2023-12-31 14:01:28
The heart of the titled athlete stopped on December 31.
One of the symbols of Russian volleyball was distinguished by his emotional play on the court and a wonderful sense of humor off it. During his long career, the ex-player of the Russian national team has repeatedly won the national championship and the Champions League, and won medals at the World, European and Olympic Games.
On the eve of the New Year, on December 31, the athlete decided to get some sleep, but did not wake up when the chimes struck.
The country lost a legendary volleyball player due to cardiac arrest.
“I didn’t think regarding a career in volleyball”
On the eve of the New Year holidays, it is customary to recharge yourself with a positive mood and make plans for the future. And, of course, I don’t want to think regarding sad things at all. But it would be unfair to forget regarding the people who have delighted fans with victories for many years. On December 31, 2021, one of the most prominent representatives of Russian volleyball at the turn of the century, Vadim Khamuttskikh, passed away.
During his long career, the titled athlete won the national championship seven times, the Russian Cup six times, the Champions League twice, won the CEV Cup, and won medals at the most prestigious tournaments as part of the national team. But all this might not have happened if not for chance. The volleyball player showed great promise even in his youth, played in youth teams, ended up in a professional team, but during his military service he had to forget regarding volleyball.
Instead of a sports company, Vadim ended up in a construction battalion, where he dug trenches, lined oil tanks and, of course, built. But there was very little volleyball in the life of private Khamuttsky at that moment. After demobilization, the athlete, who served not far from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, and then in the Chernobyl area, thought regarding a working specialty, since he learned a lot in the army.
— After retiring in 1990, he returned to his hometown of Asha, which is 370 kilometers from Chelyabinsk, and somehow I never thought regarding continuing a serious career in volleyball. Although he had no special plans for life. I thought: I’ll go to my older brother Igor at the Ural Automobile Plant in Miass and study at a technical school. Mom acted wisely. Without telling me anything, she called my coach and said that I was back. The coach got in touch: “Get your things, come to Chelyabinsk,” Khamuttskikh said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Relationship with gold
The country lost a worker, but gained a great volleyball player. The winner of three Olympic medals, four-time European championship medalist and world vice-champion, without any doubt, became a legend of Russian and world volleyball. But, unfortunately, the Khamuttskys did not have a good relationship with gold medals at the most prestigious international tournaments.
Vadim won the World Cup and the World League as part of the national team, but was unable to snatch victory in his main international finals. In 1999 in Austria, our volleyball players lost to the Italians in the final of the European Championship. A year later, at the Olympic Games in Sydney, gold had to be lost to Yugoslavia. In Argentina, at the 2002 World Cup, Hamutzikh and company lost to Brazil in a five-set match.
Vadim Khamuttskikh / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov
During the triumphant 2012 Olympic final for the Russian team, when they finally managed to snatch gold from the Brazilians, the 42-year-old setter had not yet finished his professional career, but was no longer called up to the national team. In 2013, the ex-player of Belogorye, Kazan Dynamo-Tattransgaz, Novy Urengoy Fakel, Yaroslavl Yaroslavich and Surgut Gazprom-Yugra finally ended his sports career and focused on coaching.
The first Russian Beard
Many fans remember Khamuttsky as a bright and emotional athlete who had a sense of humor. Vadim was the first in Russian volleyball to choose to put his nickname on his jersey instead of his last name. So, as part of Belogorye, the player Beard began to appear on the court.
Vadim Khamuttskikh / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya
By the way, in the international arena, Khamuttskikh also wanted to replace his surname, which was too long in Latin transcription, with a more laconic Boroda, but due to regulations, he was forced to go out onto the court in a T-shirt with the inscription Vadim on the back.
Over time, Beard turned into Vadim Anatolyevich. Working on the Belogorye coaching staff, Khamuttskikh helped the team take medals at the Russian Championship and reach the Cup final. But the great player was not destined to fully realize himself in the coaching profession.
— I mightn’t cope with my heart. I know that the day before the New Year I lay down to sleep and did not wake up. That’s all I know for now. Vadik is probably a passing character. The people are still of Soviet origin. A person who served in military service. He shouldn’t have had any volleyball career,” Match TV commentator Vladimir Stetsko told Sportbox.ru.
The official cause of death of the volleyball player was named cardiac arrest. Vadim is survived by his wife Tatyana, as well as two daughters, Olesya and Stanislava. Both, by the way, chose to continue their father’s path in sports: the eldest tried herself in volleyball, the younger focused on tennis.
A few months following the athlete’s death, the first children’s volleyball tournament in memory of Vadim Khamuttskikh took place in Tver. There were also plans to assign the name of the legendary player to the Youth League Cup, but this idea has not yet been realized.
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