Outstanding sports doctor Ordzhonikidze turns 75

Songs of Doctor Zurab

Professor Ordzhonikidze’s office is a small museum of Russian sports, primarily football: just a list of his eminent wards would take up several newspaper pages. And the central part of the exhibition on the walls are photographs of the golden football team at the Seoul Olympics (let me remind you that October marked the 35th anniversary of that memorable victory of Soviet football players under the leadership of the great Anatoly Byshovets, when we beat the Brazilians in the final).

“Everyone was charged with one goal: only victory,” recalled USSR national team forward, Olympic champion Alexander Borodyuk. “And the medical staff, represented by Zurab Ordzhonikidze, worked flawlessly. Zurab Givievich is a brilliant professional, and in addition, a person with a wonderful sense of humor, which helped the players relieve stress before difficult matches.

But Doctor Ordzhonikidze was not that much older than the football players themselves. Maybe that’s why they were drawn to him, often gathering in his room before the decisive games, since Zurab Givievich always took his guitar with him to tournaments, combining the talent and sensitivity of a doctor with songs, often of his own composition.

The famous goalkeeper and coach Stanislav Cherchesov told me:

— At the age of fifteen, when I was in the Spartak team, I was invited to the USSR youth team. In Novogorsk, at the base, we were introduced to Doctor Zurab Ordzhonikidze. You won’t believe it, but my first thought was (and we were just going through the history of the names of the heroes of the revolution): it’s good that it wasn’t Dzerzhinsky, otherwise they could have been shot for mistakes on the field. And I thought, it’s still symbolic: he is Ordzhonikidze, and I am from Ordzhonikidze – that’s how fate connected us for decades. But jokes aside, Zurab Givievich is a wonderful doctor, a wise man and the soul of any company.

I saw Zurab Givievich in different ways: as an attentive doctor, meticulously and accurately making a diagnosis, and a tireless storyteller, and a hospitable host at the dacha, receiving guests with his beautiful wife Irina. An invariable feature of the country’s most authoritative specialist in the field of sports medicine is goodwill, which always allows patients to neutralize even an unpleasant diagnosis, and hope, with the help of Dr. Ordzhonikidze, to soon return to the arena and win. He is not just a continuer of the wonderful traditions of the famous sports doctors Oleg Belakovsky and Savely Myshalov – Zurab Givievich himself has long become a legend in the sports world.

These words were confirmed by the famous cardiac surgeon, academician David Ioseliani.

“I would like to congratulate dear Zurab Givievich on this significant date,” said David Georgievich. — He is an outstanding specialist in the field of sports medicine, a venerable scientist. As befits a good doctor, he is ready to provide advice and medical assistance to those suffering at any time of the day; he has a huge number of grateful patients. And, of course, I can’t help but say a few words about his family: a wonderful wife, sons who continue the family dynasty… Zurab’s father, Givi Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, was a wonderful doctor and health care organizer, who headed the Kalinin Medical Institute for a number of years. Despite the large age difference, Zurab’s father and I had good friendly relations for many years. This was especially evident in Leningrad in the sixties of the last century, when I was a student at the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute named after Pavlov, and Zurab’s dad was already a famous doctor and scientist. And I must say that he always tried to look after us, young guys, even if it concerned actions that were not very appropriate for future doctors. For example, he rescued us students from the police, where we ended up after a street fight. What can you do, such things happened when I was young. But that is another story. And the memory of this man remained for life. It is very joyful that Zurab Givievich inherited many excellent qualities from his father.

Our friend, the great tennis guru Shamil Tarpishchev said that this age limit is only 7:5 in the first set. This means that the most interesting things in life are yet to come.

So we’ll play again, Zurab Givievich. And, of course, we will sing to your accompaniment.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29151 dated November 7, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Songs of Doctor Zurab