Sport
07:00, 08.08.2019 7
The famous hero won everything under Tsarist Russia, and was honored in the USSR
Photo: wikipedia.org
Today marks 70 years since the death of the legendary wrestler and circus performer Ivan Poddubny, who became famous throughout the world for his incredible strength and enviable athletic longevity. The wrestler worked as a bouncer in a billiard club during the years of the German occupation - and for this he received “nothing,” and America still owes Poddubny so much money that the Russian State Duma became interested in its return. Details of this non-trivial fate are in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Hereditary Cossack Ivan Poddubny. The athlete's childhood and youth
Ivan Poddubny was born on October 8, 1871 in the village of Bogodukhovka, Poltava province. The athlete spent his childhood and youth in Ukraine. He was from a family of hereditary Cossacks, famous for their enormous strength and longevity. According to rumors, Ivan’s grandfather lived for 120 years, however, there is no documentary evidence of this. However, the heroic power of the Poddubnys is an undeniable fact. The head of the family, Maxim Ivanovich, had powerful strength and a stern disposition. They tell how one day, already world famous, Ivan decided to show off his strength and tied a poker in a knot. The father calmly unbent the iron rod and gave it a good smack on the back of his careless son, so that in future he would not spoil things.
The father and his eldest son often entertained the villagers by staging belt fights - a favorite heroic pastime of Russian strongmen. Ivan more than once managed to lay his parent down on his shoulder blades, although he was always sure that he simply gave in to him. When the future champion was once asked if there was a person stronger than him in the world, he answered without hesitation: “There is - my father!”
From childhood, Ivan was accustomed to hard peasant labor: he helped cultivate the land and worked as a laborer for wealthy relatives. The strongman inherited an excellent ear for music from his mother and sang in the church choir on Sundays.
If fate had decided otherwise, the world might never have known about the “Champion of Champions” Ivan Poddubny. But a turning point came in the life of the village strongman, forcing him to leave his parents' home and go in search of a better life. This happened after they refused to marry Ivan to the girl with whom he was madly in love. The parents were looking for a more profitable match for their daughter than a young farm laborer. Poddubny, who had a hard time experiencing this breakup, could no longer remain in his native land. In 1892 he moved to Sevastopol.
Hamburg account
It was a time when the word “sport” was gradually coming into fashion. In the capital, they even began to publish special sports magazines that wrote about aeronautics, motoring and wrestling. True, the sport that was recognized was not the wrestling “with sashes” that was practiced in circuses, but the new, French one (in fact, borrowed from the ancient Greeks). So, at the age of 35, Ivan Maksimovich had to change his Circassian uniform, in which he successfully performed in Little Russian circuses, for a French wrestling uniform: lace-up boots, tights and a thin sweatshirt. And seriously relearn in the few months remaining before the World Championships in Paris. The day was scheduled minute by minute. First, jog around the park with five-pound dumbbells in your hands. Then - the “doctor’s box” (steam bath with fifty-degree water). Then - an ice shower. Then - changing into a newfangled uniform: a thin sweatshirt, tights, high lace-up shoes. Eight hours of training on the mat. And in the evenings, Ivan looked at pictures in books, broke his stubborn language, memorizing wonderful French terms: “tour de bras” - grabbing an arm and throwing over the shoulder, “tour de enche” - lifting onto the hip with a head grab. There was no time to think about a lost life...
One of his fights. Poddubny on the left
And here is Paris. For eleven nights in a row, Poddubny effortlessly knocked down his opponents. And here, two steps away from the champion’s cherished ribbon, the twelfth opponent, Parisian Raoul de Boucher, is awarded the victory by the judges. There was no obvious winner in that battle, but the Frenchman allegedly demonstrated greater skill, deftly slipping out of Poddubny’s grips. He better not slip out! “My opponent is greased!” — Ivan Maksimovich complained to the judges in the first minutes of the fight. But instead of disqualifying the deceiver, they ordered... to wipe him with a towel from time to time. Exactly a minute after such a rubdown, the Frenchman’s body was again covered with oily sweat.
After that defeat, Poddubny sat locked up in his hotel room for three days and refused to eat, which horrified his coach. “Ivan, with your build, habit of heavy workloads and rich food, you can’t go hungry!” the coach shouted, standing in the hotel corridor in front of the locked door. And when Poddubny finally came out, they explained to him that his rival, this former Parisian butcher with a false prefix “de” to the honest bourgeois surname Boucher, had been rubbing olive oil into his body for three months in a row. And don’t expect fair refereeing at the world championships - where is the circus with its naive cave-African deception! And if someone wants to download rights, then there is always a way to neutralize him. For example, pitting against an obstinate opponent infected with furunculosis (a few minutes of fussing on the carpet - and red bumps on the lower back are guaranteed, or even blood poisoning). A truly fair fight takes place only once a year, in a tavern in Hamburg, with the doors closed and the windows curtained. Even such a concept appeared - the “Hamburg score”. The rest is pure fraud!
Well, nothing... Poddubny waited for the opportunity to shame the French for their treachery. This happened a year later, at the next World Championships.
Becoming a "Champion of Champions"
The formation of the “Champion of Champions” began in Crimea. To earn a living, Ivan Poddubny gets a job as a loader at the port. Colleagues were amazed at his colossal strength and endurance. Ivan tirelessly carried heavy-duty boxes and bales along the gangway, without even bending under their weight. In his free time, the strongman went to the circus, watching with delight the performances of acrobats and strongmen. One day he volunteered to participate in a Swiss wrestling match. The straightforward hero, who did not know all the tricks of this competition, was almost immediately knocked down.
The defeat forced the strongman to think hard and reconsider his lifestyle. Among his friends were avid fans of wrestling and weightlifting. They gave Ivan the idea to do strength training . Poddubny begins to exercise every day with three-pound weights and a 112-kilogram barbell, and douses himself with cold water. In addition, he sets a strict diet for himself, completely eliminating tobacco and alcohol . Explores the intricacies of modern wrestling.
His re-entry into the arena was met with deafening whistles. Remembering the previous failure, the audience prepared to watch a boring spectacle. But the challenger surprised everyone by putting the circus strongman on his shoulder blades. Poddubny had a series of brilliant fights, defeating, among other things, the famous Russian wrestler Georg Lurich , and the fight with another famous athlete, Pyotr Yankovsky, ended in a draw. After such a deafening triumph, the name of Ivan Poddubny thundered throughout Russia.
In 1897, he got a job at the Italian Truzzi Circus, which toured the entire Black Sea coast. Performs in the arena, demonstrating miracles of strength. So, in one of the rooms they broke a lamppost on his back. On the advice of a colleague, the athlete grows a lush mustache, which has since become his integral attribute.
Thirst for fight
As often happens, chance changed everything. of Ivan Beskaravayny came to Feodosia . An integral part of circus performances at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were performances by strongmen and wrestling matches. So the Beskaravayny circus had its own wrestlers, with whom everyone was invited to compete.
Ivan, confident that he would not yield to the strongmen from the circus, tried his hand and... unconditionally lost.
Was Poddubny the strongest? →
It was then that he realized that wrestling is not just a competition between people who are strong from birth, but a whole science.
Ivan was overwhelmed by excitement and the desire to prove that he could become the best.
He began to systematically train, study wrestling techniques, and soon again entered the circus arena, where he won several victories over famous athletes at that time.
After this, he was hired as a professional wrestler by Enrico Truzzi's circus. Thus, at the age of 27, the brilliant career of Ivan Poddubny began.
Like most wrestlers at that time, he combined several roles. Poddubny demonstrated strength tricks, for example, this one: a telegraph pole was placed on his shoulders, on which ten people hung on both sides and, as a result, as a rule, the pole broke. The audience gasped in delight.
But the main spectacle, of course, was the fight. All of Russia soon started talking about Poddubny, since he had no equal in traditional Russian belt wrestling.
World fame and the most spectacular fights of Ivan Poddubny
One of the most famous fights of Ivan Poddubny took place during his circus tour in Novorossiysk. Quite quickly putting the massive Swedish wrestler Anderson on his shoulder, the Russian strongman made many doubt the fairness of the fight. Outraged by such rumors, Ivan invited his opponent to have a rematch. Having agreed with the organizers, the Swede agreed, but on the condition that Poddubny would lose.
A refusal could destroy the reputation of both the circus and the athlete himself, since the fight had already been announced, and all tickets for it were sold out in advance. Yielding to the persuasion of his colleagues, Ivan agreed to go against his conscience. However, at the sight of his opponent’s smug face, he couldn’t stand it. The Swede did not have time to come to his senses when he found himself hanging a few centimeters above the ground. Ivan Poddubny lay on his back, feigning defeat, and without visible effort held his squirming opponent in his outstretched arms. Burning with shame, Andersen fled from the circus, amid the laughter and hooting of the crowd.
By 1903 in Russia, Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny had no equal in strength and sportsmanship. Among the strongest wrestlers of the Russian Empire, he is recommended for participation in the World Championship in French wrestling. This type of martial arts was new to the athlete, but thanks to hard training and perseverance, he managed to master it in just three months.
At the tournament, which brought together famous athletes from all over the world, the Russian wrestler won 11 victories in a row. In the final, Poddubny had to fight with a young but promising athlete Raoul le Boucher . The fight was extremely tense, the initiative passed from one opponent to another. However, it soon became clear that the Frenchman was outright cheating by smearing himself with oil before the fight. According to all international rules, the fight should have been stopped immediately and the victory should have been awarded to the Russian athlete. However, there was a lot of money at stake, which decided the outcome of the confrontation.
The judges made a very dubious and illogical decision to wipe down the French wrestler every five minutes. Within an hour, Poddubny failed to pin his opponent down, and Raoul le Boucher was declared the winner on points. The decision of the panel of judges was met with deafening whistles. By that time, the “ Russian Bear ” had managed to captivate the French public, who were extremely outraged by the unsportsmanlike behavior of their compatriot.
For the honest and straightforward Poddubny, this defeat was a real shock. Not wanting to be a puppet in the hands of greedy businessmen, he decides to leave the sport. But a year later he returns to take part in the world championship in French wrestling, held in St. Petersburg. Here he again met his offender. Realizing that this time defeat could not be avoided, Raul offered his opponent a substantial bribe for the loss.
Ivan Poddubny responded the way he knew best - toughly, but within the rules. During the fight, he forced his opponent to kneel and held him in this position for a quarter of an hour, until the judges took pity on Raul, asking him to be released. By that time the Frenchman was already on the verge of hysterics.
In the final fight, Poddubny managed to defeat the great Paul Pons . The fight lasted almost two hours, after which the Frenchman was completely exhausted and presented an extremely sad sight. Under the deafening roar of the crowd, the Russian wrestler laid him down on his shoulder blades, becoming the new world champion in French wrestling.
Another interesting duel of Ivan Poddubny took place in the summer of 1904 in Moscow. Johann Abs, famous for his rudeness and unsportsmanlike behavior . The fight was so fierce that within half an hour the fighters literally smashed the stage decorations to pieces. Finally, enraged by his opponent’s antics, Poddubny threw him out of the lists. A few minutes later he came back, dragging the struggling German by his belt, and with all his strength he pressed his forehead against the floor of the arena. Abs soon came to his senses, but he remembered the lesson taught by the Russian hero for the rest of his life.
In 1908, at a tournament in Berlin, Ivan Poddubny defeated German champion Jacob Koch . And the day before, the German recklessly tried to bribe the Russian champion. The next day, the German press came out with revealing materials, branding Koch as a swindler and a coward. And Poddubny, in the apt expression of one of the journalists, has since been called the “ Champion of Champions .”
The “golden” period in the biography of Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny is considered to be 1905-1910, when the Russian athlete dominated the fight, leaving no chance to his opponents. During this time, he managed to become a four-time world champion. Ivan Maksimovich kept his awards in a separate chest, which by the end of his sports career weighed more than 30 kilograms! Tired of the behind-the-scenes intrigues of big-time sports, the wrestler decides to stop performing and retire.
Olympics as entertainment for the rich
A reasonable question arises: can Ivan Poddubny, Ivan Zaikin and other famous circus wrestlers of the past, mainly the Ivanovs - Lebedev, Lobanov, Chufistov, Shemyakin, be called athletes? Alas, no. They were professional wrestlers, athletes, circus performers, but they were not athletes either in the current sense of the word or in the then one.
Russian athletes at the opening of the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. Photo wikipedia.org
In 1908, during the London Olympics, Pennsylvania Bishop Ethelbert Talbot declared: “The main thing is not victory, but participation,” a phrase attributed to Pierre de Coubertin and which reflected the meaning of the Olympic starts of that time. Baron de Coubertin's fundamental idea was to exclude people who made money from sports from attending the Olympics. It cut off professional wrestlers from the main competitions locally, and globally from disadvantaged sections of the population who had no money either for regular sports activities or for traveling to the Olympic site.
There is a great deal of evidence that this was entertainment for wealthy people, both private and general. Firstly, the Olympic program. At the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, the program was as democratic as possible. Wrestling, gymnastics, athletics, swimming and weightlifting - people of the lower class could take part in all these sports, since they did not require material costs. For the nobility there were cycling and tennis, shooting and fencing. But already from the Olympics in Paris, the program was replenished with financially expensive rowing, equestrian and sailing sports, as well as golf, cricket, croquet and polo, which the lower classes did not play. For the “rabble,” the organizers introduced rugby, football and tug-of-war into the Olympic program.
Russian athletes who were left without medals also made their debut at the 1900 Olympics. It couldn’t have been any other way - only four of the Russians came to Paris, and participation in the competition itself can be considered completely accidental, since two participants came to France from Poland, and another was a relative of the famous popularizer of sports in Russia, Sergei Beloselsky-Belozersky. It is worth adding that Russia also missed the 1904 Games in St. Louis. All because of the indifferent attitude towards sports caused by the inattention of royalty to it. Nicholas II, as you know, was a lover of shooting crows, but this cannot be called a love of sport shooting.
From his inner circle, only Prince Dmitry Romanov, who was fond of equestrian sports and headed the Russian delegation at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, was a real athlete. He also initiated the holding of two All-Russian Olympics in 1913-1914. Among the “persons close to the emperor,” another equestrian Alexander Rodzianko, nephew of two chairmen of the State Duma, and Count Mikhail Sumarokov-Elston were distinguished by their love of sports. This was absolutely not enough to popularize Olympic disciplines in Tsarist Russia - a clear outsider of those years in the world of sports.
Return to native land. Personal life of Ivan Poddubny
The return to their native land passed without unnecessary pomp. The family greeted Poddubny with great warmth. Even Maxim Ivanovich, who repeatedly threatened to hit the prodigal son with shafts because he appeared in public “in a shameful state” (in wrestling tights), changed his anger to mercy.
Using the money accumulated over the years of performances, the athlete bought his own estate and 120 acres of land, which he divided among his closest relatives. In the same year, he married the first beauty of his village, Antonina Kvitko-Fomenko . But alas, the former champion did not have a calm and happy life. The farm quickly fell into disrepair, and his wife, having appropriated part of his rewards, ran away with her lover. For the honest and respectable Poddubny, his beloved’s betrayal came as a bolt from the blue. Black melancholy took possession of the “Champion of Champions”, almost driving him to the grave. Much later, Antonina repented of what she had done and begged for forgiveness, but she never received it.
However, this was not the first time that a gullible hero became a victim of female cunning. While working in the circus, he started an affair with the beautiful tightrope walker Emilia, but she, having played with his feelings, ran away with a fan. Poddubny once bitterly joked about this that if anyone managed to lay him down, it was only women.
Speaking about the personal life of Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny, one cannot fail to mention his main love - circus acrobat Masha Dozmarova . Masha performed mind-blowing stunts under the circus big top, without any insurance, and she paid for it by falling to her death during the performance. A piece of the “Russian Bear” himself died along with her.
his last wife, Maria Semyonovna Mashonina , in 1922 while touring in Rostov-on-Don. The athlete lived with her until the end of his days.
The secret of Poddubny's power
For a whole century, historians and athletes argued about the secret of the strength of the hero Poddubny, and only recently Cherkasy researcher Maria Prilipko made a discovery. Using metrics in the archives, she reconstructed Poddubny’s pedigree, and in it she found the key to his heroic strength. It turns out that the Poddubny family dates back more than five centuries, almost all the men of this family were born unusually strong. Ivan Poddubny’s great-grandfathers were Cossacks, they fought in the army of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, Ivan Mazepa and Philip Orlik, even Ivan’s sister Matryona was distinguished by her unfeminine strength.
Ivan Poddubny in his youth
But how did Ivan manage to surpass all his relatives? It probably has to do with the hero’s date of birth. According to the horoscope, the sign of Libra means constant choice, balancing on the edge. Personal happiness, wealth or power - he chose power.
On September 26, 1871, on this day, according to astrologers, 1000 babies were born who had a special gift, extraordinary physical strength, but only one took advantage of the gift and became famous throughout the world. This amazing power will help Poddubny not only conquer the demanding circus audience, but also put the strongest wrestlers in the world on their shoulder. The only thing he will never be able to overcome is the fate that haunted him in his personal life.
He suffered his first defeat in his native village of Krasenovka. All the village girls raved about Poddubny, but Ivan was indifferent to them; he had long loved the daughter of a local landowner, Alena. They met secretly and dreamed: Ivan would earn money and then Alenka’s father would allow them to get married. One day, Alena’s father, the landowner Vityak, found out about these meetings.
Ilya Muromets: life and exploits of the Russian hero
In Krasenovka there is a saying: “get a drink of water from the heroic spring,” we are talking about a well that belonged to the Poddubny family; their house used to stand next to the well, and it was here that the fate of the eldest son Ivan was decided. Father Maxim Poddubny and the landowner Vityak talked here for more than an hour, and then they shook hands and the father ordered Ivan never to meet with Alenka again. The son of a simple peasant and the daughter of a landowner cannot be together.
Ivan spent several days near Vityak’s estate, but he never had a chance to see Alenka, and then everything was decided for him. The father sent the guy to relatives in a neighboring village to work as a farm laborer, and Alena, against her will, was married off to a Poltava rich man. When Ivan found out about this, he packed his things and simply went south, away from the village where his heart suffered such defeat. This was the first destructive action for Ivan, because this is the first goal that was not achieved in his life, this first goal was the woman he loved and nothing ever happened. He couldn't marry her.
Work at the port
In the south, Poddubny got a job as a loader at the port, playfully lifted heavy bags, he wanted only one thing: to collect money, return to the village and buy land for himself, so that he could be the owner of it himself, so that no one would reproach him for his low position. Over several years of hard work, Ivan Poddubny changed; it was already difficult to recognize a simple rural guy as a port loader. Perhaps his whole life had passed there in the port, if not for chance.
circus wrestlers in the arena
One day a circus came to town, Ivan learned for the first time what a circus was. In the port city of Feodosia, a loader, coming to a performance of a traveling circus, was sincerely surprised when he saw athletes with weights. Is it really possible to make a living doing this kind of fun? And when one of the wrestlers began to call a daredevil from the audience to measure his strength with him, Ivan simply stood up and accepted the challenge. He did not know how to fight according to the rules, did not admit dishonesty in a fight, and could only do one thing - hit. That evening at the circus the audience, the circus wrestler and Poddubny himself remembered for the rest of their lives - he simply hit with a blow that would later become famous, which could knock down a bull, and at the same time it took the breath of people in the stands.
It's amazing, an ordinary loader defeated the best circus wrestler. And immediately after the fight, the circus director approached him and suggested that Ivan make a living by doing what he knew best - wrestling, and the guy agreed.
“The loaders were paid less than the wrestlers, that’s the crux of the matter. And then, why carry bags along the ramp all day in Feodosia, otherwise you go out, wrestle for even an hour, hang out, that’s it, you have twice as much money and you ride, it’s all beautiful.”
Daily training with weights, dousing with cold water, he roughly and unceremoniously puts all his opponents on the shoulder blades, some of them are carried off the stage unconscious after the fight. Just a few years will pass, and Poddubny will already become the strongest fighter in the Russian Empire with phenomenal parameters, even for a modern strongman: height 184 centimeters, weight 120 kilograms, chest volume 134 centimeters, biceps 45, and neck 50 centimeters.
In the arena, he lacked one thing - stage effect, he did not know how to behave “like a champion”, to flirt with the audience. To change the image of his artist, the circus director invites him to grow a mustache and after a few months, this lush curled mustache becomes popular. Among young people there is a fashion for mustaches, like Poddubny’s. Since then, circus wrestling has also become popular.
Poddubny trains on a homemade exercise machine
More than 100 years ago there were no special exercise machines, so athletes trained with homemade weights and dumbbells. A modern kettlebell weighs 24 kilograms, it’s difficult for an ordinary person to even just lift it, but Poddubny not only lifted it hundreds of times, but could even juggle several weights at the same time.
At the beginning of the 20th century, circuses had their own wrestling rules: directors determined in advance which of the wrestlers would win and which would lose, and at the right moment one of the wrestlers would give in, and after the fight angrily demanded revenge. The intrigued public took the bait and bought tickets for the next fight to find out who was really stronger; the circus was guaranteed to earn money. And that’s why fights in the circus were not always fair. Why is this being done? This is done so that there is income and people come there, but Poddubny did not play these games; he simply did not understand what it was like to give in.
Poddubny and Dozmarova Masha
He was repeatedly offered a thousand rubles for defeat, but he always indignantly refused. For this, the audience fell in love with Ivan, he gained fame as a principled and invincible fighter. But circus managers did not like such insolence, so Poddubny had to change circuses often, until suddenly he was detained in one of them by love. It was a young, fragile acrobat, Masha Dozmarova.
Next to the hero Poddubny, she looked very small, but in these relationships she was the main one; the giant himself behaved next to Masha like a big child. Ivan calls her Marusya in the Ukrainian manner, carries her in his arms, walks her home every evening and goes to all her performances. In the end, he invites Marusa to get married and the girl agrees. Poddubny even brings Marusya to her native village and asks for blessings from her parents.
aerial acrobat Masha Dozmarova
The newlyweds are already thinking about their wedding date, but all their plans will be ruined by one performance in the circus. Colleagues at the circus knew that while the acrobats were performing, it was better not to approach Ivan. The mighty Poddubny, sweating profusely, closely followed the performance of his beloved, and after the gymnast’s performance, having calmed down, he went out into the arena to fight.
That day everything was as usual, but at the end of the performance disaster struck. During the performance of a particularly dangerous trick, her hand slipped out, her partner did not have time to catch the acrobat, someone screamed loudly, and Poddubny, as if in a slow motion dream, saw his Marusya flying down from under the dome. Past the safety net. He was the first to run into the arena, but he could no longer help his beloved. She died in his arms right in the circus arena. Since then, Poddubny’s life has changed, he did not leave his hotel room for several weeks, did not want to communicate with anyone, ate almost nothing, did not drink, and blamed himself for her death.
It was then that, devastated by the loss of his beloved, the giant Poddubny felt that he had lost and decided to go to extremes. He picks up a revolver, loads it and brings it to his temple. Another moment and he would pull the trigger, but suddenly there was a knock on the door of the hotel room. It was an invitation from the best St. Petersburg Athletic Society in the Russian Empire. Ivan was offered training for the world wrestling championship, this was a chance to start a new life.
Preparation for the World Cup
In 1903, Ivan Poddubny moved to St. Petersburg, here he began preparing for the World French Wrestling Championship under the guidance of the best coaches. Ivan studied the rules of a new wrestling style for him, and in his diary he left a recipe for preparing for a grueling championship. “For a month, I trained daily with three fighters, the first for 20 minutes, the second for 30, the third for 40-50, and so on until they became completely exhausted, so much so that they could no longer control their hands, and after that I another 10 “I ran for 15 minutes with dumbbells in my hands.”
In French wrestling, which today is called Greco-Roman, in order to defeat an opponent you need to put him on both shoulder blades. Poddubny considered all these techniques an invention of the weak; he simply lifted his sparring partners and threw them over himself. He had no equal until he got to the world championship.
Paris, the World Cup, five years ago Ivan could only dream about this, he came to the capital of France unknown, and returned home famous throughout the world. But he had a bitter aftertaste in his heart; at the World Championships in Paris, Poddubny won eleven victories. The sports world is delighted, he is already being called the new champion. But he unexpectedly loses the twelfth fight.
The fight is coming to an end, Poddubny is in despair, he cannot carry out a single move, his opponent - the Frenchman Raoul le Boucher, by some miracle, constantly slips out of his hands, Ivan complains to the judges, but they do not stop the fight, but only order to wipe the Frenchman out more often .
French wrestler Raoul le Boucher
Poddubny again tries to grab Le Boucher, but he slips out again. In the end, the time allotted for the fight is exhausted, the judges give the victory to Boucher for skillfully dodging difficult holds, and the Frenchman becomes the world champion. Poddubny was crushed, then he did not yet know that Boucher had smeared his body with olive oil before the fight, which is why it was so slippery, but very soon Ivan was told about this. Ivan flew into a rage and lived for a whole year with only one thought about a revenge fight. And a year later, Poddubny brutally took revenge on the Frenchman.
“When he met with Boucher the next year, he easily defeated him, because he already knew who he was dealing with, the main thing was to figure out his opponent. Boucher did not want to meet with Poddubny, because he understood: next time he wouldn’t succeed.”
1909, Ivan Poddubny was already a six-time world champion, no matter what circus he performed in he always attracted full houses. People then went to the circus only to see the living legend; often after his performance the audience simply left the hall.
“As an athlete, he had, you know, explosive power, that is, he fought tactically, and then, when the moment came, he knew how to concentrate and put the enemy on his shoulder blades, which by the way happened,” Vitaly Ablitsov, a researcher of the life of a wrestler.
Now, for one entrance to the arena, the organizers paid Poddubny more than 100 rubles, this is 10 times more than the other fighters received, at the same time, the hero proves that to win a wrestler needs not only muscles, but also intelligence. Each of his performances turns into a well-thought-out game.
“Wrestling is like chess, only in chess they still allow you to think before making a move, but in wrestling you start to think, then they will put you down,” - Ivan Bogdan, 1960 Olympic champion in wrestling.
Ivan Bogdan, like Ivan Poddubny, fought in the circus at the beginning of his career; he is one of the students of Poddubny’s school. Bogdan recalls that he won his first fight in the circus in a few seconds and almost broke his opponent’s neck; such a quick victory was immediately booed by the audience. Later, Ivan Gavrilovich learned from circus wrestlers that the main thing in wrestling is not victory, but the show, for which the audience pays money. We must learn to fight like a circus. “When I came, they taught me how to fight like a circus, so that the throw is slow for people, it is necessary for people to see this whole technique, and if you throw it with lightning speed, put it down and that’s it. That’s how I learned to fight in the circus, that there you need to be not only a wrestler, but also an artist,” Ivan Bogdan.
However, Poddubny was an artist only in the arena; in life he remained a simple man and rather clumsy with women. Once Ivan was asked: “Is there anyone who can defeat you?” “He answered: “Yes, there are, these are women.” All my life they have been leading me around.” He has thousands of fans, but he is still alone, although 6 years have passed since the death of the acrobat Marusya. But one evening everything changed, Poddubny was returning home after a performance, and a stranger was waiting for him near the house, she unexpectedly confessed her love to him, at that moment Poddubny’s heart came to life again.
Poddubny's marriage
This woman's name was Antonina Kvitko-Fomenko, she was an actress in a traveling theater. Their relationship developed at an unprecedented pace, and soon Poddubny got married for the first time in his life, when he was already 40 years old and his wife was 35. And it was under the influence of this woman that Poddubny suddenly decided to quit the circus in order to fulfill his old dream. In the village of Bogodukhovsky, Poddubny buys land, several houses and a mill, distributes part of the property to his relatives, and he settles with his wife Antonina. His dream came true, he became the master of his land, and it doesn’t matter that it took almost 20 years of his life. Then Poddubny could not even imagine that a few years later his desire would be regarded as a crime.
He is a married, rich and happy man; now the Poddubnys own almost all the land in the village. But for some reason this happy, well-fed life does not please Ivan, and his wife is to blame. And imagine, she played the world champion the way she wanted. She could also put him, figuratively speaking, in a corner, reproaching him for not being able to have children with her. Although, perhaps, she no longer intended to have them. Dissatisfied with rural life, Antonina suddenly begins to raise her husband, asks him to study table manners, but it is easier for Poddubny to put down dozens of the strongest wrestlers in the world than to comprehend the wisdom of etiquette.
He endured 3 years of such family life, and then returned to the circus arena and immediately went on tour around Europe, away from such family happiness. He went abroad as a symbol of the power of the Russian Empire, but the tour dragged on for 5 years.
demonstration performance by Poddubny
Poddubny had to return to a country broken by the Civil War, a new and incomprehensible country. It was 1918, the hero did not understand what was happening, but even during the whirlwinds of the war his circus did not interrupt its tour. Their lives hung in the balance more than once, especially when, during a move in the Poltava region, the circus performers encountered the army of Father Makhno.
“And the Makhnovists came to this circus, there they shot and shouted. Makhno gave his one assistant, the very large hero Gritskaya, to deal with Poddubny and Poddubny put him down, after which the Makhnovists shot and shouted, but they did not touch Ivan. So the wrestler was saved by the audience. The Makhnovists are healthy guys, strong and 2 meters tall, of course, they wanted to demonstrate that they were stronger and could even defeat Poddubny, but they did not succeed and there was a possibility that he could be killed. Because a bullet can knock anyone down, but at the request of the public, Poddubny was released,” Sergei Matveev, head. Department of Olympic Sports at the University of Culture.
But even this incident did not discourage the hero from wanting to tour; in between performances, Ivan always came home, he gave his wife what he had earned, rested a little and moved on. He was on his next tour when he found out that his wife had left him, ran away with a White Guard officer, and even taken all his awards with her. After this, Ivan Maksimovich closed in on himself again, he no longer entered the arena, refused food and did not talk to anyone. He was 50 years old, he had fame and recognition, but he was left alone again. Several months passed and the wife began to beg Ivan in letters to forgive her. Antonina wrote that she was ready to crawl to him on her knees. But the offended champion remained silent.
The civil war ended, a new country was reborn from its ashes, and a lonely hero again became a symbol of power, but now of the Soviet Union. Since 1922 he has been a wrestler in the Moscow State Circus. The fifty-year-old champion does not look his age, he has remained in excellent shape, and no champion has yet been able to defeat him.
Poddubny in the USSR
At that time they had such competitions, they gathered somewhere in a circus, all the strongest competitors came from all over the world. And only the athletes were closed in this circus, that is, there were no referees, no coaches, no spectators. At these closed competitions, Poddubny also always won. He himself explained his strength by the fact that he never drank alcohol and never smoked a single cigarette.
The lonely life in the hotels was beginning to take its toll. He dreamed so much about peace and a big family. Now he begins to realize that he may never have children again. In order to be at least a little with his family, Ivan often came to Ukraine, to his native Krasenovka. His granddaughter through his sister Matryona, Anna Ostroushko, still remembers these visits; the last time she saw her grandfather was when she was only 5 years old: “And I wanted to hug my neck with my hands, but they don’t meet, my hands are still small. And the muscles on his arms are so huge, he was such a healthy guy. He was such a handsome man with a mustache.”
This was his last meeting with his family, because very soon trouble would come to his large family, because of which Poddubny would leave Ukraine forever. Mid-20s, Soviet newspapers print exciting sensational news, Ivan Poddubny goes to America. For the first time, the middle-aged champion will prove there, overseas, who is the best in the world.
Ivan Poddubny in America
Poddubny was in America when he was 54 years old, the specialists who met him laughed because they saw in front of them a man over 50 years old. Poddubny was not taken aback and let one of those who met him hold his cane, when he took this cast-iron cane, he didn’t was able to hold it in his hands, the cane fell.
Overseas, the rules of wrestling are different; Americans recognize not the intelligent French, but the so-called freestyle, in which wrestlers were allowed to twist each other’s fingers, pull each other’s hair, gouge out eyes, trip, grab each other’s legs and choke an opponent. In fact, it was a fight without rules, whether the middle-aged Poddubny could withstand such a fight. The Russian bear in the arena, dozens of fighters and dozens of victories, Poddubny is the absolute leader in freestyle wrestling.
In the states, he could finally fight, as he was used to in his youth without restrictions and any rules. But now, like he once did in the circus, he is forced to fight off persistent offers to lie down and play along with his opponent. But the champion did not change his principles here either. Legends are still made about his American battles and temptations in his native Krasenovka.
And the American wrestler whispers to him: “You, Vanya, give in to me, give in at least a little, at least a little, so that I can put you down and I’ll make you rich.” But Ivan replies: “You know, I’ll make you rich here, I’ll never sell my homeland or exchange it for anyone,” said Anna Ostroushko, Poddubny’s granddaughter through her mother’s sister.
He lived in the United States for two whole years, during which time he traveled all over the country and even won the title of American champion, and when he decided to return he suddenly realized that they would not let him go so easily.
“The Americans loved him very much, but he didn’t love them. He said that these people are quite cunning, he also said that there are no black radishes there and the lilacs there don’t smell like that.”
Before leaving, they began to threaten the champion, blackmailed him, offered millions if only he would not go, and then they simply took advantage of his gullibility. The Americans tried to trick Ivan Maksimovich into staying, they even forged his contract, the wrestler signed it without reading it, since it was written in English, which Poddubny did not know and only then realized what he had done. According to the terms of the contract, only a US citizen could withdraw the half a million dollars he earned from his accounts. Poddubny had a choice: take citizenship and remain rich or return home without a penny. He chose the latter. At home, Poddubny learned that he was thanked for his victories in a unique way; while he was in America, the authorities took away the land and all property from the Poddubny family.
“Whoever had the land was all fists, he was also a fist, because there was land. And there was a mill and an oil mill there.”
All members of Ivan Poddubny’s family were declared kulaks and deported to Kazakhstan, the last name did not help, but it was Ivan Poddubny who bought this land for his relatives. And now he felt guilty, mortally offended by the authorities, Poddubny decided he would never return to Ukraine again.
Return
During this difficult period of his life, he was on tour in Rostov-on-Don. And there the old champion accidentally met Maria Mashonina. This woman became the fourth and last in his life. A few months later they got married, bought a house in the small town of Yeisk on the shores of the Azov Sea, and Ivan Maksimovich lived in it until his death.
Ivan Poddubny with Maria Mashonina
Ten years passed, and in 1939 Moscow suddenly remembered the forgotten champion. Ivan Poddubny was called from Yeisk, dressed in a new suit and solemnly awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and was also awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
Where does all this attention come from? It turns out that the Third Reich reminded the Soviet Union of Ivan Maksimovich. In the wake of the pre-war friendship between the two countries, the German athletic society suddenly became interested in the fate of the champion Poddubny. They started looking for the forgotten living legend, when they found out about it in Moscow, they decided to demonstrate it, we also remember our champion.
The war began in 1942, Yeysk was captured by German troops, Poddubny was already over 70 at that time, but he proudly walked around the occupied city with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor on his shirt. But the Germans did not intend to kill the old man; on the contrary, when they found out who he was, they began to give Poddubny 5 kilograms of meat per month, and also gave the champion a job in the billiard room of a military hospital. If only he knew that a year later he would be accused of treason for this very reason.
“They played billiards, got drunk, then they argued with each other, sometimes it resulted in assaults. Poddubny was sitting, and he was already about 70 years old, he sat in the corner and when it came to a fight, he calmly stood up and took him by the collar one and another officer, he carried them out with straight arms, one might say, then pushed them together with their foreheads and threw them out of the billiard club. He threw out drunken brawlers; he still had enough strength. So, these officers whom he threw out boasted that Poddubny himself, the world champion, threw them out!
Soviet troops liberated Yeysk in 1943 and it was then that famine began in the city. Bread was given out on ration cards, but daily rations were not enough for Poddubny’s powerful body; he suffered from hunger. And then he couldn’t stand it and started writing letters to the Yeisk City Council. He asked for help: “The card gives me 500 grams of bread, which I don’t have enough of. I ask you to add another 200 grams and then I can exist.”
On October 15, 1943, order bearer Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny wrote to Voroshilov in Moscow, but received no response. The old champion's rations were never increased. In order to survive and feed himself and his wife, the hungry old man had to gradually sell off his rewards. And in 1945 he did not have a single medal left. After the end of the war, Poddubny, always young, fit and energetic, changed, he was no longer recognized on the street, he had aged a lot, wore a gray torn shirt and a straw hat. But passers-by were surprised that this old man had the Order of the Red Banner of Labor hanging on his chest, the only thing left of the famous awards of champion Ivan Poddubny.
Ivan Poddubny in old age
And then the Soviet government again remembered the champion Poddubny. The NKVD became interested in him, this time they accused him of collaborating with the invaders, he was threatened with execution, but someone at the top of the party remembered the name of the fighter and stood up for the old man. He was released to live out his life, the only person who supported Poddubny until the very end was his wife Maria, she saw how her mighty husband was fading away, shared her bread with him, but could no longer save him.
During his lifetime, no one remembered him, but hundreds of fighters from all over the union came to Ivan Maksimovich’s funeral; he was buried in a local park, which today bears the name of Ivan Poddubny. They wanted to bury him in a simple way, but a telegram came from Moscow to bury him with honors; he was buried in the center of the city.
The line of Poddubny heroes ended with Ivan. Ivan Maksimovich waited until the end of his life, but never saw the birth of an heir. His life resembled one continuous battle, but in it the hero was dealt blows by circumstances, betrayal, death of relatives, and his weaknesses.
Both in life and on the carpet, Poddubny fought honestly, which is why he forever remained a champion.
tags: sports of Ivan Poddubny, personal life, life, wrestling Ivan Poddubny, interesting facts, Ivan Poddubny biography, Ivan Poddubny
26.11.2019 15:24
Return of the champion. Conquest of the New World
Having survived his wife’s betrayal and sold off his failed household in order to cover the debts of his negligent relatives, Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny decides to do what he has always done best - fight and win. The champion's return was a resounding success. In the spring of 1915, he holds two victorious fights against Alexander Garkavenko , nicknamed “Black Mask,” as well as his friend and one of the strongest fighters in the world, Ivan Zaikin .
During the troubled years of the civil war, the invincible “Russian Bear” did not support any of the warring parties, promoting only sports and a healthy lifestyle. World fame helped him and his family survive this difficult time. However, it became more and more difficult for the legendary athlete to earn a living in the “land of the Soviets” every year, and he made the difficult decision to leave for America.
The conquest of the New World began by the Russian champion in 1925, when he was already 55 years old. However, even in adulthood he was in such good health that he was allowed to participate in competitions without question. In the United States by that time, freestyle wrestling was very popular, fights in which often had the character of a bloody spectacle, without any rules.
Ivan Poddubny, who valued sporting honor above all else, was simply not ready for this. In the very first fight, the opponent tried to grab the Russian hero by the mustache, which he greatly regretted in the next minute. The Soviet press widely covered the successes of the “Champion of Champions,” turning him into a tool of socialist propaganda.
The fight with the undefeated American champion Joe Strencher , famous for his steely grip, ended in a draw. Soon after this, Ivan Poddubny decides to leave a country alien to him, where everything is subordinated to the cult of money, and sport has degenerated into an ugly spectacle that promotes violence and cruelty. Having broken all contracts and at the same time losing fabulous money, in 1927 he returned to his homeland.
The judge is a scoundrel!
However, French wrestling, which was later called first classical and then Greco-Roman, was much more popular in the world. Poddubny switched to it, and in 1903 received an offer to represent Russia at the world championship in Paris.
The conditions of the tournament, in which 130 wrestlers took part, were very strict - the loser of at least one fight was eliminated. “Russian Bear” Poddubny stormed through 11 opponents until he met the idol of the French public, Raoul le Boucher.
The fight with the Frenchman almost turned Poddubny away from the fight forever. Fights at that time could last for several hours, until one of the opponents was laid to rest. The Frenchman, having failed to take Poddubny with the first onslaught, began to openly run from him. In addition, it turned out that he was coated with a fatty substance that prevented him from making grabs - this dishonest method, by the way, is still used by wrestlers. When Poddubny drew the attention of the judges to this, they only shrugged their shoulders. And after an hour of fighting, the victory was given to Le Boucher “for his beautiful and skillful avoidance of sharp techniques.”
This decision angered even the French public, and Poddubny, shocked by such dishonesty, wanted to end his wrestling career altogether.
Friends and colleagues had a hard time convincing the giant. But it must be said that, due to his character, Poddubny was extremely inconvenient for the organizers of wrestling matches - he basically did not conduct “fixed” fights and did not take bribes. Because of this, a couple of times his opponents even tried to organize the murder of Poddubny, but, fortunately, these plans fell through.
Leaving the sport. Years of war and occupation
Returning to the Soviet Union, Ivan Poddubny continued to perform as a circus wrestler and strongman. Despite the fact that he had already crossed the 60-year-old mark, few young athletes could compete with his strength.
One of the few who managed to put the “Russian Bear” on his shoulder blades was the young Ryazan wrestler Ivan Chufistov . This happened in 1924. After that defeat, Ivan Maksimovich hugged his opponent and said with a sigh: “I lost not to you, but to my old age!”
In 1939, for outstanding sporting achievements, Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny was solemnly awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, which the athlete was very proud of and did not remove even during the years of fascist occupation. In addition, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
In 1941, Poddubny announced his retirement from sports. Together with his wife and adopted son, he settled in the resort of Yeisk, where a couple of years earlier he bought a cozy house with a large garden. Here the former athlete survived the years of war and occupation. He flatly refused to leave the surrounded city, citing the fact that he was already old and had nothing to lose.
And again, Poddubny’s worldwide fame became his ticket to life. The Germans invited him and his family to go to Germany and train young athletes, but the Russian hero responded with a firm refusal. For such insolence, anyone could be thrown to the wall without trial or investigation, but the German leadership, appreciating the courage of the elderly athlete, left him alone. Moreover, in order to feed his family, he was asked to work as a security guard in a billiard room. The old athlete agreed to this and honestly fulfilled his duties. Quite a few tipsy fascist soldiers were reasoned with by the stern “Russian Bear”, which they were quite proud of and boasted to their colleagues that Ivan Poddubny himself threw them out of the door.
American voyage of the “Russian bear”
On the eve of the First World War, Poddubny, whose finances sang romances thanks to Antonina, returned to the circus and again began to win victory after victory.
He also performed during the Civil War, although this time in his biography is perhaps the most mysterious page. Only one thing is known for sure - the simple-minded giant was too far from politics to join any of the parties, and at the same time he was equally warmly welcomed by whites, reds, and greens.
Already at the very end of the war in Odessa, Poddubny was almost shot by the Reds - the security officers confused him with the organizer of Jewish pogroms named Poddubnov, but, fortunately, they figured it out in time.
In 1922, Ivan Poddubny began performing at the Moscow Circus. Doctors examine the 51-year-old wrestler and shrug their shoulders - there are no complaints, his health is excellent.
In 1924, Ivan Poddubny received permission to go on a long tour of Germany and the USA.
Surprisingly, it’s a fact - the wrestler, who was well over 50, was in no way inferior to his rivals, who were old enough to be not only sons, but even grandsons.
In the USA, where the rules of wrestling were far from European and more like a street fight. Poddubny, however, quickly got used to it and continued to win, collecting full houses in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
“The other day I had dinner with Poddubny - a man of enormous strength and the same stupidity,” - this description of the athlete was given not by anyone, but by the famous Russian writer Alexander Kuprin. The great wrestler was truly incredibly naive, which those around him took advantage of. When Poddubny, who was homesick, got ready to go home, the Americans actually deprived him of his earned fees - they say they remain somewhere in American bank accounts to this day.
Sunset of life. The tragedy of the strongman
The legendary athlete met the end of his life in poverty and oblivion. In 1945, he was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, but no financial assistance was provided to the outstanding athlete, even a request for a daily free bowl of soup remained unanswered. In order not to die of hunger, Poddubny sold the remaining awards. In recent years, he practically did not walk, due to a compound fracture of his leg. This time Ivan’s good health failed him – the damaged bone stubbornly refused to heal. The life of the legendary “Champion of Champions” Ivan Poddubny was cut short in 1949. He died of a heart attack at the age of 78.
The great athlete was buried in Yeisk, modestly, without celebrations. Much later, grateful townspeople installed a tombstone on his inconspicuous grave with the carved inscription: “Here lies the Russian hero.” And in 2011, a monument to the great athlete was unveiled in Yeisk. A museum has been opened in the house where Ivan Maksimovich spent the last years of his life.
In memory of the “Champion of Champions,” several documentaries and feature films were shot, including: “ Ivan Poddubny: The Tragedy of a Strongman” (2005) and “ Poddubny ” (2014). The role of the legendary strongman in the last film was played by the famous Russian actor Mikhail Porechenkov .
Why was Poddubny not an Olympic champion?
Le Boucher was rewarded at the international championship in St. Petersburg, where he again met with Poddubny. The revenge was cruel - the Russian wrestler twisted the Frenchman as he wanted. For twenty minutes he held his opponent, excuse me, in a knee-elbow position, while the audience whistled and hooted, until the judges took pity on Le Boucher. After this defeat, the French wrestler went into real hysterics.
Poddubny won the tournament, defeating another Frenchman, world champion Paul Pons, in the final in a two-hour fight.
Things were quite difficult with titles at that time. In professional wrestling, in one city or another, the tournament was declared a “world championship.” Poddubny won almost everywhere, but it is quite difficult to understand exactly how many times he was world champion.
But it is known that in the period from 1905 to 1908 he invariably won the most prestigious of tournaments - the World French Wrestling Championship in Paris.
At that time, the Olympics, which included wrestling, were already gaining popularity, but Poddubny’s way there was barred. The Olympics were then exclusively the domain of amateur athletes, and Poddubny was a professional.
Trying to get home
Having stopped performing in 1910, Poddubny returned to his homeland in Krasenivka. By that time, Ivan already wanted quiet family happiness. Once in his childhood he worked in the mansion of Abel, a local landowner. It was his estate that Ivan Poddubny bought in the first place. Not far from Krasenivka, he acquired 120 acres of land, divided it among relatives, and built himself a large estate and two mills. Thanks to his high fees, there was enough money for everything. He also found his wife Nina Kvitko-Fomenko there. But unfortunately, his farm soon went bankrupt, as he had no business acumen.
The need for money again became necessary and Poddubny had to perform again. In 1913, in fights, he met new opponents Alexander Garkavenko and Ivan Zaikin. The latter said about him that only people like Ivan Poddubny, Nikolai Vakhturov and Ivan Shemyakin could afford not to follow the lead of the championship organizers and not lie down at the specified time. With this, Poddubny preserved his sporting honor.
Unknown hero
One day, young and hot Ivan, who was working as a port loader at that time, decided to show off his extra-class wrestling in the arena - as they say, in front of all the honest people. The guy wanted to attract the attention of the local gymnast in front of everyone. Young Poddubny did not really know any techniques or methods of combat: he relied on theoretical knowledge of the basic rules and heroic strength. She did not let him down: the self-taught athlete managed to defeat all the strongmen one after another. Or rather, almost everyone. On one, he failed miserably: some very technical and prepared wrestler confidently defeated Ivan almost in the first seconds of the fight.
Unfortunately, the name of the hero has not survived to this day. But his act, designed to besiege the arrogant, raised a future sports legend. It was after this humiliating defeat that Poddubny realized that everything has its price, and for triumphs, even on a regional scale, it is necessary to train a lot and diligently. In the same year, “Russian Bogatyr”, having worked hard, won his first glorious victories. So far, however, only in the Russian Empire.
last love
Maria Mashoshina became the last love of the legendary athlete. She was a widow, the mother of his student. Ivan was charmed by her beauty, sensuality and friendliness. In 1927, returning from a tour of America, he married her. He lived with this woman until his last days. They bought a house in Yeysk on the shores of the Azov Sea. They had no children together, but Poddubny was very attached to Maria’s son and treated him with paternal warmth. The adopted son, Ivan Mashoshin, left professional wrestling, graduated from a technical university and began working as the chief engineer of the Rostov Auto Assembly Plant. In May 1943, he died during a Nazi air raid. He left behind a son, Roman, whom Poddubny took care of as his own grandson.
Ivan got him used to sports and sent him to a sports school, where the boy could practice classical wrestling. However, during the Great Patriotic War, the grandson went to the front and was seriously wounded. Therefore, in the future I had to give up my wrestling career.
Death
Poddubny died on August 8, 1949 from a heart attack. The food rations that were given out in those years were not enough for the athlete’s body to function normally.
Grave of Ivan Poddubny
After the champion's death, the wife was able to pay for a simple grave without a monument. And only when the press wrote that the champion rested in a grave overgrown with weeds, a monument was erected to Ivan Poddubny. The inscription on the tombstone reads: “Here lies the Russian hero.”
The Great Patriotic War
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Yeysk was evacuated. Poddubny was then seventy years old, he refused to move, saying that he would die soon. The great strongman's heart began to hurt. Ivan Poddubny was treated only with herbal tinctures; he did not trust drugs.
In August 1942, the Germans occupied Yeysk. Poddubny calmly continued his walks, wearing an order on his chest, which he never took off. The Gestapo detained him, but recognizing him as the “Champion of Champions” Poddubny was released. Since there was not enough money in the family, he even started working in a billiard room as a marker and part-time as a bouncer in the bar at the billiard room, which the Germans were very proud of. He was even offered to train athletes in Germany, but Poddubny refused. He got away with everything. His strength and worldwide fame forced the Germans to bow before him.
Famous athlete in cinema
When familiarizing yourself with the biography of Ivan Poddubny briefly, attention is drawn to the fact that, despite world fame, disasters, wanderings and instability in his personal life did not bypass him. The life story of the legendary strongman formed the basis of the Soviet film “The Fighter and the Clown.” It was created in 1957. Ivan Poddubny in the film is shown as a person possessing not only enormous physical, but also spiritual strength.
In 2014, cinema again turned to this topic. The film “Poddubny” repeated the previous film in many details.
The documentary film “The Tragedy of the Strongman” gained great popularity. Ivan Poddubny." It tells about interesting facts from the life of the legendary athlete.
A short biography of Ivan Poddubny is the story of a legendary man who became an unsurpassed example of sports longevity.
Work in the circus
After this event, Ivan began regular training. The work no longer satisfied him, and he moved to Sevastopol. Here he works in a troupe of wrestlers, led by Georg Lurich, in the circus of the Italian Truzzi. He studied all the features of belt wrestling and developed a training system for himself. From an ordinary rude peasant he turned into a real professional athlete.
After some time, Ivan Poddubny was invited to work at the Nikitin brothers’ circus in Kyiv. He started touring with him. During 3 years of work in this circus, he visited all cities of the European part of Russia. His performances as a wrestler and athlete amazed the public. Ivan became a celebrity.
