In the history of high achievement sports, the role of the personality, the character of an athlete who develops physical culture, inventing new elements and honing technique is especially important. Such athletes through inhuman efforts and titanic labor make the competition more spectacular and raise the bar of human capabilities to an incredible height.
Some take off on a pedestal only once and remain one line in the Olympic movement. Others, and their units, from pedestal to pedestal prove that there is no limit to the diamond human spirit and its results. It was such an athlete who entered his name in the history of swimming and, becoming a champion, left the sport undefeated. His name is Vladimir Salnikov, a swimmer. The biography of this famous person can surprise anyone.
How it all began
Vladimir Valerievich was born in the Soviet city of Leningrad. This happened on May 21, 1960. But he did not consider this date to be the main one in the formation of his sports career, but a summer day visiting his grandmother, when a seven-year-old boy decided to learn to swim at all costs in order to prove what he was worth to the village guys who were splashing around in the river. Since 1968, he began to engage in a swimming pool under the leadership of Petrov Gleb Georgievich. Together with him, Salnikov Vladimir trained hard and became a
candidate for master of sports. Freestyle became the main for the young athlete. By the age of 13, he moved to Igor Mikhailovich Koshkin in the group of stronger guys. And again the challenge, and again overcoming myself, many years of non-stop work. Incredible dedication and self-discipline led to the fact that Vladimir Salnikov from the "catching up" in a promising group broke into the lead!
Life in sports
A kaleidoscope of further competitions and achievements is difficult to put into one human, sporting life. It was impossible for anyone, but not for Vladimir Salnikov! At 16, he took 5th place at the Montreal Olympics. You ask about what is the achievement here, because you didn’t reach the medals? Weak? The result, which Vladimir Salnikov showed in these competitions, became the new record of Europe! From that moment, world competitors did not forget about the Soviet athlete for a minute. And he gave all the best in the pool and lived from start to start.
World gold
The first European gold Vladimir Salnikov won in 1977 at a distance of 1.5 km freestyle. From this championship, the piggy bank of international medals was regularly filled. At the world championship in 1978, Vladimir Salnikov could not be stopped. In Berlin, 2 gold (1500 and 400) and 1 silver (in the relay 4 to 200) medals were won.
In 1980, the biography of Vladimir Salnikov immediately flashed with three-time Olympic gold (1500, 400 and 4 of 200)! Despite the fact that not all athletes came to the Moscow Olympics because of a boycott, the superiority of the Soviet swimmer did not raise any doubts. Proof of the leading position were international competitions, in which he occupied the first steps of the podium, and a world record set at a distance of 1,500 m.
The triumph continued at the 1981 European Championships: 2 gold (1500 and 4 each 200) and 1 silver (400). The 1982 World Swimming Championships turned out to be just as fruitful. A silver medal in the relay and 2 gold medals in the individual championship (1500 and 400) were won at the competition. The European Championship in Rome (1983) was no exception. In the personal piggy bank, the athlete added a couple of gold medals at distances of 1,500 and 400 meters freestyle.
Crucial moment
Being in great shape, Vladimir Salnikov was preparing for 1984. He planned to successfully perform at the Summer Olympics in the United States and end his brilliant career. The sports community also predicted a victory for him at the “crown” distances of 1500, 400 and in the relay.
Thunderbolt was the decision of the USSR to boycott the American Olympics. The collapse of personal hopes and ambitions, the wasted efforts - this is how a young athlete might think, transferring his plans for 4 years ahead to the next competition.
Vladimir Salnikov was already an "age" swimmer, and to maintain a leadership level of results up to 28 years old - there was little hope. Despite the years and the change of coach (Koshkin’s place was taken by Vladimir’s wife), it was decided to stay in sports and prepare for the 1988 Olympics.
Water test
It is generally accepted that the proverb “pass fire, water and copper pipes” implies passing certain tests. Fiery difficulties mean battles, battles comparable to competitive battles. There were also enough copper pipes in the athlete's life: after the Moscow Olympics, he was incredibly popular, recognizable, gave interviews and attended press conferences.
And now a new test of water has begun: time, oblivion, routine. An athlete with titles and regalia was not particularly promising. Diseases and unsuccessful starts in the international arena called into question the appropriateness of participating in the Summer Olympic Games.
The second time in one river
Sports commentators, coaches and swimmers even emotionally speak about the Olympics in Seoul many years later. A swimmer of this level caused unconditional respect. He was a departing legend, but he was no longer a favorite. Accomplishments and awards were not expected from him. They believed in him a little and did not hope at all.
All the more enchanting was the victory at the most difficult distance of 1.5 km! The stands exploded with applause. The first to finish was Vladimir Salnikov (swimmer)! The biography cannot fully reflect the level of admiration and general enthusiasm that arose after the distance. But the athlete himself forever remembered how colleagues from around the world in the Olympic canteen applauded him standing. This recognition of achievement was expensive.
Legend of world swimming
There are athletes who, having flown up to the world podium once, forever leave the starry horizon. And there are legendary styers who hone sports achievements from year to year. Overcoming pain, trauma, illness, fame and disbelief. They leave undefeated, unbroken. Such a great athlete was Vladimir Salnikov. Photos cannot convey a hundredth of the significance of his achievements. Multiple victories are written in golden letters in the history of the development of world sports. Four-time Olympic champion. Four-time winner of world championships. Five-time European champion.
Especially significant were the records set by this great athlete. He became the first “swim” out of 15 minutes at a distance of 1,500 meters, overcoming the most important and high-quality, and psychological frontier, for many years not submitting to strong athletes. His record was not broken for almost a decade.
Another “eternal dream” that came true was an 8-minute bar in swimming at 800 meters. And she fell under the onslaught of the great athlete in 1978 in Berlin.
Vladimir Salnikov raised swimming to another level, setting more than 20 records, 13 of them world-class (six at a 400-meter distance, four at an 800-meter and three at a 1500-meter). He became the champion of the USSR 20 times. In 1993 he became a member of the World Swimming Glory Hall. This surname is known and respected throughout the world!
Life outside the pool
The athlete is realized not only in the sports field: he graduated (GDIIFK), became a candidate of pedagogical sciences, married Marina Nikolaevna Basova (1957), raised his son Vladimir (1988). He also managed a lot in the labor field: he was a coach of the national swimming team, vice president of the Swimming Federation, was a member of the Soviet Olympic Committee, was engaged in business. In 1991 he became a member of the International Swimming Federation. In 2009, Salnikov was elected president of the All-Russian Swimming Federation.
The biography of the great man is legendary. And they did not make her such a natural talent and luck, but incredible perseverance, everyday inhuman work, amazing determination and the desire to surpass her own strength. And every victory is the result of complete dedication.
This is the only way to make unique, great, legendary!