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“I have an isolated farm in the Zarasai district, where I fished for two weeks, and I returned tonight at 2 o’clock to participate in the awards,” the coach of the Moscow region, “Chimki” told LTOK.lt.
The Seoul Olympic champion, a medalist at the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics, celebrated his 60th anniversary this year. On this occasion, Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, President of LTOK, congratulated him and awarded him the Olympic Star Award for Merit in Sport.
“It is a great pleasure to hear beautiful words and congratulations. Although I have received many awards in my life, I appreciate them all, each one has his place. The rewards, like money, will not be too much. – R. Kurtinaitis laughed. – It is fun and when there is an opportunity to meet former colleagues. As we are all veterans, we immediately remember the Novogorsk training base in Russia while we were fighting there. We play perhaps five times more than athletes now. It’s interesting to remember those times. “
– Is a birthday an important party for you?
– I’m not celebrating anyway, because my birthday (May 15) is during the heat of the season, that’s when the playoffs take place. So I usually mention it in late June.
And this year was different. I told my friends that I am not inviting anything, but whoever comes will not expel me. As the quarantine has already relaxed considerably and I live far away in the forest, several good friends came to greet me. This is for sure, we have mentioned in all the recommendations. Very fun, I like to interact with people.
– You traded an apartment in Kaunas for a farm outside the city. Don’t miss the hustle?
– I don’t like living in an apartment. Now we have our own oasis of peace with only three neighbors, a forest and nothing else. We also have a farm in the Zarasai district, where I go fishing.
I have to interact with a lot of people during the season. We play in full rooms, the attention is huge, so we want to distance ourselves in the summer. Friends who know me well already know that very well.
Semionas Tokeris, the former president of the Kaunas “Žalgiris” Council, has said: now you, the people of Žalgiris, have hundreds of friends, but you will see that there will be several in life, but they will be with you not only in moments of victory.
At this age, I think I can safely say that my friends really got up. Those true ones remain, we know them, we remember youth. I remember that my mother always remembered youth. This means that I am already at an age where I don’t plan much in advance, but I remember my youth (laughs).
– It seems that your circle of friends includes a wide variety of people: athletes, businessmen, politicians. What do you think your qualities attract different people?
– Sometimes people get angry about some things, they feel resentment, but I really appreciate those things. For example, the then rector of the Lithuanian State Institute of Physical Culture (now the Lithuanian Sports University, ed.) Stanislovas Stonkus removed me from the list of students for poor attendance, poor academic performance, and non-compliance with the regime, and I had to go to the army.
I had to work in the army for many things that I had never done in my life. For example, sweeping the street, washing bathrooms. We wash dishes for 2,000 soldiers, get up early in the morning, and exercise outdoors in any weather.
I went through all this and understood what S. Stonkus wanted from me. When I returned, I first went to see him and thanked him for directing me and helping me understand life. He has probably eliminated hundreds of students and most are angry with him. I evaluated it differently.
I have no enemies, I try to communicate with everyone equally. I never come for anything bad that has been done to me, I believe that energy can be used for good actions. Maybe those qualities attract people.
– And do you plan to visit friends this summer or are you looking for peace?
– I really like being home after the season. I have an outdoor pool, a lawn, I planted fruit trees during quarantine: cherries, pears, apples. I planted flowers. I was engaged in gardening. I like to sit at home. Although, usually when I’m at home, my wife still needs something from the store, so it was very quiet (laughs) during the quarantine.
I like to be away from people in summer. I don’t like Palanga anymore, although I really liked it. Apparently it was that age. I am going to drive this year, but generally I try to overtake. Why? Many people, everyone needs to communicate, sit down. You must do that because later you will say that you are proud.
And now, after the conversation, I will jump back to the farm. Fishing, hunting. Although hunting is now unpopular, it is in my blood.
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