Seriously, what the actual hell?
Okay, the facts: Russian women’s national volleyball head coach Sergey Ovchinnikov was found hanged to death in a hotel room, while his pro team Dynamo Moscow were doing a preseason training camp in Croatia. He was 43.
It’s doubtful anyone is truly qualified to say what may have led this man to take his own life, but friends and colleagues report that he took the Russian women’s failure to medal pretty hard. They won the world championships in both 2006 and 2010 (remember, indoor volleyball world championships are only held every four years) and were considered medal favorites in London. But they lost to eventual Olympic champions Brazil in the quarterfinals, whiffing on six match points along the way. It stands in sharp contrast to the men’s gold medal final, where the Russian men (contenders but not favorites) pulled out a thrilling five-set win against that same opponent, Brazil.
But I have to say it seems crass to even consider this. Maybe he took the loss hard, but nobody takes their own life without some severe, pervasive emotional issues. And the fact that he was never able to get help for them is a true tragedy. Usually when someone commits suicide, the friends and family come out of the woodwork to say “But he seemed so happy!” so it’s kind of unusual to see acknowledgements that the guy was depressed in the weeks before his death.
This thing is sadly not unheard of. Some years ago, a 29-year old Kenyan man committed suicide by hanging after his favorite soccer team lost an important match. He left the restaurant where he had been watching the game in hysterics, and was found dead the next day.
People, it’s just sports. There’s no rational reason for a healthy person to end it all (not that anyone who does it is ever thinking rationally), but because of a sporting result? Wow. That’s just horrible. Sports should never take over a person so much that their identity and very reason for living are tied to them. That’s….terrible and tragic.
Best wishes for Mr. Ovchinnikov’s family and friends as they search for solace in this horrible time. I can’t help but think of the old adage about death coming in threes. Well, the volleyball world has had two in the last week and a half. Both of them so young, too (obviously Boken more so). I wouldn’t mind the old wives’ tale being shot down this time, gotta tell you.
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