The XXVII International Freestyle Wrestling Tournament in memory of Captain 3rd Rank Anatoly Ispenkov and the deceased crew members of the submarine "Komsomolets" will bring together about 200 athletes in Vitebsk, the city executive committee informed a BELTA correspondent.
The XXVII International Freestyle Wrestling Tournament in memory of Captain 3rd Rank Anatoly Ispenkov and the deceased crew members of the submarine "Komsomolets" will bring together about 200 athletes in Vitebsk, the city executive committee informed a BELTA correspondent.
The tournament in memory of Anatoly Ispenkov and his fallen fellow submariners will be held on January 20-21 at the Vitebsk sports complex of OJSC "Vityaz". The initiative to hold the competition was once put forward by Ispenkov's former classmate, coach Anatoly Kovalenko.
It is expected that this year athletes from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova, Estonia, and Belarus will compete on the wrestling mat.
On April 7, 1989, the Northern Fleet's nuclear submarine "Komsomolets" (K-278) sank in the Norwegian Sea due to a fire. Of the 69 crew members, 42 died, including Captain 3rd Rank Anatoly Ispenkov, an engineer and commander of the submarine's electrical division. In the emergency situation, he replaced the duty officer at the diesel generator who had lost consciousness and, performing his duties, supplied the submarine with electricity so that at least part of the crew could be saved. Vitebsk Secondary School No. 8, which has a memorial plaque dedicated to Ispenkov, bears the name of its heroic student.