An autographed postcard of the Soviet Olympic diving champion Vladimir Vasin

The postcard was signed in 1995 at the Olympic ball held in the Kremlin. The event was timed to coincide with the end of the XVII Winter Olympic Games, held in Lillehammer (Norway).

Vladimir Vasin is a Soviet diving athlete (springboard and tower). In 1972, at the Olympic Games in Munich, Vladimir Vasin managed to interrupt the hegemony of U.S. athletes who had not lost a 3-meter springboard competition since the 1920 Games. Thanks to this success, he went down in history as the first Soviet athlete to become an Olympic champion in diving.

After the 1972 Olympic Games, Vasin ended his sports career, but did not leave the big sport. He became a judge of the international diving category. Later, in 1889-1892, he was the head of the All—Russian Olympic Committee (since 1991 — the Russian Olympic Committee). And since 1992 he has been the vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee. Vladimir Vasin held this position until 2005.

The XVII Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer proved to be very successful both organizationally and athletically. The games touched upon important issues of environmental cleanliness, peaceful coexistence and culture, and the spirit of mutual understanding and goodwill prevailed in Lillehammer. Thanks to this, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, at the closing ceremony of the Games, rated this Olympics as the most successful in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.