Andrey SinelshchikovSport correspondentAll materialsLeave to the authorThe USSR Olympic team made its debut at the Games in 1952. Exactly 70 years ago, the national team won the first medals. In weightlifting, Ivan Udodov became a «pioneer» — a man with a difficult fate. The biography of a native of the Rostov region is rather vague. The future favorite of the Games in Helsinki was born in the village of Glubokoy. Details about the family were not preserved: in childhood, Vanya became an orphan. The early years were spent in an orphanage in Rostov-on-Don. Udodov was 17 years old when the war began. After several months of fighting, the Germans began to leave the city, first destroying buildings and taking young residents prisoner. Vanya did not manage to escape from the patrols. So he became a hostage until the winter of 1945. During this difficult time, Udodov worked at an aircraft factory, tried in vain to escape and survived the horrors of Buchenwald.
