The youngest Olympic champion in the history of Russia. Olympic champions who did the impossible: interesting facts Which athlete is the only one in the history of the Olympics who became

At the Rio Games, American swimmer Michael Phelps once again took gold, confirming his status as a legend and breaking all world records for the number of Olympic medals - he now has 26 of them, of which 22 are gold. Until 2012, the world record for the number of medals belonged to the great Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina.

Michael Phelps, USA, swimming, 26 medals

The American swimmer, nicknamed the Baltimore Bullet, is the only 22-time Olympic champion in the history of sports, a 26-time world champion in a 50-meter pool. The absolute record holder for the number of awards in the history of the Olympic Games. He was disqualified for smoking marijuana in 2009 and wanted to end his career in 2012, but returned for the Olympics in Rio - and did not lose.

Larisa Latynina, USSR, artistic gymnastics, 18 medals

Great Soviet gymnast, nine-time Olympic champion, multiple world, European and USSR champion. Won gold medals at the 1957 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in all disciplines: individual all-around, vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Until 2012, Latynina was the owner of the largest collection of Olympic medals in terms of quantity - 9 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals (18 in total). Her record was broken in London in 2012 by Michael Phelps, who continues to increase his medal count in Rio.

Paavo Nurmi, Finland, athletics, 12 medals

One of the most successful male athletes, one of four (and since 2012 - five) athletes who have won 9 Olympic gold medals (the athlete has 3 more silver medals). Participated in the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics. Nurmi was part of a brilliant group of Finnish middle and long-distance runners who were nicknamed the "Flying Finns". Later, all outstanding Finnish athletes, including racing drivers, began to be called this way.

Mark Spitz, USA, swimming, 11 medals

Spitz became the first athlete to win 7 gold medals in one Olympics - in Munich in 1972. In doing so, he set a world record in every discipline he competed in that year. He set 33 world records and was recognized as the best swimmer in the world three times. His record for the number of medals in one Games, like Latynina's quantitative medal record, was broken by Phelps 36 years after it was set - however, back in Beijing in 2008.

Carl Lewis, USA, athletics, 10 medals

Nine-time Olympic champion in sprinting and long jump. In the latter discipline, Lewis managed to win gold at four Olympics in a row, which very few succeeded, and was also recognized as the best athlete in the world three times. At his first Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles, Lewis won in four disciplines at once: 100 m, 200 m, long jump and 4 x 100 m relay, completely repeating the result of his childhood idol Jesse Owens.

On February 26, 1968, the Supreme Sports Council of Africa, which met in London, decided to boycott the Olympics in Mexico City due to the invitation of South African athletes to it. It was a response to IOC President Avery Brundage and the 66th session of the IOC, which allowed the racist regime to the Games in the capital of Mexico.

1980 Paralympic Games

Long before the opening of the Moscow Olympics, Dr. Gutman, the leader of the Paralympic movement, requested the organizing committee of the Games-80 to hold the Olympics for the disabled. He didn't get a clear answer. Party and sports leaders believed that there were no disabled people in the USSR.

In the end, the Paralympics were held not in Moscow, but in Holland.

First female Olympic champion

Charlotte Reinagle Cooper, a British tennis player, became the first ever Olympic Champion when she won the singles Olympic tennis tournament at the 1900 II Olympic Games in Paris.

She also became the first two-time champion, winning the mixed doubles competition with her compatriot Reginald Doherty.

First Olympic Champion

The first modern Olympic champion was the American athlete James Brenden Bennet Connolly, who won the triple jump competition at the 1986 Summer Olympics in Athens with a score of 13.71 m.

First husband and wife - Olympic Champions

At the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, for the first time, a husband and wife won gold medals at the same Olympics, performing in different types program - stayer from Czechoslovakia Emil Zatopek (Emil Zatopek) and his wife, javelin thrower Dana Zatopkova (Dana Zatopkova).

Medal found a hero

At the I Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix (France), the Norwegian ski jumper Thorleif Haug won the bronze medal with a score of 18 points. Anders Haugen of the USA finished behind him with 17,916 points.

More than 40 years later, the two-time silver medalist of these games, the 77-year-old Thoralf Stromstad, pointed out to sports historian Jacob Vaage that in 1924 the judges made a mistake when scoring Haug. After checking and recalculating, Jakob Waage had to agree with Stromstad - Haug had not 18, but 17.821 points.

Justice was served in 1974 when, at an official ceremony in Oslo, the 86-year-old Haugen received an award from the daughter of Torlef Haug, who died in 1934 at the age of 40 from pneumonia.

First USA Hockey Team Championship

Before the Olympics in Squaw Valley, the Americans made no secret of their hopes for victory. During the tournament, the hosts beat their main rivals the Canadians 3:2 and the USSR national team 2:1, and yet the fate of the gold medals was decided in the last round, when the Americans met with the Czechs.

After the first two periods, the Czechoslovak team led 4:3. American hockey players looked tired and unprepared for further struggle, but during the second break, an event occurred that surprised everyone. Nikolai Sologubov, defender of the USSR national team, appeared in the locker room of the US team and convinced the Americans to breathe pure oxygen. The result - five unanswered goals in the final third of the match, the overall victory of 9:4 and the first victory in US history at the Olympics.

The USSR team finished third, but became the European champion.

The US flag fell at Wimbledon as Williams was awarded the Olympic gold medal

The ceremony of awarding tennis medalists at the Olympic Games in London was marked by a curiosity: during the raising of the flags, the US banner, which was raised in honor of the winner of the tournament, Serena Williams, flew off the flagpole.

Serena Williams won the Olympic gold medal by beating Russia's Maria Sharapova in the final with a crushing score of 6:0, 6:1. The bronze medal went to Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.

After the presentation of the medals, according to tradition, the anthem of the country of the winner began to play, and three flags began to rise over Wimbledon. And already when the banners almost reached the maximum point, the American flag fell off the flagpole, on which only Russian and Belarusian flags remained to hang.

At the Olympic Games in South Korea Russian athletes perform successfully. We don’t have “gold” yet, but all the medals won are more expensive than gold. As a result of an aggressive and dirty campaign against Russian sports, our leading athletes are not allowed to the Games. And now young guys and girls are fighting for themselves and for them, fighting on equal terms with the greatest champions.

Today - "silver" in the men's ski relay, like four years ago in Sochi. But then our leaders fled, and today - the youth. Yesterday in the women's relay - "bronze", it was won by yesterday's juniors. Nobody expected this third place, we have not had awards in this form since 2006. The successes of young people prove that Russian sports have a great future. And there will be more medals at this Olympics, I'm sure there will be gold.

Their names are already in the history of the Olympics. The price of medals is higher than gold. Behind every victory is an amazing story of overcoming, luck and incredible strength.

Our skiers bring one after another medals for the national team. Men's four-by-ten relay race. Andrey Larkov starts, confidently goes the whole distance and finishes second. Next - the brilliant tactics of Alexander Bolshunov. He goes into the lead and is the first to pass the baton to Alexei Chervotkin with an advantage of 24.5 seconds. In the third stage, the Frenchman Parisse and the Norwegian Kruger are on their heels. At the final stage, our Denis Spitsov starts third. He runs with such force that he does not leave the Frenchman even the slightest chance to come closer. The fight for the "gold" - the Norwegians are still the first. We have silver.

“The coaches said one thing - nothing is impossible, you are all equal, fight to the last. Do not be afraid of anything, you are not weaker than others, and maybe even stronger than someone, ”said Denis Spitsov.

Elena Vyalbe, a three-time Olympic champion, head of the Russian Ski Racing Federation, whom the IOC has not officially invited to the Olympics, tries to be there every minute. After the victorious finish of the skiers, she did not hold back her emotions.

“I'm so happy, I don't know what to say at all. I am simply grateful to my athletes, coaches, everyone for such wonderful moments at this difficult Olympics,” said Elena Vyalbe, President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation.

Another great four. Yesterday's juniors, the youngest team in the relay. Nepryaeva, Belorukova, Sedova, Nechaevskaya. Race "four by five". Everything is calculated to the smallest detail. At the start, Nepryaeva leaves no chance for her rivals, sending Yulia Belorukova to the distance first. She runs so that the competitors can only see her back. Further - Anastasia Sedova skating, quite a bit inferior to the Norwegian. The relay is completed by Anna Nechaevskaya. Nearby is the legend of world ski racing, Norwegian Marit Bjorgen. The Swede Sina Nilsson is catching up, having previously won the personal “gold” in the sprint. But it doesn't matter anymore. Nechaevskaya gnaws out a place on the pedestal. For the first time in 12 years after Turin, a Russian medal in the ski relay.

“There is something to strive for, and even more success, which we will do, in principle, in the future. Everything in the soul is overflowing with some kind of emotions, delight, joy, happiness, ”the athletes say.

Skeletonist Nikita Tregubov did not hold back his emotions either. Breaking his voice, he rejoiced at his "silver". Also a recent junior, he himself forged victory in the literal sense - the night before the final races. Black palms - from sharpening skates skeleton. Servicemen and the IOC coach were not invited to the Games. But is this a reason to retreat?

“We sharpened everything ourselves, invested completely in medals, as they say. So, it’s hard, but you have to, but what to do, ”says the athlete.

Like our strongest skiers - Ustyugov, Petukhov, Legkov - he could not get into Pyeongchang. When the IOC decided a month ago which of our athletes to invite to the Games and who not, among other news, one more was lost - skier Denis Spitsov is not going to Korea. A "clean" athlete, he was not accused of anything, was not suspected, just supposedly there were not enough out-of-competition samples. Later, of course, everything fell into place. Invited. Rides. His first Olympics. For 30 years, Russia has not had a medal in the 15 km ski classic. Denis fixed it. "Bronze". Could not otherwise.

“Of course, I would like to dedicate my bronze medal to my father who died. After all, it was he who brought me to skiing, instilled a love for skiing. And for this, many thanks to him, of course, ”said the athlete.

Denis's father, a police officer, died in 2009 in the line of duty.

"I cant. Now I feel that I did what I promised one person, and this is just the beginning,” says skier Yulia Belorukova. Later she will tell - she dedicated her first Olympic victory to the closest person, her mother, whom she lost, and who was waiting for this medal so much. After the finish, Julia will cry again, as if not fully realizing - this is not a dream!

“I have a medal on my neck, it is very heavy, and heavy means it is of the highest dignity,” she said.

Another bronze medalist in the sprint, Alexander Bolshunov, could not start at all. He was supposed to fly to Korea later. The coach insisted. A few days before the Olympics. He has a severe flu. Temperature under 40. Ten days in the hospital. Everything was decided by an evening conversation with a mentor.

“I tell him - Yuri Viktorovich, there are no medals on the road, and either I go to the sprint and fight, or I have nothing to do there in Pyeongchang,” the athlete said.

Our athletes in the stands are supported to the point of hoarseness. The whole country is sick. And although the organizers of the Games try not to show our flags in the broadcasts, the video footage speaks for itself. “We believe in ours! Athletes need our support, that's why we're here!” fans say.

Looking at the number of fans and Russian flags, you feel that the game today is not taking place somewhere in South Korea, but on home ice.

Fans will also remember this Olympics because of the hurricane that happened on one of the competitive days. For several hours, he practically paralyzed the Games. The wind blew the checkpoint. Journalists were evacuated from the media zones. At the beginning of the hurricane, Channel One correspondent Anton Vernitsky was at the epicenter - the press center was shaking, the wind was rocking the walls and roof. However, the Koreans restored everything in one night.

Spectators will also remember the Olympics with such posters - “Olympic Pyeongchang is killing us!” Such banners are everywhere here in the mountains. Local entrepreneurs are indignant - those who rent out sports equipment. Like, at the height of the season, everything is only for athletes, but who compensates for the potential revenue? The posters were stretched right in front of the ski slopes and snowboard trails.

It was on this track that snowboarder Nikolai Olyunin performed. Counterclone. Final turn. All or nothing. He decided to take a chance, bypass rivals in a dangerous area. Landing is hard. He will be taken away from the track in an ambulance - a triple leg fracture. On the way to the hospital, he will find the strength to thank the fans for their support.

“Unfortunately, the result is so deplorable, but the most important thing is that I tried and really wanted to show the Russian spirit. But it happened. Excuse me that it all happened, and thank you very much to everyone, ”said the athlete.

He had surgery a few hours later. Broken bones were fixed with plates. How long it will take to recover is unknown. Near all this time - his wife Maria.

“I just want to go for now. I'm seriously injured, actually. Hope everything will be ok. For the time being, we will not touch on professional sports further. For me, of course, it’s hard, I came here for a medal, and there were all chances,” said the athlete.

Your "Thank you!" skater Natalya Voronina will tell not only the fans. At a distance of five kilometers, she brought the team another "bronze". Athlete at the Olympics alone. The coach is in Moscow. Before the decisive race, there was not even a sparring partner. Martina Sablikova from the Czech team was the only one who offered help to a Russian woman who came to the Olympics for the first time. Together prepared, together on a pedestal.

“Martina Sablikova approached me and offered her help. She said - no problem, I can train with them calmly, it will not be difficult for them. And I was very grateful to her, I took advantage of this offer a couple of times,” said Natalia Voronina.

These athletes have no problems with partners. Our curlers train, perform and live together. Married couple Anastasia Bryzgalova and Alexander Krushelnitsky. James Bond and Angelina Jolie, as foreign journalists called them. Publications around the world go crazy with the beauty of an athlete from Russia. Dozens of articles. “Curler Bryzgalov eclipsed everyone at the Winter Olympics,” writes the tabloid The Sun.

Well, where without figure skating? In the team tournament, our skaters brought the first "silver" to the national team. In men's single skating we have no medals. A few annoying mistakes. "Gold" - the Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu, who collects stadiums in the Land of the Rising Sun. After the program, he was thrown teddy bears. Journalists called it "Winnie the Pooh Mania".

Now everyone is waiting for the women's single skating, where our strongest figure skaters Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova will perform. And, of course, we support our hockey players. The day before, they defeated the Americans dry, 4:0. At the end of the competition day, another news came - we have a medal in freestyle. Ilya Burov took bronze.

Doping officers are watching our athletes almost under a microscope. They study every movement, check it like no one else. Today, the IOC officially notified the headquarters of the Russian delegation about possible violation anti-doping rules by one of the athletes.

"We are not releasing the name of the athlete or female athlete, or the sport, until the results of the B sample autopsy, which will be known within 24 hours," Konstantin Vybornov, press officer for the Olympic Athletes from Russia team, told reporters.

Despite all the spokes in the wheels, our athletes continue to prove that no circumstances can stop them. Both experienced masters and yesterday's juniors, they are the real future of Russian sports, already today they compete on equal terms with the greatest champions and will continue to fight for the podium so that the whole world can see that they deserve to be among the best.

Now they often criticize the USSR, they say that everything was bad. Although in fairness, it must be said that the sports school in the union was very good. Professional athletes had jobs related to their sport and were paid for it and trained themselves. While Olympians all over the world do not always work according to their profile. Those. in the USSR, an athlete was a profession, just like a football player in the West. And as a result, our gymnast Larisa Latynina tops the top 10, she has 18 medals, in addition, there are three more of our athletes on the list. 1. Larisa Latynina Medals: 9 Gold; 5 Silver; 4 Bronze

Soviet gymnast, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Honored Coach of the USSR. Has the largest number of Olympic awards. At the European Championships in 1957, Larisa won all the gold medals. Absolute Olympic champion 1956, 1960 Winner in the team championship in 1956, 1960, 1964, in floor exercises in 1956, 1960, 1964, in the vault in 1956. Silver medalist in the absolute championship in 1964 (lost to Vera Chaslavskaya), in the uneven bars competition in 1956, 1960, on the balance beam in 1960, in the vault jump 1964. Bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in team exercises with objects in 1956, in the vault in 1960, in exercises on the beam in 1964 and on the uneven bars in 1964. The absolute world champion in 1958, 1962. World champion in team championship 1954, 1958, 1962, vault 1958, uneven bars 1958 and floor exercises 1962. Absolute European champion 1957, 1961. European champion 1957 in floor exercises, vault, uneven bars and balance beam, 1961 in floor exercises. 2. Bridget Schmidt-Fischer Medals: 8 Gold; 4 Silver The German athlete (former GDR) is considered the best canoeist of all time. She owns 37 medals (1979-2005). 27 gold medals (1979-1998) at the world championships. 12 Olympic medals and eight gold medals. She won the Olympic events K1 in 1980 (as Miss Fisher) and K2 and K4 in 1988. After a three-year break during which she gave birth to her second child, she won K1 in 1992 as a member of the unified German team. In 1996 in Atlanta, she rode with the German K4 team to win her fifth gold medal, and in Sydney in 2000, she added two golds in both K2 and K4. Her husband, was a world champion and Olympic silver medalist (at C1-1,000 in 1988). Schmidt-Fischer also won two medals at the 2005 World Championships. 3. Jenny Thomson Medals: 8 Gold; 3 Silver; 1 Bronze
Ten-time Olympic medalist, has won more medals than any U.S. Olympic athlete. At the Short Course World Championships, Thompson won 5 medals (gold for 50 and 100 meters butterfly, setting world and American records, respectively; silver for 100 meters freestyle, for swimming 800 meters freestyle style, setting an American record; bronze - for the 400-meter swim in mixed style). She broke the world record in the 50-meter butterfly and the American record in the 100-meter butterfly. She also swam fourth in the International Short Course Championship in the 400m freestyle. In 2002, at the Pan Pacific Championships, Jenny Thompson won gold in the 50m freestyle, where she showed the best results of her entire career. In the 100m freestyle and butterfly, Jenny received a bronze medal. For 400 meters free and mixed style, the athlete received 2 silver medals. In the P66 Summer Nationals, Jenny took second place in the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle. And after a two-year break in her sports career, she took 4th place in the 100-meter freestyle swim. 4. Vera Chaslavska Medals: 7 Gold; 4 Silver
Outstanding Czechoslovak gymnast, 7-time Olympic champion, 4-time world champion, multiple champion of Europe and Czechoslovakia. The owner of the largest number of gold Olympic medals in the history of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. 5. Dara Torres Medals: 4 Gold; 4 Silver; 4 Bronze Outstanding American swimmer, four-time Olympic champion, four-time silver and four-time Olympic bronze medalist. Only Torres, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina (9+5+4) and Japanese gymnast Takashi Ono (5+4+4) each have 4 complete sets of Olympic medals. In addition, Torres shares with 6 athletes the seventh place in the total number of Olympic awards (12). The only American swimmer to have competed in 5 Olympics and the oldest female swimmer and medalist in Olympic history. 6. Lyubov Egorova Medals: 6 Gold; 3 Silver Famous Soviet and Russian skier, six-time Olympic champion, multiple world champion, World Cup winner (1993), Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1991), Honored Master of Sports of Russia, Hero Russian Federation(1994, "for outstanding achievements in sports, courage and heroism shown at the XVII Winter Olympic Games in 1994"). 7. Agnes Keleti Medals: 5 Gold; 3 Silver; 2 Bronze The famous Hungarian gymnast, five-time Olympic champion (1952, 1956), world champion (1954, uneven bars), Hungarian champion (1947-1954) in artistic gymnastics. 8. Polina Astakhova Medals: 5 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze Soviet gymnast. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Winner of 10 Olympic medals, including five gold. In addition, she is the world champion in the team championship (1956, 1962), the silver medalist in the team championship (1966), in the uneven bars (1958); European champion in floor exercises (1959), uneven bars (1959, 1961), balance beam (1961), silver medalist in all-around (1961), floor exercises (1961). Absolute champion of the USSR (1959). Winner of the USSR Cup in all-around (1959, 1960, 1963, 1965). Champion of the USSR in uneven bars (1959, 1960, 1963, 1965), balance beam (1961), floor exercises (1959, 1960, 1964, 1965), silver medalist in all-around (1965), uneven bars (1958, 1961) , 1962, 1964), balance beam (1959, 1960), floor exercise (1961, 1963), bronze medalist in all-around (1956, 1958, 1962, 1963), vault (1956), uneven bars (1956, 1957, 1967), balance beam (1965), floor exercise (1958, 1962). 9. Raisa Smetanina Medals: 4 Gold; 5 Silver; 1 Bronze famous Soviet skier, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1976). 4-time Olympic champion (1976 - in the 10 km race and in the 4 x 5 km relay, 1980 - in the 5 km race, 1992 - in the relay), 5-time silver (1976 - in the 5 km race, 1980 - 4 x 5 km relay, 1984 - 10 and 20 km, 1988 - 10 km race) and 1 time (1988 - 20 km race) bronze medalist of the Olympic Games, 5-time world champion (1974, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1991), multiple champion of the USSR (1974, 1976-77, 1983-86, 1989, 1991). She took part in five consecutive Winter Olympics, and won her last award at the Games in Albertville a few days before her 40th birthday, which is a kind of record for skiers. 10. Natalie Coughlin Medals: 3 Gold; 4 Silver; 4 Bronze The famous American swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion, multiple world record holder. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, 21-year-old Coughlin won 5 Olympic medals from 14 to 21 August - 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. At the same time, she set 1 Olympic record, 1 world record (as part of the relay four 4x200 m freestyle) and 1 US record. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she was elected co-captain of the US women's swimming team.

Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya at the age of 15 years 249 days became the youngest champion in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. She won both the short and free programs, adding 20 points to the national team. She skated the program cleanly, coping with complex multi-turn jumps and performing phenomenal spins. This was beautiful!

The girl became a star overnight. In a few hours, 40 thousand people subscribed to her Vkontakte page. The President of Russia greeted her with applause, and the government of her native Yekaterinburg region hastened to present the athlete for the award "For Services to the Sverdlovsk Region" III degree.

7 facts about Yulia Lipnitskaya

1. End of career

Former coach Lipnitskaya Elena Levkovets said that last year the athlete wanted to quit the sport. It was difficult for Yulia to cope with her height and weight due to puberty, she did not have very good results. “Yulia was even going to end her sports career, because she didn’t understand what was happening - where to put her hands, where to put her legs,” Levkovets said.

2. Logo

After winning the Skate Canada tournament, Lipnitskaya posed for cameramen and photographers with the Russian flag, which featured a large Volkswagen logo, which outraged bloggers. The figure skater's coach Eteri Tutberidze explained that it was not a flag, but a cape that was given to Lipnitsa by one of the Russian fans.

3. "Schindler's List"

Julia chose the music from the Oscar-winning "Schindler's List" for her performance herself. “She has watched this film many times - and she said she wants to be that girl in the burgundy coat,” said coach Eteri Tutberidze. According to the coach, when Yulia first said that she wanted to perform to this music, she tried to dissuade her. Moreover, according to Tutberidze, several directors abandoned this idea and only Ilya Averbukh decided to stage the dance.

4. Little ice in Sochi

On February 10, Yulia Lipnitskaya will leave for Moscow. According to the figure skater, it is more convenient for her to prepare for personal competitions in the capital, since the athlete does not have enough ice in Sochi. She intends to be back by February 19 when the women's competition starts.

5. Homeschooling

Julia does not go to school - she studies at home. In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, she even complained: “Do not ask, for God's sake, about your favorite subject, there is no such thing! One thought: to quickly learn everything, pass the exam and be exhausted.

6. Doping control

On the eve of the victorious performance, Yulia Lipnitskaya was taken for doping control. The procedure lasted until one in the morning, she returned to her room only at 1:30, and already at 7 in the morning there was a training session.

7. Global trends

The name of Yulia Lipnitskaya entered the global Twitter trends after the victory. The list of global Twitter trends was topped by the name of figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, this trend also included the phrase "Yulya Lipnitskaya", and Russian trends included "Yulya Lipnitskaya", "Yulya" and "Yulya", the hashtags #Lipnitskaya and #figure_skating. In total, Twitter users have left more than 790 thousand messages with the hashtag #Sochi2014, while figure skating is the leader in terms of discussion activity.