Alexey Alexeyevich Kuznetsov (; born 3 April 1981) is a

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

from Russia who competes in category F54 throwing events. He participated in the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics and won a silver medal in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

in 2012.

Personal history

Kuznetsov was born in

Saransk Saransk (, ); ; is the capital city of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic centre. It is located in the Volga River, Volga drainage basin, basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about east of Moscow. Sar ...

in the former Soviet Union in 1981. At the age of five he fell from a fifth floor of a building, resulting in a spinal trauma. He was educated at the International Independent University of Environmental and Political Sciences in Moscow where he studied philology. He is married to his wife, Daria, and they have two sons.

Athletics career

Before turning to athletics Kuznetsov was a world class arm-wrestler, but decided to take up track and field to become a Paralympic champion. He began training in

Cheboksary Cheboksary is the capital city of Chuvashia, Russia. It is a port on the Volga River. Geography The city is located in the Volga Upland region and stands on the shore of the Cheboksary Reservoir. Its area is .Resolution #2083 The satellite city ...

in 2007 and by the following year he was representing Russia at his first Summer Paralympics,

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

. In China he entered the javelin throw in a mixed points F53–54 category event, finishing sixth overall. In the build up to the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London, he entered the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with disabilities competed, and the Championships were a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Over 1,000 ath ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. Competing in three throwing events, he found success in his favoured javelin, with a distance of 29.44 m giving Kuznetsov his first major international gold medal. The following year he travelled to Stadskanaal to represent Russia at the

2012 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2012 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe. It was held in Stadskanaal, Netherlands and last ...

. He won bronze in the discus and gold in the javelin. Just a few months later Kuznetsov was at his second Paralympics, in London, where he competed in the javelin throw. He led the field until the final round, where his leading throw of 27.87 was beaten by Mexico's Luis Alberto Zepeda Felix, leaving Kuznetsov with the silver medal. In the build-up to the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio, Kuznetsov managed to retain his European title in the javelin throw in both Swansea in 2014 and again in Grosseto in 2016. The world title proved more elusive, with a silver medal in the 2013 World Championships in Lyon and a bronze medal in the 2015 World Championships in Doha.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuznetsov, Alexey 1981 births Living people Paralympic athletes for Russia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Russia World record holders in para-athletics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Russian male discus throwers Russian male shot putters Russian male javelin throwers Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic silver medalists for the Russian Paralympic Committee athletes Sportspeople from Saransk 21st-century Russian sportsmen