photo author: RIA Novosti
The unique story of a Soviet fencer.
“We have gunshots, explosions and sirens all the time,” says my interlocutor on the other end of the line in a cheerful voice. – No, my brother and I did not evacuate anywhere. We will be in Ashkelon until the end. Where should we go now?
I listen to these words and try to realize who exactly I have the honor of speaking to. This is not easy when History itself is nearby. Yulen Isaakovich Uralov. A man who survived the Battle of Stalingrad. The oldest living Soviet Olympic participant, two-time champion of the USSR in fencing foil. The oldest Olympic fencer in the world. In just over a month he will turn 99 years old.
photo author: RIA Novosti
ATTENTION: CHAMPIONS WANTED
I, Evgeny Slyusarenko, editor-in-chief of “Soviet Sport”, am almost sure that you, readers of 2023, have almost never heard of Yulen Uralov, although our newspaper first talked about him 74 years ago and since then he has Been writing for decades. (We never tire of reminding you of our project with Yandex and RSL, thanks to which you can find literally everything and everyone that Sovsport has written about since its founding more than 100 years ago.)
For example, after the results of the 1949 USSR Championship in Tbilisi, where the Kiev debutant took third place, the senior coach of the national team Vitaly Arkadyev (twin brother of the legendary coach of the football “team of lieutenants” Boris Arkadyev) He showered him with praise: “He has subtle technique and composure. This promising fighter systematically puts pressure on the enemy with the invincibility of his defense and achieves victory.”
photo author: Press Service of the Ashkelon City Council
Therefore, it is difficult to blame even the most advanced fans for not knowing anything about Yulen Uralov, despite his achievements and incredible contribution to the development of national fencing. Because neither Russia nor the countries of the former Soviet Union have developed “tracking systems” for our great Olympic athletes. No one, including official bodies, has reliable information not only about all the participants in the Olympic Games, but often even about the medalists and champions.
We, a small group of enthusiastic researchers, finally understood it when we restored several almost Gogolian stories. For example, after celebrating the centenary of the 1956 Olympic shooting champion Vasily Borisov, they discovered that, in fact, he, forgotten by everyone, died in Moscow 20 years ago. Or vice versa: according to encyclopedias, it turned out that the iconic figure of Soviet sprint athletics of the 60s, Valentina Bolshova, left us in 2002, and this sad event occurred in Spain only this spring.
photo author: Beskin social networks
In six months of work, we managed to restore the biographies of about a quarter of all Soviet Olympic athletes between 1952 and 1972, and there is still twice as much work ahead. Join us – we need the same fans. Write to the contacts listed on the Sovsport website.
By the way, according to the results of our investigations, are we interested in the five oldest living participants in the Games? Yes please. Let me simply emphasize that this list is not official and we welcome any amendments.
THE LIFE OF A NOTABLE PERSON
The scale of Uralov’s personality is such that it is even uncomfortable to dedicate what is called an “article” to him. We need to write a biography about him with a couple of dozen chapters that coincide in chronology with the life story of millions of our relatives and friends. Even now I will take the liberty and, using quotes from Yulen Isaakovich from his incredibly rare 2004 autobiography, outline a draft table of contents for that future work.
About the name: “My childhood friend’s full name was Vilenin (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin) and mine was Yulen (young Leninist). It is true that my parents did not take into account that he would not be young all my life.
On nationality: “Who am I? According to my passport I am Jewish, but my native language is Russian and I think in Russian. Although my parents understood Yiddish, they only spoke Russian between them. “I did not know Jewish customs or holidays and never observed them.”
On repressions: “My mother, my younger brother and I have not seen our father since 1938. After receiving two reprimands, he got on a train and headed to Moscow in search of the truth. In the hallway I met a general, a friend from the Civil War. He said: “We will go with me to a construction site in Vorkuta. If you return to kyiv, you will do so in a different quality.”
On Stalingrad: “When we stormed the building, I ran past a German leaning against a beam, mistakenly believing he was dead. My companion, who was running behind me, took the machine gun out of his hands, ready to fire… For six days we fought against the enemy’s furious attempts to recapture the building, although all that remained of it was the structure. Of the 38 people, 12 survived.”
About the 52nd Olympic Games: “The day of the opening ceremony was cloudy and in the morning it was drizzling. Thousands of athletes of different nationalities were crowded in the back rooms. Two wet Australian girls came running, grabbed them by the arms and held them above their heads, passing them to each other. The girls laughed, they screamed, they asked to be let go, but with all our desire, not even an inch was left free.”
On the career of a referee: “Learning from me that the referee is devout, our coach called him behind the curtain, knelt in front of him, raised his hands to the sky and shouted in Russian: “What are you doing? doing, son of a bitch? You believe in God, but you yourself are in misfortune! After that, the Italian judged our girls competently and objectively.”
About the USSR: “I was an active communist, before Helsinki I was elected secretary of the party organization of the USSR fencing team. But time passed, I grew up, my views changed. I remember our first trip abroad, to Hungary. “I was surprised that the Hungarians who fought on the side of Germany live better than the Soviet people who liberated them from fascism.”
About Chernobyl: “I stood in line for 14 hours to get two reserved seat tickets to Odessa for my mother, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. The cars were literally robbed and we handed our granddaughter through the window. They rode all night, sitting on the same shelf. Life in kyiv was divided: before and after the explosion. “Everyone saw the criminal lies of the system.”
On emigration: “Chernobyl was constantly felt. Hospitals in the capital of Ukraine were overcrowded and getting an appointment with a doctor and getting tests was a real problem. We understood: if we want to preserve the health of our family, we have to leave. The USSR Championship – 90 in kyiv as the main judge was the last.”
On the confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians: “The Western press often writes that both sides are to blame. Totally absurd. If a bully hits a person and he fights back, can this be called a mutual fight?
SEE PARIS AND LIVE TO 100 YEARS OLD
“What is disinterest? When your student lives abroad, you are almost 99 years old, but you come to the club every day and give him a lesson,” the famous Israeli fencer Grigory Beskin wrote on his social networks this summer and posted a selfie with Uralov.
– Are you still going to the gym? Impossible to believe.
– For now, of course not, because of the war, everything in Ashkelon is closed. A few weeks ago, the students went by car, I sat in a chair and worked like that. While I give lessons, I live.
Yulen Isaakovich says his beloved wife Lucy, to whom he was married for seven decades, died two years ago. Since then they have lived with his younger brother Vova (“Vova” is 86 years old, you understand)? He says that the great family of fencers does not forget: they call from Ukraine, Russia and from the entire former Soviet Union, calculating the main dates: May 9 and his birthday.
“Alisher Usmanov, the then president of the International Federation, sent congratulations on his 95th birthday,” continues his brother Vladimir. – He was very nice and moving. Among other gifts, he promised: choose any tournament: the trip is on us. Yulen, of course, now walks with difficulty, but what the hell are you not joking, brother? Are we going to run to the Olympics next year? Just under a century, eh?
Jokes aside, we’re a big fencing family, but maybe you’ll keep the former president’s promise and take your oldest Olympian to Paris?
