Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov’s story is essentially set on the classic ‘coming of age’ premise. Only that it’s more than a story.
Not only did Andrianov hold the men’s record for the most Olympic medals at 15 (until Michael Phelps went past him at Beijing in 2008), but he also broke Japan’s throttlehold over the world of gymnastics. He is one of the most decorated gymnasts of all-time.
Born on October 14, 1952 in Vladimir (Russia), Andrianov grew up in a struggling family with his mother and three sisters.
Never the conformist, Andrianov relished his ‘bad boy’ image: stealing apples, breaking windows, and skipping classes were all in a day’s work. “I learned how to smoke before learning the ABC,” he once said in an interview.
A chance visit to the local sports school resulted in the impulsive Adrianov signing up for gymnastics training — a decision that would change his life forever.
“The school director, Nikolai Tolkachov, made the following note in his diary: ‘A new pupil. Nikolai Andrianov, a fifth-former, 12-years-old, hot-tempered and obstinate’”, wrote V.R. Unni in The Hindu Saturday Sports Special in 1977 on Tolkachov’s first encounter with his pupil.
Expectedly ‘Kolasha’, as he was called, soon got bored with the exercises and didn’t appear for practice. Tolkachov, however, would have none of it and took it upon himself to raise Andrianov as a world-class gymnast. With time, Andrianov’s discipline shone as bright as his prodigious ability.
In 1969, he won the USSR School Games and a year later, his exhibition at the world championships prompted Japanese trainer Yukio Endo to mark him out as a special talent.
Youngest Olympic champion
Andrianov became the youngest Olympic champion in the floor exercise event at Munich in 1972. But it was at the Montreal Olympics in 1976 that Andrianov fulfilled his potential, clinching seven medals (four golds, two silvers, one bronze) performing complex exercises such as the triple somersault dismount on horizontal bar.
Four years later, he won five more medals in front of his adoring home crowd at the Moscow Games. He also won many other international competitions, including the world and European championships.
Andrianov married gymnast Lubov Burda, a gold-medallist at Munich, and had two sons. He died last year after developing multiple system atrophy.
