John dupont biography in Russian. Alexander Tambovtsev told about the real events of the film "Foxcatcher"! Mark Schultz - mixed martial artist

"- this is a story about the owner of Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling Mark Schultz. While preparing for the Games, he is approached by a representative of one of richest families America John du Pont(Steve Carell).

dupont is a middle-aged man who is interested in wrestling and lives in a huge estate with his mother (Vanessa Redgrave). He lures Brand and his older, more successful brother Dave(Mark Ruffalo) to his estate, promising a lot of money and excellent conditions for training. Your promise dupont held back, but strange behavior becomes more dangerous as time goes on...

The ending, perhaps, will seem to someone too dramatic, but do not forget that " fox hunter"- a biographical picture. Here are some facts about what can be said to be true about the life of the brothers in the film. Schultz and what is the artistic interpretation of this truth.

Attention, the text contains spoilers!

1 The Dupont Estate Was A Set

In 1919 Jean DuPont, nee Austin, married William Dupont Jr., great-grandson of the founder of a gunpowder company that later grew into a multinational chemical enterprise. As wedding gift from the father of the bride, the young received 200 hectares of land in the state of Pennsylvania and a beautiful mansion, similar to the presidential residence James Madison and built on the land of the father of the bride. John was the youngest of four children du Pont. When Mark Schultz first arrived in Pennsylvania, he was informed that he could not enter the mansion without an invitation. The film did not use the building itself, but its scenery, although the shooting was carried out in Pennsylvania.

2. Jean Dupont was obsessed with horses

In the movie Mrs Horse dupont- the most valuable property of the family. And in real life it was true. Real Mrs. dupont knew how to ride a horse very well early childhood. She also bred horses and took care of them herself. redgrave in the role of this woman will appear in the frame only a couple of times, but you will definitely see that she either cares for animals or talks about them. The house even has a room where the awards presented to her for victories in horseback riding are kept. And it is in this room that her son wants to add prizes for winning wrestling competitions.

3. Mark Schultz was unemployed

In the film, the youngest of the brothers Shultsov an unknown person calls and asks when he can go to Pennsylvania to meet Mr. dupont. Upon arrival, he learns that dupont gave him a place to train in his house. AND Schultz have to quit work.

In life, everything was a little different: Mark just left work and dupont invited him to take part in new program training, developed on the basis of Villanova University, located not even in Philadelphia. According to the present Mark Schultz, training was carried out in the nearest estate du Pont- a place called Foxcatcher» (« fox hunter»).

4. DuPont actually brought a gun to practice.

dupont was known for wearing a tracksuit without taking it off. The only time he wore something more or less formal was to a cocktail. He also required members of his team to call him Eagle, and, in fact, that's what they call him in the film.

And yes Eagle often walked around with a gun. In one of the scenes in the movie dupont enters the gym and shoots at the ceiling. Something similar happened in real life in 1995: dupont appeared in the gym during training and put a gun to the chest of one of the athletes there.

5. Dupont wrote speeches for his athletes and was like a father to them.

In the beginning of the movie dupont calling Brand to a formal meeting where he asks him to speak. They fly to a meeting in a private helicopter du Pont. The last one on the way takes cocaine and offers Mark do the same thing. He also gives him a pre-written speech, which Schultz subsequently read to the audience. Among other things, it contained the following words: I have been looking for my father all my life and found him. This John du Pont ". According to the real Mark Schultz, dupont held award ceremonies, to which he actually wrote speeches praising him as a father and mentor.

6. Mark and Dave have never been to the estate at the same time.

In film Mark so enamored with a dangerous charm du Pont, which forces his older brother to leave the family and go to help him on the estate. brothers in life Schultz never lived in an estate under the same roof. Mark left from " fox hunter in 1988, after spending two years on the estate. Dave arrived there in 1989 and stayed until his death in 1996.

magazine "CARAVAN OF HISTORIES", February 2000.

The surrounding towns of Wilmington seem like a piece of France - every now and then road signs flicker: Nemours, Sheanne. Boret de Fossey, Montchanet and Granois. Until recently, the French language prevailed on the streets of each of them - for a hundred years in a row, the Du Ponts hired mainly French people.

To outsiders, Dupont de Nemours is a giant multinational company with $211 billion in assets, subsidiaries in Europe and Latin America, a world monopoly on nylon, orlon, dacron and teflon, dozens of chemical plants, the production of aircraft and weapons. By the middle of the twentieth century, there were already about one and a half thousand Du Ponts; five hundred people were considered multimillionaires, two hundred and fifty were part of the inner circle of the family, eight decided her fate. Delaware is accustomed to the DuPonts: Edward DuPont, first vice president of the Wilmington Trust Company, the center of the clan's financial power, until recently sat with his managers in the city club and was one of the best parishioners of the city church.

The famous Dupont hunts and balls are a thing of the distant past - after the First World War, which brought them hundreds of millions, they hunted foxes, sitting on blooded stallions, surrounded by hunters and packs of hounds, in eighteenth-century camisoles, cocked hats and powdered wigs. On family holidays they danced in the costumes of marquises and marquises of the time of Louis XV and drove home in gilded carriages - their estates, built in the manner of feudal castles and Versailles palaces, still surround Wilmington. For about two hundred years, the Du Ponts have personified a special aristocratic style - unobtrusive wealth and effective power; about them family secrets, adultery, suicides, sudden and tragic deaths, legends still tell about the madness that haunts this kind of madness in the city.

Darkened ancestral portraits hang in the front hall of the Wilmington Trust Company: a fair-haired lady and a stately, broad-faced gentleman in a powdered wig open the gallery. The official Dupont family tree describes the meeting of the founders of the dynasty in idyllic colors: a fragile blond girl sat in her attic on the Rue de Richelieu, painted miniatures and looked out the window opposite. hosted there beautiful poses while practicing the noble art of fencing, a strong young man Pierre Samuel Dupont, her watchmaker neighbor: he stopped the feint, the sword stuck into the target painted on the wall ... Anna Alexandrina had large Blue eyes, soft skin and a highly developed imagination: she dreamed of great love and saw in a neighbor (large nose, proud stand and wide shoulders) the embodiment of all perfections. Anna Alexandrina, left an orphan at the age of 8, lived at the mercy of rich relatives until she was sixteen - she grew up with her uncle and aunt own daughter and the girls became friends. When they turned into young ladies, the pupil was offered a place as a housekeeper on a distant estate - otherwise she could go to all four sides. She chose the latter: now, having settled on the street of watchmakers, the dowry earned a living by painting dials. A few months later, Samuel and Anna Alexandrina got married: the watchmaker was a Protestant and, having learned that a pretty neighbor shared his faith, he decided to take her down the aisle. She moved her belongings across the Rue Richelieu and settled in the very room where she had first seen her husband. Anna Alexandrina is only sixteen. In a few years, she will be severely disappointed in her marriage.

One of the main life principles of Mr. Dupont was deep ignorance: his ancestors professed Protestantism (and were considered dissidents in Catholic France), many of his Huguenot friends were in prison, which is why Samuel preferred to keep a low profile. He had his own method of self-preservation: Mr. Dupont could neither read nor write - therefore, royal officials could not accuse him of studying forbidden books. He didn't know a single letter or a single number, and on top of that, he was as stubborn as a donkey and narcissistic as a peacock. Educated and educated Anna Alexandrina had a hard time with him.

Their son Pierre grew up as an extraordinary child. He resembled his father only with a huge, like an eagle's beak, nose (a large nose still remains a hereditary feature of the Du Ponts - like the heavy jaw of the Habsburgs or the protruding lip of the Bourbons). From childhood, Pierre was lame, weak and unhealthy, but he had a brilliant memory and a quick mind: at the age of twelve he knew French grammar by heart and freely translated from Latin. Pierre turned out to be a kind boy: when the red-haired, freckled and stupid cousin Marianne fell ill with smallpox, the brother sat by her bed for days and became infected as a result. A few days later, doctors, not finding a pulse in him, pronounced him dead. All night before the funeral, heartbroken Anna sat at the coffin of her son, praying for the repose of his soul. By morning, the mother dozed off, when suddenly Pierre's cry woke her up: the boy survived, although his face was hopelessly disfigured.

Smallpox marks covered his cheeks and forehead, one eye was struck by farsightedness, the other by myopia: over the years, Pierre Dupont decided that in this way fate marks his chosen ones. "I am grateful to nature and chance," he wrote in his memoirs, "for giving me the opportunity to have the entire range of vision." The mother sobbed, the father forced his son to engage in fencing - Samuel Dupont considered the sword a universal remedy that strengthens the body and spirit. In the evenings, they practiced attacks, and spent their days at work: the father decided to make a watchmaker out of his son. So several years passed, and then Anna Alexandrina died in childbirth. Before her death, joining the hands of her husband and son, she said: "Try to live happily."

They did not succeed - after the death of his mother, Pierre went astray. He made acquaintances with aspiring writers and young actors, drank with them, disappeared backstage and went to brothels. In addition, the young man fell into writing poetry and became addicted to empty thoughts: he closed himself in the attic and meditated for hours, staring at the ceiling beam. Once, having caught Pierre doing this, his father beat him like a dog, and then threw him out of the house. A lame, disfigured by smallpox, half-blind young man found himself on the streets of Paris without a penny in his pocket - this is how brilliant career Pierre Dupont, a publicist and businessman, a friend of the American president and an entourage of the French king.

Friends did not let the poor man die of hunger - a familiar watchmaker took him to work. A few years later, Pierre came to his father's workshop, holding in his hands a magnificent watch in a carved oak case with a chased silver dial. It was engraved with the inscription: "Designed and made by the son of Dupont, dedicated to the father." Pierre bowed silently, handed Samuel a gift and left his home - this time forever. So he paid off his filial duty and forever got rid of guilt. And that the priest could not read the dedication and did not understand its meaning even when a competent neighbor came to his aid - before that, Pierre did not care in the slightest.

Many years have passed since then, but Samuel Dupont never saw his son again. Pierre did not even come to his funeral - now he lived a different life. Pierre Dupont became a friend and adviser to the Prime Minister of France, Baron Turgot, edited an influential magazine, successfully speculated on the stock exchange and attended receptions with the king.

It all started with the fact that Pierre Dupont wrote an economic essay that accidentally caught the eye of Baron Turgot. The dignitary was struck by the style and perfection of the argument, and he took the young talent under his wing. Soon Pierre was offered a great job with a big salary. The career was secured, now he could think about the family.

When he was poor and persecuted, he was taken in by his mother's relatives, Messrs. Dor. On their estate lived Charlotte Marie Louise Le Deux, who was also distant relatives of Pierre. She was a slightly overgrown girl (at that time she was already eighteen), and the nearest neighbor, a fifty-five-year-old tax collector, a widower who drove two wives into a coffin, was considered by the patrons of Marie Louise a good match. Pierre was always distinguished by chivalrous inclinations, and Marie was smart and pretty, and he rushed to her aid, promising to marry. The young man asked to be given two years - during this time he promised to put his affairs in order. Young Dupont kept his promise, although by that time it had already become clear that there was no love at all. However, this did not stop Marie Le Deux from giving him two sons - one of them, following the already established family tradition rebelled against his father...

Portraits of both of Pierre Dupont's sons hang in the front hall of the Wilmington Trust Company. The tall, dark-haired, handsome Victor did not want to study and failed any business: he was like two drops of water like his grandfather, Samuel Dupont. The youngest, Elether Irene, inherited his father's traits and talents: short stature, firm mouth, pronounced abilities for science and serious attitude to life. Pierre sent him to study with his friend, the famous chemist Lavoisier, who headed the powder mines of the French kingdom. A few years later, Elether Irene knew absolutely everything about gunpowder: it was he who laid the foundation of the Du Pont empire.

But the old life was swept away by the revolution - in 1799, the Du Ponts fled from France, because they were among those who tried to protect the king. Father and sons, together with courtiers loyal to Louis XVI, fired back at the sans-culottes in the Tuileries Palace, then, miraculously avoiding the guillotine, lay down on the bottom - and yet they could not settle in a new life. The ship, the American Eagle, which left Toulon, was loaded with their furniture, pianos, and silverware. For the entire three-month journey across the Atlantic, the Du Ponts guarded their property with drawn swords in their hands - the team did not inspire confidence in them.

The American Eagle landed in Newport Bay, Rhode Island, and the Du Ponts disembarked and headed for the nearest house. Pierre knocked - they did not open it; he looked out the window and saw the table set. Bells were ringing, a Christmas service was going on in the church, a turkey was waiting for the owners of the house and Apple pie, which they never tried: the du Ponts broke into the house and, in the name of freedom, equality and fraternity, ate everything that was on the table. The dawn of a frosty morning on January 1, 1800 was engaged in - it began new Age, and in America it became the century of the du Ponts.

They brought with them two hundred thousand francs in cash - before leaving France, Pierre Dupont established for land speculation Joint-Stock Company"Pontiania" and issued shares. But America was teeming with its speculators, who had long ago raised the price of undeveloped land. Then Pierre Dupont took up the smuggling of Spanish gold, which also did not succeed. He never got rich, but he made a contribution to history - Dupont Sr., while still in France, met the future US President Thomas Jefferson, and he entrusted him with mediation in negotiations between France and the United States. Thanks to Dupont, Napoleon sold Louisiana to America, and its territory doubled.

The United States saved a lot of money on this deal, but Pierre Dupont himself did not make a dime from it. Victor forced him out of business and, becoming the head of the company, finally ruined the "Pontiania". Pierre fell into melancholy and died a few years later. Victor briefly outlived his father, dying on a New York street from heart attack. Now the family is headed by Elether Irene. During his reign, the DuPonts have become a closed clan, shrouded in legends, living by their own laws. Irene had three sons and twenty-four grandchildren. They were fond of chemistry, tried their hand at business, and the family business traditionally went to the most gifted and quirky. The du Ponts no longer dealt with land - now they made money from death ...

Quiet, withdrawn Irene did not at all look like a businessman. He was what he seemed: a scientist to the core, a man obsessed with chemical formulas. In addition to their academic merit new head The clan was observant and had a sense of the situation. America turned out to be a country of armed men, and Elether Irene knew how to make the best gunpowder in the world. And soon, in the town of Brandywine, the millstones of powder mills began to spin, and the Du Ponts' passion for the theory of explosives has now become hereditary. True, they changed their name: in democratic America, the plebeians of Du Pont turned into French aristocrats du Pont de Nemours. The children of the Parisian watchmaker began to call themselves marquises, Nemours, the village where Pierre Dupont met Marie Le Deux, turned into their family estate.

What was going on in the world, the people of Brandywine did not learn from the newspapers. The Du Pont gunpowder factories were located here, and if there was a war somewhere, the mines worked in two shifts. However, this was quickly learned in neighboring towns - in a hurry, workers forgot about safety rules, and explosions were heard for tens of kilometers, and a column of fire sometimes threw people across the river into the streets of a neighboring village.

The du Ponts fed the whole area, and were treated with almost religious reverence - they were lucky, rich and made more and more perfect gunpowder. But no one felt love for them: too many Brandywine men died in their mines. The stories that were told about them in the city were more like scary tales that are told to children on Halloween.

The old people said that the Dupont clan had a special fate: they live differently, but they die the same way. It is no coincidence that Eleter Irene, who survived his brother by seven years, clutched his heart on the same New York street as Victor, and he was carried to die in the same room of the same hotel. It was said that they always had to pay for their sins: under Alfred Dupont, son of Irene, who headed the company in 1837 (according to the portrait, he had a big nose, fleshy cheeks and a sharp, penetrating gaze), the powder mines worked around the clock. Accidents followed one after another - as a result, he experienced such a strong nervous shock that he was forced to retire.

They also remembered the shadow of the unfortunate Cowan, a former worker in the du Pont mines. Some of the old men swore that they themselves saw him wandering around the house of Henry Dupont, younger brother and Alfred's successor: in one hand the ghost held the Bible, in the other - the same rope ... In 1852, two powder mines exploded, and Henry blamed Cowan for this. The poor man swore on the Bible that it was not his fault, but Dupont put him out the door, and that same night Cowan hanged himself.

The old people talked about retribution: a few years later, Alexis Dupont died in a mine explosion. When his brother's eyes were closed, Henry Dupont turned gray.

During the war between the North and the South, the mines exploded 11 times: 43 people died, hundreds of people were mutilated. The Duponts also had to pay for this: fate took its toll on poor Charlotte Shepard Henderson DuPont, one of the most beautiful women of his time.

She came from an old southern family. The brothers fought on the side of the Confederates, and the husband's family armed Lincoln's army, and poor Charlotte found herself between two fires: those who were dear to her became enemies. The mother-in-law, a strong-willed and domineering lady, commanded the house. The case ended in a nervous breakdown, from which Charlotte never recovered and died a few years later in an insane asylum. Her husband, Irene Dupont II, blamed her mother for what happened and did not say a word to her until his death.

Some people in Wilmington still believe that the DuPonts have a special gift: they make themselves and their loved ones miserable. However, most do not believe in this: the days when the Du Ponts traded in death have sunk into the past. Now they have a completely "vegetarian" business: nylon, orlon, teflon, tights, windbreakers, non-burning pans, mineral fertilizers, medicines - in total more than twenty thousand items of various goods.

But the Wilmington gossips, no, no, and they will remember the fate of Wallace Carrothers. The inventor of nylon, which brings the DuPont S 4.5 billion a year, made women's waists thin and bellies flat, died in madness and obscurity. He struggled with the nylon formula for almost ten years - from 1928 to 1937, discovered it and landed in a psychiatric clinic. And after leaving the hospital and celebrating his forty-first birthday, he locked himself in a hotel room and took potassium cyanide. Carrothers' wife was two months pregnant, but that didn't stop him.

Another reason to gossip about the DuPonts appeared four years ago, when John DuPont, already an elderly gentleman who had been studying biology all his life, in a fit of sudden madness, shot a friend, Olympic wrestling champion George Schultz, who stopped by to have a glass of whiskey. The lawyers did a good job, and John du Pont was declared insane. This was a great success: in the worst case, he was threatened with life imprisonment, for murder without aggravating circumstances they could be given from twenty-eight to forty years, and he got off with five years in a psychiatric hospital. Those who had seen John before did not recognize him in the courtroom: a tangled beard, long dirty, gray hair in one week ... When the jury reached a verdict, the killer's father said that the term for which he was convicted of great importance does not have: in a prisoner's uniform or without it, but John Dupont will spend the rest of his life in prison. Exactly one year later, he will be released from a psychiatric clinic, and he will settle away from people, in the Du Pont estate, located in Philadelphia. Where one of John's relatives lived out her life, the insane Charlotte Shepard Henderson DuPont.

But the Du Ponts themselves are not inclined to believe the sinister legends about a family curse that haunts their family. For a long time, the current head of the Dupont family, Pierre Samuel, the fourth, was the governor of the state of Delaware, a courteous and well-mannered gentleman, a former candidate for the US presidency. Every year, the numerous genus increases by about thirty strong, red-cheeked, big-nosed babies. The du Pont empire is expanding, the scientists working for it are inventing new high-tech, facilitating human life toys. And one and a half thousand shareholders, who had the good fortune to be born under the name of DuPont, live in peace and contentment.

Now in the Russian box office, we recall, there is an Oscar-nominated film "", where one of the episodes tells about the fight between the head coach Voronezh region in freestyle wrestling, world champion Alexander Tambovtsev and one of the three most titled wrestlers in the United States, listed in the Guinness Book of Records, Mark Schultz at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. After this fight, which our countryman won, Schultz lost his chances of winning the Olympics, left his sports career and started drinking, a few years later his brother Dave was shot on his birthday by patron John Dupont.

A film by American director Bennett Miller about the fate of the Schultz brothers was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was highly appreciated by world film critics, including director Andrei Zvyagintsev, the author of the film received the prize for best director, the film itself was nominated for the Palme d'Or, and the performers of the main roles are nominated for an Oscar.

We met with Alexander Tambovtsev to find out the details real history 27 years ago, which formed the basis of the film.

Plot of the film
The Schultz brothers are two American wrestlers. Younger brother Mark is in the shadow of his older brother Dave. Appears philanthropist John DuPont. He offers his help to Mark. Money, a gym, a team - everything you need to win the World Championships and the Olympics. He invites him to become the best wrestler in the world. Mark agrees - for him this is the only chance to get out of the shadow of his brother. Mark begins to train at the patron's villa, and eventually wins the world championship. Dupont begins to have delusions of grandeur. He appears everywhere with Mark, sniffs and offers Mark cocaine, after a while Mark abandons training, starts drinking. Dupont is angry. He invites his brother Dave to lead the Foxcatchers team. Mark is unhappy with this decision. Dave arrives at the villa, wants to meet his brother (he sincerely loves him), but Mark rejects him. Mark loses the fight at the Seoul Olympics. Dave supports his brother in every possible way, helps to cope with depression, but in the end, Mark still leaves the villa. Dave stays to coach the team. On the day off, Dupont drives up to his house. Dave is fixing his car. With surprise, and at the same time with joy, he welcomes the patron. Dupont, without saying a word, takes out a weapon and shoots the wrestler several times. The film ends with the fact that the police handcuff Dupont and put him in a helicopter.

We are already talking about the fact that some events in the film are shown not quite the way they happened in real life. For example, in fact, Dupont shot Dave during the celebration of the wrestler's birthday, which the philanthropist himself organized at his villa. There is also a controversial point: it follows from the film that Dupont hooked Mark on drinking and cocaine, however, according to another version, Dupont appeared in Mark's life when he was already rolling downhill, and vice versa, pulled him out.

What is really happened at the 1988 Seoul Olympics? Coincidence or fate: how are the fates of the Tambovtsev brothers from Voronezh and the Schultz brothers from California similar? And much more in our exclusive interview with Alexander Tambovtsev.

“Mark was withdrawn, and Dave could not be pissed off by anyone or anything.”

- Did you watch the movie?

— Yes, I looked.

Picked up very similar artists. Especially Dave. I remember him well - he was such a handsome man! I liked him so much! Dave sorry for what to say.

Mark and Dave are two opposite people. It was more difficult to communicate with Mark. He was very closed, did not dispose to himself. And Dave will come up, joke something, hug. Dave always traveled with his wife and children - skets were like that, they climbed everywhere while he was training.

And at the same time, I saw how literate he was, how he could tune in - his head worked on the move. I remember for the rest of my life how Dave prepared for the fight and the fight with Magamadov at the Tbilisi tournament for first or second place. Magamadov is a Chechen. At that time he was the first number of the Union. We are sitting in a restaurant having lunch. And in the evening, it's the finale. I've been watching Dave. He went in, sat down, began to have dinner. I look, I ate three spoons - pushed the plate away. Someone approached him, said something - he does not pay attention. I see it's set up. The second did not eat. Got up, went.

He was like that. Whoever said anything to him is useless. Everything, he went into himself.

Center: Mark and Dave Schultz

Right: Mark and Dave Schultz. Left: John DuPont

The fight begins, and Magamadov was such a dandy, how he will plant him! Well, that's tough. Specifically, to piss him off, so that Schultz starts freaking out. That one is zero emotion. Didn't even notice at all! Look, it's all gone. Magamadov hits the ground, climbs on the stretch, and so invests in it! He was flexible! And Schultz breaks his back and puts him down. Purely! Victory!

After that, Magamadov quit sports. I didn't see him anywhere else.

I am like that too. If someone touches me, I will go into myself. The hardest thing, you know who to fight? When you feel that the opponent is weaker than you, or - good man. And when you know that he is a vile type, everything boils right up! I also won in my weight category in Tbilisi. I never wrestled with Dave - he has weight category lower (he fought at 74 kg, and I at 82 kg). And we met Mark twice: at the World Championships (I lost that fight) and at the Seoul Olympics (I won there).

“Mark could not be a drug addict! America has the strongest wrestlers!”

What is true in the film and what is fiction?

- In the film, Mark was made a drug addict. How could he be a drug addict? Of course he wasn't! Can you imagine what freestyle wrestling is in America? I have been there many times. I fought for the World Cup, went to meetings of our teams, they were held annually for four years. And I know what their freestyle wrestling is. This is one of the most developed sports. In their schools, not like ours, physical education is educational program, they have freestyle wrestling for boys. And the selection to the national team begins from school. In America, this is tough. You win - go. If you don't win, you won't go. Finances don't matter there. Well, how could he be a drug addict to get into the Olympics?

I fought all the best wrestlers in America - they are very cool wrestlers. In America, it is generally very difficult to fight. They put on such a show! Imagine: full hall people, 50 thousand spectators, you go out onto the carpet - the stands roar, the spotlights shine. You give a little slack - that's all, you are a khan.

World Cup, USA, 1988

The film showed a moment from the Olympic Games, the most recent fight, where Mark lost to the Turk. Yes, he lost this fight. But we must not forget that before meeting with the Turk, he won four meetings. It wasn't shown at all. They showed that Mark was not ready for the Olympics. But it's not! He was very well prepared!

“The fight at the Seoul Olympics was fixed!”

What really happened at the 1988 Seoul Olympics?

- For the Olympic medal in the category up to 82 kilograms ( average weight) fought 29 people. We were divided into two groups. The four best athletes from each group advanced to the final bouts.

I had a fight with a Turk. I lost it. How did it happen. I led two points. The Turk passes in the foot, I sit down on the sitting (“shooting out”, “passes the leg” - techniques in freestyle wrestling, - approx. site). I lose one point, and they give him 3 points for throwing. And until the end of the meeting - 20 seconds. But there was no throw! Naturally, an appeal had to be filed. I don't think I lost this fight. Guilty though, yes. It was impossible to relax.

World Championship in Budapest, 1986

Why didn't you file an appeal?

- The coach comes up to me and says: “Sasha, we will not appeal. Fight further. Your main rival is Schultz. You will win him." And so it happened.

Schultz has one fight left - with the Turk. What does this fight decide? If Schultz wins, I am the first in the group, fighting for gold medal. If Schulz loses, then the first one is the Turk. In any case, Schultz is no longer fighting for the first place.

Kislovodsk, training, 1988

But what struck me. After the first period, he begins to lose to the Turk - he gives points and smiles defiantly! I looked at the monitor - we had a hall below - this fight, and I was simply discouraged. I immediately understood that the fight was over. You have to be a fool not to understand this. He defiantly turns around, smiling. Defiantly shows: I - do not fight, I did not lose, I gave it away. I can’t find this fight anywhere, I need to show people - even non-professionals will understand everything.

- Has an agreement been made?

— I don't know, but there were such conversations.

Schultz in any case did not become Olympic champion. At best, he could be third. And he became the sixth. For money, he gave the fight or something else - I don’t know. And why did he have to give it away so defiantly? He is no longer the first, what should he prove? I don't know what really happened.

But the fight - my opinion - was a contractual one. Such a high-class athlete as Schultz cannot lose like that. The Turk is the wrong type of wrestler, Schultz should have won. This is how you don't lose fights at the Olympics. I passed this Olympics, I know. There, all the wrestlers give their last strength. What makes the Olympics different from other competitions. There people fight to the last.

As far as I understood, talking with the Americans, they are all businessmen. They just won't give up the fight.

Have you ever been offered money?

- What about your friends?

- It happened.

USSR Championship, Yakutsk, 1985

— But why did Schultz have to sell the fight? He also received a good salary - the philanthropist Dupont paid.

- Well I do not know.

There were rumors that Dupont did not share something with the brothers. They said he was psychologically unwell, he had delusions of grandeur. There were various rumors. But it is not a fact that because of this everything happened.

- And because of what Mark could leave the sport?

- Because of anything. Could do business.

The fate of the Tambovtsev brothers and the Schultz brothers

USSR national team, 1987

- I know that you have a younger brother, Eugene, who was also engaged in freestyle wrestling. He, like Mark, was in the shadows, left the sport ... An amazing coincidence! It turns out that he is Russian Mark, and you are Dave. Are the fates of the Tambovtsev brothers and the Schultz brothers similar?

Yes, indeed, I have a younger brother. He is a master of sports, silver medalist of the Union among juniors. They said that his data is even better than mine. But it so happened that I have more prizes.

He retired from the sport. Our father was a mechanic, so Zhenya also began to deal with machines, he has his own workshop.

American athlete Mark Philip Schultz is an Olympic champion and two-time world champion. A freestyle wrestler, he is an honorary member of the US National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

He and his older brother Dave Schultz, who was also a wrestler, won gold medals at the 1984 Olympics. Dave and Mark are the only American brothers to win the World Championship and the Olympics.

Childhood

Mark Schultz, whose biography dates back to October 26, 1960, was born in Palo Alto, California. Mark's parents were Dorothy Jean Saint-Germain (née Rich) and Philip Gary Schultz. He was their second son: firstborn Dave was 17 months older. The boys attended local schools. Mark was very interested in gymnastics and began to actively engage in it at school.

Carier start

Schultz Mark, after graduating from high school, entered Palo Alto College, where he trained with Ed Hart. He first competed in gymnastics, winning the all-around Northern California Championship for his age group. However, a year later he moved to Ashland, Oregon where he transitioned into wrestling. But after one semester, he transferred back to Palo Alto. Mark Schultz (photo below) won the then state and district championships in

Schultz joined UCLA, and his first bout ended 18-8. After college, he entered the university, playing for which the next three years (1981-1983), he won 3 NCAA Championships. Schultz's first year was in the 177-pound category, and in the final he faced two-time NCAA champion (1980, 1981) Ed Banach. Banach was preparing to become the first four-time NCAA champion in history. However, Schultz beat him 16-8. Eyewitnesses call this fight one of the best, if not the best, NCAA Finals of all time. The following year, Schultz remained undefeated and set the maximum number of wins in a row. At the University of Oklahoma, Mark was awarded the "Big 8" title as the best student-athlete. At this time, his brother Dave also won competitions, but in a larger weight category.

Olympic Games and World Championships

In 1984, Mark and Dave Schultz both won Olympic gold in wrestling, as the Banach twin brothers once did. The following year, Mark won the World Championship, where he faced competitors from all the countries of the Eastern Bloc, who boycotted the year. Schultz Mark won 10-5 in the final of the planet championship. This athlete is the only Olympic champion who won the World Championship in 1985. And his brother Dave was the only Olympic champion to win the 1983 World Championship. The Schultz brothers have won more championships NCAA, U.S. Open, World and Olympic titles than other wrestler brothers in history.

When Schultz won another gold in a world-class event in 1987, he became the first Olympic champion to win the title of the best wrestler in the world twice. In 1991, Mark Schultz, Lee Kemp, and John Smith were listed in the Guinness Book of Records as "the most titled freestyle wrestlers." At 1988 in Seoul, he took sixth place.

Mark Schultz - mixed martial artist

8 years after the break, in 1996, Schultz became the first Olympic gold medalist who moved to Mark began to compete in the UFC, because in addition to freestyle wrestling, he was engaged in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. That same year, his brother Dave was killed and Mark replaced him in the UFC. In the first fight, he came face to face with the Canadian Goodridge. Schulz Mark won the fight due to a stoppage of the fight by a doctor due to a serious cut on the opponent. He received $50,000 for this fight. After Mark Schultz (photo below - the last fight of the athlete) began to gain popularity among both young wrestlers and UFC fans, as a result of which he began to conduct professional fights more and more often, including title fights. As a result, he won about 5 championship belts in different versions, after which he decided to end his career as a professional wrestler. Having spent many great fights, he became one of the the greatest wrestlers V UFC history, however, received a large number of injuries. The back was especially injured.

At the end of his career as a fighter, Schultz became a wrestling coach at Brigham Young University.

coaching career

Schultz Mark was an assistant wrestling coach at Brigham Young University from 1991-1994, after which he was named head coach. One of his best students was Rickson Gracie, who moved to America from Brazil in 1993. Like his coach, he was into jiu-jitsu. After a lengthy run in the UFC, Rickson is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, and it's safe to call him a jiu-jitsu fan because he uses this technique more often and more effectively than anyone else. Although, it is worth noting that Gracie did not have a black belt in this type of martial arts, like Schultz.

In addition, Schultz had several other students whose names are familiar to fans of freestyle wrestling, mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu, for which he also conducted separate training.

On January 26, 1996, on the eve of the Olympic Games, the world of sports was shocked tragic event. Multimillionaire, philanthropist, philanthropist and patron of the American wrestling team John DuPont killed Dave Schultz with three shots from a pistol - the pride of America, the record holder of the Olympic Games, who snatched the World Cup from under the noses of his opponents three times.

On December 9, 2010, Dupont died in prison, and on May 19, 2014, Foxcatcher was released at the Cannes Film Festival - this is a picture based on real events. So the world got acquainted with the story of John du Pont. Residents of Dnepropetrovsk saw the film "Foxcatcher" on February 25 at Pravda-kino.

Foxcatcher: What do you know about DuPont?

It all starts like this: a young athlete, the winner of the Olympic Games, Mark Schultz, is going through a period of depression: he has no money, he is lonely, confused in himself and his life. Periodic training with his brother - a multiple champion in the same freestyle wrestling, does not lift fighting spirit. Dave has a wife and two children, a successful coaching practice, profitable contract on the nose, in a word, everything in order to feel happy, if only to pull the brother out of the shell. And Mark has an empty and dirty apartment on the outskirts of the city and vermicelli fast food for dinner. Every day he feels more and more depressed and understands that he will not win the next Olympic Games. Until one day the bell rang: “Do you know the name Dupont?”

Two days later, a helicopter arrives for Mark, and, having received the blessing of his older brother, he flies to the estate of the representative of one of America's oldest dynasties, multimillionaire and wrestling lover John Dupont.

Foxcatcher: sport for people or people for sport?

From the first minute, the personality of Mr. Dupont attracts attention, and John becomes the central figure of the picture. He was played by Steve Carell, known mainly for comedy work; for an incomparable performance in "Foxcatcher" was nominated for "Oscar". Quiet and unprepossessing Dupont does not show much emotion. Proud, majestic and calm, he radiates danger. Restrained behavior and secretiveness cause tension and a sense of trickery. There is a strong suspicion that secretive John is not all right with his head.

DuPont is a big fan of freestyle wrestling. This passion prompts him to create a sports complex on the estate and assemble a team there to prepare for various competitions, and most importantly - for Olympic Games. This is how Mark Schulz joins the team as a team member and assistant coach.

In addition to wrestling, Mr. Dupont is fond of military toys and weapons, of which he has gathered a great variety. The heir to the dynasty came to one of the training sessions with a pistol. A shot at the ceiling to attract attention and a muzzle aimed at the chest of one of the athletes - hardly something like that seemed abnormal to John.

He really wanted his team to win. And for this you need to train tirelessly, tirelessly serve the great goal of Team Foxcatcher, have the same fanaticism as John Dupont. Anyone who deviates even slightly from the course will fall out of favor.

This is exactly what happens to Mark. During his stay with Dupont, he gets a taste: he feels like a pet, he tries cocaine. He stops communicating with his brother and begins to despise him - after all, he refuses to come, sees no point in honoring the generosity and kindness of a generous patron. On one weekend, Mark shows little effort in training, allows athletes to sit in front of the TV for a couple of hours, and Dupont's sympathy for him disappears. The latter makes it clear to Mark that his brother would be a better candidate for wrestling coach and champion, and after several weeks of depression, Mark leaves.

I am a hunter - you are a fox

Dave Schultz and his family arrive at the Foxcatcher's estate, and the second part of the story begins.

Dave is not interested in fame and does not gnaw on ambition, like a younger brother. He just does what he loves and does a good job. The only thing he can be reproached with is that he does not bow before the idol of the almighty John Dupont. But anyone who doubts the greatness of the absolute monarch will not go unpunished. DuPont's mental illness comes to a head one snowy day when Dave Schultz, who couldn't bring himself to call John a father and mentor on camera, is poking around in the front yard. After watching a video of the team, DuPont orders the car to be brought up to the porch, drives up to Dave, examines calm look and, without thinking twice, makes three fatal shots from a pistol.

Following a real-life scenario, Dave dies, and a heavily armed Dupont is smoked out of a hole by the police, and he goes to jail until his death in 2010.

Considering the intensity of training scenes, "Foxcatcher" would rather appeal to fans and directly to athletes - freestyle wrestlers. Ordinary mortals will be interested in the deep psychologism reflected in Dupont's personality. John is like a hidden maniac who every second makes you expect a blow and eventually strikes him suddenly, in complete silence, with a thunder of several shots. And you shudder: being completely stunned, you understand - this is what should have happened! This is what we have been waiting for an hour and a half! And you start: “I told you, I knew it, he’s a complete psycho!”

They say fools are the most dangerous enemies, and psychos are the most dangerous criminals. The former will plant a pig without even realizing it, while the latter can unpredictably ... yes, anything! This is a reminder: success is not only inspiring; fanatical devotion to the cause subjugates the will and lives of people, poisons the soul and pushes a person who is successful at first glance to disgusting acts.

Anastasia Kasparova