Pavel Konstantinovich Kolchin (sometimes spelled Pavel Koltsjin; ; 9 January 1930 – 29 December 2010) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

cross-country skier who competed during the 1950s and 1960s, training at

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He was born in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

. He competed in two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, earning a total of four medals. His bronze in the at the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( or ), were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which ...

was the first ever medal awarded to a non-Scandinavian (

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

) in cross-country skiing. Kolchin also won at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March and has been arranged every ...

, winning both the and events in 1958. His wife, Alevtina Kolchina, was also an Olympic champion in cross-country skiing in 1964. Kolchin also found success was at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...

, where he won three silver medals in 1958 (15 km, 30 km, and 4 x 10 km) and a bronze medal in 1962 (4 x 10 km). Kolchin was awarded

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(twice - in 1957 and 1972) and

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

(1970). For his successes at the Winter Olympics, the Nordic skiing World Championships and the Holmenkollen, Kolchin received the Holmenkollen medal in 1963 (Shared with his Alevtina Kolchina (his wife), Astrid Sandvik, and

Torbjørn Yggeseth Torbjørn Yggeseth (18 June 1934 – 10 January 2010) was a Norwegian ski jumper who was active in the 1960s. He competed for Heggedal Idretsslag. Yggeseth won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1963, the same year h ...

). Kolchin and Kolchina are the first husband and wife team to ever win the Holmenkollen Medal. Kolchin died on 29 December 2010.

References

* * - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolchin, Pavel 1930 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Yaroslavl Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism, Department of Chess alumni Cross-country skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1964 Winter Olympics Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic cross-country skiers for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian male cross-country skiers Soviet male cross-country skiers Estonian sports coaches 20th-century Russian sportsmen