Orchestra, loud music playing. Strongman Ivan Zaikin enters the circus arena to the cheers of the public. He is handsome and stately. His muscles play under his skin. Having made a circle of honor, the athlete stops in front of a 25-pound anchor. The audience was frozen in anticipation. The circus performer wrapped his tong-like arms around him and hoisted him onto his back. Having passed the circle with the anchor, the athlete began to rotate this colossal load. The hall exploded with applause and applause. This was one of the many performances of the famous circus wrestler and strongman Ivan Mikhailovich Zaikin. In this article, you will be presented with his brief biography.
Childhood
Zaikin Ivan Mikhailovich was born in the Simbirsk province in 1880. The boy's father was a well-known fist fighter on the Volga. The childhood and youth of the future athlete passed in need and poverty. Ivan had to work since the age of 12. The boy imitated his father in everything and wanted to become the same strong fighter.
Firstperformance
Ivan's life changed when he got a job with the Merkuliev brothers. These millionaire merchants had their own athletic arena. It was there that Ivan Zaikin began his wrestling career. For the first time, the young man competed at the Amateur All-Russian Championship, winning first place in weights. He later debuted as a wrestler in Tver.
Character and style
Despite the difficult life path, Ivan Zaikin did not become a tough, withdrawn person. Opponents noted his softness and openness in the arena. Powerful muscles, smooth movements, cheerful eyes and a good-natured face. No unnecessary movements and fuss. Snatch, grab and throw happened so fast that the opponent did not even understand how he ended up on the shoulder blades.
Fights with Poddubny
Ivan Zaikin was considered a student of Poddubny. The wrestlers who met with the latter tried to avoid such "pleasure" in the future. Zaikin fought Ivan Maksimovich as many as 15 times (from 1904 to 1916). Five fights ended in a draw, and ten ended in the defeat of the hero of this article. Contemporaries noted that these were not ordinary battles, but real battles.
Athletic numbers
But the fights in the arena are not all that Ivan Zaikin did. The wrestler also performed with athletic numbers. For example, he carried a 25-pound anchor on his back, lifted a neck with ten spectators, a barrel (capacity 40 buckets of water), bent sheet iron, etc. The most spectacular performance was the passage of a car with passengers on boards lying on the chest of an athlete. With these numbers IvanMihajlovic has toured Australia, America, Africa and Europe.
Celebrity
Zaikin was friends with many famous people: Kamensky, Alexei Tolstoy, Blok, Chaliapin, Gorky, Kuprin and even Rasputin. The Tsaritsyno priest Iliodor introduced the athlete to the latter. When Rasputin was stabbed, Zaikin wrote him a letter wishing him a speedy recovery and better physical and mental he alth.
Aviator
Once, while on tour in Odessa, Ivan watched an airplane fly in the sky. Since then, he had a desire to become an aviator. In those days, Russian pilots could be counted on the fingers. They made money by performing. This is what Zaikin decided to do. Merchants from Odessa named Ptashnikovs became its sponsors.
After completing his studies in France in 1910, Ivan made a series of demonstration flights around Russian cities. He was attracted by risk and unusual experiences. It is likely that Zaikin would have made a career as an aeronaut, if not for one case.
Farewell to aviation
On the next demonstration flights, Ivan Mikhailovich rolled brave men to the delight of the public. Among them was the famous writer A. I. Kuprin. Zaikin himself approached Alexander Ivanovich and offered to conquer the sky. Taking off, Ivan Mikhailovich began to make a turn. And suddenly Kuprin saw his head at his knees. The writer did not feel fear, but he noticed how their airplane was rushing down, straight into a crowd of three thousand. ATthe last moment Zaikin managed to taxi to the side. If the aircraft had crashed into the crowd, there would have been many casu alties. Fortunately, the plane managed to land, and everyone survived. After that, the unfortunate aviator no longer took to the skies, deciding to return to the arena.
Recent years
From 1928 until his death Zaikin Ivan Mikhailovich lived in Chisinau. There he organized his own "Sports Arena", which included professional wrestlers-athletes. Their performances were entertaining and educational in nature. Dexterous, strong, superbly built heroes were good promoters of a he althy lifestyle. In the middle of 1930, while performing the Living Bridge trick, Ivan Mikhailovich received a serious head and shoulder injury, but was able to recover later. In 1934, the athlete took part in a wrestling tournament in the city of Riga.
At the end of 1945, Ivan Zaikin, whose biography is presented in this article, was invited to Leningrad to celebrate the 60th anniversary of national athletics. There he met with the famous arbiter and wrestler V. I. Lebedev. In 1948, Ivan Mikhailovich died at the age of 69. Zaikin was buried in Chisinau at the All Saints Cemetery. In the memory of posterity, he will remain a pioneer of aviation and a prominent representative of national athleticism.
