Freestyle wrestler Alexander Medved: biography with photo

The battle is over. This was the last, final single combat. For one of the athletes it turned into Olympic gold. And the auditorium of Messegeland burst into loud applause and multilingual cries. The victorious wrestler, raising his mighty arms, bowed in all directions with a bewildered smile. Apparently, he has not yet fully realized his happiness. Then the incredible happened. The athlete walked to the middle of the carpet, knelt, bent down and kissed the matte surface. So he said goodbye to the wrestling ring - a dispassionate witness to the hundreds of disappointments and take-offs that the athlete went through in 15 years of his career.

This man was Alexander Medved - freestyle wrestler, three-time Olympic champion in different weight classes. Seven times he won the world championship and three times in the championship of Europe. In the box of the wrestler are nine gold medals of Spartakiad and USSR championships. This article will present a brief biography of the athlete.

Childhood

Alexander Medved was born in 1937 in the White Church (Ukraine). In childhood, the boy did not have specific sports preferences. He spent his leisure time both on the basketball court and on the football field. Also, Sasha willingly swam, jumped, ran and fought with friends.

Military service

Immediately after school, Alexander Medved went to work at the plant as a fitter-fitter. Two years later, the young man was taken into the army. Here Sasha got acquainted with the struggle. Hardly having mastered a number of methods and having mastered tactics, he won at superiority of the Byelorussian military district.

Learning

After demobilization, the hero of this article decided to stay in Minsk. The Higher School of Trainers and the Institute of Physical Education are the two educational institutions graduated from Alexander Medved. Freestyle wrestling became his main specialization. Also, the athlete was given very good mentors: Rybalko BM and Grigoryev PV Under their sensitive leadership, Alexander did not know the defeats for many years.

Competition

In March 1961, the USSR held the primacy in the struggle. 21 athletes claimed for the gold medal . Among them were such masters as Ivanitsky, Dzarasov, Kandelaki and Kiknadze. After the end of the fifth round, Alexander became the leader, and the seventh revealed the strongest athletes. The bear received gold, Dzarasov - silver, and Ivanitsky - bronze.

Coaches decided to send Alexander to Japan for the World Cup. To get into this competition, Bear had to wait four whole years. The athlete performed brilliantly on it. But by the end of the tournament he met with the German Dietrich. He scored one point more than our athlete, and thereby "ripped" of his gold.

First Olympics

In this competition Alexander Medved nearly missed the gold award. He prematurely finished the bout with the Swiss Jutzer and the Romanian Ballo. And the Bulgarian player Mustafov won in 39 seconds. Only the Turks Ayik managed to bring the fight to a draw. The apparent superiority over the opponents almost played a cruel joke with Alexander. Even before he came out with the Swede Erikson on the carpet, Medved was confident of his own victory. In the eyes rushed clearly bad form of the opponent. But in reality everything was different. The Swede nearly stripped Alexander of gold. Since then, the Bear has decided that he will always respect the opponent. This rule athlete adhered to throughout his career.

Severe Test

Many athletes were frightened by the 1968 Olympics. After all, the place of its holding was elected High Mountain Mexico. Lack of oxygen and rarefied air affected some athletes. Unfortunately, Alexander Medved was one of them. But only a close circle of the initiated knew about his ailment. As a result, at the insistence of Sasha, it was decided to participate in the competition.

The wrestler has chosen the following tactics: he demonstrated by his look a certainty of victory and an iridescent attitude. And he tried to finish the fights himself ahead of schedule. Everything went well before meeting with the old enemy Dietrich, whom Alexander lost in Japan. The German went ahead, and the unforeseen happened. There was a terrible and strong crunch. The battle ceased, and both athletes began to examine themselves. It turned out that the thumb on Alexander's right arm was unnaturally bent. Behind the ring doctors began to fuss, preparing dressing materials. But their help was not needed. The bear corrected the dislocation independently. There was a light click in the hall. "Give a Whistle" - this sign was shown to the arbiter Alexander Medved. The fight resumed, but Dietrich seemed to be replaced. After the first attack, the athlete limped. And then he refused to continue the fight.

Conclusion

Alexander Bear, whose biography was presented in this article, continued to live actively after the end of his career. The reason for this was the habit developed over the years about the productive use of every free minute. But the regime did not turn the former fighter into a kind of "hermit". Alexander Vasilyevich understood perfectly well that sport is not the whole of life. The former sportsman gave more time to the family and his hobbies (photography, hunting). Together with his wife, Tatiana, he brought up two wonderful children - Alexei's son and daughter Elena. Alyosha went at his father's feet, winning the world championship in wrestling.