Soviet hockey player Viktor Blinov was considered one of the most talented defenders of the world, but his passion for alcohol and terrible loneliness led him to death in 22 years old.
First steps in hockey
Blinov was born in Omsk in the year of the end of the Great Patriotic War. He lived with his disabled father, mother and sister. As a child, he constantly disappeared on a hockey box near the local Dynamo stadium, which is why the young guy had serious problems with his studies. However, the parents were not very worried — in those days it was not up to it. The main thing is that Victor went in for sports, and not something bad. Blinov's friend Anatoly Khozyainov recalled that they sometimes played cards for decent money and drank wine, but they did not get involved with bad companies.With the money won, Blinov tried to buy not only wine, but also good skates. Everything was changed by a meeting with coach Vladimir Kukushkin, who came to Omsk on assignment from Moscow. He was given the task of raising local hockey, and his attention was immediately attracted by a young boy named Blinov."I immediately felt a leader in him. It was evident that he enjoyed general respect on the court. Fair, not greedy. They listened to him, he was always in the spotlight. I was struck by his ability to work, his desire to play. No matter how I come to the stadium, he is there. It was a sin not to invite such a guy to the team. Then just at the age of 16, Pele scored goals at the World Cup. And I thought, well, why not give our guy at that age a chance?" — quotes the words of Kukushkin portal & # 34; Siberian News & # 34;. br>Goalkeepers fiercely hated training with Victor: every time they left the ice with huge bruises and limping. He threw Pancakes so powerfully. Experienced coaches later said that even the Canadians did not see such a click. And the hockey player learned quickly. It was enough for him to show the exercise once, as in a minute he repeated it with perfect accuracy.In the winter of 1962, Blinov made his debut in Omsk Spartak. It was clear that he would not stay there for long. The only question was who would lure him away. The most persistent was the Moscow “Spartak”. Vsevolod Bobrov personally came to Omsk for a new star of Soviet hockey. In Moscow, he also quickly became his own, where he ignited in tandem with Alexei Makarov, a master already accomplished at that time. In the 1967 championship season, they scored 34 goals — 17 each.
Olympic triumph
And then there was a victory at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, where they didn’t want to take Victor at first. But his game for Spartak and natural persistence convinced the coaching staff. Blinov scored four goals in seven games and gave two assists, and in the victorious final with the Swedes, he scored 1+2. By the age of 22, Victor has achieved what many fail to achieve in their entire careers. It seemed that further it was necessary to develop successes, take new titles and earn a luxurious life after sports.If only everything was that simple. Blinov had problems with alcohol since his youth. And he got drunk much later than the average person. Therefore, when everyone in the company was already very tipsy, he seemed absolutely sober. And to be on the same wavelength with the rest, he had to drink several times more. Once, on the eve of the match, he drank a liter of cognac, and then shone on the ice.
What led to the tragedy
This gave a false feeling that everything would always be fine. But Victor should have thought differently — he was close to death more than once. In his youth, the hockey player climbed onto the closet for cigarettes and collapsed from his chair, falling headlong on a pin sticking out of a sewing machine. Blinov was given a trepanation of the skull, after which he played only in a helmet.
The second time he almost died under the wheels of a car in Moscow. The athlete escaped with minor injuries and almost immediately returned to the ice. In the summer of 1968, after the Olympics, at one of the parties, Blinov had a heart attack, but he did not go to the doctors. Then Victor drank almost every day in his native Omsk.
In Moscow, he suffered from loneliness. Whenever teammates gathered in a restaurant with their wives and girlfriends, the hockey player stayed in his one-room apartment in Khimki and drank until passed out with local drinking buddies.
The tragedy happened at the pre-season training camp. Blinov in Moscow was preparing for the new season with Spartak, but refused to undergo a cardiogram, suspecting that due to heart problems he might not be allowed to work. On July 10, at a training session, Victor sipped the barbell, and then went to play basketball with teammates. In one of the moments, he gave a pass to a stranger and collapsed to the ground. They could not save the Olympic champion.