Borys Yakovlev ( ua, Борис Яковлев, russian: Борис Александрович Яковлев,''Boris Aleksandrovich Yakovlev;'' 16 July 1945 – 23 June 2014) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

race walk Racewalking, or race walking, 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 asse ...

er.

Career

Yakovlev competed in both the 20 km walk and the

50 km walk The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the ...

. He represented the Soviet Union at 20 km in the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for m ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

, always placing in the top eight with a best result of fourth place in 1978. At the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

he competed at the longer distance, but failed to finish. ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runnin ...

'' ranked Yakovlev in the world's top 10 at 20 kilometres four times between 1970 (the first year walkers were ranked) and 1979, when his ranking peaked at #3. In 1979 he placed third behind fellow Ukrainians

Mykola Vynnychenko Mykola Alekseyevich Vynnychenko (russian: Николай Алексеевич Винниченко; born 12 November 1958) is a former Soviet Ukrainian race walker. Vinnichenko won bronze in men's 10,000 m walk at the 1975 European Junior Champio ...

and

Anatoliy Solomin Anatoliy Vasilyevich Solomin (russian: Анатолий Васильевич Соломин; born 2 July 1952) is a former Soviet Ukrainian race walker. Solomin competed in men's 20 km walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics and contended for the gold ...

at the

Soviet Spartakiad The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and second behind Mexico's

Daniel Bautista Daniel Bautista Rocha (born August 4, 1952) is a Mexican former track and field athlete and Olympic champion. He was born in El Salado, San Luis Potosí. In his relatively short career, Bautista dominated the walk, on the track as well ...

at the

1979 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 1979 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held in Eschborn, Federal Republic of Germany, on September 29–30, 1979. The event was also known as ''IAAF Race Walking World Cup''. The women's 5 km race was now officially introduced into the com ...

; he was ranked behind Bautista and another Mexican,

Domingo Colín Domingo Colín (born 4 August 1952) is a Mexican former racewalker who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics and in the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiys ...

, and ahead of the other top Soviets. Yakovlev later became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

in Ukraine.

References

1945 births 2014 deaths Soviet male racewalkers Ukrainian male racewalkers Ukrainian athletics coaches Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics {{USSR-athletics-bio-stub