"You can crash on this jump every day." Famous coach died during a cycling training due to an unexpected obstacle
Tatyana Gaiduk told Onlíner about the circumstances of the tragic death of her father, Valery Gaiduk, Honored Coach of the BSSR in academic rowing. He died as a result of an incident during a cycling training session in the Tsna area near Minsk.
This happened on July 31.
— Dad was preparing to participate in the Khatyn Velomarathon and the morning before, before the heat, went for a training ride. He rode in the Tsna forest along a familiar path. He always entered the forest at the same spot. There was immediately a downhill slope: he knew it and had practiced this descent well — he himself used to say so, — Tatyana says. — But that day, a man-made hillock suddenly appeared there, almost across the entire width of the road, and next to it were two pits from where the soil for this hillock was taken. When walking, and even more so when riding down this hill, this jump is completely invisible on the path due to the play of light and shadow from the trees.
Brake marks from bicycle wheels remained at the scene.
— I'll note again: dad was riding on a well-known road. And then this jump — a mark remained on it, then another one, from the front wheel. For another 7-8 meters, judging by the scene, he tried to regain control, but crashed into a tree. Dad was wearing a helmet, but, judging by the preliminary conclusions of the forensic expert, death occurred immediately.
The officially stated cause of death is blunt trauma to the cervical vertebrae.
Valery Petrovich Gaiduk would have turned 74 on August 19.
— He is an Honored Coach of the BSSR in academic rowing and directly participated in preparing Yekaterina Khadatovich (Karsten) for the 1996 Olympics (gold medal), as well as the women's eight crew that won bronze, and other athletes who now hold the titles of Honored Masters of Sport, and many still compete in European Championship finals, — Tatyana added.
It remains unclear what kind of jump appeared on the forest path, who created it and why.
— Many people walk there, many dog walkers, people cycle there. You can crash on this jump every day. How did it happen that in a crowded place these two pits were dug, and this hillock was piled up and compacted? — asks the daughter of the deceased cyclist.