World Champion Dmitry Koltakov: “The Russian spirit and hardening help me to win. "The whole army club was waiting for Koltakov's victory"

How did you get into motorcycle racing?
It all started with my dad - he was engaged in motorcycle racing before the army, after the service he "retrained" into a race car driver and became the six-time champion of the country in cross-country on trucks. So I can be said to be a hereditary racer. I remember how in the ninety-eighth my father took my brothers and me to watch motocross in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky. We were so impressed ... Father did not resist for long. But motocross is an expensive sport. Dad had to sell the car to buy us motorcycles. So at eight years old, I first got behind the wheel of a sports bike and started training. And a year later, when I turned nine, there was the first competition. I won't say it was easy. At first, they chased at their own expense, because no one will invest in a young, unknown athlete. When the first positive results began to appear, offers from sports clubs began to appear.
At fifteen I first tried myself in ice speedway. My current coach Nikolay Krasnikov took me to the ice. He, like me, a native of the Kurgan region, also started with cross-country. We met in the Kurgan team: skated together, participated in competitions. Nikolai himself by that time was already an eminent athlete, champion of Russia, won the world championship. One way or another, I liked the speedway, I was chasing Shadrinsk, and when I started to show stable results, I received an invitation from Ufa. But once I could not even dream of such a thing! Ufa was an unattainable dream - one of the strongest teams in the world, is it a joke? And now, for the fifth season, I am playing for the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Center named after Gabdrakhman Kadyrov.

What are your main successes?
The main achievement is, of course, the two titles of vice-world champion in the individual and world champion in the team competition, earned over the last two seasons. These are perhaps the main successes so far. There used to be, of course, the Russian Junior Cup, the Adult Cup. But we are already looking ahead, there is a goal, we are moving towards it.

What, if not a secret?
I want to become a world champion. This, I think, is a common desire for all athletes. We have one goal, one super task - to be the best. We try, it doesn't always work out, but we struggle. In general, motorcycle ice racing is a difficult sport. It happens that the technique fails, or you burn out yourself, you cannot tune in to the race. But the result is not only the work of the driver, it is the work of the whole team. Last year I just lacked a few points to overtake Daniil Ivanov. I won three stages, all the rest were on the podium. But, unfortunately, there were retirements, there was one fall, because of which he lost precious points, and eventually lost the title.

Are ice racing and motocross very different from each other?
These are different sports. Physically, cross-country gives good basic training, but other muscle groups work on the ice, a different attitude is needed. Cross trains endurance, and ice fosters the ability to pull yourself together in order to overcome oneself with an effort. And the driving style is completely different, of course, but such things need to be felt, words cannot convey them.

Do sports skills help in real life?

Of course! I have enough adrenaline at the races, then I absolutely do not want to dash on the roads. I always follow the rules of the road, because there are other people nearby who need to be respected. And I invite all fans of fast driving to the race tracks - there you can show yourself in all its glory. For city streets, leave a quiet ride.

Ever wanted to try other motor sports?
I think this is superfluous. And it's too late to start a career, say, on the track. If you are torn, trying to sit on all the chairs at once, the result will suffer. Inevitably, you will have to give up something, and in motorcycle racing, even one missed season is a problem. It's hard to "roll" into the rhythm again, to develop muscle memory. And competitors do not sit still. So I have already made my choice.

CSKA motorcycle racer Dmitry Koltakov at the beginning of April in Heerenveen (Netherlands) won the gold medal at the FIM Ice Speedway Gladiator.

"GOLDEN HET-TICK" DMITRY KOLTAKOV

This season, 26-year-old CSKA motorcycle racer Dmitry Koltakov scored a golden hat-trick: he won the personal championship of Russia, as well as the individual and team world championships. In April 2017, in Holland, Dmitry Koltakov regained the title of world champion in the individual competition, after losing this title to Dmitry Khomitsevich last season.

In the individual standings of the 2017 World Cup, Koltakov scored 185 points, Igor Kononov (170) took the second place, Khomitsevich took the third (154).

Dmitry Koltakov told our publication how he managed to achieve revenge with Khomitsevich, when he finally undergoes surgery on his injured leg, which is why he has to compete in a special artificial hinge.

« I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MOTORRACKS AND SIX YEARS "

Dmitry, Is it true that you rush to your victories through pain? Tell us about your injury that does not prevent you from winning.

The injury is old - a fracture of the right knee. In December 2014, in the first race of the final of the Russian championship, which took place in Togliatti (Samara region), we fought motorcycles with the world champion Nikolai Krasnikov, my former coach, under whom I played for Bashkortostan. There was a fall, I tore the cruciate ligament, plus a piece of bone broke off. The operation cost about 250 thousand rubles, besides, the doctors said that if you do the operation, then I will miss the whole season. But I can't live without motorcycle racing for half a year. Therefore, he decided to heal himself, and a month after the injury he was already performing at the first stage of the 2015 World Cup. I drove with tears in my eyes. The whole load was on the sore right leg, because there is only a "step" on the right side of the motorcycle. The rest of the season I had to perform on pain medications. Nevertheless, that season I won the world championship for the first time, and even ahead of schedule.

- Almost two and a half years have passed since that injury. You still haven't had the operation?

No. Instead, I ordered special knee pads in Germany, which cost € 5,000 apiece. The doctors said: I will live, but it will become harder and harder to win competitions every year. I will probably do the operation when I am old.

"RUSSIAN SPIRIT AND HARDENING HELP TO WIN"

- Dmitry, tell us about your three significant sporting successes this year ...

This season I won the gold for the first time in the Russian personal championship. In the final, we had the same number of points with the Togliatti sportsman Igor Kononov, and a “re-run” was needed to determine the winner. This happened for the second time in my career: three or four years ago I challenged the gold medal of the national championship with Danila Ivanov, but, unfortunately, I lost the title. Fortune was on my side this year. The second success is a victory in the World Team Championship, where the three prize-winners of the Russian Championship finals went. The World Team Championship was held in mid-March in the German city of Inzell. Well, my main victory in the season is the “gold” of the personal world championship. I won this medal ahead of schedule, after the fourth series of races in Xennewen.

Last year, in the overall standings of the World Championship, you lost one point to Dmitry Khomitsevich, and this year your lead was 15 points. How did you manage to take revenge?

First of all, I changed my attitude to racing. I began to tune in to the maximum result before each race. It is good that the technique did not disappoint, and it was not without luck. Of course, a lot of preparatory work has been done. Logistics has become clearer. For example, today before the final stage of the World Championship there was a long break - about three weeks. Our team - me, my father, and our mechanic Marat Ganeev have been training abroad all this time before the final start.

- To whom do you dedicate this victory?

The army club, my team and everyone who supports me.

In the individual standings of the last World Championship, only Russians entered the top five strongest athletes. Why are we ahead of the rest of the world in motorcycle ice racing?

In Russia, pouring natural ice into the stadium in winter is not a problem. Even foreign athletes come to train here. In Europe, it is very expensive to rent a stadium for these purposes, and the ice there is usually artificial. Not to say that foreign competitors are weak. Sometimes they overtake you on the track. But all the same, the Russian spirit and hardening help us to win.

- What is the main thrill for a motorcycle ice racing participant?

There are no brakes on our bikes, the engine power is 500 cubic centimeters, steel spikes on the wheels are almost 3 cm long. The roar of spectators in the stands drowns out the roar of the engines, when you push the motorcycle against the ice almost to the steering wheel at the turn. Ice splashes from under the wheels, like sparks of champagne ... At this moment I feel like an indomitable predator.

IN THE FOOT OF THE FATHER

Dmitry, in December you will turn 27 years old - this is the heyday for a professional motorcyclist. When did you first curb the iron horse?

I got on a motorcycle for the first time at the age of eight, at nine - I already competed in motocross competitions - from there come everyone who is involved in motorcycle racing on ice. The basics of driving were taught to me by my dad, Sergey Koltakov - a former race car driver, six-time Russian champion in truck racing. I first tried motorcycle racing on ice at the age of 14, at 15 I started competing.

- Your father played in trucks, why did you go to motorcycle races?

Before the army, my dad was engaged in motocross. In addition, from an early age it is impossible to immediately go into motor sports. Both of my older brothers, Sergey and Maxim, were also involved in motorcycle races.

THE FATHER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SON

When Dmitry Koltakov was carried away by young athletes from the CSKA motorcycle club to the solemn ceremony of his honor, the father and coach of the world champion Sergei Koltakov revealed the main secrets of his son's success.

- Sergey Leonidovich, is Dmitry your youngest son and, it turns out, the most successful in sports?

All my sons are talents. All were prize-winners of junior ice speedway competitions. We went in for motocross. Apparently, Dmitry turned out to be more stubborn and devoted to sports. If the eldest son began to engage in motorsport at the age of 10, then Dima fell in love with technology at the age of eight.

- What makes the athlete Dmitry Koltakov unique?

He knows how to take risks. Finds the strength to overcome seemingly insurmountable boundaries. It often happens that, for tactical reasons, he rides second or third (out of four participants in the race), but at the last moment in the last meters of the distance he becomes the leader. For such abrupt maneuvers, you need a risk, you need to be absolutely fearless. I would like to mention another striking quality of my son. The more injuries Dmitry has, the more his son wants to train. The more difficult he suffered the injury, the more motivated he is to win. In December 2014, according to doctors, a piece of bone fell off, we thought that it would grow, but apparently little time was allocated for recovery. The bone did not heal, it came off. With great pain, he went to the first stage of the World Championship. Nikolay Krasnikov gave him his own hinge - a carbon fiber shield in which the leg is rigidly fixed. Then, following the same model in Germany, we made an artificial hinge for Dmitry, in which he still drives. Imagine with what loads he won his first world championship.

- Is your son going to be operated on?

The operation required 240 thousand rubles, at that time we did not find that kind of money. They tried to "burn" a splinter of bone with a laser, but they touched a ligament. Some doctors say the bone splinter will dissolve on its own. Now, after the World Cup, we will go to the doctors again. In Kurgan there is a Scientific Center "Restorative Traumatology and Orthopedics" named after Academician G.А. Ilizarov.

- In the event of an operation, will Dmitry miss the next competitive season?

In no case. We'd rather ride with an injury than miss the World Cup. Otherwise, it is difficult to join the cohort of the best motorcycle racers back, the athlete needs a constant motorcycle rush. The vestibular apparatus of a motorcycle rider on ice must always function appropriately and a competitive spirit must always be present.

"€ 500 REMAINED FROM THE PRIZE FOR THE VICTORY AT THE 2017 FIFA World Cup"

Sergey Leonidovich, probably, this sport brings a lot of money to athletes, since your son does not think about his health, and postpones an important operation for later ...

All the prize money that his son earns at the world championships, he invests in motorcycle equipment. For example, from all the prize money for the won world championship, the son has about € 500 left. With the rest of the money we bought equipment for the next season: pistons, spare parts, "stars" - everything that is needed for racing. To achieve new victories, you need the best parts. We have been driving this way for three years. It comes to the point that we cannot change the motorcycle. Throughout the summer of 2016, during the pre-season training, Dima rode a bike, although to achieve high results at the World Championship, a "motorcycle reel" is necessary. As a result, in October, he bought an old motorcycle with the money saved up to train on it for a month before the start of the season.

- Does the fearlessness of motorcyclists on the ice border on recklessness?

Reckless motorcyclists are prone to injury - there must be a sense of self-preservation. Yes, this is a very traumatic sport. If you look at Dmitry's body, you will be frightened. He is covered in bruises, scars and abrasions.

"... THERE IS A SON A STAR OF SUN SCALE."

Sergei Leonidovich, your son is now a six-time world champion. Is it aimed at surpassing the achievements of 20-time world champion 32-year-old Nikolai Krasnikov?

Krasnikov is an eight-time world champion in the individual competition, a twelve-time world champion in the team competition, and a multiple champion of Russia. On account of his son, four victories in world championships in team competitions, and two golds in individual competitions. We will not guess, but while Marat Ganeev, the world's best mechanic, is on the same team, it will not be easy to take the world champion title away from Dmitry.

- What is the genius of mechanic Ganeev?

He will improve motors on motorcycles. Marat is a Stradivarius of his craft. My son and the silver medalist of the 2017 World Cup in the individual competition Igor Kononov are driving his motors.

- In which Russian cities is motorcycle ice racing most popular?

In Kamensk-Uralsky (Sverdlovsk region), in Shadrinsk (Kurgan region) and Togliatti (Samara region). Dima won in almost all of these cities. There he is a star of the scale of the Sun ...

- Will they recognize your son abroad?

Of course. We have our own support group - about 20 people. These are Russian emigrants in Germany, they come to cheer for us at all competitions, including in Russia and Kazakhstan. The fans have T-shirts with our logos, with the name "Kltakov" on the back and the inscription CSKA on the chest.

- How will you celebrate your victory at the 52nd World Championship?

We will arrive in Kurgan, relatives and friends, as always, will arrange fireworks. Then we will cook a barbecue in the sports club. At home - cake and everything else.

VLADIMIR SUBBOTIN: IN THE MOTOCLUB CSKA AURA POBEDNAYA

The secret of Dmitry Koltakov's sporting successes was also revealed to our publication by the CSKA coach - prize-winner of the USSR motorsport championship (1977) Vladimir Subbotin.

Vitaly Russkikh, the senior coach-head of the CSKA motorsport team, puts his soul and heart into work, so the army club's motorcycle riders successfully compete in international competitions, Koltakov became the world champion, and his teammate Eduard Krysov pleases with victories. In the CSKA motorcycle club, the aura is such - victorious. For example, last year we took Dmitry Khomitsevich to the army team and he became the world champion for the first time.

- Why did you invite Dmitry Koltakov two years ago?

He always wants to be the first, and gives himself completely in the races.

- Is Koltakov in complete order with the necessary motorcycles?

It should be understood that the price of a combat motorcycle for motorcycle racing on ice is about 600 thousand rubles. And this is without tuning. Dmitry has three Java, but he also needs a motocross motorcycle to successfully prepare for the winter season in the summer.

QUOTE

"THE WHOLE ARMY CLUB WAITING FOR KOLTAKOV'S VICTORY"

Throughout the season, we followed Dmitry's performances at the World Championship stages, and, I confess, we were very much expecting a victory from him. We saw all the difficulties of the final races. Of course, such an outstanding result would have been difficult to achieve if it were not for the amazing team of technical specialists working with Dmitry. Thanks to the whole team. Dmitry Larchenkov, deputy head of CSKA

PRIVATE BUSSINESS

Dmitry KOLTAKOV
Was born on December 6, 1990 in Kurgan.
International Master of Sports. In favor of CSKA.
Six-time world champion: holder of four gold medals in the World Cup team competition, twice won in the individual championship (2015,2017).
Student of the Bashkir Institute of Physical Culture. Lives with his parents in Kurgan.
Not married. Immediate plans: a wedding with a girl from Togliatti and a possible move to Moscow.

We will start the story about the Kurgan speedway driver from 2017. It was in this year that he became the absolute champion. The beginning of the season of the World Series was immediately set - the first start in Togliatti - and immediately a gold medal. This was followed by five silver medals at the World Cup stages, two gold in Berlin, one in Heerenveen. Before the last stage in the same Dutch Heerenveen, Koltakov is confidently the first, but this is not a victory yet. And here they are - there is still half the race ahead, and Russian fans are stretching out a huge banner "Dmitry Koltakov - World Champion 2017" in the stands.

- I did not expect this. They seemed to already know that I would be the champion, when I became ahead of schedule the world champion after the fourth series, half of the race is still ahead. I am finishing and I see the fans standing on the stands, I raise my hand to thank them and look at the banner from the floor of the stands unwound that Dmitry Koltakov is the 2017 world champion. It just cannot be expressed, - Dmitry shared.

It was then that our hero realized that he had done the impossible - he won all the gold awards of this season.

- My heart felt so good, there are no words. When the championship ended, I just exhaled, so much work was invested in this season, - said Koltakov.

- It is very pleasant that worthy athletes are competing for the Kurgan region, even if at the moment they have moved to other regions. These are our people anyway. They were born and raised here. We put our heart and soul into them, and our coaches have worked with them for many years. You feel a sense of pride, dignity and moral satisfaction when you see that our guys are rising to the podium, especially to the highest level, - said Sergey Chugunov, Deputy Head of the Department for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Kurgan Region.

Our motorcycle racer does not forget about his team, admitting that without their participation none of this would have happened:

- My team is the strongest, my mechanic makes the strongest motors. I am grateful that I work with such people who help me in everything: both with the preparation of equipment and with the premises. I want to say a huge thank you to Ber Valery Stanislavovich and Artem Valerievich for helping me with the room.

For many years, Russian speedway drivers have been the trendsetters in motorcycle racing on ice, year after year rising to the highest step of the podium in the most prestigious world competitions, but few people know how hard it all is. Foreigners have an advantage in terms of equipment preparation - they have the opportunity to prepare a motorcycle with better quality and for less money. Russians have their pluses.

- We have natural ice in Russia, it's easier to fill it in and train, the same rivers, swamps for training. This is not the case abroad, and artificial ice is very expensive, ”says Dmitry Koltakov.

- Sports, ice speedway, are very developed in the Kurgan region. We have stable high performance and high results. Well, and the number of spectators that come to the stadium during the competition, despite the bad weather, the stadium is always full. This species is in great demand, it is very entertaining, - said Sergey Chugunov, deputy head of the Department for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Kurgan Region.

But what happens in the head of a motorcycle racer during the races? What do you need to think about in order for everything to work out as it should?

- I try not to think about motorcycle races before the races, I remember something pleasant, life like that, about my relatives, I keep something in my head. But when I get on a motorcycle, you become one with the motorcycle, you merge with the technology. And already during the ride, when the start, you forget about everything, - said the six-time world champion in motorcycle ice racing Dmitry Koltakov.

Dmitry admits that during the race there is simply no time to think about something. The racer thinks about which trajectory to take, which tactics to choose - he completely reads the track, gives himself up to him.

- Four laps in the race are a breeze. You hold your breath before the start, exhale at the finish line. I don't even think about winning, about prizes. There is no such habit of thinking what will be there, what the prize is. I have a goal, I try to go to it, only straight, to the finish line, - said Koltakov.

But, at the same time, a professional athlete should not think about it. All athletes are superstitious: someone talks to their equipment, someone puts a coin in their shoes. Dmitry Koltakov is no exception:

“I'm not that superstitious. But of course I have my keepers. I do not show them. They are always present with me at competitions. Someone there does not take pictures, does not give autographs before the race, they believe in some omens - I do not believe in it. You have to believe in yourself, in your strength, only in this.

Dmitry Koltakov was brought to motocross by his dad, by the way, a professional race car driver. He showed little Dima a motorcycle, and he immediately fell in love with this business. Dad had to sell his personal car to buy his son a motorcycle. To this day, Koltakov is in love with motorsport, in his garage.

- Every day I come to the motorcycle club. Anyway, I find work here: to tweak something, to do something. I've been living it all my life, - said our champion.

It happened, of course, that Dmitry wanted to quit motorcycle racing, to forget it all, when nothing worked out, when there were some financial difficulties. But he overcame himself, went out on the track and won again:

- Today I am the happiest person in the world. I am the world champion. Three gold medals this season - not everyone can achieve such a result. I managed to do it. My family is next to me, my girlfriend is next to me, supports me. They are always waiting at home, and I am very grateful ... to everyone.

Bashkortostan
CSKA 2008/09-2009/10
2010/2011-2014/15
2015/16 Personal victories

Champion of Russia (juniors) Cup of Russia World championship

2011 2011 2015

Team wins

Champion of Russia (juniors) Champion of Russia World champion

2010 2014, 2015 2013, 2014, 2016

Awards and titles

Dmitry Sergeevich Koltakov(born December 6, Kurgan, USSR) - Russian racer, performing in motorcycle racing on ice. International Master of Sports of Russia. World champion in the individual event, three-time world champion in the team event, two-time champion of Russia in the team event. The CSKA Moscow team is performing.

Biography

Dmitry Sergeevich Koltakov was born on December 6, 1990 in the city of Kurgan, Kurgan Region.

Together with his older brothers Sergey (born on July 26, 1987) and Maxim (born on July 21, 1989) Dmitry Koltakov was engaged in motocross from the age of 10, later the brothers switched to motorcycle racing on ice, training in the city of Shadrinsk, Kurgan region. Already at the age of 15, in 2006 he took part in the semifinals of the Personal Championship of Russia among juniors.

In the 2007/2008 season, he became the bronze medalist of the Russian Team Championship among juniors, from the 2008/2009 season he began to play in the adult Russian championship for the Torpedo-SHAAZ team in Shadrinsk, twice (2009 and 2010) the silver in the Major League (Division 2 of the Czech Republic).

In 2009 he graduated from school number 40 of the city of Kurgan and entered the Kurgan Technological College named after N. Ya. Anfinogenov, which he graduated in 2012.

Before the 2010/2011 season, the promising racer was invited to the Ufa club "Bashkortostan", where the multiple world champion Nikolai Krasnikov began to develop the athlete. In the same year, Dmitry Koltakov won the personal junior championship of the country.

In the next 2012 season, Koltakov became the winner of the Russian personal championship for the first time and made his debut at the world championship, taking 4th place in the final classification. In the seasons 2013 and 2014. became the second, losing only to Daniil Ivanov, but in 2015 he took revenge, becoming the world champion.

By order of the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation No. 32-ng dated October 30, 2012, he was awarded the sports title "Master of Sports of Russia" (Motorcycle sport).

By order of the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation No. 49-ng dated November 28, 2012, Dmitry Sergeevich Koltakov (motorcycle sport) was awarded the sports title "Master of Sports of Russia of International Class". Koltakov played for the G. Kadyrov Center for Technical Sports (Republic of Bashkortostan).

In addition, in 2013, 2014 and 2016. as part of the Russian national team won the World Team Championship, and in 2014 and 2015. - Championship of Russia with Bashkortostan.

Since 2013 Dmitry Koltakov has been a student (branch) of the Ural State University of Physical Culture.

Before the 2015/16 season, he moved to the newly created CSKA Moscow team. In the 2016 season, he lost the world title to Dmitry Khomitsevich.

World Series Grand Prix

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A place	Glasses
2012	Krasnogorsk 15	Krasnogorsk 12	Ufa 15	Ufa 14	Assen 15	Assen 11	Uppsala 12	Uppsala 14			4	108
2013	Krasnogorsk 18	Krasnogorsk 17	Tolyatti 19	Tolyatti 20	Assen 21	Assen 20	Inzell 15	Inzel 16	Uppsala 15	Uppsala 17	2	178
2014	Krasnogorsk 18	Krasnogorsk 16	Blagoveshchensk 18	Blagoveshchensk 16	Assen 17	Assen 20	Inzell 19	Inzel 16			2	140
2015	Krasnogorsk 15	Krasnogorsk 20	Tolyatti 17	Tolyatti 16	Alma-Ata 18	Alma-Ata 14	Assen 21	Assen 20	Inzell 20	Inzell 19	1	180
2016	Krasnogorsk 18	Krasnogorsk 19	Alma-Ata 16	Alma-Ata 16	Berlin 17	Berlin 14	Assen 18	Assen 20	Inzell 17	Inzell 18	2	173

Achievements in Russia Junior competition in the individual competition - 1st place (2011), 2nd place (2009), 3rd place (2010) in the team competition - 3rd place (2008), 1st place (2010) Adult competition Russian Motorcycle Ice Racing Championship: in the individual competition - 2nd place (2014, 2016), 3rd place (2013) in the team competition - 1st place (2014, 2015), 2nd place (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) Russian Cup - 1st place (2011)

Achievements in international competitions LCHEU - 6th place (2009), 5th place (2010) Champions League - 6th place (2011) LCHM - 2nd place (2013, 2014, 2016), 1st place (2015) KChM - 1st place (2013, 2014, 2016) Other competitions Rolof Tais Cup (Assen) - 1st place (2011)

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An excerpt characterizing Koltakov, Dmitry Sergeevich

There was a struggle and Sonya's displeased voice: "After all, the second hour."
- Oh, you just spoil everything for me. Well, go, go.
Again everything fell silent, but Prince Andrey knew that she was still sitting here, he sometimes heard a quiet stirring, sometimes sighs.
- Oh my god! My God! what is it! She screamed suddenly. - Sleep like that! - and slammed the window.
"And I don't care about my existence!" thought Prince Andrew as he listened to her talk, for some reason expecting and fearing that she would say something about him. - “And again she! And how on purpose! " he thought. Such an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes, contradicting his whole life, suddenly arose in his soul that, feeling himself unable to understand his condition, he immediately fell asleep.

The next day, having said goodbye to only one count, without waiting for the ladies to leave, Prince Andrei went home.
It was already the beginning of June when Prince Andrey, returning home, drove again into that birch grove in which this old, gnarled oak so strangely and memorably struck him. The little bells were ringing even more muffled in the forest than a month and a half ago; everything was full, shady and thick; and the young spruces, scattered in the forest, did not violate the general beauty and, imitating the general character, gently green with fluffy young shoots.
The whole day was hot, where a thunderstorm was gathering, but only a small cloud splashed on the dust of the road and on the juicy leaves. The left side of the forest was dark, in shadow; the right one, wet, glossy, glittered in the sun, slightly swaying from the wind. Everything was in bloom; nightingales crackled and rolled now near, now far.
“Yes, here, in this forest, there was this oak tree with which we agreed,” thought Prince Andrey. "But where is he," thought again Prince Andrew, looking at the left side of the road and without knowing it, not recognizing him, admired the oak for which he was looking. The old oak tree, all transformed, stretched out like a tent of luscious, dark greenery, melted, swaying slightly in the rays of the evening sun. No gnarled fingers, no sores, no old mistrust and grief - nothing was visible. Juicy, young leaves made their way through the tough, century-old bark without knots, so it was impossible to believe that this old man had produced them. “Yes, this is the same oak tree,” thought Prince Andrey, and suddenly an unreasonable, springtime feeling of joy and renewal came over him. All the best moments of his life were suddenly recalled to him at the same time. And Austerlitz with the high sky, and the dead, reproachful face of his wife, and Pierre on the ferry, and the girl, agitated by the beauty of the night, and this night, and the moon - and all this suddenly recalled him.
“No, life is not over at the age of 31, suddenly, finally, invariably, Prince Andrey decided. Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly into the sky, it is necessary that everyone knows me, so that my life does not go on for me alone. so that they do not live so independently of my life that it is reflected on everyone and that they all live with me together! "

Returning from his trip, Prince Andrew decided to go to Petersburg in the fall and came up with various reasons for this decision. A whole series of reasonable, logical reasons why he needed to go to St. Petersburg and even serve, every minute was ready for his services. Even now he did not understand how he could ever doubt the need to take an active part in life, just as a month ago he did not understand how the thought of leaving the village might come to him. It seemed clear to him that all his experiences in life should have been wasted and nonsense, if he had not applied them to the matter and again took an active part in life. He did not even understand how, on the basis of the same poor rational arguments, it was previously obvious that he would have humiliated himself if now, after his lessons in life, he would again believe in the possibility of being useful and in the possibility of happiness and love. Now my mind was suggesting something completely different. After this trip, Prince Andrei began to get bored in the village, his previous occupations did not interest him, and often, sitting alone in his study, he got up, went to the mirror and looked at his face for a long time. Then he turned away and looked at the portrait of the deceased Liza, who, with curls whipped a la grecque [in Greek], tenderly and merrily looked at him from the golden frame. She no longer spoke to her husband the former terrible words, she simply and cheerfully looked at him with curiosity. And Prince Andrew, with his hands folded back, walked around the room for a long time, now frowning, now smiling, changing his mind about those unreasonable, inexpressible thoughts, secret as a crime, thoughts associated with Pierre, with fame, with a girl at the window, with an oak tree, with female beauty and love that changed his whole life. And at these moments, when someone came to him, he was especially dry, sternly decisive and especially unpleasantly logical.
“Mon cher, [My dear,],” Princess Marya used to say when entering at such a moment, “Nikolushka cannot go for a walk today: it's very cold.
“If it was warm,” Prince Andrei answered his sister especially dryly at such moments, “he would have gone in one shirt, and since it’s cold, he must put on warm clothes, which were invented for this. This is what follows from the fact that it is cold, and not just to stay at home when the child needs air, - he said with particular logic, as if punishing someone for all this secret, illogical, internal work that was happening in him. Princess Marya thought in these cases about how this mental work dries men.

Prince Andrew arrived in St. Petersburg in August 1809. This was the time of the apogee of the glory of the young Speransky and the energy of the coups he made. In this very August, the sovereign, riding in a carriage, was thrown out, injured his leg, and remained in Peterhof for three weeks, seeing Speransky every day and exclusively. At this time, not only were preparing two so famous and alarming society decrees on the destruction of court officials and on examinations for the ranks of collegiate assessors and state councilors, but also an entire state constitution, which was supposed to change the existing judicial, administrative and financial order of government in Russia from the state council to the volost board. Now those vague, liberal dreams with which Emperor Alexander ascended the throne, and which he strove to realize with the help of his assistants Czartorizhsky, Novosiltsev, Kochubei and Strogonov, whom he himself jokingly called comite du salut publique, came true and came true. [public safety committee.]
Now all together were replaced by Speransky for the civilian part and Arakcheev for the military. Prince Andrew, shortly after his arrival, as a chamberlain, appeared at the court and at the exit. The Tsar, having met him twice, did not honor him with a single word. Prince Andrey always thought before that he was antipathetic to the sovereign, that the sovereign disliked his face and his whole being. In the dry, distant gaze with which the emperor looked at him, Prince Andrei found confirmation of this assumption even more than before. The courtiers explained to Prince Andrey the sovereign's inattention to him by the fact that His Majesty was dissatisfied with the fact that Bolkonsky had not served since 1805.
"I myself know how we are not powerful in our sympathies and antipathies, thought Prince Andrew, and therefore there is no need to think about presenting personally my note on the military regulations to the sovereign, but the matter will speak for itself." He passed on his note to an old field marshal, a friend of his father. The field marshal, having appointed him an hour, gently received him and promised to report to the sovereign. A few days later it was announced to Prince Andrei that he had to report to the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev.

Sport

Contrary to the doctors' predictions, thanks to his character and in the name of a dream ... Moto racer Dmitry Koltakov won the gold of the personal ice speedway world championship for the first time. The day before he returned to his homeland. Our correspondent Evgeny Ivanov met with him.

Here it is - the victorious finish on the German track, which brought Dmitry Koltakov the first personal gold of the World Championship ...

- I did it - thanks to my team ... We fought with all our might - we proved that we were the first in this season, and I managed to achieve ...

This season for the Ufa pupil of the Trans-Ural ice speedway is undoubtedly the most successful in his sports career. However, it all started not easy. At the final of the national championship, he seriously injured his knee.

DMITRY KOLTAKOV, WINNER OF THE INDIVIDUAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN MOTOR RACING ON ICE (KURGAN):

- The doctors said that everything - you can forget for this season, you will miss it. But I say - I can't do it, I need to go to the World Championship, and in a month the World Championship starts ...

With an unhealed injury, the Kurgan ace successfully started at the first finals of the personal world championship in Krasnogorsk and Togliatti, and also helped the Ufa team win the national team championship. In the Kazakh and Dutch world championship finals, he won gold for the first time. And now - the triumphant finish in German Inzell, which took the final, ninth and tenth finals. Already on the first day Dmitry Koltakov secured the title of the strongest on the planet, and on the second day he confirmed it, beating the silver medalist Daniil Ivanov by 27 points! According to the champion, this is the common success of the entire team in the person of the driver and mechanics - Marat Ganeev and Sergey Koltakov.

SERGEY KOLTAKOV, MECHANIC AND FATHER OF DMITRY KOLTAKOV (KURGAN):

- A lot of our entrepreneurs from the city of Kurgan helped us - with materials, paints, good turners there ... Ie. all motorcycles were prepared in Kurgan, by our hands. And we have the best motorcycle in the world - this has already been proven ...

DMITRY KOLTAKOV, WINNER OF THE INDIVIDUAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN MOTOR RACING ON ICE (KURGAN):

- I went all my life to this title and won it - it was not easy. And my heart felt so good that I achieved this, that my team worked one hundred percent. I am grateful to my parents, brothers, my mechanic for what they did. All my team.

For the first time in the history of Kurgan motorsport, Dmitry Koltakov won gold in the personal world championship and is not going to stop there.