Soslan Andiev is a Soviet fighter of Ossetian origin, who is rightfully called legendary. As a heavyweight champion, he won two Olympic gold medals, became world champion four times and European champion three times.
Biography: childhood and adolescence
Soslan Petrovich Andiev was born on April 21, 1952 in the capital of Ossetia - Vladikavkaz. His father was Ossetian, and his mother was a Kuban Cossack. In addition to Soslan, three more children grew up in the family. Literally everyone in little Ossetia knew his father, Peter Andiev. He was engaged in kettlebell lifting and wrestling. He was a multiple champion of the North Caucasus.
Father died when Soslan was eight years old. He managed to bring his older brothers into wrestling. And Soslan was introduced to him by his brother Gennady, on whose shoulders then took care of the family. Subsequently, Andiev recalled how his elder brother firmly took him by the hand and took him to the first lesson to one of the most famous trainers of the Union, Aslanbek Dzgoev. Then Soslan was 12 years old and already weighed 85 kg.
At the time, he had little interest in wrestling. Soslan dreamed of basketball. However, the older brothers, who already had champion titles behind them, did not want to hear about this hobby. So Andiev got to Dzgoev - one of the founders of the Ossetian school of wrestling. All the eminent fighters of the USSR passed through his hands.
Five years later, Soslan became the winner of the World Youth Championship, which was held in the States. Tall, powerful and impetuous, he deftly slaughtered his opponents on the carpet. After the youth championship, Soslan was coached by his elder brother and sparring partner Gennady.
Career
In 1971, three Andiev brothers fought in the allied championship and took the entire podium in the heavyweight division. Prizes were distributed according to age: Gennady won, Sergei climbed to the second step of the podium, and the youngest Soslan became the third.
In parallel with performing on the carpet, he graduated from the Mountain Agrarian University. He received a degree in economics and planned to defend his Ph. D. thesis on the topic "Economics of collective farms in North Ossetia." However, the plans were not destined to come true, since the training took a long time.
In 1973, 20-year-old Soslan became the champion of the Union. The referee was then the invincible Alexander Medved. Shortly before the union championship, Yuri Shakhmuradov took the helm of the national team. He was not afraid to take the newly-made champion to the world championship, which was held in Tehran. Soslav took the gold. Journalists then christened him the second Bear.
There were three years left before the first Olympics. During this time, Soslan's piggy bank was replenished:
- The silver medal of the World Cup in Istanbul (1974);
- The "gold" World Cup in Minsk (1975);
- The "gold" European Championship in Madrid (1974);
- The "gold" European Championship in Ludwigshafen am Rhein (1975).
In 1975, Andiev was hired by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Ossetia. He became a sports inspector and worked in the "authorities" until 1989. He rose to the rank of Major of Internal Service.
At the Montreal Olympics, Soslan fought six fights. He scored four clean victories and two on points. In the final bout Andiev laid the German wrestler Roland Gercke on the carpet with a score of 22: 9.
By the next Olympics, which was held in Moscow, Soslan was the captain of the freestyle wrestling team. And again he had no equal: five fights - five victories. He was ready to go to the third Olympics. However, the Soviet athletes did not fly to Los Angeles for political reasons.
A year later, Soslan decided to end his career. He became a coach, heading the USSR national freestyle wrestling team. Later, he admitted that it was difficult to get used to the role of a coach, but he did not see any other way for himself, because he could not live without a feeling of struggle and a carpet, which had been given for many years. Andiev made a huge contribution to the development of wrestling in the country. He was happy for the national team to preserve the traditions of friendship, mutual support and high demands on themselves, because this is what she kept for many years.
Work in the national team for Soslan was successful, the national wrestling school constantly proved its superiority in the world. During his years at the coaching post, Andiev prepared the bronze medalist of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Vladimir Toguzov.
He has a number of titles and awards, including:
- "Honored Trainer of the RSFSR";
- "Honored Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation";
- Order of Friendship of Peoples;
- Order of the Red Banner of Labor;
- gold medal of the International Federation of Freestyle Wrestling FILA.
Andiev was the Minister of Sports of North Ossetia and a member of three parliamentary convocations. Thanks to his efforts, the republic managed to fully preserve the network of children's and youth Olympic reserve schools. In addition, under the leadership of Andiev, three more sports schools were opened in Ossetia. On the scale of small Ossetia, this is a really big contribution to the sporting future of the younger generation. In the period from 1990 to 1998, Andiev served as vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and was a member of the ROC executive committee.
Recently, Soslan Andiev has lived and worked in Vladikavkaz. He died on November 22, 2018 in one of the hospitals in Moscow, where he was being treated. He was buried in his native Ossetia, at the Gizel cemetery.
Personal life
Soslan Andiev was married to Lina Pkhalagova, with whom he lived until the last days of his life. Four children were born in the marriage: three daughters and a son.
