Andrey Borisovich Perlov (, born 12 December 1961 in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

Soviet Union 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 ...

) 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

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Education

In 1986, he graduated as a hydraulic engineer from the Novosibirsk Institute of Water Transport Engineers. Perlov started racewalking under coach V. I. Shvetsov in 1975. Since 1987, he was trained by V. B. Dorovskikh from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Career

Perlov won the gold medal over 50 kilometres at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He also won the 1990 European Championships as well as silver medals at the 1991 World Championships and the

IAAF World Race Walking Cup The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by World Athletics. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. The first women's edition of the event happened in 1979. It was formerly know ...

in 1985 and 1989. At the 1991 World Championships, Perlov and his teammate Aleksandr Potashov attempted to cross the goal line simultaneously, resulting in a shared gold medal, but the officials declared Potashov the winner by 0.01 second. Perlov's personal best time is 3:37:41 in the 50 kilometres, which places him 16th in the all-time performers list.

Personal life

In March 2024, Perlov became a subject of an investigation into the embezzlement of funds from a football club which he managed as a director and was subsequently taken into custody. While in detention, Perlov was repeatedly offered to sign a contract to serve military duty in the

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, however, he rejected this offer, believing that the case itself was initiated illegally, and using such a method to avoid prosecution would have served as an admission of guilt for a crime he did not commit. As the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

notes, "Perlov has been detained for over six months, and his family says he is being pressured to fight in Ukraine, with the promise that the embezzlement charges would be frozen and possibly dropped after the war. Under the latest laws, prosecution and defense lawyers are now required to inform those charged with most crimes that they have the option to go to war instead of facing court".

International competitions

References

External links

Bibliography

* 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Novosibirsk Russian male race walkers Soviet male race walkers Olympic athletes for the Unified Team Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade Friendship Games medalists in athletics Siberian State University of Water Transport alumni Soviet Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Russian sportsmen {{Russia-racewalk-athletics-bio-stub