Olympic champion, World champion, Europe champion Alexey Tischenko

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Twice golden Champion or the story of one prophesy

It was long time ago. We can’t even remember when. “Omskaya Pravda” journalist Egeniy Luschikov, former boxer, told us in the editorship: “I saw a guy. He is good at boxing! Red, fierce. Trails coat, kicks and evade the attacks. Sees everything”.

After Alexey won the second Olympian gold there are many people who say for sure: ”I knew, I was near and three times shook his hand during those four years. ” It a natural desire to be in the sun of a famous man. But this article doesn’t tell about the “Omskaya Pravda” headship in whiting about Tischenko. It is about a guy who became a great sportsman. Just under our eyes. Besides we have reasons for: former newspaper publications.

“Long before the competitions there was a rumor inside a narrow circle of veteran boxers. It was about the Tischenko, new boxing national star who was going to participate in memorial competitions (Malunzev A.M.) That’s’ why many spectators came to watch the final fight in weight 57 kg. Just the same as they did previously watching football in order to see Strelzov and Cherenkov”.

This article was published on the 28 November 2001. Alexey was told to be a promising boxer. I was disturbed a little with the enthusiasm of some judgments. Why hurry up? Let him win something serious. What if he gets superiority complex? Tischenko didn’t catch it and start winning.

2003. One year before the Olympiad in Athens. Alexey obtained a chance to get into the national team. Even today after Beijing we hear that sometimes not the strongest come to the Games. A countryman-participant is a question of prestige. Tischenko had a strong competitor in his weight (57kg.) – Railmkul Malakhbekov – twice world champion. National team coaches first placed stake on him. Besides, Kalmikian President Kirsan Ilumginov supported him. Alexey had no support of the kind. But he fought his way to the combined team. What was the cost of it? Tischenko won Malakhbekov in the National Championship. But he wasn’t included in the team for World Championship in Thailand. An additional sparring was organized. Alexey won. Here is the quote from “Omskay Pravda” 2 July 2003.

But the comments of the main coach were not encouraging at all. Saying something like despite Tischenko had won three rounds, Raimkul started taking the initiative in the fourth one. This means the champion underestimated the young talent. That’s why the fight was poor for him. From bad to worse. It was said Raimkul had eaten something bad before the fight – that’s why he lost his powers. There was a third argument – Malakhbekov is more experienced, unquestionable merits for the Russian sport. Probably that was his last World Championship not to tell about Olympiad. Why not give him spark for the last time. It was decided for another sparring.

Tischenko didn’t let him spark. He won. But lost in Thailand. According to the general opinion it happened because of judges’ mistakes. The question about the Olympiad remained undetermined. A quote from “Omskaya Pravda”:

Ah, youth, youth. There was a boxer who was able to beat a record of Laslo Papp and his countryman Theofilo Stevenson and to become an Olympian Champion four times. No one did this before. But the Cuban Felix Savon missed his first Olympiad because of the boycott by the social camp countries. This is a mere digression, a sight from the indigested past into the future.

So were lines written by Evgeniy Luschikov about not taking Tischenko in the combined team in 2003.

You can’t compare the guy with the great sportsmen, cut this stuff away, said the author of these lines (deputy editor at that time). Luschikov insisted. We almost split. But he won in the dispute. And as it comes, made a prophesy. Tischenko after a crazy nerve-racking managed to get to the team. He still was not regarded as a possible winner. I recollect TV and paper comments before the Athens: “Tischenko is just a chopper. There are many of them. He has no go in him”. In Athens he showed everybody how he goes. As well as in the World Championship, European one and in the World cup. He fell over just once at the last World Championship in Chicago. This was a sensation. But Alexey reacted calm: “ it's all for the best”. And he managed to come back. We have seen it. A sport hall scans: “Lekha! Lekha”, “Russia - Russia”. His Counterparts were afraid of him. He beat them easily. Not like Lekha, but like Alexey Victorovitsch, like a Omsk Region Legislative Assembly deputy. He presented a return tickets for his counterparts, for each and every. We could see this was hard. Especially in the last final round with the French.

It was a close win. The judges didn’t give him two-three points and “gifted” one to the French. We could hear his bottle-holders main coach of the combined team Alexander Lebzak and his coach Leonid Nikolaevitsch Kiselev cried him “Hold!”. It was told to Tischenko, who got used to boxing hot-tempered and risky making the others hold his attacks. But he did it. And then – medal, tears on the pedestal. It is not easy to become a twice Olympic champion.

There were three boxers who managed to do this. Boris Lagutin, Oleg Saitov and our Alexey Tischenko. He is only 24. It is possible to reach the Papp, Stevensson and Savon achievement in four years in London. And now not only “Omskaya Pravda” believe it, but the whole Russia.