany match, no problems arose. The final did not last long: in the very first attack, Schultz was knocked down, got up, but was immediately mercilessly finished off.
Chess player, poet, novelist
Popenchenko left the ring virtually undefeated. It was a conscious decision: to leave big sport immediately after the triumph at the 1965 European Championships, in the prime of life, when, no doubt, there were many more glorious victories ahead. Valery was slowed down by the whole world, he was flattered, he was “bought”, he was threatened, but, having made a choice, he did not change it.
Most likely, the ring became too small for him, almost in a physical sense. Popenchenko, as they said then, was a comprehensively developed personality. He knew English perfectly, wrote poems that were liked, for example, by the future classic Sergei Dovlatov, became the author of the book “And the Eternal Battle...”, had a personal invitation from Nikolai Ozerov work on television, loved and deeply understood chess (once he beat Anatoly Karpov, which gave a simultaneous game show in Sosnovka Park).
Having made a strong-willed decision, Popenchenko plunged into scientific work at the Leningrad Higher Engineering and Technical School, where he brilliantly defended his Ph.D. thesis (topic: “Life support for spaceships and submarines”), and then moved to Moscow. At the age of 33, Valery Vladimirovich already headed the department of physical education at the Moscow Higher Technical School, headed a scientific and technical laboratory that dealt with the issues of training and rehabilitation of athletes, and at 35 he began working on his doctoral dissertation.
He was not destined to write and defend the work.
Olympic boxing champion Valery Popenchenko (left) and Olympic champion in barbell Leonid Zhabotinsky, 1965. Photo: RIA Novosti / Yuri Somov
Death on a construction site
On February 15, 1975, Popenchenko went on duty to the construction site of the new Baumanka building: one of his “load” responsibilities was to supervise the progress of work. The official version says that while walking down the stairs with low railings while walking around the facility, he suddenly lost his balance and fell into the flight from the height of the third floor. He fell onto the tennis table below, was able to get up and even took a few steps. The last steps in your life...
There are also alternative versions. So, according to Valery Vladimirovich’s relatives and friends, the Olympic champion was “helped” to fall from a deadly height. Allegedly, he had an ongoing conflict with the foreman, who committed financial violations, and he hired criminals to deal with them. There were also rumors that there was a love affair: Popenchenko could have taken revenge on the husband of a certain woman with whom he had a close relationship. And there was even muted talk about suicide, although Popenchenko had no apparent reason to take his own life.
15.12.2017
On August 26, 2017, one of the outstanding Soviet boxers, Honored Master of Sports, six-time champion of the Soviet Union, two-time European champion in 1963, 1965, champion of the XVIII Olympic Games, winner of the ValBarker Cup, candidate of technical sciences, head of the department of physical education at Moscow Higher Technical School. N.E. Bauman (1970-1975) Valery Vladimirovich Popenchenko would have turned 80 years old, but his life was tragically cut short in the prime of his strength and talent.
By the decision of the jury of sports journalists, V.V. Popenchenkov was included in the list of the best athletes of the 20th century and he was awarded the title “Legend of Sports of the 20th Century.”
Valery Popenchenko has 228 fights, of which he emerged victorious 215 times. Including about a hundred - by knockout or with a clear advantage. Out of 30 international meetings, Valery lost only two fights, and to the same opponent - Pole Tadeusz Valasek, but Valery won twice against him, and in Tokyo - by knockout. The last fight and the last knockout of the captain and Komsomol member of the national team Valery Popenchenko took place at the Berlin European Championship, where he was recognized as the best boxer of the continent and was awarded a special prize - an amber dish. Engraved on it are the words: “To the most technical boxer in Europe. Berlin 1965" This is the European version of the Barker Cup.
Valery was invited to the Olympics in Mexico City as a guest of honor. He himself had to present the ValBarker Cup to the best boxer of the Olympics. It should be noted that the Cup itself was in the Sports Museum in Luzhniki for four years, and any visitor could read Valery’s name on the pedestal of the Cup (among others awarded with this prize). Let us remember that this prize, the most honorable in amateur boxing, was established in 1936 in honor of the President of the International Amateur Boxing Association, Val Barker. Before Popenchenko, it was awarded to only five masters: Louis Lauri (USA), George Hunter (USA), Norvel Lee (USA), Richard McTaggart (Great Britain) and Giovanni Benvenutti (Italy). The Cup is awarded to an athlete whose work is a milestone in the development of world boxing. In Tokyo, Valery was presented with the cup by the Chairman of the International Boxing Federation, Lord Russell. Valery accepted the cup and said (in English): “I am happy. My wildest boxing dream has come true.” In response, Russell praised Valery's English, shook his head and said: "I would be happy to have a son like that."
This is what the venerable boxing professor Konstantin Vasilyevich Gradopolov said about Popenchenko: “...He literally burst into our boxing academy, as they say, with a fight, and destroyed the classical canons that had been established for decades. His courage, pace and temperament literally overwhelmed and stunned everyone. He was bright and original.
During his short life (37 years), Valery achieved success not only in the sports field. He was multi-talented and knew that he could achieve success in science, which attracted him very much. Due to his character, he always wanted to be the first in everything. And at the Suvorov School, from which he graduated with a gold medal. Pilot-cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov said that junior Suvorov students took an example from Valery both in studies and in sports.
Valery succeeded not only in boxing, but also in chess, basketball, athletics and other sports. He had a first grade in chess, and he even gave simultaneous games. In general, he believed that playing chess certainly helps to calculate one’s “moves” in the ring.
Having graduated from the Higher Naval Border School in Leningrad and having served in the Arctic, the naval officer-engineer of the naval service with the shoulder straps of a lieutenant commander returned (as prescribed) to Leningrad to enter the postgraduate course of the Higher Military Engineering Construction School named after A. N. Komarovsky , which he completed with a dissertation on the topic of ensuring human life in enclosed spaces. At the request of the school cadets, Valery gave a lecture on the topic “How to combine study and sports.” He told me how to organize your time in order to allocate hours for training, and what these training benefits for well-being and study. He spent long hours in the library, not only mastering scientific literature, he read Jack London and knew Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev and other classics of world literature by heart.
The last years of his life (1970) Valery worked at the Moscow Higher Technical School named after. N.E. Bauman as head of the department of physical education. In 1967, a scientific and methodological council was created at the department. At its meetings, problems related to the use of technical means and research methods in sports were often discussed. Various simulators, heart rate tachometer, ballistocardiograph, rhythm leader and other devices have been created and tested. The topic of Valery Popenchenko’s scientific work (his doctoral dissertation): “Ways to increase the efficiency of the educational process in physical education at a university.” The work was published by the Higher School publishing house in 1979.
In addition to scientific and teaching activities, Valery achieved the support of the administration for the construction of a new sports complex at the Moscow Higher Technical University (in Moscow and in Dzhan-Tugan). It was necessary to draw up documents, draw up estimates, and find plots of land suitable for construction.
He found his fans in design institutions and construction trusts. He spoke to workers of cement and other factories. When construction began, he himself participated in community cleanups from early morning until the evening. Valery was happy.
Valery Vladimirovich wrote two books: “And forever the fight...” - Molodaya Gvardiya publishing house, 1968 and “About boxing, about myself and the boxers of the 1960s.” Published posthumously by the publishing house of Moscow State Technical University. N.E. Bauman in 2008.
V.V. Popenchenko was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. He was included in the Book of Honor of the Komsomol Central Committee and was awarded a crystal globe for sports activities.
Tatiana POPENCHENKO
Valery Popenchenko, mysterious death
In the past year, the community of St. Petersburg boxers celebrated Valery Popenchenko’s anniversary without loud celebrations or lavish gatherings. The Honored Master of Sports, six-time champion of the USSR, two-time European champion, triumphant of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and winner of the ValBarker Cup would have turned 80 years old. Most likely, Valery Vladimirovich lived to a ripe old age, but on February 15, 1975, his life was tragically cut short in the prime of his life.
Until now, the death of Popenchenko is considered one of the most mysterious pages in the history of national sports.
Grishin took the investigation under personal control
Let's restore the chronology of that fateful day.
Moscow. Frosty Saturday morning. There were no signs of trouble. The head of the department of physical education at the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School, Valery Popenchenko, was at the reception with the rector. The reason for the conversation turned out to be very serious; it was necessary to determine the deadline for defending a doctoral dissertation. At 16.30, straight from the rector’s office, the “doctor” went to the department at five minutes, went out onto the landing of the third floor and hurried down.
And then a nightmare happened! The Olympic champion fell down a flight of stairs... The next day, Soviet newspapers published an official obituary about the death of the outstanding boxer.
Although people distant from boxing did not really believe in the accident, and friends and relatives directly pointed to crime.
The “Popenchenko case” turned out to be so resonant that the investigation was taken under personal control by Viktor Grishin, a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and the First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. The best detectives were sent to investigate, but more questions arose than answers. The investigation was completed on time, but the official conclusion did not look very convincing: “Popenchenko was going down the stairs. Lost consciousness. The cause of the fall was a micro-stroke caused by injuries and concussions received in the ring.”
Didn't fit into the totalitarian system
Popenchenko’s mentor, Honored Coach of the USSR Grigory Kusikyants, once expressed his version of the tragedy:
About a micro-stroke, this is complete nonsense,” Grigory Filippovich was indignant. - There is nothing mysterious about Valera’s death. They just killed him! The time will come when the truth will be revealed. It’s hard for me to say, he’s like my own son. In December 1974, we met with him in Moscow, things were going great, and two months later he was gone.
It is worth remembering that, in addition to working at the department, Popenchenko oversaw the construction of the Baumanki sports complex and collected money. Thanks to his incredible popularity, he entered the highest offices and communicated personally with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Politburo member Alexei Kosygin.
In October 1974, the IOC session chose Moscow as the capital of the 1980 Summer Olympics. But the party leaders entrusted Popenchenko to become the face of the upcoming Games. The ceremonial address of the Honored Master of Sports and member of the Komsomol Central Committee was filmed for the “News of the Day” program and shown in all cinemas of the USSR.
It is clear that such an important video could only be made with the personal approval of Kosygin, who oversaw the preparations for Moscow 1980 and whose authority in the country was considered indisputable.
It is known that Leonid Brezhnev, like many other members of the Political Bureau, was very jealous and even hostile to Kosygin’s popularity. Therefore, Kusikyants firmly believed that the early departure of his beloved student could have been provoked by a fierce party struggle in the Kremlin.
Popenchenko was as popular around the world as cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Everyone wanted to shake his hand. There was a fierce struggle for power, and such bright people did not fit into the totalitarian system,” Kusikyants complained.
The mystery of escaping to “alien” Moscow
According to eyewitnesses, a lifeless body fell into the flight of stairs. This fact completely refutes the version of suicide of the 37-year-old Olympic champion. They gossiped that after a brilliant sports career, Valery never found a place for himself in ordinary life, and the position of head of the department of physical education did not in any way meet his heightened ambitions.
Experienced boxers said that in everyday life Popenchenko did not allow compromises, and when he “violated the regime,” he became harsh and categorical.
“It’s true, Valerka’s character was not a gift,” Kusikyants shook his head, “when he was still living in Leningrad, he had a serious conflict in a restaurant, either with thieves in law, or with underground guild members.
The fight in the tavern indirectly explains why Popenchenko quite unexpectedly and hastily moved from his beloved city on the Neva to “alien” Moscow. Allegedly, the criminal authorities did not forgive him for his offense. They found the "impudent" in the capital. There is a persistent legend in the boxing community that on that fateful day the St. Petersburg urka called the champion from the administration “to talk,” stabbed him with a knife, and then threw him into the air...
Pushkin also died at thirty-seven
There is also a lot of mysticism in this tragic story.
Of course, Popenchenko himself was not a superstitious person, but he was seriously interested in numerology. It’s not for nothing that he received the flattering nickname Grandmaster of the Ring. Valery played chess very well, knew mathematics and physics brilliantly, and was a doctor of science in less than five minutes.
In recent years, he discovered the works of the outstanding German astronomer Johannes Kepler and literally rummaged through his books. Based on the research of great astronomers, Kusikyants’ student created a mathematical model of his fate. Numbers and only numbers. No mysticism. However, the number 37 in Popenchenko’s biography was marked by... a tragedy.
Here's another magical coincidence. Pushkin was considered the king of the ring's favorite poet; in conversations with friends, he often mentioned the great poet; he could recite large passages from Alexander Sergeevich's poems by heart.
At times, Popenchenko was greatly depressed that Pushkin was killed at thirty-seven... Even the Tokyo Olympic champion did not overcome this fatal milestone.
About Valeria Popenchenko
Valery Popenchenko was born on August 26, 1937. His father died at the front in 1941. From the age of 13, Valery was a cadet at the Tashkent Suvorov Military School, and here he began boxing with coach Yu.B. Matulevich-Ilyichev. Having won the 30th victory in his 30th fight, Valery Popenchenko won the title of winner of the USSR Championship among youths in 1955.
Popenchenko graduated from the Suvorov School with a gold medal, and in the fall of 1955 he became a cadet at the Leningrad Higher Border Naval School. Perhaps it is safe to say that he, Valery Popenchenko, was finally very lucky at this moment. The famous Leningrad coach from Dynamo Grigory Filippovich Kusikyants was also lucky. Two people who needed each other met, a double star rose on the boxing horizon - the “coach-student” union as one whole. As a result, a boxer appeared who boxed differently than others, subordinated his actions to a logic that few people understood, and behaved in battle completely outside the established laws of fist science for thousands of years.
Popenchenko and Kusikyants were not taken seriously, and they did not consider this a reason to reduce training loads; Valery was called a brawler, but they could not forbid him to train until he sweated; they predicted a “boxer’s death” for him, and they lived by work and search. And together we won – many!
| In 1959, Valery became the champion of the USSR, in 1960 a bronze medalist, and from 1961 to 1965. wins all USSR championships. Wins two consecutive European Championships in 1963 and 1965. At the XVIII Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, having defeated the German E. Schulz in the final battle, he won the Olympic gold medal. In addition, Valery is the only Soviet boxer in the history of performances at the Olympics who was awarded the Val Barker Cup as the most technical boxer. In 213 fights, Valery Popenchenko won 200 victories, 100 of them ended with knockouts. For outstanding sporting achievements he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. He took all the peaks in sports. He gave boxing his all and left the ring in a halo of glory. Again, he went completely (he could not do otherwise) into science. He achieved a lot here too - he became a candidate of technical sciences and prepared his doctoral dissertation. He wrote a book about boxing, “And the Eternal Fight...”. |
Mr. Knockout. The mystery of Valery Popenchenko
In 1970, Valery Vladimirovich Popenchenko came to the Moscow Higher Technical School N.E. Bauman and headed the department of physical education. He worked in this position for only five years. But, assessing everything that he did in such a short time, you never cease to be amazed at the grandiose results that he achieved.
An extraordinary person is extraordinary in everything. This is exactly what Valery Vladimirovich proved, being the head of one of the largest departments of the school. The first area of work that he highlighted was science. Understanding the importance of a scientific approach to the processes of training and recovery of athletes, V.V. Popenchenko created a scientific laboratory of sports: he “knocked out” the staff, staffed the laboratory with athletes who graduated from the Moscow Higher Technical School and senior students, he himself set a task for each of them and followed the progress of work with great interest .Teachers began to get involved in scientific work, and the first scientific research began.
Soon the laboratory gained all-Union fame. The results of the work carried out were presented at many conferences and exhibitions both in our country and abroad. Five teachers worked on dissertations, three works were defended during V.V. Popenchenko’s lifetime. He himself managed to prepare his doctoral dissertation. At one of the main centers of sports science - the Institute of Physical Culture - where he presented his dissertation, leading scientists fully approved and supported it.
Another important area of application of Valery Vladimirovich’s efforts and organizational abilities was the construction of a modern sports complex, which the department had been waiting for a long time. There was clearly not enough space for physical education. A university like Moscow Higher Technical School needed its own sports complex. Realizing the importance of this, Popenchenko began to push for its construction as soon as he arrived at the department.
It was very difficult to break through bureaucratic obstacles. Moreover, when all construction projects have already been planned for the current five-year period, and finances have been fully distributed. Everyone considered it unrealistic to achieve inclusion of a new construction project in the financial plan. However, assertiveness, enthusiasm and faith in success, combined with the halo of popularity of an excellent athlete and member of the Komsomol Central Committee, helped Valery Vladimirovich do the impossible - at the beginning of 1973, construction began on the sports complex of the Moscow Higher Technical School named after. N. E. Bauman.
By the end of 1976, construction had progressed noticeably. It was actually popular: all the students and staff of the school worked there more than once on “subbotniks,” that is, in their free time. The success of the first stage of construction depended only on Popenchenko’s energy. In those years, all construction sites in the country were in a fever: sometimes there was no brick, sometimes there was no mortar... It was the same in ours. The construction manager did not solve these problems, but forwarded them to Valery Vladimirovich, who was at the construction site every day in the morning. Having received information about what was missing, he literally took off, flew to this or that city, called or rushed to some factory. He often spoke to workers and, talking about the Moscow Higher Technical School, asked them to help. And they always responded to his call. As a result, iron or concrete ended up at our construction site.
In 1978, the MVTU sports complex was included in the list of Olympic venues - Olympic athletes were supposed to train here, and in September 1980, after the end of the Olympic Games in Moscow, the MVTU sports complex received its first students.
Our wonderful sports complex has been operating for 28 years. During this time, many generations of Bauman students studied there. They were lucky. Now, looking back, we can say with confidence that very little time was allotted to begin construction. It would have been worth delaying its start for another year and a half to two years, and the sports complex might not even exist now. Indeed, in 1976, Moscow’s grandiose preparations for the Olympic Games began.
All the country's forces were devoted to the construction of Olympic facilities. All other construction projects, especially those related to sports, were frozen. The same fate would have awaited our sports complex, but by this time it had grown so significantly that it was decided to complete it. For the Moscow Olympics, money for the construction of a university sports complex most likely would not have been given, since “Olympic funding” had exhausted all limits.
The fact that our sports complex has been operating for almost three decades is the main and enormous merit of Valery Vladimirovich Popenchenko
Valery Vladimirovich (August 26, 1937, Kuntsevo, now within Moscow, - February 15, 1975, Moscow), Soviet athlete-boxer, Honored Master of Sports (1964), Candidate of Technical Sciences (1968), Associate Professor (1972). Member of the CPSU since 1960. Repeated champion of the USSR (6 times in 1959-65), Europe (1963, 1965), champion of the Olympic Games (1964, Tokyo). He competed in the 2nd middle weight. In 1970-75, head of the department of physical education at the Moscow Higher Technical School. N. E. Bauman. In 1966-70, member of the Komsomol Central Committee. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals.
Works: And forever the battle..., M., 1968.
- - Valery Vladimirovich, Soviet athlete-boxer, Honored Master of Sports, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor. Member of the CPSU since 1960. Repeated champion of the USSR, Europe, Olympic champion...
- - Soviet athlete-boxer, Honored Master of Sports, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor. Member of the CPSU since 1960. Repeated champion of the USSR, Europe, Olympic champion...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- - Valery Vladimirovich, champion of the USSR, Europe, Olympic Games in boxing...
Modern encyclopedia
- - Russian athlete, Honored Master of Sports, Candidate of Technical Sciences. Champion of the Olympic Games, Europe and the USSR...
Large encyclopedic dictionary
"Popenchenko" in books
Fatal 1975 Victor ANICHKIN. Valery POPENCHENKO. Vladimir KUTS
From the book Star Tragedies author Razzakov FedorFatal 1975 Victor ANICHKIN. Valery POPENCHENKO. Vladimir KUTS By an evil irony of fate, 1975 became the most fruitful year in terms of deaths of famous athletes. The first to open this list was the footballer of the capital Dynamo (1959–1972) and the USSR national team (1964–1968) Viktor Anichkin. Anichkin was considered
POPENCHENKO VALERY
From the book How Idols Left. The last days and hours of people's favorites author Razzakov FedorPOPENCHENKO VALERY POPENCHENKO VALERY (boxer, champion of the USSR and the Olympic Games; died on February 15, 1975 at the age of 38). The name of this athlete became widely known in 1959, when he first became the champion of the country (then such ascents to the highest level of the All-Union
Valery POPENCHENKO
From the book Dossier on the Stars: truth, speculation, sensations, 1962-1980 author Razzakov FedorValery POPENCHENKO The name of this boxer in the 60-70s was well known not only in our country, but also abroad. His career in sports developed powerfully and rapidly, delighting and bewitching everyone who watched it.V. Popenchenko was born in 1937. Mother - Rufina Vasilievna -
POPENCHENKO Valery
From the book Memory That Warms Hearts author Razzakov FedorPOPENCHENKO Valery POPENCHENKO Valery (boxer, champion of the USSR and Olympic Games; died on February 15, 1975 at the age of 38). The name of this athlete became widely known in 1959, when he first became the national champion (then such ascents to the highest level of the All-Union
February 15 – Valery POPENCHENKO
From the book The Light of Faded Stars. They left that day author Razzakov FedorFebruary 15 – Valery POPENCHENKO The name of this boxer in the 60-70s was well known not only in our country, but also abroad. His career in sports developed powerfully and rapidly, delighting and bewitching everyone who watched it. The fate of this athlete was not bad and
Valery Popenchenko
From the book 100 Great Olympic Champions author Malov Vladimir IgorevichValery Popenchenko (1937–1975) Soviet boxer. Champion of the XVIII Olympic Games in Tokyo (Japan), 1964 Valery Popenchenko’s father died in the war. In order to raise her son to be a strong, strong-willed, courageous person, in 1949 his mother brought Valery to Tashkent, where there was one of the best in the country
Popenchenko Valery Vladimirovich
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (PO) by the author TSB200 victories of Valery Popenchenko
From the book 100 Great Athletes [with illustrations] author Malov Vladimir Igorevich200 victories of Valery Popenchenko The great boxer Valery Popenchenko was born in the same year, 1937, as the great football player Eduard Streltsov. Popenchenko’s sporting fate was much happier, but life itself turned out to be even shorter... Valery Popenchenko’s father died in the war.
FATAL 1975 Viktor Anichkin. Valery Popenchenko. Vladimir Kuts
From the book Idols. Secrets of death author Razzakov FedorFATAL 1975 Viktor Anichkin. Valery Popenchenko. Vladimir Kuts By an evil irony of fate, 1975 was the most fruitful year in terms of deaths of famous athletes. The first to open this list was the footballer of the capital Dynamo (1959–1972) and the USSR national team (1964–1968) Viktor Anichkin. Anichkin was considered
Loading...