- Pyotr Bolotnikov
Pyotr Grigorevich Bolotnikov ( _ru. Пётр Григорьевич Болотников) (born
March 8 ,1930 ) is a former Soviet athlete, one of the world's beststayer s of the early 1960sGreat Russian Encyclopedia (2005),Moscow :Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 3, p. 731] , winner of 10,000 m at the1960 Summer Olympics .Born in
Zinovkino , Krasnoslobodsky District,Mordovian ASSR (now Mordovia Republic), Pyotr Bolotnikov started athletics only at age 20, when he joined theRed Army . He trained at VSS Spartakcite book|title=All about Olympic Games.|author=Boris Khavin|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|edition = 2nd ed.|pages=p. 534|year=1979|location=Moscow|language=Russian] , coached byGrigory Nikiforov .Bolotnikov won his first national championship title in 10,000 m in 1957, when he surprisingly beat the great
Vladimir Kuts in a finishing straight by 0.2second s. He became the double Soviet champion in 5,000 m and 10,000 m from 1958 to 1962. He also won the national 10,000 m title in 1964 and national cross country title in 1958. In 1959 he became theHonoured Master of Sports of the USSR Bolotnikov participated already at the
1956 Summer Olympics , but without any success. At theRome Olympics in 1960, Bolotnikov controlled the 10,000 m race from the start to end, beating the main favouritesHans Grodotzki fromEast Germany andMurray Halberg fromNew Zealand by five seconds. On October 5 of that year, inKiev , Bolotnikov lowered the 10,000 m world record by almost twelve seconds to 28:18.8.cite web|title=Athletics - World Record progression|work=International Olympic Committee |url=http://www.olympic.org/common/asp/download_report.asp?file=en_report_69.pdf&id=69|accessdate=January 3|accessyear=2007]Just two weeks before the 1962 European Championships in
Belgrade , on August 11, 1962 inMoscow , Bolotnikov lowered his own 10,000 m world record by 0.6 seconds to 28:18.2, thus becoming the main favourite at long distances at the Championships. He easily won the 10,000 m run, but was surprisingly beaten to third in 5,000 m.After the unsuccessful
1964 Summer Olympics , Bolotnikov decided to retire from athletics in 1965. He received theOrder of Lenin in 1960.References
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