Nikolai Viktorovich Avilov

Nikolai Viktorovich Avilov ( _ru. Николай Викторович Авилов) (born August 6 1948, Odessa) was a Ukrainian Soviet decathlete.

Avilov trained at Dynamo in Odessa. He won a gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics decathlon with a new world record of 8454 points. He returned to win a bronze medal (8369 points) in the 1976 Summer Olympics. A near seven foot high jumper, he was one of the few great Soviet athletes of Jewish heritage.

In 1972 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.