Many Russian athletes admit that the absence of the country’s anthem at international competitions greatly affects their motivation.

Once, at a tournament in the USA, our team was almost deprived of the opportunity to hear the national melody. However, the guys were not at a loss and gave something that even the Americans applauded!

Failed tournament

In 2013, the Russian men’s volleyball team was led by Andrey Voronkov. The specialist combined his work in the national team with a similar position in Lokomotiv Novosibirsk. The situation was difficult: at that time, something like a generational change was taking place in the national team, the composition was changing a lot.

However, all this did not prevent Voronkov from having a great first year on the team. Under his leadership, our volleyball players won the 2013 World League, as well as the European Championship. Alas, this was only a short-term effect. The following year, the Russians no longer won gold medals, and in the 2015 World League they suffered 10 defeats in a row. The last one was the game against the US team in Kaliningrad. Voronkov simply could not remain in his post any longer – he had to resign.

Andrey Voronkov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Maxim Bogodvid

The results of 2015 were disastrous, but one near-sports event still brightened up the performance of our team. This happened just during a meeting with the Americans. True, not in Russia, but away, in Long Beach. Then the team showed that despite all adversity it maintains a strong morale.

Technical difficulites

On June 5, the Russian team arrived in Long Beach (California) to meet with the Americans in the World League. Before the match, athletes traditionally had to hear the anthems of their own countries, and Alexandrov’s music was to be played first. However, something went wrong: the sound engineer at the control panel for some reason began to fuss, but there was still no sound. It became clear that some technical problems had occurred.

However, our athletes were not at a loss in the awkward situation. Team captain Andrei Ashchev began loudly singing the Russian anthem without music. His teammates immediately began helping him. The American public was completely delighted with the action of our guys. The stands applauded the Russians.

— Our team sang the anthem itself, to the applause of the American public. Guys, that was really strong. Gives me goosebumps,” setter Igor Kolodinsky wrote on social networks after the match.

The sound engineer also failed to reproduce the US anthem after this. The Americans followed the example of our volleyball players and also sang without music. However, here the gym became fully involved and helped its athletes.

Volleyball players of the Russian national team / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya

The Russian team lost that match with a score of 1:3. After the match, the players admitted that they were in search of optimal volleyball. However, unfortunately, it was not possible to find him. After another seven games, Andrei Voronkov left the team and was replaced by Vladimir Alekno. Already under his leadership, the team managed to win qualification for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2016 Games, the team was close to medals, but in the match for third place they lost to the same Americans.