| Guest | Re: 'Sasha' Zinoviev, 43, cycling champ, dies
This may be the result of contamination from Chernobyl. See:
http://www.eapceast.org/upload/Mikha...%202002doc.doc
Let's hope the future bodes well for his family.
"Garrison Hilliard" <garrison@efn.org> wrote in message
news:cvipom$no1$1@luna.vcn.bc.ca...
>
> Wednesday, February 23, 2005
> 'Sasha' Zinoviev, 43, cycling champ
>
> By Rebecca Goodman
> Enquirer staff writer
>
>
> Alexandre M. Zinoviev
> Zoom
> DEERFIELD TWP. - Alexandre M. "Sasha" Zinoviev, a two-time world cycling
> champion and Soviet sports hero, died Monday of gastric cancer at
> University Hospital. The Landen resident was 43.
>
> Mr. Zinoviev was captain of the Soviet team that won the 1983 world team
> time championship. He was preparing for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles
> when the Soviet Union boycotted the games.
>
> The Soviet team took first place in an alternative competition of Eastern
> Bloc nations. In 1985, the Soviets beat the Italian team that had won the
> Olympic gold medal.
>
> "I talked to some of the officials that were at (the Olympics in) L.A.,
> and they said that the Soviet team was so strong, there was no way they
> would not have won that gold medal" had they been permitted to compete,
> said Charlie Wright of Montgomery, a friend and amateur cyclist.
>
> Mr. Zinoviev received a medal for outstanding achievement and citizenship
> from the Soviet government after he won a race through a number of
> countries in Western and Eastern Europe to promote world peace. The
> manager of Greg LeMond's team recruited Mr. Zinoviev, but the Soviet Union
> squelched the move. In 1986, LeMond became the first American to win the
> Tour de France.
>
> Born in Velikie Luki, Russia, on May 3, 1961, Mr. Zinoviev held degrees in
> computer programming and physical education from the College of Kharkiv in
> what is now Ukraine. He became a professional cyclist and coached the
> Soviet national team in 1990.
>
> That year, he came to the United States as part of a cycling Sister City
> exchange between Cincinnati and Kharkiv, which was organized by the
> Cincinnati Cycle Club. In Greater Cincinnati for 10 days that summer, he
> met Wright, who owned two bike shops.
>
> "He asked me if he could come back the following winter and spend a month
> to learn more about American business," Wright recalled. So Mr. Zinoviev,
> who spoke no English, returned in December to work at one of Wright's
> stores.
>
> Mr. Zinoviev went home and continued his racing career. After retiring in
> 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he returned to Greater
> Cincinnati to start a bike shop with Wright's help. He operated the
> Kharkiv Bike and Skate Shop on the Little Miami Bike Trail in Loveland for
> six months in 1993. After his visa expired, he returned to Kharkiv, where
> he married.
>
> "He wanted to come back to the U.S. for a longer period. He had a choice -
> taking what he learned back to Kharkiv and start a business there, or
> working toward living in the United States," Wright said. "That was a real
> tough decision. ... However, there was a lot of instability in Kharkiv."
>
> Mr. Zinoviev obtained a work permit to coach cycling for Queen City
> Wheels, a local bike-racing club. He got a green card through a
> lottery. His name was one of 110,000 drawn from 8.5 million
> applicants. Only 55,000 of those actually received green
> cards. Mr. Zinoviev became a U.S. citizen in 2001.
>
> He owned and managed Klip Co., a beauty salon in Loveland, and was a
> senior program analyst for United Medical Resources in Blue Ash. "He asked
> so little and just gave so much," said Vickie Buyniski Gluckman, owner and
> founder of the company. "He was worried about the company and not about
> himself. I would have loved to have 300 Alexes working for me."
>
> His wife, Lora Korzh Zinoviev, said: "Everyone was moved by my husband's
> performance and intelligence. He was an exceptional man."
>
> His friend Wright said, "He was a champion in sports, and he was a
> champion in life."
>
> In addition to his wife, survivors include a daughter, Polena Alexandra
> Zinoviev, 10.
>
> Visitation: noon to 2 p.m. today, followed by the funeral at
> Nurre-Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home, 10211 Plainfield Road. Burial will
> be at Rest Haven Memorial Park.
>
> Memorials: Polena A. Zinoviev Scholarship Fund, c/o C.L. Foy, Northside
> Bank and Trust, 4125 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45223.
>
> http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...98/1060/NEWS01
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