Valeriy Sergeyevich Skvortsov (; (31 May 1945 – 24 September 2021) was a

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er 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 ...

in the 1964 and 1968

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. Skvortsov was first noticed by Soviet high jump coach Viktor Lonsky, who offered him training in a converted sports gym located within the walls of an old Catholic cathedral. His sports career began to accelerate as he won various local high jump competitions and later was invited to Moscow to train for the Soviet Olympic team. Skvortsov had subsequently participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games of 1964, where he took the 14th place in the high-jump final with a jump height of 2.06 meters.

Valeriy Brumel Valeriy Nikolayevich Brumel (; 14 April 1942 – 26 January 2003)Great Russian Encyclopedia (2006), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 4, p. 243 was a Soviet-Russian high jumper. The 1964 Olympic champion and multiple wo ...

from the Soviet Union), and John Thomas from the United States won the gold and silver medals, respectively. At the

1966 European Indoor Games The 1966 European Indoor Games were the first edition of what later became the European Athletics Indoor Championships. These games took place on 27 March 1966 at Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, a city of West Germany West Germany was the common ...

championship in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, Skvortsov won first place with a career best jump of 2.17 meters. At the 1968 European Indoor Games he successfully defended his title as the European high jump champion winning first place again with 2.17 meters. Skvortsov participated in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where he competed with

Dick Fosbury Richard Douglas Fosbury (March 6, 1947 – March 12, 2023) was an American high jumper, who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field. He won a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics, revolutionizing t ...

and Valentin Gavrilov. His 2.16 meter jump secured him a fourth-place finish.High jump results: Olympics 1968
/ref> After a leg injury forced him to stop competing, Skortsov continued as a high jump trainer in Moscow (Dinamo) and then went to work as the head of

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

security. Skvortsov was retired and lived in

Moscow, Russia 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 ...

References

External links

*
Berdichev and Viktor Lonsky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skvortsov, Valeriy 1945 births 2021 deaths Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Ukrainian male high jumpers Soviet male high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Berdychiv FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Zhytomyr Oblast Soviet Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Ukrainian sportsmen