He was special

Nikolai Andrianov took the Olympic oath at Moscow’s Grand Arena of Central Lenin Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Summer Games. It was an honour reserved for special athletes whose feats serve as inspiration to fellow competitors.

Andrianov’s exploits in gymnastics outweigh the words written in his honour. As a performer and then as a coach after retirement, he was famous both in his home country, the Soviet Union, and Japan. He was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2001.

His haul of five medals (two golds, two silvers and a bronze) for the Soviet Union at the Moscow Olympics was only a part of the remarkable career of Andrianov, who held the Olympic record for most medals won by a male in any sport. From the Munich Olympics (1972) to the Moscow Games, he had an incredible haul of 15 medals (seven golds, five silvers and three bronzes) — 12 of them in individual events.

Performing in front of his home fans in Moscow, Andrianov won the men’s vault gold. He then picked up two silver medals in the floor exercise and all-around and a bronze on the horizontal bar. He also won a gold medal in team competition.

Andrianov challenged Japan’s supremacy at the Montreal Games and won hands down, claiming four titles (all-around, vault, roman rings and floor exercise). Two silvers (parallel bars and all-around) and one bronze (pommel horse) too followed.

At the Munich Games, Andrianov came into prominence, winning the gold medal in floor exercise, a silver in team competition and a bronze in vault.

After his retirement Andrianov took up coaching and produced stars such as Vladimir Artemov and Alexei Nemov before moving to Japan in 1994 following an invitation from Mitsuo Tsukahara, one of Japan’s most celebrated gymnasts, to train his son Naoya.

As a child, Andrianov was quite a problem at home and school until a close family friend took the 11-year-old to a local gymnastics school. Nikolai Tolkachev, the gym instructor there, saw a spark in the headstrong lad and soon became a mentor and father figure to Andrianov.

He made his debut in a major competition in 1969 at the Junior Spartiakade. His next step was a place in the Soviet Union team for the 1971 European Championship. A year later, at the 1972 Summer Games, Tolkachev’s ward had become Soviet Union’s best hope for an Olympic medal.

Nandakumar Marar