One of the most beautiful sports is gymnastics. It combines grace and strength, courage and grace. But often sports fans see only a beautiful picture at the gymnasts ’performances, without thinking about what the athlete has to go through in order to achieve the required level and look convincing for both the fans and the judges. Behind the beautiful facade of performances is hiding daily painstaking work on oneself. And all in order to go out within a couple of minutes to show himself from the best side. Forgetting the injuries, failures and falls, with a smile on his face ... That was the famous Soviet gymnast Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin.
Childhood
Mikhail was born in Moscow on March 26, 1945. Mikhail, who was left without a father, had to learn all the hardships of post-war life as a child. The family budget consisted only of the salary of mother Michael, and she worked as a simple cleaner. There was no frills, at some moments there was simply not enough money even for groceries. At the leisure of the teenager, the place of residence of the Voronins' family left its mark. They lived near the Dynamo stadium, and little Mikhail Voronin spent all his free time in the sports arena. The teenager personally saw a lot of training, personally watched the classes of famous athletes of that time. In fact, even then, Michael set himself the goal of connecting his life with sports.
Sports choice
Initially, Voronin Mikhail tried to enroll in the gymnastics section, which functioned at the Dynamo stadium. But the coaches did not take the boy. The reason for the refusal was the puny figure of a teenager. Nevertheless, the teenager could no longer imagine his life without sports. Once in the hockey section, Mikhail Voronin spent several years there, having achieved certain successes at the school level. But everything turned the usual lesson in physical education. Konstantin Sadikov, a school teacher of physical education at Mikhail, was involved in gymnastics at one time. And it was he who managed to discern in the ordinary teenager the future star of world sports. Gymnastics so liked the thirteen-year-old guy that hockey faded into the background. Having spent some time in his native school under the leadership of Konstantin Sadikov, Mikhail Voronin enters the section “Young Dynamo”, where Nikolai Balashov becomes his first professional trainer . And from that moment, the guy’s sports career began a rapid upward movement.
Professional career
The whole career of Michael was closely connected with the sports society Dynamo. And the first major successes came to him when he appeared under the flag of this society. Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast who, at the age of nineteen, made his debut at the adult championship of the USSR and immediately achieved success, having won a bronze medal in the absolute championship. And this taking into account the fact that Mikhail's rivals were the best gymnasts of the Soviet Union. Next year's championship brings Michael a silver medal. The progress of a talented young man was visible to the naked eye. Stable results, out-of-years cold-blooded performances did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the national team. And in 1966 there was an invitation to the country's main team, the national team of the USSR.
Mikhail Voronin: USSR gymnast
The first major international competition at which the athlete made his debut was the world gymnastics championship, held in Germany. The spectators of the sports complex in Dortmund were simply amazed at the performances of the young Soviet star. According to the results of the first part of the competition, after performing on the rings, Mikhail seized general leadership. This was followed by silver medals in performances on horseback and parallel bars. Before floor exercises, Michael's advantage over his rivals was overwhelming. It was enough for him to get 8.6 out of 10 possible points, and the title of absolute world champion would be him. And so it happened, purely speaking in floor exercises, Mikhail became the absolute world champion in gymnastics. Before Mikhail, not a single athlete had won such a title at that age. Success in Dortmund brought Michael the title of Honored Master of Sports. Also, by decision of the coaching staff of the USSR national team, Mikhail becomes captain of the national team. Mikhail's coach at that time was Yevgeny Viktorovich Korolkov. Himself in the past a great gymnast, Evgeny Viktorovich did a lot for becoming Mikhail Voronin as a real athlete.
Participation in Olympiads
The next two seasons after the triumphant performance in Dortmund further confirmed Mikhail Voronin as the best gymnast on the planet. All major competitions in which Voronin took part almost invariably ended in his confident victory. And this was not surprising. By his own admission, Michael, even he considered the second place as a huge setback. Such high results in the competitions automatically made Voronin the main favorite of the 1968 Olympic Games, held in the Mexican capital. However, a possible triumph turned into the biggest sporting disappointment in Mikhail's life. Excellent performances during the Olympic gymnastics tournament put Voronin in the lead in the overall event in the all-around. It was necessary to perform in the last form, exercises on a horse. Everything went fine, but at some point Mikhail caught a finger on his leotard. This mistake cost Mikhail a loss of 0.3 points. As a result, Voronin earns 9.5 points for his performances on horseback. And the win of the title of absolute Olympic champion depended on the performance of the Japanese gymnast, Kato. He was to perform in floor exercises, and in order to get around our gymnast, the Japanese needed to score at least 9.9 points. According to eyewitnesses, the performance of the Japanese gymnast was not impeccable. But what was the surprise of both the fans and the experts, when the judging team put Kato 9.9 points necessary for victory. But even in spite of such an unfortunate failure, Mikhail got together and perfectly finished these Olympic Games, winning 2 gold and 3 silver medals in individual all-around events.
It would seem that there is still a lot of time ahead, there will still be chances at the next Olympic Games, but the fate of the athlete is unpredictable. Mikhail came up to the 1972 Olympic Games with a full bouquet of sports injuries, which ultimately prompted him to decide to end his career as an active athlete.
Trainer
Mikhail simply could not finally leave the sport. After the Munich Olympics, Voronin was appointed head coach of the Central Council of Dynamo. In the period from 1978 to 1983 he was one of the coaches of the USSR national gymnastics team. And yet, the main place in the soul of Mikhail was occupied by his own Dynamo. The whole life of Mikhail Voronin is closely connected with this sports society. In the dashing 90s, it was Voronin who kept the Dynamo gymnastics club, making it one of the best in the world over time. Dynamo gymnasts are not the first Olympic cycle to form the basis of our gymnastic team. And this is a great merit of Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin.
Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin: family
The first wife of Michael was Zinaida Druzhinina - the Olympic champion in Mexico City in gymnastics, a beauty. With Mikhail Voronin, they looked like a perfect match. But, unfortunately, Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast whose personal life was not well formed. After the end of her sports career, Zinaida became addicted to alcohol. Even despite the fact that by this time a son had already appeared in the Voronin family, Zinaida leaves the family. The second wife, Vera Ivanovna, had nothing to do with sports. She worked all her life at school, as an ordinary teacher. She met Mikhail Yakovlevich in 1979, but they became officially legal spouses only in 1991.
Disease
According to relatives, Mikhail Voronin was a very healthy person. At some points, he was worried about the consequences of sports injuries, but this is the order of things for all athletes. Everything turned upside down in the summer of 2002. The temperature rose, which they could not bring down. I had to go for an examination at the Botkin hospital. And it was there that a terrible diagnosis was made - oncology, and already at a fairly advanced stage. A number of operations were carried out that only delayed the inevitable. On May 22, 2004, at the age of 59, Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin passed away. The cause of death is the ill-fated, incurable oncology. The famous Soviet gymnast was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery.
Achievements
Injuries forced Mikhail Voronin to finish his sports career early enough, but even for eight years in sports, an athlete has a huge number of awards. Two Olympic golds, six silver and one bronze Olympic award. Mikhail Voronin is a gymnast who twice became the world champion, five times a silver medalist and twice won bronze medals. You can add to this a huge number of awards in the domestic sports arena.
Mikhail Voronin, a gymnast whose biography was considered in the article, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, For Merit to the Fatherland, and the Badge of Honor for his services to domestic sports.