Introduction
The Flying Elephant Memoirs of an Olympic Champion Kindle Edition Alexander Savin is far more than a conventional sports autobiography. It is a rare, first-person chronicle of one of volleyball’s most dominant dynasties, written by the man at its center. Aleksandr Borisovich Savin, Olympic gold medalist in 1980 and a cornerstone of the Soviet national team throughout its golden era, delivers a memoir that combines personal reflection with historical documentation.
This book is essential reading for volleyball historians, Olympic sports enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by Cold War-era athletics. It offers something almost no other English-language source provides: an insider’s view of CSKA Moscow and the USSR national team during the sport’s most consequential decades.
Who Is Alexander Savin? The Career Behind the Memoir
Before examining the book itself, understanding Savin’s athletic credentials is essential. Born on July 1, 1957, in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Savin moved to Obninsk in the Kaluga region as a child. He would become one of the most decorated volleyball players in Soviet history.
His medal collection reads like a comprehensive history of late-Soviet volleyball dominance:
| Competition | Year(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games (Moscow) | 1980 | Gold |
| Olympic Games (Montreal) | 1976 | Silver |
| FIVB World Championship | 1978, 1982 | Gold |
| FIVB World Cup | 1977, 1981 | Gold |
| European Championship | Six times | Gold |
| Soviet National Championship | Thirteen times | Gold |
Beyond his international accolades, Savin’s domestic record is equally formidable. He was a 13-time Soviet National Champion with CSKA Moscow (1975–1988) and won the European Champions Cup five times (1975, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1986) . Individually, he was recognized as the Best Attacker at the 1977 World Cup and the Best Blocker at the 1981 World Cup . This dual recognition underscores his rare combination of offensive power and defensive dominance.
Savin was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2010, a recognition of both his playing career and his lasting influence on the sport. His name now graces a youth volleyball school in Obninsk, cementing his legacy beyond his own achievements.
What Makes “The Flying Elephant” Different
The title itself demands explanation. A “flying elephant” suggests something powerful achieving what seems physically improbable. For volleyball insiders, the metaphor resonates immediately: a towering central blocker launching into the air with surprising agility and force. Savin has stated that volleyball players understand the phrase instinctively, and readers will too once they encounter his descriptions of the game’s physical demands.
Beyond the Medal Count
What distinguishes this memoir from the crowded field of sports autobiographies is its refusal to follow the standard inspirational template. As one analysis notes, the book “does not build to a triumphant ending and then wrap everything in a bow. It examines a life honestly, which means sitting with contradiction, doubt, and the complexity of identity that comes after championship-level achievement ends”.
This is not a self-help book disguised as a memoir. The insights emerge from lived experience rather than packaged frameworks. The result is a credibility that formulaic sports books rarely achieve.
The Visual Archive
One of the memoir’s most significant contributions is its photographic content. The Kindle edition contains over 240 photographs, resulting in a file size of 68.8 MB, substantially larger than standard text-only Kindle books. These images are not decorative additions. They function as what one reviewer calls “memory anchors,” transforming historical documentation into something personal and immediate.
For volleyball historians, this visual archive is arguably as valuable as the written text. It represents a documented record of Soviet volleyball that does not exist in widely accessible form elsewhere.
The Historical Context: Volleyball Behind the Iron Curtain
Understanding Savin’s story requires understanding the world he competed in. Volleyball made its Olympic debut in 1964, and the Soviet Union immediately established itself as the sport’s benchmark, winning the first two gold medals in 1964 and 1968. The 1972 Munich Games saw the Soviets falter, settling for bronze after a semifinal loss to East Germany. A changing of the guard followed, and Savin’s emergence coincided with the team’s return to dominance.
The 1976 Montreal Heartbreak
Savin’s Olympic debut came in Montreal in 1976. The Soviets entered as heavy favorites, having won the 1975 European Championship and taken silver at the 1974 World Championship. Savin played all five matches as the team swept through pool play without losing a set. A three-set victory over Cuba in the semifinals set up a gold medal match against Poland.
What happened next remains one of the most painful chapters in Soviet volleyball history. Poland upset the heavily favored Soviets in a tight five-set match. Savin took home silver, but the loss became a catalyst. As the Hall of Fame biography notes, “The loss only strengthened the Soviet determination”.
Redemption in Moscow 1980
The Soviets immediately began preparing for 1980, when they would host the Olympic Games in Moscow. Between Montreal and Moscow, Savin and his teammates won the 1977 World Cup in Japan, the 1978 World Championship in Italy, and European Championships in 1977 and 1979. They were, once again, the dominant force in world volleyball.
The 1980 tournament unfolded almost perfectly. The Soviets opened with a 3-1 win over Czechoslovakia, then shut out Italy, Bulgaria, and Cuba in pool play. Savin again played all six matches. A sweep of Romania in the semifinals set up a final against Bulgaria. This time, there would be no upset. The Soviets won 3-1, and Savin had his gold medal on home soil.
Inside the Book: Structure and Content
The memoir, written over more than six months and running approximately 300 pages, is structured around Savin’s responses to questions he has been asked throughout his life. This Q&A framework gives the book a conversational quality that distinguishes it from ghostwritten sports memoirs. Savin’s voice, translated and edited with the involvement of Andrei Savine and Julia Savine, retains an authenticity that commercially produced autobiographies often lack.
What Readers Will Find
The content ranges from training sessions at CSKA Moscow to pre-competition rituals, from Olympic competition moments to quiet team gatherings. The photographs humanize the narrative in ways that text alone cannot achieve. The book also addresses practical questions Savin has fielded throughout his life, including the perennial inquiry: “How does one become a champion?”.
But the memoir’s most valuable passages may be those dealing with the psychological dimensions of elite sport. Savin writes about moments of doubt before major matches, the quiet conversations with teammates that calmed nerves, and the internal resolve required to maintain focus amid roaring crowds. These reflections predate the contemporary conversation about mental health in sports, yet they address precisely the themes that are now widely discussed.
Savin’s reputation within the Soviet volleyball system was as much about his character as his physical gifts. A profile in Championat describes him as a “two-meter giant with an eagle’s nose and a piercing gaze, rarely smiling,” known for a “straightforward, unyielding, even stubborn” nature . He was said to speak “the whole truth to anyone’s face, regardless of rank or title.” Yet this same source quotes respected coach Yuri Furaev describing him as “difficult, original, in some ways even mysterious… but exceptionally honest and kind. He values justice above all else.”
This duality, fierce on the court, principled off it, provides crucial context for the memoir’s reflective tone. It also explains why his book is not a standard celebratory autobiography.
The Cold War Athlete’s Burden
One of the memoir’s most compelling aspects is its portrayal of sport as an extension of geopolitics. During the Cold War, international competitions were arenas of ideological rivalry. Victories were interpreted as proof of national superiority. Athletes carried the symbolic weight of their country’s reputation every time they stepped onto the court.
Savin describes this psychological complexity without melodrama. Success brought celebration not only from fans but from officials and institutions that viewed sporting achievements as political statements. Failure carried consequences that extended beyond personal disappointment.
Yet the memoir remains grounded and human. The focus stays on the personal experience behind the performances that history records only as results. This is the view from inside the machine, written by someone who was genuinely among its most celebrated products.
The absurdities of Cold War sporting diplomacy could take surreal forms. In a recent television interview, Savin recalled how his directness once nearly caused an international scandal in Cuba, during a period when the Soviet Union and Cuba were close allies . The exact nature of the incident is not detailed in the preview, but its existence speaks to the precarious line athletes walked between representing the state and being themselves. It is precisely this kind of untold story that makes the memoir valuable beyond its medal count.
The Kindle Edition: Practical Considerations
For readers considering the Kindle edition specifically, several practical notes are worth sharing. The file size of 68.8 MB reflects the photograph density, so ensuring sufficient device storage is advisable. The Kindle X-Ray feature works particularly well given the large cast of teammates, coaches, and historical figures Savin references.
The memoir rewards slow reading. Several sections are philosophically dense in a way that benefits from re-reading rather than rapid consumption. The highlighting feature is useful for flagging passages worth returning to, and the book contains enough genuinely quotable observations that most readers will end up with a well-annotated copy.
Who Should Read This Book
The honest answer is broader than one might expect.
Volleyball fans will find it essential. The insider perspective on CSKA Moscow and the USSR national team during the sport’s most dominant era simply does not exist elsewhere in English-language literature.
Olympic sports enthusiasts will appreciate the depth of its account of Cold War-era athletics, the pressures of home-country competition in 1980, and the human experience behind performances that history records only as results.
Sports psychology readers will find practical insight throughout, not presented as a self-help framework, but embedded in lived experience, which makes it considerably more credible.
Students of Soviet history will discover an unusual and valuable perspective: the view from inside the system, written by someone who was among its most celebrated products.
The Legacy Beyond the Book
Savin’s contribution to volleyball extends well beyond his playing career. His post-career coaching work and his induction into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame recognize not just his achievements but his lasting influence on how the sport was understood and taught.
The memoir itself functions as an argument for why certain lives deserve documentation. The themes it explores, discipline, mental health in elite sport, the identity crisis that follows retirement, the hidden cost of championship-level ambition, have aged into relevance rather than out of it. Savin was living through these themes before anyone had the language to describe them.
From Champion to Coach: A Second Career in Volleyball
Savin’s influence on the sport did not end when he retired from playing in 1988. He transitioned immediately into coaching, beginning as head coach of the Madagascar men’s national team (1988–1989) . He then coached domestically in Russia, leading clubs including Iskra Odintsovo (1989–1991), Rassvet Moscow (1992–1994), Tanais Novomoskovsk (1994–1997), and Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk (1998–2001) .
His coaching career also included significant national service. He served as head coach of the Russian youth national team and was a state coach for the Russian national teams from 2005 to 2010 . In recognition of his contributions, a youth sports school in Obninsk was named after him in 2004 . This coaching trajectory reveals a man who remained committed to developing the next generation long after his own playing days ended.
For Readers Who Want to Verify or Go Deeper
The most authoritative sources on Savin’s career remain the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2010 and provides a detailed career narrative . The FIVB’s official records document the Soviet team’s dominance during his era . For Russian-language readers, the Great Russian Encyclopedia offers a comprehensive, concise summary of his achievements . The memoir itself, with its 240+ photographs, functions as a primary source for the visual history of Soviet volleyball that no database can replicate.
Conclusion: A Memoir That Earns Its Place
The Flying Elephant Memoirs of an Olympic Champion Kindle Edition Alexander Savin is not a book that can be approximated by reading Wikipedia entries or watching archived footage. It is a first-person account from inside one of sport’s most remarkable dynasties, written by someone who was central to it.
For readers interested in Olympic history, Cold War sports culture, or the psychology of high achievement, this work offers depth, authenticity, and perspective that few sports memoirs can match. It is a document of a vanished world and a meditation on what remains when the cheering stops.