Anatoly Roshchin
Wartime shepherd boy who became Olympic champion at 40
- Born
- March 10, 1932, Gaverdovo, Ryazan Oblast, Russia
- Died
- January 5, 2016 (aged 83)
- Nationality
- Soviet Union
- Height
- 187 cm (6′2″)
- Style
- Sambo-trained heavyweight
- Weight
- +97 kg, +100 kg
- Active
- 1961–1972
The medals
Olympic gold + 2 silvers; 3 world titles
The story
natoly Roshchin lost his father in the Second World War and was working as a shepherd at 10. He moved to Moscow in 1950, took up wrestling while serving in the Soviet Navy and also won two Soviet sambo titles. A thyroid disorder that needed surgery nearly ended his career in the late 1950s, but he recovered to win world heavyweight titles in 1963, 1969 and 1970. At the 1962 world championships and the 1964 and 1968 Olympics he finished second behind Hungary's giant István Kozma. By 1972 he was 40 and already coaching, but was persuaded to enter the Munich Olympics and won gold, taking his last bout by default when Wilfried Dietrich chose not to wrestle. He later worked as an international referee.
- Olympic champion, +100 kg (1972)
- Olympic silver, +97 kg (1964, 1968)
- World champion (1963, 1969, 1970)
- European champion (1966)
- Soviet sambo champion (1956, 1960)
- Order of Lenin (1972)
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1969)
- Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR
Defining matches
- 1962World silver Toledo (behind István Kozma)
- 1964Olympic silver Tokyo (behind István Kozma)
- 1968Olympic silver Mexico City (behind István Kozma)
- 1972WINvs Wilfried Dietrich (final round, by default; Olympic gold at 40)
Get your mind right before you step on the mat: Roshchin deliberately wound himself up for 10 to 15 minutes before each bout. Build your own warm-up routine, physical and mental, and use it the same way before every match.
