Why did the Olympics take place in 1992 and 1994? Bach: I remember the Games in Sochi with warm feelings. Olympics or World Championships

From February 8 to February 23, 1992, the XVI Winter Olympic Games were held in Albertville (France). A total of 1,804 athletes arrived (including 492 women), representing the NOCs of 65 countries - a record number of participants in the entire history of the Winter Olympic Games. Medals were awarded in 57 sets of medals in 12 sports. For the first time, sets of awards were played in 15 types of competitions: for women in biathlon (7.5 km, 1 and 3 x 7.5 km relay), in cross-country skiing for 30 km (instead of the previous race for 20 km), in freestyle (mogul) , short track speed skating (1000 and 5000 m), ski jumping from a 120-meter springboard (instead of 70 meters), and curling. The program's demonstration numbers (for both men and women) included acrobatics and freestyle ballet and speedskiing. The change in the political situation in the world could not but affect the balance of power in the international sports arena. In connection with the unification, Germany was represented by a single team.

The games were held two months after the USSR ceased to exist as a single state. Questions immediately arose about the composition of the team, its financing, recruitment, preparation and participation in the Games. Finally, after lengthy discussions and negotiations, it was decided that the former USSR Olympic team would compete as a joint Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) team under the Olympic flag. The Olympic flag was also supposed to be raised in honor of the winners and medalists from the CIS team. The CIS team did not have a guarantee cash contribution to pay to the French NOC for participation in the Games, as well as to send it to Albertville. In the end, problems that had never arisen before were resolved, and the former USSR team ended up at the Games.

Norwegian athletes achieved outstanding success in cross-country skiing for men: they were first in all distances, in the 4x10 km relay, and received five gold medals. The hero of the Games was the Norwegian skier Vegard Ulvang, awarded three gold and one silver medals. Among the women, the athletes of the CIS team performed most successfully, managing to win three gold medals. The most striking was the performance of L. Egorova, who won two gold medals in the individual championship and one in the 4x5 km relay.

In biathlon, three gold medals went to athletes from Germany (10 km race for men, men's 4x7.5 km relay race, 15 km race for women), two - to athletes from the CIS team (7.5 km race for women and 20 km in men) and one (women's 3x7.5 km relay) award was received by French athletes.

In speed skating, German athletes had a clear advantage. G. Neumann performed most successfully, winning two gold (3000 and 5000 m) and one silver medal (1500 m). Two gold medals each went to athletes from the USA and Norway.

In figure skating, three gold medals went to the athletes of the CIS team. To the already traditional victories in pair skating and ice dancing, a gold medal in single skating among men was added, won by the Ukrainian athlete V. Petrenko.

Photo: AFP

A difficult situation has arisen in ice hockey competitions. The composition of the participants turned out to be quite even. The CIS team was staffed by young, little-known players, as all the leading players went overseas to play for various professional NHL clubs. As a result of preliminary competitions, in which 12 teams took part, teams from the USA, Sweden, Canada and the CIS managed to make it to the semi-finals. The athletes of the CIS hockey team unexpectedly easily beat the leader of the first preliminary group, the USA team (5:2), and the Canadians in the final (3:1).

The overall team championship was won by German athletes - 26 medals (10, 10, 6, respectively) and 181 points in the unofficial team competition. In second place were the athletes of the CIS team, who received 23 medals (9, 6, 8) and 163 points. These results were quite natural and were not unexpected either for specialists or for winter sports enthusiasts. The third place of the Norwegian Olympians - 193 points and 20 medals (9, 6, 5) was a sensation of the Games.

Information provided by the Russian Olympic Committee.

Sports represented
Biathlon
Bobsled
Skiing
Skating
Nordic combined
Ski race
Ski jumping
Luge
Short track
Figure skating
Freestyle
Hockey
Demonstration types
Freestyle acrobatics and ballet
Speedskiing

On XVI Winter Olympic Games 1,804 athletes arrived in Albertville, including 492 women, representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of 65 countries. This was a record number of participants in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.

The competition program was also record-breaking. Medals were awarded in 57 types of competitions in 12 sports. For the first time, sets of awards were played in 15 types of competitions: women in biathlon - 7.5 km, 15 km and 3 x 7.5 km relay; in cross-country skiing at 30 km, instead of the previous race at 20 km; in freestyle - mogul; short track 1000 and 5000 m; in ski jumping from a 120-meter springboard, instead of a 70-meter one; in curling.

Acrobatics and ballet in freestyle and speedskiing were included as demonstration numbers in the program, both men's and women's. 1992 Olympics convincingly demonstrated the ever-increasing popularity of winter sports. Just compared to the previous Olympics in Calgary, the number of participating countries increased by 12, the number of athletes by 123. There were about 7 thousand media representatives - one and a half times more than in Calgary, four times more than athletes. Two new sports have appeared - short track and freestyle, and the number of competition types has increased by 11.

The change in the political situation in the world could not but affect the balance of power in the international sports arena. In connection with the unification, Germany was represented by a single team. At the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988, athletes from the GDR and West Germany won a total of 33 medals - 11 gold, 14 silver, 8 bronze, and 235 points in the unofficial team competition. Therefore, there was every reason to think that the German Olympians would take first place in the team wrestling.

The Olympic Games in Albertville were held two months after the USSR ceased to exist as a single state. Questions immediately arose about the status of the team, its financing, recruitment, preparation and participation in the Olympics. Finally, after lengthy discussions and negotiations, it was decided that the Olympic team of the former USSR would compete as a joint team of the Commonwealth of Independent States - CIS under the Olympic flag. The Olympic flag was also supposed to be raised in honor of the winners and medalists from the CIS team. The CIS team did not have a guaranteed cash contribution to pay to the French NOC for participation in the Olympic Games, as well as to send it to Albertville. In the end, these problems, which had never arisen before, were resolved and the former USSR team ended up at the 1992 Olympics.

The results of the Olympic Games reflected the intensification of competition in winter sports on the international sports scene. Compared to the 1988 Games in Calgary, the number of countries whose athletes managed to win gold medals increased from 11 to 14. Among the medalists were athletes from 20 countries, while at the previous Games there were 17. Athletes appeared among the champions and medalists of the Winter Olympic Games countries that have never had achievements in winter sports - the Republic of Korea, Spain, Italy, New Zealand.

Many outstanding athletes were invited to the Olympic Games in Albertville, who wrote glorious pages in the history of the Winter Olympics. Among them was the two-time Olympic champion of Lake Placid in 1932 in speed skating. Jack Shea, who was 84 years old. First Olympic champion of the Winter Olympics Charles Jewtrow, who was in his 95th year, could not attend this meeting.

Norwegian athletes achieved outstanding success in men's cross-country skiing: they were first in all distances, in the 4x10 km relay, and received five gold medals. The hero of the 1992 Olympics was the Norwegian skier Vegard Ulvang, awarded three gold and one silver medals. Among the women, the athletes of the CIS team performed most successfully, managing to win three gold medals. The most striking was the performance of Lyubov Egorova, who won two gold medals in the individual championship and one in the 4x5 km relay. Italian skiers finished the competition with fairly good results. For example, Stefania Belmondo was the winner in the 30 km race. In addition, the Italians won 5 silver and bronze medals.

In biathlon, three gold medals went to athletes from Germany - a 10 km race for men, a men's 4x7.5 km relay race, a 15 km race for women, two medals for athletes from the CIS team - a 7.5 km race for women and a 20 km for men, and one award, in the women's 3x7.5 km relay race, was received by French athletes.

In speed skating, German athletes had a clear advantage. To the two gold medals won by the men in the 500m and 1000m, the women managed to add three more. Gunda Nieman performed most successfully, winning two gold medals at distances of 3000 m and 5000 m, and one silver medal at a distance of 1500 m. Two gold medals each went to athletes from the USA and Norway.

In 10 types of alpine skiing competitions, gold medals were distributed as follows: Austria - 3, Italy - 3, Norway - 2, Sweden - 1, Canada - 1. The real sensation of the competition was the fierce struggle between representatives of the Alpine countries and the Olympians of Norway, Sweden, Canada .

In the men's short track speed skating competition, athletes from the Republic of Korea won both gold medals.

In the men's luge competition, German athletes took the first two places. Among the women, Doris Neuner, an athlete from the Austrian team, won gold.

Among bobsledders, the crews of Switzerland (two) and Austria (four) received gold medals.

A difficult situation has arisen in ice hockey competitions. The composition of the participants turned out to be quite even. The CIS team was staffed by young, little-known players, as all the leading players went overseas to play for various professional NHL clubs. As a result of preliminary competitions, in which 12 teams took part, teams from the USA, Sweden, Canada and the CIS managed to reach the semifinals. The athletes of the CIS hockey team unexpectedly easily beat the leader of the first preliminary group, the US team, with a score of 5:2, and in the final, the Canadians with a score of 3:1.

The Olympic Games in Albertville, perhaps like none of the previous ones, were replete with surprises and surprises, unpredictability of results in many types of competitions. The matter was not limited to the successes of representatives of the northern countries in alpine skiing, and Italy in cross-country skiing. No less surprising was the success of the “flying skiers” from Austria, who won 4 out of 6 medals, and the luge sisters Doris and Angelika Neuner. The success of the French biathletes in the relay did not go unnoticed - first place, as well as the appearance of representatives of China in speed skating, New Zealand and Spain in alpine skiing among the winners of the Winter Olympic Games.

The overall team championship was won by German athletes, who won 26 medals - 10 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze and 181 points in the unofficial team competition. In second place were the athletes of the CIS team, who received 163 points and 23 medals - 9 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze. These results were quite natural and were not unexpected either for specialists or for winter sports enthusiasts. The third place of the Norwegian Olympians, who won 193 points and 20 medals - 9 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze, was a sensation at the Winter Olympics. After all, Norway has long lost its former glory as a winter sports power and was content with modest results: in 1988, 42 points and 5 medals - 3 silver and 2 bronze; in 1984, 71 points and 9 medals - 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze; in 1980, 72 points and 10 medals - 1 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze, and in 1976, 50.5 points and 7 medals - 3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze. The significant increase in the performance of Norwegian athletes in recent years is primarily due to two factors. The first of these is undoubtedly the rich tradition of winter sports in this country. Excellent material resources, the popularity of winter sports among the population, and the presence of good specialists naturally create favorable conditions for the training of outstanding athletes. However, the practice of the 70-80s showed that these factors were not enough in the absence of a coherent system for training the most talented athletes. Already in the first half of the 80s, Norwegian specialists were convinced that without changing the organizational and methodological foundations for training the strongest athletes, it would not be possible to regain leading positions in winter sports. As the President of the Norwegian NOC, Arne Myrwald, noted, after an unsuccessful performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics, a decision was made to abandon the previously existing approach to training high-class athletes in Norway. The main organizational and methodological provisions for the training of Norwegian Olympians were undoubtedly borrowed from the experience of training athletes in the countries of Eastern Europe and, above all, in the GDR. The first thing that was done was to identify a group of especially gifted athletes, and it was for them that the necessary conditions for full preparation were created. Previously, it was considered unacceptable to place some athletes in a privileged position in relation to others. Secondly, the entire training system, all other competitions were subordinated to the main task - systematic, without forcing, preparation for the Olympic Games. Previously, preparation planning was mainly carried out in the interests of successful performance at World Championships and World Cup competitions. Third, the use of modern means and methods of training, options for planning the training process. For example, when preparing for the Albertville Olympics, Norwegian skiers made extensive use of mid-mountain training, training in the Alps at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. All this not only explains the success of Norwegian athletes at the XVI Winter Olympic Games, but suggests that they are capable of achieving high results in the largest competitions in subsequent years.

1992 was the last time the Winter Olympics were held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. The IOC decided to continue to hold the Winter and Summer Olympic Games alternately with an interval of 2 years.

OK command. How a team without a flag and anthem put an end to it

Gold with three misses, an interesting nightmare, the last gold of the "Red Machine" and a terrible organization - what were the Games in Albertville.

Observer for "Championship" Lev Rossoshik recalls the Games in France, which were unlike either the previous or subsequent ones.

OK and white flag with five rings

A quarter of a century is a significant date: anniversary, landmark, memorable. Moreover, the sports event that took place in February 1992 in France, called the XVI Winter Olympic Games, differed from all the previous fifteen more than significantly. This was influenced by many circumstances, mostly political. If we analyze the events in chronological order, then this is the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany, the complete collapse of the USSR and the separation of a number of republics from the SFRY, in the common people of Yugoslavia.

The most amazing thing is that the Olympic starts in France and the collapse of the great power that was the Soviet Union were separated by less than two months. It is clear that many questions have arisen about the status of the team, its financing, staffing, equipment...

I have already written in an essay about an outstanding figure in the international Olympic movement Vitaliy Smirnov, how, on the one hand, the delimitation of countries took place, and on the other, the unification of their Olympic committees for performances in Albertville and Barcelona.

The initiative belonged to the then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was able to come to an agreement with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who supported the initiative of the Spanish baron. And Smirnov came up with an option in which all the newly formed Olympic bodies in the new states continued for some time - until the next 101st session of the IOC in Monaco in 1993 - to be under the control of Moscow. And in Albertville, and later in Barcelona, the United Team (with the abbreviation OK) performed. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia sent their national teams to France and Spain. For the first time since 1936, Germany competed at the Games as a single team (not to be confused with the OGK, which participated in the Olympics from 1956 to 1964), and the former Yugoslav, but already independent states of Croatia and Slovenia also entered the Games independently.

The first Russian to see the light at the end of the tunnel

Honorary President of the ROC and IOC member Vitaly Smirnov celebrates his 80th birthday today. “Championship” reminds us how great this man is.

And the white flag with five intertwined Olympic rings at the opening ceremony in Albertville was entrusted to be carried by five-time world speed skating champion Igor Zhelezovsky from Belarus.

Thus, the 1992 Winter Olympics brought together a record number of participants and countries in the entire history of the Winter Games - 1801 athletes (488 of them women) from 64 countries.

First and last

The increase in the number of participants, and, accordingly, other members of the Olympic family, including journalists, of whom almost 7 thousand came to France (one and a half times more than in Calgary), the expansion of the competition program and, in connection with all this, increased popularity did their job : a need arose to separate the timing of the winter and summer Olympics, which previously took place exclusively in leap years. So the Games in Albertville became the last to be organized in a year with 366 days. Actually, this wise decision was made by the IOC back in 1986, although at that time it was little believed that such global changes would occur on the globe.

Since then, the Olympic Games began to be held on leap years, as before, summer, and winter between them.

For the first time at the Games, sets of awards were awarded in short track speed skating, freestyle skiing and women's biathlon. Finally, the last time the skaters competed for medals was in an open-air stadium. All subsequent Olympic speed-walking competitions took place under the roof.

Terrible organization: they grab you by the hand, take you somewhere, you can’t understand anything. I did not like.

And in Albertville, in conjunction with the traditional Olympics, the Paralympic Games were held. And from that moment on, all subsequent Olympics, both summer and winter, were celebrated in such a tandem.

A curious story happened to the author of these lines. In mid-August 1991, a new daily newspaper, Sport Express, began to be published in our country, the basis of which was made up of journalists who had left Soviet Sport one day a month and a half earlier. Of course, by the time the new edition was published, the accreditation period for the 1992 Games had already passed and there was no way to obtain an additional quota. Fortunately, two of the journalists who left the publication, which existed since 1924 - the year of the first Winter Games - were accredited by it in Albertville.

One question has been removed. On the other hand, finding money for the trip was more difficult. But we managed to solve it by hook or by crook, largely thanks to the Honored Master of Sports Vasily Machuga, the then head of the Russian State Sports Committee.

Our French colleagues also helped, making an advance payment for us to stay in a room in a small chalet located even higher in the mountains not far from the press center (the name has been forgotten over the years), about 20 minutes away by minivan.

Olympics or World Championships?

Now, after so many years and with the opportunity to compare with other similar white Olympics on different continents, the Games in Albertville seem somehow awkward. First of all, because they were too scattered geographically, they ended up in this part of the French Alps called Savoy. In fact, only a third of the 57 sets of awards were played out in Albertville itself - in speed skating, figure skating and short track speed skating. Competitions in other disciplines took place in different winter resorts that were not nearby. So, skiers competed in Val d'Isere and Meribel, a hockey tournament was also held in Meribel, and a stadium for biathlon and cross-country skiing was built in Leu.

Sesi, a bobsleigh and luge track was built in La Plagne, combined athletes and ski jumpers argued among themselves, probably the most attractive, although much later for the Russian oligarchs, Courchevel, and freestylers made their debut in Tignes. But what can we say, if the main press center, from where, in fact, all the materials were transmitted then (neither laptops nor mobile phones existed at that time) was located at a fairly decent distance from Albertville in the town of La Lecher - either indoors former station, or locomotive depot.

In short, to get to the start time, say, to the ski and biathlon stadium in Le Sezy, you had to get up before dawn - no later than five in the morning. In general, there were many problems with transport for the press at all the Winter Games, except for Sochi. The most surprising thing is that this did not bother the organizers at all.

On the very first day of the competition, February 9, when the skiers competed at a distance of 15 km, having already found themselves in Le Sezy, I suddenly discovered that the last scheduled bus was leaving for the State Orthodox Church half an hour before the announced press conference with the competition winners. There was no doubt that our girls would be on the podium. The local organizers had to make a small scandal. As a result, the shuttle schedule was not changed, and in order to get rid of the annoying Russian, I was allocated a personal car, and I comfortably got to La Lecher, having previously talked with our skiers, who won gold in the first race ( Lyubov Egorova) and bronze ( Elena Vyalbe) medals, and the great Raisa Smetanina, for whom the Games in France were already the fifth and a week after their end the skier turned 40 years old, turned out to be fourth.

First gold OK

Smetanina started second, and everyone who ran behind was guided by her time in the segments. But we really wanted Raya to get a medal. And until the very end they believed that this was possible. Alas, it was just a little short. “It was very disappointing,” he wrote in a report from Le Sezy at the time. - Needless to say, Smetanina deserved a medal - for her hellish work, for her patience, for her love and devotion to skiing.

But I want to believe that she will not return to her homeland without a reward this time either - there are still many races ahead, and a successful performance in the first one almost guarantees her a place on the relay team.” That's how it happened.

After the finish, taking a quick glance at the scoreboard, where the racers’ results at the last control segment were still glowing, Raisa instantly assessed the situation: “Lyuba should win today.”

When Egorova finished and people rushed to congratulate her, the skier asked her not to rush, saying that her main rivals were still in the distance. Fortunately, everything ended in the best possible way for us.

At the press conference, meticulous Western colleagues delved into politics a lot: how do you feel in the new situation, when a once powerful empire has collapsed? But they also asked about the matter:

- How long did you train at altitude before this race?
- 12 days in Austria and a week here in Le Sezy?

- How do you assess the organization of competitions at the Games?
- A terrible organization: they grab you by the hand, take you somewhere, you can’t understand anything. I did not like.

- Did you encounter any technical difficulties during the race?
- I went as planned. I knew that this test would not be easy, but the information was delivered clearly.

- Could you improve at the end of the distance if your rivals were hot on your heels?
- Hardly. I finished the distance with all my strength.

- Where did you beat your rivals today?
- Probably on the rise. In general, I like the hard crust like here. I like to push with sticks.

- How do you evaluate your first Olympic gold medal?
- Very high. Maybe this is my first and last Olympics.

Lyuba was lying, today we know: she will also perform at the Games in Lillehammer, and in total her collection will include as many as six highest Olympic awards, not to mention other medals.

First gold in women's biathlon

Two days after the skiers, biathletes entered the Olympic distance for the first time - 7.5 km and two fire stages. I have already mentioned that this species made its debut in the Winter Games program. And most of the participants were unlucky: by the time the first numbers finished (and among them ours Elena Belova, which ended up being third), it began to snow so much that you couldn’t see it, a blizzard began. But he did not stop the Calgary Olympic champion in the ski (not biathlon, no, but ski) relay race Anfisa Reztsova cleanly and quickly shoot the prone position. Of course, all her rivals lost to her along the way.

When Bykov's three played a classic combination and the score became 3:2, a lump came to my throat - it reminded me of the good old times.

But at the second stage in the “stand-up” shooting did not go well for the newly minted biathlete - in the end there were three misses, and she went into the distance only fourth, losing almost 20 seconds to the Czech Jiřina Adamičkova and two seconds for the grinder Nadezhda Alexieva and a German woman Antje Mizerski. But in the remaining two and a half kilometers, Reztsova improved so much that her finish time was almost 16 seconds better than Mizerski, who won silver.

“I’m happy - there are no words,” Reztsova admitted after the finish. - I was at the Olympic Games for the second time in a row, but I didn’t win a personal victory: I was a champion in the relay and won silver for second place in the twenty. Today’s success is doubly valuable because she became the very first Olympic champion in biathlon. But I’ve only been doing this sport for the second year – since the summer of 1990. My husband persuaded me - she would never have dared to change her sports specialty. He is my former biathlete and now my coach.

I worked with men all the time. First under the guidance of her husband, then she made it to the first team. It is very important that I took shooting training with the guys - I learned a lot from them.

Actually, an example for me was the action of the famous Norwegian skier Greta Nykelmo, which after the Calgary Olympics switched to biathlon. When I saw her in action last year, I predicted victory in the sprint at the World Championships in Lahti. She won, and also won silver in the 15 kilometers. Then I thought: why am I any worse?

As you can see, everything turned out well. True, three misses in the “stand” are still attributed to instability in shooting. In addition, the terrible snowfall was very difficult. Actually, for me, the more difficult the conditions, the better. Snow on the ski track is not a problem. True, the terrain here is very difficult, especially on the approach to the shooting range. Usually at this point in the distance there is a gentle descent so that you can recover your breathing a little before shooting. Here, on the contrary, there is a long steep slope. They say that by the time it was necessary to raise the rifle, the heartbeat reached 180 beats per minute. Nightmare! But interesting…

The last gold of hockey players

To the national team Viktor Tikhonov no one put it. At first. After all, literally on the very eve of the Games, a whole galaxy of leading players - either eight or nine - went to the NHL. And according to the rules that existed at that time, they were barred from going back, not to their native country, but to the Olympic Games. It was only in 1998 that professionals played in a hockey tournament for the first time in Nagano.

And the great coach went to Albertville, in fact, with young people, talented, of course, and persistent, striving to prove that they were no worse than others, those who had already gone to North America, and to get noticed by the NHL scouts. Even in some pre-Alberville interviews with Tikhonov, one could catch the idea of this: his guys will strive to show themselves more clearly at the Olympics in order to later receive a more lucrative contract as professionals. And together with the youth there were two undisputed accomplished masters - Vyacheslav Bykov And Andrey Khomutov who chose Switzerland over North America.

To be honest, I only got to Meribel in the semi-finals: in fact, it was not possible to make it everywhere in time, so I postponed visiting hockey until last, especially since the distances in Savoy, as you have already read, were not close (one of my colleagues was not lazy - he calculated that spent a total of almost a hundred hours on buses during the Games). And then there's the semi-final. And what kind of one - with the Americans.

Before the game started I talked to Vladislav Tretyak, I wanted to know a competent opinion about the upcoming meeting. And he, like many around him, first remembered the final match lost to the Americans 12 years ago at the White Olympics in Lake Placid. And only then, with confidence and some pathos, he remarked: “The current generation of our hockey players is quite capable of becoming champions.”

This was not a direct answer to the question posed, which, however, implied that the Americans should be beaten unequivocally. It still happened. Although after two periods the numbers on the scoreboard were 2:2.

I didn’t even bother to take an interest in what the coaches said during the break (Tikhonov was helped this time Igor Dmitriev), but our hockey players started the third period in such a way that it became clear: there would be no extra time, and especially no shootouts this time. For the poor Rhea LeBlanca, a great goalkeeper, by the way, from the first seconds there was such a hail of shots that he did not have time to work with his stick and trap, and was forced to hit pucks even with a helmet and mask. The result is 5:2.

The next day was the final against the Canadians. “We’ll beat them tomorrow, you’ll see,” he assured Evgeny Mayorov, by that time already a popular TV commentator, but actually a wonderful hockey player, Olympic champion in 1964. - Frankly, I haven’t had the opportunity to comment on a game like the one against the Americans for a long time. When Bykov’s three played a classic combination and the score became 3:2, a lump came to my throat - it reminded me of the wonderful old times.”

Before the start of the final, we were struck by the empty seats in the stands, although at the box office there was a sign “All tickets sold out”, and there were many Canadian flags everywhere you looked. We didn’t even have our own flag - you really can’t display a standard with five Olympic rings.

The game started out somewhat boring from the very beginning: the opponents did not take much risk, they acted strictly on the defensive, preferring counterattacks. Nevertheless, our team had some territorial advantage. But like a wall stood at the gate Sean Bourke.

After two periods, just like the day before with the Americans, it was a draw. Only this time the scoreboard showed zeros. But as the end of the match approached, tension increased. And if the outwardly calm Tikhonov sometimes broke into falsetto, this was further confirmation of the tense situation on and around the ice.

It was possible to clear the score just a minute and one second after the start of the third period - Evgeniy Davydov With Vyacheslav Butsaev rolled out against Bourque. The first one I threw didn't hit. The second one, without hesitation, sent the puck bouncing off the board past the goalkeeper who did not have time to stand up.

We had to wait more than 15 minutes for the next goal. He did it in the 56th minute Igor Boldin. But not even a minute and a half had passed before the opponents managed to reduce the gap - 1:2. And the dejected stands perked up. And the Canadians began to fuss on the ice - here it was, an opportunity to win back! They all rushed towards our goal, and Bykov and Khomutov caught their opponents on a counterattack and scored the decisive goal. All.

That's all, everything in general: not at any other Games - neither in Lillehammer, nor in Nagano, nor in Salt Lake City, nor in Turin, nor in Sochi did domestic hockey players manage to win.

Summary of Strange Games

At the end of each Olympic Games - be it summer or winter - the IOC President, in his final speech, thanks the organizers and certainly calls them the best in history. True, we didn’t hear Samaranch’s speech this time - we were already on the train to the French capital. We didn’t go to the closing: we were already bored with them - these so-called strange Games. Since the audience almost yawned at the opening ceremony, one could assume that it was at a farewell reception.

“It was the worst Games I’ve ever participated in,” Spanish alpine skier and Albertville Olympic medalist Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa, for whom this was the fourth Olympics, admitted at a press conference after the award ceremony. - You see, the Olympic spirit is not felt here at all, as it was before. Rather, it is a World Cup or even a World Cup stage. Six Olympic villages at an eerie distance from each other. We couldn't even cheer for our compatriots.

And she was echoed by all the athletes who started at these Games, without exception.

But for OK, a team assembled like a fire, 23 awards won, of which 9 were gold, was an undoubted success that no one could have predicted. Only the Germans performed better. That's probably how it should have been. But they also had only one gold more than ours. Russian (precisely Russian, this is not a mistake) skiers distinguished themselves (3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze), figure skaters had 3 highest awards and one silver and bronze medal, biathletes had two awards of each value. Even in short track speed skating, which was completely new to us, we managed to win bronze in the women’s relay.

For OK, a team assembled like a fire, 23 awards won, of which 9 were gold, was an undoubted success that no one could have predicted.

By the way, abstracting from OK, I’ll note that 22 medals are purely Russian, only one gold was won for Ukraine by figure skater Viktor Petrenko.

And I will not reproach representatives of other disciplines for the failures, bearing in mind the political and economic situation in which the newly formed countries of the former and just collapsed Union found themselves. After all, Russia itself was left without the bases that were once built in the republics of the great country - in the Baltic states, in Ukraine, in the Caucasus, in Kazakhstan (I mean Medeo).

Two years later, the OC no longer existed in Lillehammer; teams from each country arrived independently. But that's a completely different story.

Photo: AFP

Information provided by the Russian Olympic Committee.

At the XXIII Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, Korea, Russian athletes will perform under the Olympic flag. This is the result of a years-long scandal involving accusations against Russia of using a “state doping program.”

Our athletes have already competed under the Olympic flag at the Games. True, then no one punished us: we managed ourselves.

Breakup time

The collapse of the USSR in December 1991 found Soviet athletes in the midst of preparations for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

By this time, the team had already suffered serious losses: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which announced the restoration of independence, were going to the Games in separate teams. So the team lost the best combined athlete in the country, an Estonian Allara Levandi.

But the truly fatal blow was dealt not to biathlon, but to bobsleigh and luge. The only bobsleigh and luge track in the country remains in Latvia, and with it a whole group of athletes, coaches and technical specialists.

I had to forget about medals in these events for many years.

But after the announcement of the collapse of the USSR, figure skaters, skiers, biathletes, hockey players were at a loss... Are we going to the Olympics or not? If so, under what flag?

Gatherer Samaranch

The new states tried to hastily put together their own teams, but officials of the International Olympic Committee cooled their ardor. Since the athletes did not go through the qualifying competitions, no one will allow them to participate in the Games.

It is unknown how this would have ended if not for the wisdom of the head of the now former USSR Olympic Committee Vitaly Smirnova And IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. At their proposal, an agreement was reached: 12 republics of the former USSR, except for the Baltic countries, would perform at the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics under the name “United Team”.

The delegation of the CIS countries during the parade of participants of the XXV Summer Olympic Games. 1992 Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy

Instead of the national flag - the Olympic one, instead of the national anthem - the Olympic one. The athletes admitted that they felt some emptiness and loss.

Other citizens of the former united country had the same feelings. Chaos reigned all around, flavored with “shock therapy” in the economy. People tried to survive, and many had no time for sports.

Games without the Olympic spirit

The Winter Olympics in Albertville opened on February 8, 1992. They began with political complaints: some human rights activists did not like the fact that the French anthem “La Marseillaise” was played at the opening ceremony.

This song was created during the French Revolution, and at the end of the 20th century, some people heard the lines:

"To arms, citizens,
Form up into battalions
Let's go, let's go!
Let the unclean blood
It will saturate our fields!”

The organizers did not attach any importance to these claims, and they were soon forgotten. There were more serious problems.

Subsequently, the Games in Albertville will be included in the list of the most unsuccessful Olympics from the point of view of organization. The main reason for dissatisfaction among athletes was that the organizers held competitions in different sports very far from each other. Not one, but six Olympic villages were created to accommodate athletes and coaches. Such isolation led to the loss of the traditional spirit of the Olympics. The athletes said that they felt more like participants in the next stage of the World Cup or World Championship than the main start of the four-year period in winter sports.

Hopeless skiers and unlucky Zhelezovsky

But let's return to the Unified Team (EUN). In fact, the team included athletes from not 12, but six republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Uzbekistan. The rest simply did not have world-class athletes in winter disciplines.

In luge, bobsleigh, alpine skiing, ski jumping, and combined events, our athletes competed under the slogan “The main thing is not victory, but participation”: none of them came close to the podium.

This was expected, but the complete failure in speed skating, where we did not win a single medal, was very disappointing. Even a multiple world champion in sprint all-around Igor Zhelezovsky, considered one of the favorites at a distance of 1000 meters, finished only sixth.

Zhelezovsky was generally unlucky at the Olympics: he claimed Olympic gold three times, but his best result was only silver, won in Lillehammer 1994 as part of the Belarusian team.

Skaters are beyond competition

Those who didn't let us down were the skaters, who won a whole bunch of medals, including three gold ones.

Sports couples won the tournament Natalya Mishkutenok And Arthur Dmitriev, the second were Elena Bechke And Denis Petrov. We won the dance Marina Klimova And Sergey Ponomarenko, and third place went to Maya Usova And Alexander Zhulin.

For the first time, our athlete won the men's singles competition: he became a pioneer Victor Petrenko. He launched a whole series of Olympic victories: 1994 - Alexey Urmanov, 1998 — Ilya Kuliu, 2002 — Alexey Yagudin, 2006 — Evgeni Plushenko. Petrenko’s victory is sometimes taken into account: they say, he is Ukrainian. But in 1992, Victor was still his own, Soviet, and not “Independent”.

Victor Petrenko. Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev

Only girls ski

In skiing, the picture was mixed: the men failed without winning a single award, but the women worked for themselves and “for those guys.”

Lyubov Egorova won competitions at distances of 15 km “skate” and “classic”, adding to this two silver medals at distances of 5 km and 30 km. "Bronzed" in Albertville Elena Vyalbe, which was third in all individual disciplines. In the relay race Egorova and Vyalbe, as well as the unfading forty-year-old (!) Raisa Smetanina And Larisa Lazutina logically won another gold medal.

The happiness of debutant Redkin

They expected a lot from biathlon, especially since the honor of being the standard bearer at the opening of the Games was entrusted to biathlete Valery Medvedtsev, who at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary became the relay champion, and also won two silvers in the sprint and in the 20 km individual race.

World champion in the 20 km individual race Valery Alekseevich Medvedtsev. 1990 Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev

But Medvedtsev in Albertville limited himself to silver in the same relay. And the lucky ticket to the Olympics was pulled out by a twenty-two-year-old Evgeny Redkin. The debutant was entered into the individual race, not expecting anything serious, but he went ahead and went the distance without any mistakes. The opponents ran much faster, but were shot at the firing lines. As a result, Redkin became an Olympic champion, and this success remained the only great achievement in his career.

Catch up with Anfisa

Women's biathlon made its debut at the Olympics in 1992, and the first domestic gold was won by Anfisa Reztsova.

Anfisa Reztsova. Photo: RIA Novosti / Igor Mikhalev

Four years earlier, Reztsova became the champion of the Calgary Games in the relay, but she quarreled with the coaches and went into the “adjacent” event.

Reztsova shot disgustingly, but ran incredibly fast along the distance. In the sprint race in Albertville, she was confidently in the lead before the second shooting, but missed three times! She went into the distance after the penalty laps in fourth place, 20 seconds behind the leader. It was necessary to walk 2.5 km to the finish line, and the fans sighed: such a handicap could no longer be won back. And Reztsova not only won back, but also “brought” a 16-second lead to her rivals!

Also won bronze in the sprint Elena Belova. In the individual race Svetlana Pecherskaya was second, and in the relay our team won third place.

Golden "Kindergarten"

Hockey in Albertville was expected to fail. Soviet stars from the “Red Machine” left for the NHL, and the youth gathered Viktor Tikhonov, was derisively nicknamed "Kindergarten" by foreign reporters.

It will only later turn out that most of this “Kindergarten” will successfully perform in the best league in the world for many years. And in 1992, many people's eyes widened in surprise when they saw how Tikhonov's guys were improving from game to game.

As a result, the Olympic final became another episode of a classic confrontation: the USSR (albeit without a flag) versus Canada. The latter had a very serious composition, the leader of which was Eric Lindros, selected number 1 in the NHL draft. In fact, the forward who was called the successor Wayne Gretzky, was not supposed to play at the Olympics, but he went on strike, not wanting to play in the NHL for Quebec, and went to the Games.

The first two periods of the final ended without any goals scored, and at the beginning of the third, Vyacheslav Butsaev put us ahead. At 56 minutes Igor Boldin doubled the lead, but almost immediately the Canadians reduced the gap in the score. An experienced player put an end to the match Vyacheslav Bykov: 3:1.

This Olympic victory remains the last in the history of Russian hockey.

They left proudly

The 1992 Olympics ended on February 23, 1992. As a result, the United Team received 23 awards (9 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze). This was the 2nd result in the team competition after the Germans, who, unlike us, united and did not scatter into national apartments.

It was a farewell salute, a high tragedy of Soviet sports. In 1992 we were respected and feared even under the Olympic flag. It never occurred to anyone that a quarter of a century later, a high tragedy would be replaced by a cheap farce...