Nikolai Nikolayevich Ozerov (; 11 December 1922 – 2 June 1997) was a Russian tennis player and actor, who was best known as a leading sports commentator of the Soviet Union in the 1950s–80s. He was awarded the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

in 1992, and received the

Paul Loicq Award The Paul Loicq Award is presented annually by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to honour a person who has made "outstanding contributions to the IIHF and international ice hockey". Named after Paul Loicq, who was president of the I ...

in 2016.

Biography

Ozerov was born to the opera singer Nikolai Ozerov Sr.; his mother Nadezhda trained as a stage actress, but abandoned her career to raise her two sons. His elder brother

Yuri Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

became a prominent film director, and his great-grandfather

Mikhail Vinogradov Michael is a common masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase ''mī kāʼēl'', 'Who slike-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (''Mīkhāʼēl'' ). The theophoric name is often read as a rhetorical question – "Who slike he Hebrew Go ...

was a notable 19th century composer. In the 1930s–60s Ozerov was a leading Soviet tennis player, and won 24 Soviet titles in singles and doubles between 1940 and 1963. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when the German army approached Moscow, Ozerov and a few remaining in Moscow tennis players were commissioned to play a long series of exhibition matches in various parts of the city. Those matches were enthusiastically covered by radio reports to raise the people's spirit. In 1941 Ozerov enrolled to the acting department of

GITIS The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) () is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, the school was founded on 22 September 1878 as the Shostakovsky Music School. It became the School of Mu ...

, and after graduating in 1946 joined the

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...

, where he played more than 20 roles. He was also featured as a sports commentator in 13 movies, such as ''The Hockey Players'' and ''

O Sport, You Are Peace! ''O Sport, You Are Peace!'' ( transliterated as O sport, ty - mir!) was a 1981 documentary film directed by Yuri Ozerov (director), Yuri Ozerov, who also co-wrote it. The documentary showed the opening and closing ceremonies, and sporting events of ...

.'' His sports commentator career began on 29 August 1950, when he had his first solo report of the association football match

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

vs.

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. The report was met with a positive feedback from the radio listeners, and in the early 1950s Ozerov semi-retired from tennis to devote himself to commentator's work; though he continued to win Soviet titles until 1963. As a commentator Ozerov covered

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

at 8 Olympics and 30 world championships, and football at 8 World Cups and 6 European championships, visiting approximately 50 countries. He also trained newcoming sports commentators such as

Vladimir Maslachenko Vladimir Nikitovich Maslachenko (; 5 March 1936 – 28 November 2010) was a Soviet and Russian footballer and football commentator. Biography Maslachenko was born in Vasylkivka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He was a native Ukrainian ( khokhol as he ...

Vladimir Pereturin Vladimir Ivanovich Pereturin (; 23 May 1938, Moscow – 22 May 2017, Moscow) was a Russian Soviet football player. He was winner of the Spartakiad of Peoples of the RSFSR (1959) and Master of Sports of the USSR. He was best known as a TV commen ...

Yevgeni Mayorov Yevgeni Aleksandrovich Mayorov (; 11 February 1938 – 10 December 1997) was a Russian ice hockey forward who played in the Soviet Hockey League for Spartak Moscow. He won the world title in 1963 and an Olympic gold medal in 1964. In 1963, Mayor ...

and

Anna Dmitrieva Anna Vladimirovna Dmitrieva (; 10 December 1940 — 24 June 2024) was a tennis player who competed for the Soviet Union, as well as a sports commentator. Biography Anna Dmitrieva started playing tennis at the age of 12. In less than a year she h ...

. During the last game of

Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (), or Series of the Century (), was an eight-game ice hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada, held in September 1972. It was the first competition between the Soviet nation ...

, after watching

Alan Eagleson Robert Alan Eagleson (born April 24, 1933) is a disbarred Canadian lawyer, hockey agent and promoter. Clients that he represented included superstars Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler. He was the first executive director of the NHL Players Assoc ...

and his supporters shoving fists and middle fingers to the Russian crowd, Ozerov uttered the phrase «We don't need such hockey!» () which became a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

among the Russian spectators.. In Russian Ozerov was forced to retire in 1988 as a result of competition on the Soviet television and radio. After that between 1992 and 1996 he served as chairman of the sports society Spartak, for which he previously played tennis and football. In the 1990s, he had his foot amputated after a

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

bite, and rarely left his house after that. Leg inflammation due to the bite, combined with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, eventually resulted in his death on 2 June 1997. He was buried at the

Vvedenskoye Cemetery Vvedenskoye Cemetery ( rus, Введенское кладбище, p=vʲːɪˈdʲenskəjə) is a historic cemetery in Lefortovo District of Moscow in Russia. Until 1918 it was mainly a burial ground for the Catholic and Protestant communities ...

in Moscow.

Personal life

Ozerov married aged 47, though he knew his wife since the age of 31. They had twins Nikolai and Nadezhda. Nikolai was a promising tennis player, but had to retire after a leg injury, which he received in a failed parachute jump while serving in the Soviet Army. Nadezhda received the

on behalf of her deceased father in 2016.

Awards and honors

*Honored Master of Sports (1947) *

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

(1957, 1978) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(1971) *

Honored Artist of the RSFSR Honored Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Zasluzhenny artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achievements in the ...

(1964) *

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, actors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achiev ...

(1973) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

(1982) *

(1992) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

(1992) *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

, 3rd class (1995) *

TEFI TEFI () is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as television shows ...

(1997) * Russian Tennis Hall of Fame (2003) *

(2016)

References

External links

Nikolai Ozerov at peoples.ru
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozerov, Nikolai 1922 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Russian male actors Male actors from Moscow Mass media people from Moscow Tennis players from Moscow Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni Honored Artists of the RSFSR Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR People's Artists of the RSFSR Paul Loicq Award recipients Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian association football commentators Russian sports journalists Soviet male tennis players Soviet sports journalists Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery