Borys Yakovlev (, ,''Boris Aleksandrovich Yakovlev;'' 16 July 1945 – 23 June 2014) 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 ...

- Ukrainian

race walk 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 ...

er.

Career

Yakovlev competed in both the

20 km walk The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight un ...

and the 50 km walk. 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 Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

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 Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

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

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

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 (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

'' 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 (; 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 Athletics Junior Championships, 1975 European Junior Championships as a 16-year- ...

and

Anatoliy Solomin Anatoliy Vasilyevich Solomin (; 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 medal, but was disqualified from the lead shortly before the ...

at the Soviet Spartakiad 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 (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially brand ...

, 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 * Coac ...

in Ukraine.

References

1945 births 2014 deaths Soviet male race walkers Ukrainian male race walkers Ukrainian athletics coaches Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics 20th-century Ukrainian sportsmen {{USSR-athletics-bio-stub