Great Patriotic. Alexander Privalov

Today, the legend of world and domestic biathlon, the first Soviet Olympic biathlon medalist, Alexander Privalov, celebrates his 80th birthday. On this day, world and Olympic champions, his students and close friends remember the most striking episodes of the extraordinary life of the great athlete, coach and just a person with a capital “P!”

Vladimir Barnashov, 1980 Olympic champion, Russian state biathlon coach

The name of Alexander Vasilyevich Privalov was constantly heard as soon as he began to engage in biathlon - in 1974. He was a guru, both as an athlete and as a coach. The first Olympic medalist in history, five-time USSR champion. I personally met him in 1976 in Murmansk at the “Festival of the North”. I won the race then, he came up to me, we talked a little. Then I was included in the national team, where we worked together for seven years.

The word “coach” does not quite suit Alexander Vasilyevich. For us athletes, he was a friend, comrade, father. He did not limit himself only to the coaching process, but delved into the lives of each of us, helped and supported. Incredible kindness always emanated from him, no matter whether he scolded or praised. There was never any negativity in him.

Before the relay at the Games in Lake Placid, when the lineup was being determined, he spoke separately with each athlete, and then with all of us together, where he outlined all the tasks for each stage. We then had, I say without exaggeration, an incredible team, united and friendly. We were all confident in ourselves and each other. Of course, this is the merit of our coach!

One of the highlights of our coaching work was the 1988 Calgary Olympics. The first two races, by those standards, were unsuccessful for our team - two silver and one bronze. And then the GDR team was very strong, whose representative, Frank-Peter Rech, won gold in the individual race and sprint. And before the relay race, the decisive start for us, Alexander Vasilyevich made a detailed analytical calculation, calculated something, estimated and said that we would defeat the Germans. In the end, this is what happened - our team won gold in the relay, ahead of the GDR by more than a minute. But in Calgary he had to work under severe psychological pressure - after the individual race, where we had Valera Medvedtsev’s silver, there were conversations to remove Alexander Vasilyevich from the post of head coach. It is worth giving him credit that he never transferred these problems with management to us, his assistants.

Now Alexander Vasilyevich is a member of the expert council of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, which includes specialists in various areas. Some are in charge of science, some are in charge of medicine. But there are almost no such specialists as Alexander Vasilievich, Viktor Fedorovich Mamatov, who master everything in the complex. They make constructive suggestions, not criticism. Their experience still helps a lot in working with national teams.

On his birthday, I would like to wish our beloved biathlon guru, of course, health! Good, heroic health for many years to come!

Alexander Tikhonov, four-time Olympic champion (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980), 11-time world champion

Privalov came to his first training camp as a senior coach, exactly on the day when I came to my first training camp as an athlete. This is how the best coach of the 20th century and the best biathlete of the 20th century began working on the national team. I first saw him in 1966 at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in Sverdlovsk. I noticed him immediately - he stood out very much from the rest. Tall, stately, prominent! The tallest biathlete. At that time, biathlon was an unpopular sport, but, of course, we knew about Privalov. I remember seeing him in a photograph where he was together with the 1964 Olympic champion Volodya Melanin at a reception in the Kremlin with Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev. This photo is deeply etched in my memory.

In those years, the struggle was between Privalov and Melanin. In the USSR, Alexander Vasilyevich had no equal - he became the national champion five times, but he was unlucky at international competitions. Didn't win the World Championships or Olympic Games. In 1964, in Innsbruck, he was the main contender for gold at the Games, but he arrived there overloaded and, despite the fact that he shot zero, he became only a silver medalist. Melanin won the gold.

I consider myself a lucky person to have trained under the guidance of Privalov. We met at a gathering. I was included in the national ski team, but while playing football I injured my leg. I didn’t get to the skiers’ training camp; I decided to go to Otepää, where there were biathletes at that time. Alexander Vasilyevich saw me and said: “Why are you fooling around, let’s go shoot.” At the shooting range I knocked out five out of five, and he suggested seriously switching to biathlon. That’s how the best young skier, a Siberian from the Urals, as they called me, went into biathlon.

I always called him Sanya. In my family, my grandfather always said: “Don’t exaggerate!” And everyone else was wildly jealous, like, how can you treat him like that, he’s a great athlete. His nickname was Myakukha - he was gentle in character, always compromised, and did not push with authority. Alexander Vasilyevich has always been the soul of our team.

I remember an incident: at a training camp I was going to break my sports regime - drink cognac and then go for a walk. Here I am lying in bed in a suit, covered with a blanket, a glass of cognac on the table. Privalov comes in and asks: “What is this?” I say it's tea. He takes the glass and drinks it in one gulp. Then he pulls the blanket, throws it away and silently leaves the room. I lie there as if stunned, but I still left the base that evening. Then we talked a lot about this topic. Once, after a collective violation of the regime, he wanted to kick some of the guys out of the team. But we talked, discussed everything, that it is not worth ruining the lives of the guys because of one offense. “The forbidden fruit is sweet, so let’s have holidays, it’s impossible to sit at the base all the time,” I said. We had everything - barbecue, going to the theater, cinema, reading poetry, books. Our generation was completely different - we were interested in a lot of things, we read something all the time, we were educated.

We had a special relationship. I often visited his house, helped him - once I assembled a wardrobe. First of all, he was always my friend, and then everything else.

It’s a pity that he and Viktor Fedorovich Mamatov were removed from the national team. They say that age is no longer the same. And I’ll say this: “They don’t become academicians and Nobel Prize laureates at 17 years old. Look at Zhores Alferov, he became a laureate at the age of 70.”

Alexander Vasilyevich was and remains my older brother, to whom I am always ready to help.

Viktor Mamatov, two-time Olympic champion (1968, 1972), four-time world champion

We can say that I met Alexander Vasilyevich twice. I first saw him in February 1960 at the USSR Championship, where he became the winner. Then everyone on the bus congratulated him on his success, and I congratulated him too. He always says that he didn’t succeed at competitions abroad, he only won at home. He became the champion of the USSR five times. And his eternal rival Volodya Melanin, on the contrary, won international competitions. He was a three-time world champion, in 1964 he became an Olympic champion, the first in domestic biathlon, but he had no luck at the USSR championships. At that championship I took 16th place, Melanin - 17th.

They didn’t take me to the national team for a long time, they said: “Why do we need a student from a technical university from Siberia? Yes, and we don’t need new people.” At the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, which became one of the last starts for Privalov as an athlete, he performed well - he took third place, despite the fact that he competed with an injured hand. Then they took me to the national team. Although I was already thinking about quitting sports. I studied in graduate school and worked.

The second acquaintance with Privalov, already real, happened later, at the national team meeting. At the first training camp there was neither Privalov nor Melanin, but at the second training camp Alexander Vasilyevich arrived as a senior coach. He always treated everything with humor and never boasted that he was a coach. We were very inspired by the atmosphere in the team. In any company, he has always been its center. He loved to sing, and not just to sing something, but to sing - well, soulfully.

I remember there was such a training: running 30 kilometers with shooting - who would beat whom. My eyes are burning, I’m eager to fight. Privalov says: “Isn’t it too early? The World Cup is still a long way off.” I answer: “Everything is fine, Alexander Vasilyevich.” After all, I joined the national team when I was 29 years old - no longer a boy, I understood what needed to be done. At that World Championships, I won the race, and our team came second in the relay. I remember Alexander Vasilyevich’s calculation was this: me and Kolya Puzanov should shoot well, and the light ones Alexander Tikhonov and Rinat Safin should run quickly.

When the decision was made to change the head coach in the early 80s, I received an offer to lead the team. I refused six times, but in the end the Central Committee of the CPSU appointed me to this position. Alexander Vasilyevich was not offended. On the contrary, he helped me a lot, supported me, knowing all the difficulties of this work. I can honestly say that my appointment did not affect our friendship in any way. There were no disagreements, no attempts to sit on the sidelines.

In 1987, when I was already deputy chairman of the USSR Sports Committee and it was necessary to change the head coach, I said that it was necessary to return Privalov. He is a very good methodologist, trainer with vast experience and knowledge.

At the Olympic Games in Calgary, the plan was for a gold medal in the individual race, but in the end we had silver. After the race he was immediately called to headquarters to report. They attacked him and wanted him to resign. I was the head of the sports delegation at those Games. I say that everything will be fine, our team has an excellent chance to win. And Vitaly Georgievich Smirnov, chairman of the USSR Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, said: “There are two more disciplines ahead. There is no need to remove anyone, let him justify his trust.”

In the sprint, the plan was to take one bronze, but our guys Valera Medvedtsev and Seryozha Chepikov won silver and bronze. And in the relay, the USSR team defeated the GDR team, the undisputed favorite of those Olympic Games.

In the mid-90s, the new president of the Russian Biathlon Union, Alexander Tikhonov, who was raised by Privalov, began to oppress his mentor. Apparently, he was offended at the 1980 Olympic Games, when Alexander Vasilyevich did not put him in the individual race. Privalov went to Poland, where he began coaching the women's team. He told me: “Why stay in such an environment when they don’t want to see me? I won’t impose myself.”

In Poland at that time, biathlon was almost undeveloped, but thanks to the talent and strength of Alexander Vasilyevich, he created a strong team that performed excellently at the European Championships in Izhevsk and won all the races. However, even after this he was not returned to the national team.

Alexander Vasilyevich is a man with a difficult, but interesting and bright destiny. In total, he led the USSR and Russian national teams for 18 years. We are still very friendly, now we are both members of the expert council of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, and we continue to work for the benefit of our favorite cause.

Luiza Noskova, 1994 Olympic champion, world champion

Alexander Vasilyevich is a unique person, a master of domestic and world biathlon. In addition to the fact that he himself is a legendary athlete, the first Olympic medalist and an outstanding specialist, he is also a wonderful person in his own right. Such people are very rare in life. His distinctive feature is that he always listened to you. I never taught, but suggested. It's a big difference.

He led the women's team at the Lillehammer Olympics. Then I noted that he is a very simple person and does not try to impose authority. Those Games somehow didn’t work out for us - there were no medals in the individual race and sprint, and no one really counted on the relay race; they didn’t consider us as serious competitors. But Alexander Vasilyevich had amazing intuition - he knew what needed to be done for the team to win.

Choosing a relay team is always a difficult task. You include some on the team, and reject others. In our team, everything was built on trust. If you are on a team, it means that they trust you 100%. And it was with this thought that I went to the start line: they trust me, the coach trusted me! I rushed along the highway as if on wings.

I really want to wish Alexander Vasilyevich good health! And so that at the Olympic Games in Sochi our biathletes take medals and win on their native soil. I really want them to give such a gift to Alexander Vasilyevich!

Anfisa Reztsova, three-time Olympic champion (skiing - 1988, biathlon - 1992, 1994), three-time world champion

Alexander Vasilyevich is a very meticulous coach. I always started analyzing my mistakes in shooting from afar. He told me how to shoot correctly, told me the whole theory. Sometimes I even forgot where the analysis of my shooting began (laughs). He gave a lot of information, but little by little I got used to his system.

As a person, he is so vital, or something. And he could drink a glass and sing. The real soul of any company.

Before Lillehammer, I had an extremely unsuccessful season, and I did not approach the Olympic season in ideal condition. The question was whether to take me to the Games at all. But Alexander Vasilyevich stood up for me and believed in me. Although at the Games themselves they didn’t place any special bets on me. I performed very poorly in the individual race, but, to be honest, the whole team showed a low result. I didn’t succeed in the sprint because I was simply burned out the day before. I thought too much about the upcoming race, and nothing worked out at the competition itself.

There were many opinions about the relay race - who to run and who not to run. I was not even invited to the meeting where the composition was determined. And then I found out that Luiza Noskova was offered to run the fourth stage, but she honestly said that she was not ready for such responsibility and let Reztsova run. Alexander Vasilyevich agreed with this proposal and said: “She will not let you down.”

In the race itself, we all ran and shot well, I won’t say that anyone was a hero in the team. Our entire team was a hero! We used every chance, and our German rivals also failed the race.

Alexander Vasilyevich is a unique coach, although I did not manage to work with him for a long time. At one time he trained Poles, so they doted on him. All the time they shouted: “Sasha, Sasha!” He was a coach, a father, a friend, and a teacher for them. You know, he is one of those people who not only trains, but also wipes the snot after an unsuccessful performance. At the same time, he did not allow any liberties to the athletes - discipline was always at its best. He is a very good psychologist. And now he’ll sort everything out, as far as psychology and pedagogy are concerned. He will be happy to advise and help if necessary.

On Alexander Vasilyevich’s birthday, I wish him good health. Health, health, health! To live to be 100 years old and always have kind, decent, beloved and loving people nearby.

Anatoly Alyabyev, two-time Olympic champion (1980)

I met Alexander Vasilyevich in 1974, when I had just started doing biathlon. It happened in Murmansk. He is so tall and calm. He led slowly, clearly, clearly.

I joined the national team in 1978. I’m a calm person by nature, I didn’t do a lot of training like other guys. Barnashov, Alikin, Tikhonov - everyone did large volumes, but I couldn’t. The trainers accommodated me halfway, although I was a beginner and I performed smaller volumes. This is the individual approach we had in the team. It means a lot in sports when a coach treats an athlete with understanding.

Privalov always exuded calm and confidence. At a common table he could joke and tell an anecdote. He is the greatest of the greats, an antiquarian, as I call him, and he does not take offense (laughs).

At the Olympic Games in Lake Placid, the situation was very tense - the height of the Cold War. Everywhere there were posters with the slogans “Hands off Afghanistan”, “You are a trash heap”. A painted bear, behind which stands an American in a cowboy hat and points to him with his hand - “get out of America.” We were warned: beware of any provocations. But there were no incidents. We lived in the Olympic village, and the coaches lived in a house nearby, which we rented specifically for the Games. According to tradition, the day before the competition we drove into this house, slept there and started in the morning. I remember once the trainers fried potatoes and onions. We go into the house, and there is such a smell! This is the situation that Alexander Vasilyevich created.

The USSR national team failed the previous two world championships before the Games, and they thought that we would also perform poorly in the individual race at the Olympics. The race took place on Friday, February 13, and it was also the 13th Games (laughs). I didn’t feel very well before the start. Privalov told me: “Put emphasis on shooting.” He repeated this to me several times. I shot three marks to zero, and before the fourth, one of our guys on the national team shouted to me: “If you shoot to zero now, you will become a champion.” When Privalov found out about this after the race, he was seriously angry. Under no circumstances should you do such things! Well, at the last line after the fourth shot my hands were shaking and it took me 42 seconds to aim the fifth. My opponent, German Frank Ullrich, managed to reduce the gap, but I still retained the victory.

We had a very friendly team back then. They said that it was the most friendly team in the Union, the rest were even jealous of us. We had a Musketeer motto: one for all and all for one. On the eve of the race, we spent the night in a house and told jokes to defuse the situation. The next day they won the race - they brought almost a minute to the GDR team. And for Sasha Tikhonov this victory was the fourth at the Olympic Games.

I consider myself very lucky to have met Alexander Vasilyevich on my life’s path. Coaches are like second parents. We are still very friendly with Privalov. He is a very emotional person and takes everything to heart. Now, through the veteran line, we often go to the World Championships and Olympic Games and live in the same room. So after some race he wakes up in the middle of the night and walks and walks, then says: “Tolya, aren’t you sleeping? Now I’ll tell you why it didn’t work out today.” I take it more calmly, saying that it was bad luck, next time they will perform better. And he: “What bad luck!” We have to work and train.” He is a true patriot of biathlon and Russia.

Every medal in sports has two sides - on the one hand, achievement and victory, on the other - remaining human. It is coaches who make people out of us. I always tried to be like our coaches - Privalov, Pshenitsyn. I would like young coaches to be worthy of their predecessors.

I would like to wish Alexander Vasilyevich health, goodness and prosperity! Let him take care of himself and may he live to be 100 years old!

Tatyana Papova, SBR media service. Photo - from the archive of Alexander Privalov

Privalov is our first biathlete to win an Olympic medal - bronze at the 60 Games in Squaw Valley. As the head coach of the national team, he went through four Olympics (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980), at which his players won six gold, two silver and three bronze medals (despite the fact that in those years the biathlon program initially included only an individual race and only then relay and sprint were added), as the head coach of the women's team in Lillehammer 94 won relay gold.

Privalov was and remains a Dynamo player. And he continues to actively work in biathlon. We talked about modern biathlon and biathlon of the 60s and, of course, about Dynamo, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.

When and how did Dynamo appear in your life?

Even as a child, I really loved skiing. It was during wartime; of course, there were no skis - we ran on some pieces of wood. Over time, soldiers' skis were brought to our school, so we could already ride them normally. Skiing fascinated me, and when I moved to Moscow, I got a job at school and began to train more or less seriously. As soon as the results began to grow, he came to Dynamo. This was in 1957.

But why Dynamo, because there were many sports societies in the Soviet Union?

This probably happened at the behest of the soul. In addition, there were excellent trainers, for example, Vasily Smirnov, whom I already knew by the time I joined the Society. Plus, while performing at competitions, I saw what a friendly team Dynamo has.

It was after joining Dynamo that I began to train professionally, because before that my classes were by no means regular. Systematicity and discipline appeared. And what a massive crowd there was then! We were based in Podrezkovo, during training, when some skiers had already reached Planernaya, others had just started in Podrezkovo. There were so many people doing it! Moreover, these were all people who trained regularly, and not just once in a while. I also have very pleasant memories of the Dynamo training camp...

Can you imagine yourself as a member of another sports society?

No. Dynamo has always been led by very respected people. I am pleased that the Society pays great attention to children and children’s sports. Because of this, Dynamo gets extra respect.

So, it was Vasily Smirnov who immediately oriented me towards biathlon. It was interesting, because the biathlete had to not only ski, but also shoot. I was involved in shooting while still in the army.

Wasn't it a little scary? After all, biathlon was a completely new sport at that time.

No. First of all, it aroused interest. I remember at my first competition I took second place. I shot for a very long time, but only made two misses. For that time it was very cool. Few people now know how they used to shoot. At first, from an ordinary army Mosin rifle of 7.62 caliber - a weapon that remained after the war. When fired there was a very strong recoil, and in general there were many technical problems. It was only later that everything changed...

Were there any other difficulties in those years when biathlon was just beginning?

During the race, they shot three times from a prone position, and once while standing. Moreover, the shooting conditions changed all the time - the distance to the target was 250, 200, 150 and 100 meters. Plus, we didn’t return to the same shooting range four times, we shot at different ones all the time. This means that we had to change the rifle settings every time, adapt to the wind, to changes in lighting. The targets, by the way, were also not like they are now - self-closing, but ordinary paper, and sometimes even at the finish line the athlete did not know how many times he had missed.

Biathlon is a complex skiing and shooting sport. How did you find the right approach to training?

Everything came with experience. At first they shot more calmly. If it worked well, we increased the speed of running on the ski track - we groped. We quickly became convinced that when running slowly there was a strong pulsation, which interfered with shooting. At high speeds, the pulse is frequent and small, which is better for shooting. The technology was also polished. The result in biathlon is associated with both weapons and skis. Over time, both changed. The chief designer of the Izhevsk plant, Ivan Semenov, worked closely with us, even going to international competitions, where he spied on what weapons foreign athletes had.

That is, there was no unification then, as there is now?

Certainly! And what a significance the weapon carrying system had during the race! At first, the belts were very uncomfortable - the pillows were made from cotton wool so that the rifle would not stuff your head or back...

By the 1960 Olympics, where biathlon was first included in the Games program, had all the technical issues been resolved?

Yes. After all, the results at the Olympic Games were of great importance for the Soviet Union. Everything was done for the participants. A special institute was developing cartridges for biathlon. In those years, the option of equipment not produced in the USSR was unacceptable. Moreover, it was connected with weapons!

We quickly achieved a lot and, for example, at the 1964 Olympic Games, together with Volodya Melanin, we shot without misses, taking second and first places. After the Games, Khrushchev met with the athletes. There were great athletes around, but he wanted to communicate with us. I remember verbatim what he said: “You shot great, and if the enemy approaches our borders, hit him straight in the forehead!” (Laughs.)

By the way, I forgot to mention that in the early years the penalty for a miss was two minutes. Now everything has come to the point that biathletes must be excellent skiers, then they will level out mistakes in shooting. At the dawn of this sport, everything was wrong - the shooter had the advantage in biathlon.

You very quickly completed your sports career and became a coach. We could still run and run...

In 1966, we performed unsuccessfully at the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen - we won only one bronze medal. The question arose about changing the coach. By that time I had already graduated from both coaching school and college. So they offered me to become the coach of the national team. I thought for a long time - after all, I could still continue performing. However, there were many things in the training of biathletes that did not suit me. When I became a coach, I changed this system. Previously, we always followed the skiers - like a thread following a needle. But we needed our own program, we had to do everything ourselves. That's how I started working.

How did you manage to train athletes with whom you competed together just yesterday?

This is a difficult moment. But why does an athlete develop trust in a coach? Because his method gives results. We needed racers, we needed a change of generations...

And you took Alexander Tikhonov to the team?

Yes. True, he did not perform very well at his first world championship, although he and his team won the silver medal.

How did you manage to gain shooting experience so quickly?

We trained a lot, shot, and worked idle.

Idle in what sense?

When they were simulating racing, they worked as expected at the shooting range, but they didn’t fire a shot. After all, a shot from a rifle, which was used then, is like a shot from a cannon - very loud and the recoil is strong. All this is a big psychological burden. Before the main competitions, we took a break of about five days to rest: we worked idle, imitated. There was even such a funny incident: the national team went to the Games in Grenoble, and we forgot the cartridges (laughs)! Our boss almost killed me: how is it possible - the Olympic Games, and you don’t have any ammunition?

But did they deliver the cartridges later?

Certainly! To participate in races. Now there are no such problems - small caliber.

Did you experiment a lot when you became a coach?

Why experiment? We just worked hard. We observed how successful Scandinavians train and realized that results are achieved through large volumes. As a result, they began to perform well - they couldn’t do without medals.

The current problem is that the intensity has increased, that is, the training volumes have become smaller and the speed has become higher. Unfortunately, with such a system, we have not had good results for several years now... We have left our own system and got lost.

When you talk about volume work, what kind of mileage do you mean?

We worked according to time. In September we often trained near Uzhgorod. There was no base there, but there was the necessary relief. And we plowed there - Mamatov won’t let us lie. They ran around with sticks and did imitation. 30 km along rough terrain - up and down. This kind of work cannot be replaced by any high-speed train! In the preparatory period, such training creates the foundation for lipid metabolism, and this is the main thing that affects the development of speed endurance. If you want to run fast and long, you can only achieve this through volume work.

What did you do to stay in peak shape throughout the entire week of the World Championships or Olympic Games?

We prepared in the middle mountains. If you then go down to the plains, then a good performance begins somewhere on the 14th day and lasts a week, but if you also have to perform at altitude, then you don’t have to wait 14 days.

I remember in 1969 we were preparing in Bulgaria at an altitude of 1800 meters, and then we descended in Zakopane and tore everyone apart: in the individual race, first and second places were won by Dynamo’s Tikhonov and Rinat Safin, and we won the relay race over the Norwegians with an advantage of 6 (!) minutes . Can you imagine?

We had already gone home, and they had just finished. We were that strong.

In relay races, with ammo in reserve, do athletes make fewer mistakes?

Undoubtedly. But it happens that a biathlete gets such jitters that no spare cartridges will help. This was the case at the World Championships in Nove Mesto for Dmitry Malyshko and Evgeniy Garanichev. I myself felt this well when I ran at the ’64 Games. I was in shape, was a leader, but I overtrained - at the last line I fired two shots, and I was stabbed...

Biathlon is cross-country skiing plus shooting and psychology. Everyone trains running and shooting, but you also need to work on your psychology. At the shooting range, an athlete should only think about what and how he is doing - about preparing, firing a shot, and not about medals. You need to focus on small things, give equal attention to each shot, because it often happens like this: four hit, but the fifth missed.

The so-called last shot problem?

Yes. This happens when a biathlete is still shooting, but he is already thinking about how he will throw the rifle on his shoulders, grab sticks and run away. The bullet is still in the barrel, but in his thoughts he is already running away. Sometimes this can be very noticeable.

At one time, we were unbeaten in six Olympic relay races in a row. Do you know why? We were stronger psychologically.

What else is the key to those successes?

Before the start, you need to distract the athlete so that he does not think about the competition. In addition, it is necessary to clearly explain: what each training is aimed at, what it affects and what the end result will be. The athlete must work consciously, then he will perform all the necessary hard training.

What impression did our team’s performance in Nove Mesto make on you? For me - positive.

Why?

After all, every time the Russians lacked literally a grain. If it weren't for this, they would have a lot of medals.

These are not grains! It's all about the preparation itself. Fourcade also makes mistakes, but he still wins his medals. There can only be one randomness, but when there are only randomnesses all around, this already speaks of some kind of system. The Russians have two medals, which is worse than last year.

The problem is that from a young age athletes are led along an intensive path, because coaches need results. First of all, we need to lay the foundation. Anton Shipulin is not inferior in talent to either Fourcade or Svendsen. Speaking in juniors, he beat everyone!

This year, as it happened, it happened that way. Is there anything that can be changed in time for the Olympics? Is it realistic to expect more in Sochi?

I really want to, but I have doubts. When I worked with athletes, I knew what to do. I don’t know how things are now.

During the pre-Olympic season, it is necessary to reproduce the training scheme that gave successful results, but it turns out that in recent years we have not had a successful scheme.

It turns out that in preparation for the Games it will be necessary to experiment again?

In the Olympic year there should be no more experiments. There must be a clear, already proven methodology. I think we just need to return to our roots - to achieve results through extensive work. This has been proven by both skiers and biathletes. But everyone around is saying: what volume when we don’t have enough speed? Current coaches believe that the previous methodology is outdated, that they have moved forward. But where are the results?

A year before the Games, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to return to your roots...

Naturally. Last season it was necessary to focus on volumetric work, and in the Olympic season we had to add intensity to it. A year before the Games, it was possible to lay down something that would help at the Olympics.

So we have to wait for the Game with pessimism?

No. Biathlon is full of surprises and surprises. At the Albertville Olympics, leaders Sergei Chepikov, Valery Kiriyenko and Mark Kirchner fought so hard for the championship that they made mistakes, while Evgeniy Redkin calmly worked, shot and became an Olympic champion. It may turn out that way. Although this happens quite rarely.

And I don’t want to count on just that.

I would like our athletes to win medals themselves, and not wait for the mistakes of others. For now, it turns out that we are taking crumbs from the table.

Alexander Vasilievich Privalov(August 6, 1933, Pyatnitsa village, Solnechnogorsk district, Moscow region, RSFSR, USSR) - Soviet biathlete and biathlon coach. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Honored Coach of the USSR.

Silver medalist at the 1964 Winter Olympics and bronze medalist at the 1960 Winter Olympics in the 20 km race. USSR champion 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965 in the 20 km race, 1966 in the relay.

Biography

Born in the village of Pyatnitsa, Solnechnogorsk district, Moscow region. He started playing sports while studying at a village school.

After finishing school, he moved to Moscow to live with his aunt, who got him a job at a school at a meat processing plant. In his free time, he continued to engage in skiing. The first major competition he won was the Moscow Championship in 1957 - he won the 30 km race.

Soon he switched to biathlon. He played for Dynamo (Moscow). At his first competitions he came second, making only two mistakes. Privalov was noticed by the coaches of the Soviet Union national team, with which he went to the World Championships in Italy in 1958. However, due to a number of problems, he performed unsuccessfully - he took 11th place.

At the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics, where biathlon was included in the program for the first time, Alexander Privalov rode in excellent shape. But in the individual race I couldn’t cope with my emotions: on the last stand I missed three times. In the end I came third at the finish line.

In 1964 he won a silver medal in Innsbruck.

Graduated from SCOLIFK, trainer-teacher.

Since 1966, coach and head coach of the USSR national team. Led the team at the 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980 Winter Olympics. At the 1994 Winter Olympics - senior coach of the Russian women's team.

Awarded a gold medal from the International Federation of Modern Pentathlon and Biathlon.

Privalov Alexander Vasilievich. Born August 6, 1933. Honored Master of Sports, Honored Coach of the USSR and Russia in biathlon. Six-time champion of the USSR, silver (1964) and bronze (1960) Olympic medalist. Head (senior) coach of the USSR/Russian national teams 1966-94. Under his leadership, our national team won 92 medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

The great biathlete and coach Alexander Privalov. After reading this short biographical note, are any more words needed? It was Privalov who founded and built brick by brick what we call the Russian biathlon school. And it was Privalov who won the first Olympic medal in the history of Russian biathlon. Today he turns 80 years old. Journalist Evgeniy Slyusarenko ( facebook.com) in honor of this date, raises his archival interview with the master, published two years ago by the magazine "Biathlon.rf", which no longer exists.

“With one more accurate shot, I would have become an Olympic champion”

- Alexander Vasilyevich, they say that you need to be born an Olympic champion?
- Yes exactly. Apparently I was not born, although I was the leader for several years in a row national team USSR, won all domestic competitions.

- What was stopping you?
- I think it’s just not fate. At the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley I was still quite green. After three milestones I walked without penalty. And on the way to the last stand, Zoya Dmitrievna Bolotova, the famous ski coach, shouted: “Sasha, you are first with a big advantage! The whole Union is looking at you! Give everything!” And, frankly speaking, I twitched. Out of five shots, only two hit. One more accurate shot - and I would have become an Olympic champion. I was terribly upset, because bronze at that time was not considered a success.

- Four years later, in Innsbruck, on the contrary, you were already considered the leader of the team, a six-time champion of the USSR.
“That didn’t stop me from being very stupid.” Two days before the start, I went to the second training session, started up on the five-kilometer climb and, as we say, “got full.” The next day I could not move my arm or leg. I go up to the trainers and ask them to take them off. They answered me: “We have already submitted an application. Run as fast as you can." Again I came to the last stand, fired twice... and how I was pounded! And I made every next shot just by handling the trigger. I was immensely happy with the final second place. My friend Volodya Melanin was in great order at that time, he shot without penalty and won.

- Melanin in this sense was the complete opposite of you.
- Yes, at secondary starts he, as a rule, did not shine. How many times have I had to go to management and defend his candidacy! In any case, he was decently prepared with his legs, and at the right moment he was ready to shoot - and won without question.

“The order has come to develop biathlon”

- How did people come to your age? biathlon?
- The sport itself developed only in the late 1950s, so all biathletes of that time were retrained skiers. I myself started training seriously only at the age of 17. He became a master of sports and won the Moscow championship in skiing and cycling. He ran in the same group at the Moscow championship with the great Olympic champions in athletics Kuts and Bolotnikov. Then, after the merger of Pishchevik with Spartak, he went to Dynamo - to the famous skier and coach Vasily Pavlovich Smirnov. Well, in the fall of 1958, orders came to develop a new Olympic sport called “ biathlon“We were given rifles and taken to Mytishchi to learn how to shoot.

- You didn’t resist leaving your clean skis?
- On the contrary, I wanted it! The first time I held a weapon in my hands was in the army and even without any preparation I fired at one master of sports. I really liked the feeling.

- What was your first truly major biathlon tournament?
- I could have performed at the first in history championship biathlon world championship in 1958 in Saalfenden, Austria. I could, but at the competition in Sverdlovsk my hands got frostbitten. In general, I was somehow unlucky abroad. In 1959 at championship peace There were problems with the sight. As it turned out later, due to the temperature difference, the wooden material of the rifle was deformed. In 1961 he was in excellent shape, but became only second. Without sparing myself, I prepared for my third Olympics in Grenoble in 1968, firmly expecting to exchange bronze and silver for gold, but they already had other plans for me.

"A smart guy named Tishka"

In 1966 I was invited to become the head coach national team biathlon countries. To be honest, I didn’t want to leave the sport, after all, I’m only 33 years old. The USSR Sports Committee gave me two days to think and promised complete freedom of action. Before that, we largely depended on the skiers, we trained with them, and prepared according to their plans. And I realized that I have the opportunity to change this system. And after some thought, I realized that my sport would be better off if I became a coach.

- And the first thing they did was pull it into biathlon the now legendary Alexander Tikhonov.
- In July 1966, a joint training camp with skiers took place. I knew that this smart guy, whom everyone called Tishka, was the champion of the Spartakiad in cross-country skiing. As if by the way, I gave him my rifle - they say, shoot. And somehow he quickly became part of the team, as if he had been a biathlete all his life. At this point I made a fuss, got permission from the management to transfer to us, persuaded his personal trainer - and so we got a four-time Olympic champion.

- When did you realize that you had succeeded as a coach?
- It just so happened that I was lucky from the very beginning. First for me championship peace in 1967 in Altenberg we had gold from Viktor Mamatov in the individual race and silver in the relay. I remember it was raining and snowing, the wind was strong. Mamatov stagnated in the relay at the last stage, otherwise there would have been two victories in two racing. Next year is the Olympics in Grenoble. Full set - gold, silver, bronze. Success for a novice coach? Maybe yes.

“There were very few spectators”

- Hearing from you about penalty loops, rifles, targets, biathlon fans without experience imagine something completely different from what you mean.
- Firstly, there were no automatic targets, so result spectators and athletes recognized the shooting only after the finish. The rifles themselves were large-caliber. When using such a rifle, a large load is placed on the athlete’s nervous system due to the noise effect produced when firing. Before the main starts, I had to pause for about five days and not touch the weapon at all. I remember how our cartridges went missing at customs in Grenoble. And we trained empty, that is, we simply imitated shots. And it paid off.

- Another difference is that the protocols of the biathlon championships of the first years consist of only one individual race.
- The relay race was included in the program of the world championships only in 1966, and the sprint even further - on championship peace in Minsk in 1974. It is also worth saying what an inaccurate shot in an individual race They were given two penalty minutes, not one, as now.

- Judging by what was said, it’s unlikely that “that one” biathlon was a great success with the public.
- You're right. There were very few spectators, especially in the very first years. The intimate atmosphere is not what is happening in the stands now.

“Who is this Privalov?”

- Was there a lot of pressure on coaches in those years?
- Depends on specific leaders. The maximum that the Minister of Sports of the 70s, Sergei Pavlovich Pavlov, allowed himself to say: “Sasha, don’t let me down. If the biathletes win against the GDR, the Olympics will be ours.” No more. But there were other examples. In 1988 in Calgary in the first race It was not possible to win, but Valera Medvedtsev became second. And after that, the then bosses Marat Gramov and Vitaly Smirnov called me onto the carpet and literally began to mock me. For the rest of my life I remembered Gramov’s words: “Who is this Privalov anyway?” And you should have heard how these same people “sang” after winning the relay!

- You won the men's Olympic relay six times in a row and once the women's relay. What's the secret?
- Probably, you need to feel the exact arrangement of the stages. Take the girls' victory in Lillehammer 94 - where in two personal racing we didn't have a single medal. Nadya Talanova has never run the first stage in her life - but here I put her up. Because this was the only chance to catch on with the leaders from the very beginning. And at the last stage he told Anfisa Reztsov, who shot like God willing. Then Anfisa admitted: “As I approached the shooting range, I remembered your words - they say, shoot as best you can, then run away. I thought: damn it, I’ll hit every single one!”

- Over the past decade and a half, you have no longer been offered to work with national team Russia?
- My nature, apparently, is this: when I feel that I am not needed, I do not fight for a place. Although, perhaps, sometimes it is necessary. When I left to coach in 1994 national team Poland, not a single person from the Biathlon Union Russia(SBR) didn’t try to stop me. Several years ago he became chairman of the Veterans Council SBR. Now I help as much as I can.

Source: Evgeniy Slyusarenko ( facebook.com), photo: biathlonrus.com

I agree, because this is our choice? Can it really be so limited? :-))

There are not two choices, there are always many.

Roza Rafailovna, similar))

Brown, that’s why I don’t worry, and now I watch all the competitions as a show (Privalov was talking about this by the way). True, I still root for my own people and want them to be the best and stand above everyone else.

Roza Rafailovna, you have only two choices left. Or come to terms with the transformation of professional sports into something like a show, with some peculiarities. Or switch to non-rated sports, where money does not really dictate the rules of the game.

Brown, well, not always, and you will agree that the values ​​are really different now. Money solves everything and more! and in all spheres of life. And we lived and competed often honestly, and not with the help of any kind of “help”

Rosa Rafailovna, what did Sasha say that was original? Why read it? Previously, they ran for “literacy”, being listed as “physical training instructors of the workshop.” Do you and Sasha propose returning to this practice?

Evgeniy Slyusarenko, read Sasha’s comment to which the answer was given (it was just mentioned yesterday in Privalov’s interview at Mayak)

Alexander Vasilyevich should not have remembered about the women's Lillehammer. At that time, performing at Olympic Games-94 was an almost complete failure. The best in the individual is Noskova - 10, and in the sprint Talanova is only 19. Prima Anfisa is 26 and 32! And only unexpectedly flawless shooting in the relay race, in front of the shoals of the main rivals, made it possible to loudly slam the door.

I want to congratulate the famous Alexander Privalov on his anniversary! The most important thing is your health, home comfort and many more years of life!

Rose, thanks for the additional information. Today on radio “Mayak” I watched an interview with Alexander Vasilyevich live, it’s amazing that a man, even on such an anniversary, took the time, came to the radio station at a late hour and answered questions for an hour! Low bow to Alexander Vasilyevich, I liked the interview!

Sasha from Uralmash, by the way, regarding Prokhorov, Privalov said that such conditions as have now been created for the national team have never existed. And who will say that this is not true. It’s just that many athletes have different priorities - you performed well and you are a STAR and can demand special privileges.

Privalov -80!
Congratulations to the hero of the day! Long summer!

Priorities have changed, unfortunately. Looking west, we become like opportunists whose little god is rustling green. If earlier pride in belonging to a great country and the anthem in honor of this country upon victory were equivalent to a feat, now no one needs to overcome themselves - the main thing is that there is money, why bother too much. “It didn’t work out,” “no luck,” “a little bit lacking,” “the servicers ruined everything” - well, yes, it’s not just one ski or half a distance with one pole, overcoming oneself and proving everything with one’s will.
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Prokhorov and Kushchenko should be immediately driven away with their show business philosophy and credo “biathlon must make a profit.” I support and agree with Privalov - “you are not the heroes...”.

Yes, there were people... Health, health and health! Everything else will follow))

Alexander Vasilievich! Happy Anniversary! Many years to come! Health, optimism and good spirits! Indeed, he can be considered the founder of biathlon in our country, an authority for young people. I also remembered the 7.62mm biathlon rifle, when after training I had ringing in my ears for half a day. All this happened.
Happy anniversary again!

Hm... Efimova, for example, is clearly not from Stalin's times

The dog is buried in the fact that the person was brought up under Stalin.

“I was terribly upset, because bronze at that time was not considered a success.” That's where the dog is buried
All other reasoning is from the evil one, oh, from the evil one

Absolutely in the hole Privalov about the lost state of mind. There is no sports passion at all, the desire to establish yourself at the top. And, no matter what the athletes say in their sleek looks, just being on the national team is already a significant success for them and a legal right to our boundless love and attention. And let all these Fourcades and Svendsens sort things out among themselves, since they are so itching.

And what kind of moral values ​​should they fight for, so that important men and women can report to even more important ones? Is it really for the “national treasure” or ambitions, in the words of Prokhorov, the only Russian brand, alas, like Milan-Augustine, already divorced?

I would like to add a little more information about this man (from his interview with Skiing):
- Many people consider coaching a thankless job...
- This is a huge, very big and very hard job. But those moments of triumph, when your athlete is on the podium, cover everything: adversity, hard work, and conflicts, without which coaching is never complete. In this sense, the work is very rewarding - after all, one moment, an instant can pay off many years of hardship and labor. And wings grow, and I want to work again, train, teach, in order to bring, lead to this great moment, to victory.

And which triumph is more significant - your own or your student's?

It's hard to compare, these are different sensations. When you are a winner, you experience not only the joy of victory, but also recognition, some moment of glory, people pay attention to you, you are a hero. You feel it as if you were your own, although of course, somewhere you understand that you weren’t the only one working, but you still feel “I!” It’s different for a coach; the glory doesn’t go to him, because a coach is rarely famous, except in game sports. But still, joy is joy, victory is victory. The coach experiences failure more intensely, because he is responsible for another person who trusted him, and this is very difficult.

What do you think is the most important thing in coaching?

I always wanted to create a good atmosphere in the team, a real team. I believe that only a team can handle truly big tasks, despite the fact that we have an individual sport. Why didn’t we lose the first relay races to anyone? Therefore, the team was above all!

Isn't that the case now?

Don't take this as senile grumbling - it's not true. We have lost a lot compared to the Soviet school, but that’s not the only thing. Technology, scientific base, this is all important, but it can be restored. And the spirit... we have lost the most important thing - that state of mind when the work you are doing is, with a capital letter, the work of your whole life. When you live to do the Business, and not just work to live. In our society now there is such an attitude that the main thing in a person’s life is to have fun. There is such a substitution of the concepts of “happiness” - they are replaced with “pleasure”. But this is not the same thing. True happiness is a state of jubilation, the highest spiritual elation, for which life is truly worth living, it is different, difficult, it is not for nothing that they say so. It is in love, in the feeling that you are needed, that you do not just live, but bring benefit to people. Happiness lies in big victories, and they are possible only through work, effort, and overcoming oneself. A pampered person who only wants to receive will never know such happiness. We are simply robbing young people when we offer them such a consumer behavior model. After all, we lived a very fun and happy life, although it was difficult and sometimes hungry. Although modern guys probably have something else that we didn’t know.
That's it! Just like in life...

Happy birthday! Health, optimism and prosperity in everything.

“.. Because it was the only chance..” - you probably shouldn’t be afraid of responsibility and use the chance, even if it’s the only one.

Interesting person. Experienced biathlete and coach. But the current composition of the national team cannot or does not want to influence Yo-SBR, especially the women’s team. And then they invited some German, so he’s messing with the leadership of Yo-SBR for good money, and even his women’s group. Such “powdering” (i.e. everything is going according to plan, it might be in the top ten, this is also a good result, etc.) will not lead to anything good. All hope is for V. Korolkevich’s group in the women’s team and the men’s team of the Russian Federation.

Great athlete, coach and person! Happy anniversary to you Alexander Vasilievich! I wish you good health, success and strength, longevity and vigor, positivity and optimism! I believe that your support will help our biathletes at the Olympics in Sochi!

Previously, almost no one was happy about bronze, but here Pikh is happy about his place in the top 10... yeah...

Today Alexander Vasilyevich turns 80 years old. This is an amazing person, in great shape! I wish Alexander Vasilievich many more years of life, active work, and health! I really want us to see with him the revival of our biathlon, for which he did so much.

Rose, if you noticed, these are different interviews :)
www.sports.ru

It’s strange, but in other sources the author is Tatyana Papova, especially for Biathlonworld magazine. But thanks anyway for such an interesting article. This is the approach that should be, and not as we are now constantly being served - oh, what a success, we hit the top spot, or even better: We are in the top ten...
But the words in the article about Reztsova are especially funny: “... I thought: what the hell, I’ll get every single one!”