Vladimir Samsonov: “Every athlete dreams about victorious career ending”

This night Vladimir Samsonov was on the cusp of winning the Olympic medal.

Earlier that day he played in semifinal. Samsonov played out all of his will and endurance, challenging for every point in the game.

In the semifinal he lost to Chang J.K., the two-time Olympic champion of the Games in London and silver medalist of the Rio 2016.

In the game for a bronze Japanese Jun Mizutani again overmatched Vladimir (4:1). He suffered an injury in the game with Ovtcharov, and this trauma became the principle factor that hindered him playing effectively. By the way, Samsonov was the only European in the semifinals. To a certain extent, his 4^th position also can be regarded as victory, since Asian athletes remain undisputed leaders in table tennis.

4^th place is the highest Samsonov’s Olympic achievement. The Rio 2016 is his sixth Olympiad.

“Obviously, whatever you’re doing, you should complete it successfully. What’s important, you have to do something in order to succeed. Once you’re at the Olympiad, focus on challenging tasks. I tried hard to act like that”.

Vladimir considers the game with the Japanese to be one of the most remarkable in his life. It was preceded by the game with J.K., the one whom Vladimir wanted to crash. It was a some kind of moment of truth.

Many times the Belarusian athlete faced Asian rivals, including Ma Loon, Chang J.K, Jun Mizutani. Vladimir acknowledges that performance statistics has never been in his favor. The game was marked by high grade of tension and unpredictability. The whole match the Japanese held the initiative.

Vladimir is eager to continue playing. He will go on to victorious and glorious end of his career. 

Text by Uladzimir Zdanovich

Photo by Aliaksandr Semianiaka