Aleksandr Potashov (, Russian: ''Александр Поташёв''; born 12 March 1962) is a retired

race walker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

who represented the

USSR 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 ...

and later

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He won the gold medal over 50 kilometres at the 1991 World Championships. Potashov and his teammate

Andrey Perlov Andrey Borisovich Perlov (, born 12 December 1961 in Novosibirsk, Soviet Union) is a retired race walker who represented the USSR and later Russia. Education In 1986, he graduated as a hydraulic engineer from the Novosibirsk Institute of Water ...

attempted to cross the goal line simultaneously, resulting in a shared gold medal, but the officials declared Potashov the winner by 0.01 second. Potashov finished fourth at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and was disqualified at the 1992 Olympics. His personal best time is 3:40:02, achieved in May 1990.

International competitions

References

* * 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Vitebsk Athletes from Vitebsk region Belarusian male race walkers Soviet male race walkers Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Olympic athletes for Belarus Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union World Athletics Championships medalists Soviet Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Belarusian sportsmen {{Belarus-athletics-bio-stub