Just as the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Helsinki (FIN) drew to a close, gymnastic competitions got underway with the first participation of a Soviet Team in the history of the Olympic Games. The Soviet men's team was led by team captain, Viktor Chukarin, an extraordinary 31 year old gymnast who had just emerged from a hellish past.

His story begins on November 9, 1921, the day he was born in the seaside town of Marioupol, Ukraine, on the Sea of Azov. His passion for gymnastics began early on, when gave himself entirely to the sport. Viktor swiftly proved himself a naturally talented gymnast.

With the outbreak of World War II, Chukarin's promising career would be put on hold.  The situation degenerated with each passing day, until, as a soldier in the Red Army, his unit was finally surrounded. Chukarin was wounded and captured alongside his commander, Soviet High Jump champion, Sidorenko. Time and again, Viktor attempted escape from the camp where he was being held; too weak to succeed, he was taken to a concentration camp where he would exchange his given name for serial number 10491, a harbinger of the 4 long years of horror he would endure. In April 1945, herded with his fellow prisoners onto a boat laden with explosives, he was abandoned on the high seas and left to drift to his death. After four days, they were spotted and rescued by a British warship.

After his liberation, Viktor returned to his home on May 9, 1945, Victory Day. To such an extent had the long years of hardship altered his physique, his own mother failed to recognise him. He rested, regained his strength and enrolled in the Institute of Physical Culture to start a new life. Viktor Chukarin would go on to win 11 Olympic medals, 7 of which were Gold. He trained countless champions and would be revered by generations of gymnasts.

At the time of his liberation, Chukarin confessed, 'I thought the war would be a short one. In my soldier’s bag, I had included a tin of chalk, hoping to practise my sport the first chance I got. I guarded it carefully until the battle against the Nazi forces. I suffered great hardship during those years, but I emerged from that time with a greater understanding of life, purified of my vanity and uncertainties.'

"The life of Viktor Chukarin, and the talent that was his, would evoke deep respect. At the 1956 Games in Melbourne, his rival Japanese Takashi Ono said of him, 'This man is strength. It is impossible to defeat him !" /phs