At the 1992 Winter Olympics hockey tournament in Albertville, a set of medals for men was played for the 17th time.
According to the results of the 1991 World Cup in Olympic tournament all the teams from the top division took part, the three strongest teams from the "A" division, as well as the hosts of the Games - the French. After the collapse of the USSR at the end of 1991, instead of the team of the Soviet Union under the flag of the IOC, the CIS team played. All matches hockey tournament took place in Maribel.
At the preliminary stage, all the participants were divided into two groups of six teams, and according to the "each with each" system, they determined the top four who got into the Elimination Games.
Group A brought together teams from the USA, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Italy. One of the favorites of the games, the Americans quite confidently made it to the quarterfinals, only in last match having played in a draw with the Swedes 3: 3. “Tre krunur”, in turn, lost more points in a duel with the third team - the national team of Finland - 2: 2. Poland, having lost all its matches with a total score of 4:30, is in sixth place. And the fate of the last ticket to the playoffs was decided in the struggle between the Italians and the Germans. As a result, the decisive factor was their face-to-face meeting, in which the Italians, despite the fact that they managed to recoup from the score 2: 0, still lost, having conceded three unanswered goals in the third period.
Group B gathered under its wing squads of the national teams of Canada, CIS, France, Czechoslovakia, Norway and Switzerland. Here the first three lines, having lost one game, were staked out by Canadians, Czechoslovakians and our hockey players. Canada lost to the CIS 4: 5, but beat Czechoslovakia 5: 1, taking first place in additional indicators. The team behind the founders of hockey Victor Tikhonov, which was prevented from rising higher by the defeat from the Czechoslovakians 3: 4. The Swiss and Norwegians left behind the quarterfinals, letting the French go ahead, who, in addition to victories over their competitors, fought Canada - 2: 3 and Czechoslovakia - 4: 6, and only our team managed to beat the French 8: 0 without any problems.
Thus, the teams determined the top eight, the participants of which competed for tickets to the semifinals.
In the first match between the Canadians and the Germans, a sensation almost took place. Throughout the game, Germany did not want to yield to more skilled opponents and made it to the shootouts, and only there the Canadians, due to their higher individual skill, were able to break the resistance of their rivals.
In the other two quarterfinals, in which the teams of the USA and the CIS were opposed by the French and the Finns, respectively, the favorites did not experience any particular problems: the Americans defeated the hosts of the Games 4: 1, and our hockey players were stronger than the Suomi national team - 6: 1. And in the last game of this stage, Czechoslovakia beat the Swedes 3: 1 in a stubborn struggle, winning only in the final segment of the match.
The semi-finals were marked by a confrontation between Europe and North America. The national teams of Canada and Czechoslovakia were the first to take the ice. The match turned out to be uncompromising, and the balance in the third period still tipped in favor of the North American team - 4: 2, which in the final was to play with the CIS team, which beat the Americans 5: 2.
The US national team suffered a hard defeat in the semifinals and was never able to tune in to the fight for the bronze medals, losing to other losers - the Czechoslovakians - 1: 6.
The match for gold, as befits a decisive match, turned out to be super-persistent. After 40 minutes of play, the numbers 0: 0 burned on the scoreboard. But in the third period, Viktor Tikhonov's wards, through the efforts Boldina, Bykova and Vyacheslav Butsaev managed to score three goals, on which the Canadians, led by Eric Lindros answered only one, and the main awards of the Olympics went to our hockey players for the third time in a row.
Last time. Till.
Our team at these Games was staffed with young hockey players, as all the leading players went overseas to play for various professional NHL clubs.
This victory was the last for the USSR / CIS / Russia national teams in the framework of the Olympic Games.
These Games were the last for the national team of Czechoslovakia, already at the next Olympics this union split into two independent states - the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
All winners:
1. Joint team
Mikhail Shtalenkov, Andrey Trefilov, Nikolay Khabibulin, Darius Kasparaitis, Dmitry Mironov, Igor Kravchuk, Sergey Bautin, Dmitry Yushkevich, Alexey Zhitnik, Vladimir Malakhov, Sergey Zubov, Andrey Khomutov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Yuri Khmilyov, Andrey Kovalenko, Vyacheslav Davaydov , Alexey Kovalev, Alexey Zhamnov, Sergey Petrenko, Nikolay Borshchevsky, Igor Boldin, Vitaly Prokhorov.
2. Canada
Sean Burke, Trevor Kidd, Brad Schlegel, Jason Woolley, Dan of Town Hall, Brian Tutt, Adrian Plavsich, Kevin Dahl, Gordon Hines, Kurt Gilles, Randy Smith, Joe Junot, Chris Lindberg, Kent Manderville, Dave Tippodett , Eric Lindros, Wally Schreiber, David Archibald, Fabian Joseph, Patrick Lebeau.
3. Czechoslovakia
Petr Brzyza, Oldrich Svoboda, Dragomir Kadlec, Leo Gudas, Jiri Schlegr, Miloslav Horzhava, Robert Schwegla, Frantisek Prochazka, Bedrich Sherban, Richard Schmeglik, Tomas Jelinek, Otakar Janetsky, Petr Ludwig Lubyk , Peter Veselovsky, Igor Liba, Radek Toupal, Peter Grbek, Richard Zemlichka.
From 8 to 23 February 1992 - the XVI Winter Olympic Games were held in Albertville (France). A total of 1,804 athletes (including 492 women), representing the NOCs of 65 countries, arrived, a record number of participants in the 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: women in biathlon (7.5 km, 1 and relay 3 x 7.5 km), in cross-country skiing 30 km (instead of the previous 20 km race), in freestyle (mogul) , short track (1000 and 5000 m), ski jumping from a 120-meter springboard (instead of a 70-meter), curling. Acrobatics and ballet in freestyle and speed skiing were included as demonstrative numbers of the program (both male and female). 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, recruiting, preparation and participation in the Games. Finally, after lengthy discussions and negotiations, it was decided that the Olympic team of the former USSR will act as a united team of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) under the Olympic flag. In honor of the winners and prize-winners from the CIS team, the Olympic flag was also to be raised. The CIS team did not have a guarantee cash contribution to make it 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 team of the former USSR ended up at the Games.
Athletes from Norway achieved outstanding success in cross-country skiing for men: they were the first at all distances, in the 4x10 km relay, they received five gold medals. The hero of the Games was the Norwegian skier Vegard Ulvang, who was awarded three gold and one silver medals. Among women, the athletes from the CIS team performed most successfully, who managed 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 German athletes (10 km race for men, men's 4x7.5 km relay, 15 km race for women), two - athletes from the CIS team (7.5 km race for women and 20 km for men) and one (women's 3x7.5 km relay) awards were received by athletes from France.
In speed skating, the German athletes had a clear advantage. The most successful was G. Neiman, who won two gold (3000 and 5000 m) and one silver medal (1500 m). Athletes from the United States and Norway each got two gold medals.
V figure skating on skates, three gold medals went to the athletes of the CIS team. To the already traditional victories in pair skating and ice dancing, was added gold medal in single skating among men, won by the Ukrainian athlete V. Petrenko.
Photo: AFP
A difficult situation has developed in ice hockey competitions. The composition of the participants turned out to be fairly even. The CIS team was staffed with young little-known players, as all the leading players went overseas to play for various professional NHL clubs. As a result of the preliminary competition, in which 12 teams took part, the teams from the USA, Sweden, Canada and the CIS managed to make their way to the semifinals. The athletes of the CIS hockey team unexpectedly easily outplayed the leader of the first preliminary group in the semifinals of the leader of the first preliminary group, the US team (5: 2), and in the final, the Canadians (3: 1).
The team championship was won by German athletes - 26 medals (10, 10, 6, respectively) and 181 points in the unofficial team event. The second place was taken by 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.
Presented sports
Biathlon
Bobsled
Skiing
Skating
Ski nordic
Ski race
Ski jumping
Luge
Short track
Figure skating
Freestyle
Hockey
Demonstration views
Freestyle acrobatics and ballet
Speedskiing
On the XVI Winter Olympic Games 1804 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 entire history of the Winter Olympics.
The competition program was also a record. Medals were played in 57 kinds of competitions in 12 kinds of sports. For the first time, sets of awards were played in 15 types of competitions: women in biathlon - 7.5 km, 15 km and relay race 3 x 7.5 km; in cross-country skiing for 30 km, instead of the previous race for 20 km; in freestyle - mogul; short track distances of 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 speed skiing were included as demonstrative numbers of the program, both for men and women. 1992 Olympic Games convincingly demonstrated the ever-increasing popularity of winter sports. Only in comparison with the previous Olympics in Calgary, the number of participating countries increased by 12, the number of athletes - by 123. There were about 7 thousand representatives of the media - 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 competitions 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 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, athletes from the GDR and FRG won a total of 33 medals - 11 gold, 14 silver, 8 bronze, and 235 points in the unofficial team event. Therefore, there was every reason to think that the German Olympians would take first place in the team struggle.
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 funding, recruiting, preparation and participation in the Olympics. Finally, after lengthy discussions and negotiations, it was decided that the Olympic team of the former USSR will act as a united team of the Commonwealth of Independent States - CIS under the Olympic flag. In honor of the winners and prize-winners from the CIS team, the Olympic flag was also to be raised. The CIS team did not have a guarantee cash contribution to make it 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 team of the former USSR ended up at the 1992 Olympics.
The results of the Olympic Games reflected the intensification of competition in winter sports in the international sports arena. 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. 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 have written glorious pages in the history of the Winter Olympics. Among them was the two-time Olympic champion of Lake Placid in 1932 speed skating. Jack shi, which was 84 years old. First Olympic champion of the Winter Olympics Charles Jutrow, who was in his 95th year, could not attend this meeting.
The athletes of Norway achieved outstanding success in cross-country skiing among men: they were the first at all distances, in the 4x10 km relay, they received five gold medals. The hero of the 1992 Olympics was the Norwegian skier Vegard Ulvang, who was awarded three gold and one silver medals. Among women, the athletes from the CIS team performed most successfully, who managed to win three gold medals. The most striking performance was the performance of Lyubov Egorova, who won two gold medals in the individual championship and one in the 4 × 5 km relay. With pretty good results Italian skiers finished the competition. 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 German athletes - a 10 km race for men, a men's 4 × 7.5 km relay, a 15 km race for women, two medals for athletes from the CIS team - a 7.5 km race for women and 20 km for men, and one award, in the women's relay 3 × 7.5 km, was received by athletes from France.
In speed skating, the German athletes had a clear advantage. To the two gold medals won by men at distances of 500 m and 1000 m, women managed to add three more. The most successful was Gunda Niman, who won two gold medals at distances of 3000 m and 5000 m, and one silver medal at a distance of 1500 m. Athletes from the USA and Norway each got two gold medals.
In 10 types of competitions in alpine skiing, gold medals were distributed as follows: Austria - 3, Italy - 3, Norway - 2, Sweden - 1, Canada - 1. The real sensation of the competition was the sharpest struggle between representatives of the Alpine countries and the Olympians of Norway, Sweden, Canada ...
In men's short track speed skating, both gold medals were won by athletes from the Republic of Korea.
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, won by the Ukrainian athlete Viktor Petrenko, was added.
In the men's luge competition, the first two places were taken by German athletes. Doris Neuner, an athlete from the Austrian team, won gold among women.
The crews of Switzerland (two) and Austria (four) won gold medals among bobsledders.
A difficult situation has developed in ice hockey competitions. The composition of the participants turned out to be fairly even. The CIS team was staffed with 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 their way to the semifinals. The athletes of the CIS hockey team unexpectedly easily beat the leader of the first preliminary group in the semifinals of 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, unpredictable results in many types of competitions. The matter was not limited to the success of the representatives of the Nordic countries in alpine skiing, and Italy in cross-country skiing. No less unexpected was the success of the “flying skiers” from Austria, who won 4 out of 6 medals, and the sisters Doris and Angelika Neuner, who won the medals. The success of the French biathletes in the relay did not go unnoticed - first place, as well as the appearance among the winners of the Winter Olympic Games of representatives of China in speed skating, New Zealand and Spain in alpine skiing.
The team championship was won by German athletes who won 26 medals - 10 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze and 181 points in the unofficial team event. The second place was taken by 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 of the Winter Olympic Games. After all, Norway has long lost its former glory as a power in winter sports 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 athletes in Norway in recent years is primarily due to two factors. The first of these is undoubtedly the rich tradition of winter sports in this country. An excellent material base, the popularity of winter sports among the population, the availability of good specialists, naturally, create favorable preconditions for the training of outstanding athletes. However, the practice of the 70s-80s showed that these factors were not enough in the absence of a harmonious system of training the most talented athletes. Already in the first half of the 1980s, Norwegian specialists became convinced that it would not be possible to regain leading positions in winter sports without changing the organizational and methodological foundations of training the strongest athletes. As noted by the President of the NOC of Norway, Arne Mürwald, after an unsuccessful performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics, it was decided to abandon the approach that previously existed in Norway to the training of high-class athletes. The main organizational and methodological principles of the training of Norwegian Olympians were undoubtedly borrowed from the experience of training athletes in 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 were created for full-fledged training. Previously it was considered unacceptable to place some athletes in a privileged position in relation to others. Second, the entire system of preparation, 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 the World Championships and World Cup competitions. Third - the use of modern means and methods of training, options for planning the training process. For example, in preparation for the Albertville Olympics, Norwegian skiers made extensive use of mid-altitude training, training in the Alps at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. All this not only explains the success of the Norwegian athletes at the XVI Winter Olympic Games, but suggests that they are able to achieve high results in the largest competitions in subsequent years.
The 1992 Winter Olympics were last held in the same year as the Summer. The IOC decided to continue holding the Winter and Summer Olympic Games alternately with an interval of 2 years.
The Albertville Olympics were held from 8 to 23 February 1992. It became the sixteenth Winter Olympics. More than 1.8 thousand athletes from 64 countries of the world came to the games. 57 sets of medals were played in 13 disciplines.
The official competition featured the Olympic flame, which was painted in the colors of the French region of Savoy. The mascot of the Games in Albertville was a fictional character named Mazhik - half human, half deity. The French themselves positioned him as a fairy elf. In its shape, it resembled a star. In Albertville, for the first time in the history of modern Olympic movement the original mascot has been replaced. At first, the mountain chamois was approved in this capacity, but this image did not become popular, so it was decided to replace it.
Albertville can hardly be considered the capital of the Olympics. Less than a third of all sets of medals were played in this city. This is because sports facilities were not concentrated in one place, but scattered across the 12 villages and towns closest to Albertville. In this regard, not one large Olympic village was built, but six small ones. After the competitions, the local municipality found their proper use, but the impressive size "Theater of Ceremonies", where the opening and closing of the Olympics took place, was soon dismantled to its very foundations as unnecessary. The torch with fire was delivered to the opening ceremony in the supersonic Concorde.
For the first time in Olympic program short track, freestyle and women's biathlon competitions appeared. Curling, speed skiing, and acrobatics on skis were included in the demonstration program of these games.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the so-called united team came to the Olympics in Albertville. It had an unofficial name - the CIS national team and performed under the anthem and banner of the International Olympic Committee. This team consisted of six states: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia. The athletes of the united team were able to win 23 medals, 9 of which were of the highest dignity.
Baltic republics of the former USSR: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania performed separately. The former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia also preferred to perform solo. The German national team, on the other hand, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, arrived in Albertville with a combined squad.
In men's cross-country skiing, the Norwegians were second to none. They were able to become the first at all distances. The skier Vegard Ulvang, who won three gold and one silver, was especially distinguished. In women's cross-country skiing, the most successful athletes were from the united national team. Lyubov Egorova became the heroine. In biathlon, the leadership was taken by athletes from Germany, France and the CIS national team. In speed skating, the Germans had a great advantage. The athletes of the CIS team were the triumphs in figure skating.
Athletes from Germany won the team championship. The second place was taken by the Olympians of the CIS, and the third - by Norway.
At the XXIII Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, Korea, Russian athletes will compete under the Olympic flag. This is the result of a scandal over the years over accusations against Russia of using the "state doping program."
Our athletes have already competed under the Olympic flag at the Games. True, then no one punished us: we managed ourselves.
Collapse 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.
The national team had already suffered serious losses by this time: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which announced the restoration of independence, gathered for the Games in separate teams. So the national team lost the best double fighter in the country, an Estonian Allara Levandi.
But the truly fatal blow was not dealt in nordic event, but in bobsleigh and luge. The only bobsleigh 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 types for many years.
But after the announcement of the end of the existence 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?
Collector Samaranch
In the new states, they 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 let them into the Games.
It is not known how it would have ended if not for the wisdom of the head of the now former USSR Olympic Committee Vitalia Smirnova and IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch... At their suggestion, an agreement was reached: 12 republics of the former USSR, in addition to the Baltic countries, will perform at the winter and summer Olympics 1992 under the name "United Team".
Delegation of the CIS countries during the parade of participants in the XXV Summer Olympic Games. 1992 Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy
Instead of the national flag - the Olympic, instead of the national anthem - the Olympic. The athletes admitted that they felt a certain emptiness and loss.
Other citizens of the former united country had the same feelings. Chaos reigned around, spiced with "shock therapy" in the economy. People tried to survive, and many were not up to sports.
Games without the Olympic spirit
The Albertville Winter Olympics opened on 8 February 1992. They began with political claims: some human rights activists did not like the fact that the French anthem "Marseillaise" was played at the opening ceremony.
This song was created during the French Revolution, and at the end of the 20th century, the lines cut someone's ears:
"To arms, citizens,
Form up into battalions
Let's go, let's go!
Let the unclean blood
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 Olympiads in terms of organization. The main reason for dissatisfaction among the athletes was that the organizers held competitions in various sports very far from each other. To accommodate athletes and coaches, not one, but six Olympic villages were created at once. This isolation has 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 winter sports.
Hopeless skiers and unlucky Zhelezovsky
But back to the Joint Team (EUN). In fact, the team included athletes not from 12, but from six republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Uzbekistan. The rest simply did not have world-class athletes in the winter disciplines.
In luge sports, bobsleigh, alpine skiing, ski jumping, biathlon, our athletes performed under the slogan “The main thing is not victory, but participation”: none of them even got close to the podium.
This was expected, but the complete failure in speed skating, where we did not win a single medal, upset me greatly. 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 at the Olympics had no fatal luck at all: three times he applied for olympic gold, but the best result was only the silver won in Lillehammer-1994 as part of the team of Belarus.
Skaters out of competition
Who did not disappoint, it was the skaters who won a whole scattering of medals, including three gold ones.
Sports couples tournament won Natalia Mishkutenok and Arthur Dmitriev, the second were Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov... They won the dance Marina Klimova and Sergey Ponomarenko, and the third place went to Maye Usova and Alexander Zhulin.
For the first time, our athlete won the singles men: the pioneer was 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 out of the brackets: they say, he's a 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 turned out to be ambiguous: the men failed without winning a single award, but the women worked for themselves and “for those guys”.
Lyubov Egorova won the competition at 15 km distance "skate" and "classic", adding two silver medals at distances of 5 km and 30 km. "Bronzed" in Albertville Elena Vyalbe, which was third in all personal disciplines. In the relay, Yegorova and Vyalbe, as well as the unfading forty-year-old (!) Raisa Smetanina and Larisa Lazutina logically won another gold medal.
The happiness of the 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 biathlete Valery Medvedtsev, who at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary became the relay champion, and also won two silver in the sprint and in individual race by 20 km.
Valery Medvedtsev, world champion in the individual 20 km race. 1990 Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev
But Medvedtsev in Albertville limited himself to silver in the same relay. And a twenty-two-year-old pulled out a lucky ticket at the Olympics Evgeny Redkin... The debutant was declared in the individual race, not counting on anything serious, and he took it and walk the distance without mistakes. Opponents ran much faster, but "shot" themselves at the firing line. As a result, Redkin became Olympic champion and this success remained the only major achievement of his career.
Catch Anfisa
Women's biathlon made its debut at the Olympics in 1992, and won the first national gold Anfisa Reztsova.
Anfisa Reztsova. Photo: RIA Novosti / Igor Mikhalev
Four years earlier, Reztsova became the champion of the Games in Calgary in the relay, but quarreled with the coaches and went into the "adjacent" form.
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 left the distance after the fourth penalty loop, 20 seconds behind the leader. It was necessary to walk 2.5 km to the finish line, and the fans sighed: such a handicap cannot be won back. And Reztsova not only won back, but also brought her opponents a gap of 16 seconds!
Also won bronze in the sprint Elena Belova... In an individual race Svetlana Pecherskaya was the second, and ours won the third place in the relay.
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, foreign reporters have mockingly nicknamed "Kindergarten".
It turns out later that most of this " Kindergarten»Will successfully play in the best league in the world for many years. And in 1992, many eyes widened with surprise when they saw how Tikhonov's guys add from game to game.
As a result, the final of the Olympics became another episode of the classic confrontation: the USSR (albeit without a flag) against Canada. The latter had a very serious composition, the leader of which was Eric Lindros the number 1 NHL Draft. Actually, the striker who was named the successor Wayne Gretzky, was not supposed to play in 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 scored goals, and at the beginning of the third Vyacheslav Butsaev brought ours ahead. At 56 minutes Igor Boldin doubled the lead, but almost immediately the Canadians closed the lead. The point in the match was set by an experienced Vyacheslav Bykov: 3:1.
This Olympic victory while it remains the last in the history of Russian hockey.
They walked away proudly
The 1992 Olympics ended on February 23, 1992. According to its results, the United Team won 23 awards (9 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze). This was the 2nd result in the overall team classification after the Germans, who, unlike us, united, and did not creep into national apartments.
It was a farewell fireworks display, the 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 the high tragedy would be replaced by a cheap farce ...
