Champions Behind the Wire

It takes 10 minutes to drive from the military checkpoint, where anyone who has a pass to the city must stop, to an ice-filled stadium called Trud (Work).

Since the days of the Soviet Union, there have been several dozen closed cities like Lesnoy, a community of 50,000 where access is tightly controlled and state secrets are protected. For decades, those not in on the secrets did not know about these cities at all.

Inside, however, citizens were hard at work: developing weapons of mass destruction, processing radioactive materials — and training for the Olympics.

According to local officials, the number of Olympians per resident here is a record for the country. Lesnoy has given rise to 46 champions of the U.S.S.R., Russia, and Europe, and has produced 11 athletes who competed at the Olympic Games and went home with medals.