Sergey Viktorovich Koplyakov (russian: Сергей Викторович Копляков; born 23 January 1959) is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian swimmer who won two gold medals competing for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

. Sergey Koplyakov moved into top ranks of world swimming in 1979, coming behind

Vladimir Salnikov Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov (russian: Владимир Валерьевич Сальников; born 21 May 1960) is a Russian former freestyle swimmer who competed for the Soviet Union and set 12 world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 meter ...

, Andrey Krylov and Volodymyr Raskatov, enabling the Soviet Union to fully compete in male freestyle with American champions in the late 1970s. In sports history, Koplyakov will be the swimmer who ended 15 years of American domination in the 200 m freestyle and the first man who bested the time of 1:50 (on 7 April 1979 he achieved 1:49.83 in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

). Born in

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

, Belarus' 11th-largest city, Koplyakov debuted in 1974, at the age of 15. He won the 200 m juniors in a people's tournament in 1969. From

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

he went to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, one of the pilot centers of the new Soviet swimming and was selected in 1976 for the

Montreal Olympic Games Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, where he won a silver medal in the 4×200 m. His best time in 200 m that year was 1:53.37. In 1977 he was very discreet, only got a fifth place in the 200 m of the European Championships. In 1978, in the

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under m ...

World Championships, he finished third in the 200 m, behind two Americans with a time of 1:51.33 (new European record). He achieved high recognition in 1978, beating on 7 April the 200 m world record, during the first split of one 4×200 m relay in a

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

/USSR meeting; after that he won the 100 m in 51.46 and the 200 m of the Europe Cup (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) in August and finally the 200 m of the

Spartakiad The Spartakiad (or Spartakiade) was an international sports event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. Five international Spartakiades were held from 1928 to 1937. Later Spartakiads were organized as national sport events of the Eastern Bloc ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in September with 1:50.13, showing himself as one of the most serious opponents for the American swimmers.

References

YouTube heat 200 m freestyle Olympic Games -80
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Sergey Koplyakov's biography and interview
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koplyakov, Sergey 1959 births Living people People from Orsha Sportspeople from Vitebsk Region Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Belarusian male freestyle swimmers Russian male freestyle swimmers Soviet male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of the Soviet Union Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming

See also

References