Sergey Anatolevich Khlebnikov (; 28 August 1955 – 12 June 1999) was a Russian

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

who competed for the

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 ...

in the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

. He was born in

Sortavala Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...

and died in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

by drowning in the Mitinskoe pond. "An oak of a man," the Western press described him as a "tank" and a typical product of communism.

Career

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Khlebnikov was one of the perennial favorites in the sprint events, battling often with fellow Soviet sprinter Yevgeny Kulikov, Japanese sprinter Akira Kuroiwa, Norwegian sprinter

Frode Rønning Frode Rønning (born 7 July 1959) is a former speed skater and coach from Norway. During many speed skating seasons, Rønning was the Norway's best sprinter. Rønning participated in the 13 sprint world championships between 1977 and 1989, he ...

and American all-rounder

Eric Heiden Eric Arthur Heiden (born June 14, 1958) is an American physician and a former long track speed skater, road cyclist and track cyclist. He won an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at th ...

. Throughout his career, his biggest rival, even his "archrival," was Canadian skater

Gaétan Boucher Gaétan T. Boucher (born May 10, 1958) is a former Canadian speed skating Olympic champion. Biography Boucher first trained in ice hockey, the leading sport in Canada but then changed to speed skating after winning a national title in 1972. I ...

World championships

Khlebnikov's first medal as a sprinter came in 1981, when he finished second in the world sprint championship in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, after Boucher fell in the 500 meters. He won his only world sprint championship in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

in 1982. The next year, in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, a fall in the 500 meter race meant he lost the crown to Akira Kuroiwa. In 1984, he finished second in the world sprint championship in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

after leading on the first day, but the next year, his career as the strongest Soviet sprinter was over,

Igor Zhelezovski Ihar Mikalaevich Zhalyazouski or Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski or Ihar Mikałajevič Žalazoŭski (; ; 1 June 1963 – 12 June 2021) was a Soviet and Belarusian speed skater. Biography His imposing physical appearance resulted in the nicknames ...

("Igor the Terrible") having become world sprint champion in 1985.

Olympic participation

In 1980 Khlebnikov finished ninth in the 1000 meters and 15th in the 500 meters competition; the speed skating competition was dominated by Eric Heiden. Four years later, at the Olympics in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Khlebnikov was outmatched by Gaétan Boucher, who dominated the short events with gold in the 1000 and the 1500 meters; Khlebnikov won the silver medal in the 1000 meters and the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

. In Sarajevo he competed in the 500 meters event as well, but a false start cost him the chance at a medal.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khlebnikov, Sergey 1955 births 1999 deaths People from Sortavala Soviet male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in speed skating Speed skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics World Sprint Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from the Republic of Karelia