The greatest athletes of the USSR and Russia. Life after sports: the most successful athletes in Russia

Her record for the most Olympic medals won by one person stood for 48 years. Only this year, a swimming machine named "Michael Phelps" was able to score more Olympic awards than our gymnast (he has 24 of them, Latynina has 18). However, the achievement of Phelps cannot change one title of Larisa Semyonovna: she is the strongest Olympian of the 20th century, he is the 21st. Gymnasts and swimmers are happy people, because their sports allow you to bring a dozen medals from one championship or the Olympics, which a wrestler or boxer cannot even dream of. Therefore, in order to give other athletes a place in our symbolic Hall of Fame, we have placed only one representative of gymnastics here. Although, of course, we remember Nikolai Andrianov, and Boris Shakhlin, and Alexei Nemov, and many others.

2.

One of the two greatest swimmers of our country - Alexander Popov and Vladimir Salnikov each have 4 Olympic medals.

But Popov takes other titles: he is a 6-time world champion and a 21-time (!) European champion.

Even Phelps, with all his greatness, announced his retirement at 27, while Alexander won his last gold at 33.

3.

According to Isinbayeva, today her main dream is family and children.

But, perhaps, the records set by Elena will last until the time when her own children will play weddings themselves.

Lena's 27th world record - 5.06 m - is about 25-30 cm higher than the best performance of her competitors.

4.

Foreign experts compiling lists of the most famous athletes of all time are reluctant to include ours there, but there are names that simply cannot be ignored. Karelin is just such a case. For 13 years, Alexander the Great remained undefeated in Greco-Roman wrestling, and for 6 years in a row he did not lose a single point to his rivals.

5.

It has been 15 years since Bubka stopped performing, but his records (6.14m outdoors and 6.15m indoors) are still unbeaten. Moreover, when the Japanese calculated on a computer at what height Sergey flew above the bar at the championship in Tokyo, it turned out that that jump was enough to overcome 6.37 m - no matter how sports medicine and technology develop, in the near future this milestone will not not a single person on Earth can overcome.

6.

For five years of absolute dominance in the bar, this heavyweight with his own hands lifted the world record in triathlon by 70 kg. Vlasov finished his first Olympics with four records and walked across Rome from the stadium to the Olympic village on foot, followed by a crowd chanting the name of the champion. In total, Vlasov set 31 records.

7.

The first half of the 60s in speed skating passed under the sign of Skoblikova, she climbed to the highest step of the Olympic podium 6 times. In 1964, she won all 4 distances of the Games. Plus, Lidia Pavlovna is a 2-time absolute world champion in the classic all-around and a multiple world champion in individual distances.

8.

Shares with Skoblikova the world record for the number of gold medals at the Winter Games. In addition to the 6 highest in Egorova's track record, there are also 3 silver Olympic awards. However, it is difficult to choose the greatest skier of the USSR / Russia, since both Larisa Lazutina (11-time world champion, 5 Olympic medals of the highest dignity) and Raisa Smetanina, who won 10 medals at 5 Olympics (she made her debut at the Games- 1976, last time climbed the podium in Albertville-1992).

9.

If one can argue about who was the best field hockey player of all time, then there is no doubt about who the best goalkeeper is. Three-time Olympic champion, ten-time world champion, the best goalkeeper of the world championships in 1974, 1979, 1981, 1983. In 1990, 6 years after the end of his career, he is called to the NHL, offering any money, but he refuses - he does not want to be weaker than his former self: “I have earned my name all my life.” In 2000, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation proclaimed Tretiak the best player of the 20th century, and this despite the fact that Vyacheslav Fetisov has more titles (except for Soviet and international awards in the collection of the famous defender - 2 won Stanley Cups).

10.

This fragile girl is the embodiment of the absolute superiority of Russia in synchronized swimming: 5-time Olympic champion, 13-time world champion, 7-time European champion. After the Games in London, Davydova ended a career that lasted 12 years. She is the best synchronized swimmer of the decade 2000-2009.

Sport may not be as significant and effective in human life and activities as science, technology, education, business and politics, but it certainly plays its own role in society, not only in our time, but since Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Along with music, the film industry, and television, sports entertain or, on rare occasions, even represent national pride for fans around the world. In recent years, there have been a huge number of polls and many rankings of the best athletes in the world of all time, but most of them focus only on the most famous and popular sports. Polls were also conducted, the purpose of which was to identify the best athletes in a particular country. Thus, many great athletes from different parts of the world were left without attention. In our list, we will try to talk about the twenty-five greatest male athletes in history in their sport.

25. Bill Shoemaker, horse racing

Despite his small frame and weight, which did not exceed 45 kilograms during the peak of his career, those who shook hands with the legendary Bill Shoemaker could attest that this little man had one of the most powerful handshakes you can imagine. These small but strong hands were the secret behind a brilliant career of over forty years. During his career, Shoemaker won eleven Thoroughbred Triple Crown races, 1,009 betting races, and won ten national cash titles. He earned over $125 million, of which about $10 million went into his pocket. He won the Kentucky Derby four times and won the Belmont Stakes five times, and his record for most wins (8,833 wins) stood for many years until another immortal of the sports world, Laffit Pincay Jr. Jr) couldn't finally beat him in 1999.

24. John Brzenk, armwrestling

The legendary American arm wrestler from Illinois is undoubtedly one of the longest title holders in the history of any sport, having gone undefeated for an incredible twenty-three years. In 1983, he won his first world title when he was only eighteen years old, and he remains to this day the youngest world champion in the history of the sport. Guinness World Records named him "The Greatest Armwrestler of All Time". He also made a cameo appearance in the film With All My Strength, starring Sylvester Stallone. This movie is still the most popular movie of all time related to this sport. He is believed to have won over 250 titles and won numerous tournaments during his incredible career.

23. Kelly Slater, surfing

Kelly Slater is the greatest and most famous surfer in the history of surfing. The American surfing superstar has won the ASP World Tour Championship a record eleven times and also holds the record for being the youngest athlete ever to win a world title (at age twenty). He is also the oldest athlete ever to hold the title. He won his last victory in 2011 at the age of thirty-nine. His net worth is estimated at approximately $20 million, making him the richest surfer of all time.

22. Tony Hawk (Tony Hawk), skateboarding

The Birdman, as his fans know him, is a professional skateboarder and the sport's first true superstar. Tony Hawk created several new moves on a skateboard during his career and was the person who first pulled off the epic "900" stunt, which is considered one of the hardest aerial spins done on a skateboarding ramp because the skateboarder has to complete 2 ½ rotations ( 900 degrees) without falling. In addition, Hawke became the highest paid athlete of all the extreme sports athletes, and made millions from what were named after him video games, shoes and skateboards. Tony has also won nine gold medals at the World Extreme Games (X Games) and the Olympics of Extreme Sports (Olympics of Extreme Sports). In 2014, Fox Weekly named Hawke one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.

21. Ole Einar Bjørndalen, biathlon

Ole is the equivalent of Michael Phelps, but for the Winter Olympics. The Norwegian professional biathlete and icesports superstar is the most decorated Olympian in Winter Olympic history with a whopping thirteen medals from five different Olympic Games. He started his medal collection at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. With the two gold medals he recently won at the Sochi 2014 Olympics, he now has eight gold medals in his career. His collection also includes four silver medals and one bronze. Add thirty-nine (nineteen of them gold) World Championship medals to the equation and you can see why he's on our list.

20. Yiannis Kouros, Ultramarathon Run

Janis Kouros is the definition of an athlete that makes you really think about the true possibilities and limits of the human body and soul. He races against nature, time, distance and, as he said, when his body can no longer carry him, he does it with his mind. However, he remains almost unknown outside of running circuits, despite holding the most world records of any athlete in any sport, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. He set all these records during his career. He is also the man who has run more miles than anyone else in the history of mankind. Kouros has set over 150 world records while competing in races such as the Athens to Sparta marathon, Sydney to Melbourne, 1000 mile races and six day events. He has also won over seventy ultramarathon titles in an incredible career spanning over thirty years.

19. Nikolai Andrianov, gymnastics

Nikolai Andrianov is undoubtedly the most successful gymnast who ever lived and perhaps the second most popular overall, just behind the great Nadia Comăneci. Since the 1980 Olympics, he has held the men's record for most Olympic medals in any sport. In total, he is the owner of fifteen medals (seven of them gold). It wasn't until nearly thirty years later that Michael Phelps broke his record at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He is currently the third athlete overall in terms of Olympic medals won after Phelps (who has twenty-two) and Larisa Latynina, a Soviet gymnast who won eighteen medals during her career.

18. Karch Kiraly, volleyball

Karch Kiraly is to volleyball what Babe Ruth is to baseball and Michael Jordan is to basketball - just the greatest athlete in the history of his sport. In 1999, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, the highest governing body of volleyball, named Kiraya the greatest volleyball player of the 20th century by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), and it is well deserved considering the many honors and titles he has won during his amazing career. He received two Olympic gold medals with Team USA in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, and a third gold medal while playing beach volleyball, this time in the 1996 Olympics. He received gold at the 1986 World Championships, as well as numerous titles from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, not counting his club titles and personal achievements in both regular and beach volleyball. All of this has given Kiraya a mythical status in volleyball circles.

17. Sergei Bubka, athletics

Al Oerter in the discus throw, Carl Lewis in the long jump, Viktor Saneev in the triple jump and Jan Železný in the javelin throw had more Olympic triumphs than the Ukrainian legendary jumper with the pole, which won only once, at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul (Seoul). However, his impact on the sport has lasted much longer than the glory of any other track and field athlete in history. Between 1983 and 1997, he won a record six consecutive World Championships in Athletics (World Championships), which were held by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). He also received four more gold medals at the World Indoor Championships. During his illustrious career, Bubka set seventeen world records in athletics and eighteen world records in indoor athletics. In all, he set thirty-five records, the most records set by a single athlete in the history of athletics. Bubka was also the first pole vaulter to enter the Elite 18 club to jump 6 meters and the first pole vaulter to break 6.10 meters.

16. Eddy Merckx, cycling

"Handsome" Eddy Merckx is widely considered to be the greatest professional cyclist in the history of the sport, and this opinion is absolutely justified. At 185 centimeters tall and weighing 74 kilograms, Merckx was unusually tall, athletic and muscular for the sport, especially for his time, and was one of the most influential pioneers of cycling who helped modernize it during the sixties and seventies. He won the World Championship three times, the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia five times each, the Vuelta a España once, and also broke several world records before his retirement. from sports in the late seventies.The French magazine Vélo described Merckx as "the most outstanding cyclist who ever rode a bicycle", while the American magazine VeloNews called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time and peoples.

15. Jim Brown (Jim Brown), American football

Just like in most other team sports, there is always a fierce debate about who is the greatest player in the history of the NFL and opinions vary greatly. Some will say it's Jerry Rice, others will argue that it's Joe Montana and, more recently, Peyton Manning, who has gained fan following by breaking several records, including the record for most National Football League honors in NFL history. However, most players and pundits will tell you that Jim Brown is the greatest in history, and for good reason. In 118 career games, Brown averaged 104.3 yards per game and 5.2 yards per pass. None of the NHL players in a hurry to earn their own glory, and did not come close to these staggering numbers. When Brown retired from the sport, he was the highest paid and most honored NFL player of his time and one of the sport's first superstars. In 2002, sports news named him the greatest professional football player of all time.

14 Gareth Edwards Rugby

A Welsh legend named Gareth Edwards is the rugby world's equivalent of Jim Brown as he was the first rugby player to refine the style of the sport and lay the groundwork for a modernized version of it. Even though he played back in the seventies, thanks to his incredible athleticism and rare excellent playing skills, there is no doubt that he would still be at the top even if he were playing today. He was the definition of the term "perfect player" and could do absolutely anything. He was extremely fast, had incredible passing skills, his shots were top notch and most importantly, he had a very high IQ on the pitch and could read the game better than anyone else. In a 2003 poll of the best international rugby player by Rugby World magazine, Edwards was voted the greatest player of all time. After that, in the list of "50 Greatest Rugby Players" compiled by The Telegraph in 2007, Edwards was also named the greatest player in history.

13. Fedor Emelianenko, mixed martial arts

Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko is probably the most beloved Russian athlete in American sports history. Never before have so many American fans cheered for a Russian athlete and in most cases against their American athletes. Fedor was probably the first global superstar in a relatively new sport, and his fame spread from Russia to Japan and from the US to Brazil.

He was RINGS Freeweight Champion from 2001 to 2003, PRIDE Heavyweight Champion from 2003 to 2007, and WAMMA Heavyweight Champion from 2008 to 2010, going undefeated for over 10 years for incredible career during which he defeated many champions and famous fighters. Emelianenko is also the longest-serving top ranked fighter, recognized as the best regardless of weight class in MMA history and was recently voted the greatest MMA fighter of all time. He received a whopping 73 percent of the vote in the largest online mixed martial arts poll ever held in Brazil, the country of runner-up Anderson Silva. This fact perfectly shows the world recognition and respect of fans, which Fedor enjoys.

12. Jack Nicklaus, golf

In individual sports such as golf, things are less complicated, because in such sports there are no different weight classes like in boxing or wrestling, different disciplines like in athletics or swimming, and the competition that the champion has to face is not affected. on the course of the game, as, for example, in tennis. In golf, you are essentially competing against yourself. Despite what the modern media might tell you about Tiger Woods or even more recently Rory McIlroy, the bottom line is that to be the best at golf you have to break a record, and in this case the record belongs to Jack Nicklaus, who has eighteen major championship victories to his credit. So even if fans' opinions change like any other sport, and despite the fact that the names of Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan (Ben Hogan) and Gary Player (Gary Player) are often heard in conversations about the greatest golfer, numbers never lie. And until someone wins nineteen major championships, the Golden Bear will hold the record and the title of the greatest in history.

11. Michael Phelps, swimming

Michael Phelps is without a doubt the most decorated and most successful Olympian in the history of the modern Games. And how could he not be, considering the incredible twenty-two medals he won by the age of twenty-seven and in only three different Olympic Games, eighteen of which are gold. In the meantime, he won twenty-seven more gold medals at the world championships and broke thirty-nine world records, more than any other swimmer in the history of the sport. In total, he has seventy-seven medals received in major international competitions, sixty-one of them gold. Michael Phelps is arguably the most successful individual athlete of the last fifty years.

10 Michael Schumacher, Motorsport

With all due respect to the great NASCAR, WRC and Moto GP champions of the past decades, Formula 1 is one of the three most popular and highest paid individual sports in the world, along with tennis and golf. For this reason, the king of Formula 1, Michael Schumacher, receives a nod as the greatest driver of all time. During his distinguished career, he broke many records in the world's most popular motor racing. He holds records for winning the most world championships with seven victories, the most racing victories with ninety-one victories. He also broke the record for fastest seventy-seven laps. He also holds the record for taking the most pole positions with sixty-eight pole positions. He was twice named Laureus World Athlete of the Year and is the second richest athlete of all time, behind only Michael Jordan. His alleged estate is valued at $850 million.

9 Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey

Wayne Gretzky is not only the greatest hockey player of all time, but also the face of one of the four biggest sports in the United States. Over the course of three decades, he played twenty seasons in the National Hockey League, won four Stanley Cups, and set an astounding number of different NHL records (61 in total), more than any other athlete on any team. sport in history. He has been named the greatest hockey player in history in every poll and official ranking there has ever been. He is also the North American athlete with the most Most Valuable Player awards, having won a total of nine Hart Memorial Trophies (the NHL's regular season award).

8. Usain Bolt, track and field (sprint)

With all due respect to mythical running legends like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Emil Zatopek among others, Usain Bolt is the absolute "God of Running" and the fastest man in human history. The running phenomenon is the first and current holder of two world records for 100 and 200 meters. He became the first person to achieve a "twice double victory" by winning the 100m and 200m events at two consecutive Olympic Games. In addition, he recently became the first person to break the ten-second barrier in an indoor 100m. He won his last victory, setting a new world record, covering the distance in just 9.98 seconds.

7 Donald Bradman, cricket

It doesn't take long for you to realize what kind of "Sports God" Sir Donald Bradman really was when you look at his literally incredible career and achievement statistics. On average, 99.94 percent success in any career area is considered mythical, not to say divine. A cardiac surgeon, for example, with such a percentage of success will be able to save, in fact, every patient who gets to him on the operating table.

Also arguably the greatest cricketer of all time, Sir Don Bradman has played in 52 matches and bowled an incredible 80 innings, while a simple look at the list of cricketers with the best average in history shows that the second most successful cricketer has a 65.55 percent success rate with just 22 innings. Bradman's career rate of 99.94 percent is often considered the greatest achievement of any athlete in any major sport and is considered truly unattainable.

6. Roger Federer, tennis

Just like in golf, in a sport like tennis, to be the best you have to break the best record. While Federer played and won most of his titles during a relatively weak era in tennis, before the rise of legends like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic; and despite the existence of such names as Pete Sampras, Björn Borg and Rod Laver, when it comes to the greatest tennis player in history, the bottom line is that Roger Federer holds the record for the most overall weeks in first position (302 weeks) and the most Grand Slam singles wins in history with seventeen wins. So until someone breaks his records, he will be considered the greatest player in the world's most popular individual sport.

5. Muhammad Ali, boxing

Some will tell you that Sugar Ray Robinson is the greatest boxer of any weight class that ever lived. And even Mohammed Ali himself would agree with such a statement, since he was a big fan of Sugar. Muhammad Ali doesn't have more defense titles than Joe Louis, he didn't retire undefeated like Rocky Marciano didn't hold a title as long as reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko, and he certainly didn't earn as much. as much money as Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather have made in the modern age of sports, but when it comes to legacy no one can ever touch Muhammad Ali.

Ali is the most famous boxer of all time and one of the most famous athletes who ever lived, regardless of the sport. His colorful personality and fight against racism and injustice have given him hero status and inspired many of his fellow African Americans to rise up and fight for their rights in an era of change. There is no doubt that there have been many great boxers in history, from ancient times to the present day, and because of the many weight classes it is really difficult to compare their skills and career peaks. However, there is only one boxer who has managed to become more than a sport in itself, and we all agree that that person is Muhammad Ali.

4. Alexander Karelin, wrestling

Alexander "Experiment" Karelin was without a doubt the most intimidating and dominant champion of all martial arts throughout the twentieth century. Karelin's life story looks like a Greek myth. He was born on the frozen wasteland of Siberia in 1967 and until the age of thirteen, when he started wrestling, he hunted foxes and sables in the snowy forests of Siberia. His enormous size and brute strength, as well as his unusual, evolutionary method, have made him the most dominant fighter the world has ever seen.

During his career, he won three Olympic gold medals, won nine world championships out of nine participations and became the owner of twelve European titles in twelve participations. He remained undefeated for over thirteen years, a mythical achievement, and for six years he did not lose a single point, an even more mythical feat given the nature of the sport. The record in Experiment's wrestling is 887 wins and only two losses, for which he avenged. Shortly after his retirement in 2000, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles named him the greatest wrestler of all time.

3. Babe Ruth, baseball

Baseball and American football are two traditional American sports, and in most cases the popularity of the greatest athletes in these two sports is limited to the United States. However, there are a few exceptions and Babe Ruth is the most famous of them. Despite all the records he's broken and the titles he's won as a baseball player, the Bambino's legacy and glory transcends the sport itself. Babe Ruth was arguably the first true legend and superstar in the history of any sport, and his name became popularized through movies, candy bars, stamps and, of course, baseball-related memorabilia.

Ruth has been named the greatest baseball player in history in the vast majority of studies and polls, the most significant of which was conducted by The Sporting News in 1998, as a result of which he was ranked first in the list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. The following year, he was included in the Associated Press' "100 Greatest Athletes of the Century" list and named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century.

2. Michael Jordan, basketball

Michael "Air" Jordan is arguably the most famous athlete of the last twenty years and one of the most famous pop icons of the nineties. During his amazing career, he won six National Basketball Association (NBA) titles with the Chicago Bulls, six NBA Player of the Year awards in every Finals. He was selected to play in the NBA regular season five times, he also played fourteen times in the All-Star Games of the National Basketball Association (NBA AllStar Games). Jordan won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, but most importantly, he is the man who popularized the NBA around the world in the late 1980s and 1990s. Jordan became the first basketball player to surpass the players of his era in global popularity and fame, something that no one before him had ever been able to achieve.

Although it sounds like an exaggeration, Michael Jordan is the only basketball player in history who has come to mean more than the sport itself, and this fact can be confirmed by any basketball fan. In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN. His name has been placed at the head of other sports titans such as Muhammad Ali, Jim Thorpe and Babe Ruth.

1. Diego Maradona, football

It may seem surprising to many American sports fans, but there is no doubt that football is the most popular sport in the world. And the clearest proof of this is the fact that the recent World Cup final between Germany and Argentina was watched by more than a billion people, which is twice the number of fans who watched the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the World Series Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Stanley Cup Finals combined!

Diego Armando Maradona gets number one on our list as the world's greatest athlete simply because he is the king of the world's most popular sport. He is the only person in the history of any team sport to win the World Cup almost on his own in 1986. He joined Italy's minor league under the name Napoli and a few years later led them to the Italian Championship and the UEFA European Cup twice, the only major titles in the club's history. He scored the "goal of the century" and the most controversial goal ("Hand of God"), both in the same game against England. He was ultimately named Footballer of the Century, beating out legends like Pele, Zidane, Di Stefano, Cruyff and Beckenbauer in the largest internet poll in history. held for any sport. He garnered an astounding 55.60 percent of the people's votes, ahead of Pelé who received only 18.53 percent.

I have indeed been interested in sports for a long time, I love it both as a spectator and as a person who has done a lot of it (running, swimming, boxing, basketball, baseball, tennis) and continues to do it (tennis). Therefore, I will try to compile a list of the most outstanding athletes of all times and peoples, but with two reservations: I put them in alphabetical order, since it is impossible to compare, say, the football player Pele and the boxer Muhammad Ali. In addition, there are sports that I have little interest in and know little about, such as rowing, sailing, weightlifting, wrestling and shooting, so it is quite possible that I missed athletes who should have been on this list, for which I ask forgive.

1. Muhammad Ali (USA)

Photo: AFP/East News Muhammad Ali (USA)

He said about himself best of all: "I flutter like a butterfly, I sting like a bee." I saw many great heavyweights - world champions: Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier, I saw the legendary boxers of other weight categories - "Sugar" Ray Robinson, Marcel Cerdan, Rocky Graziano, Roy Jones ... but you never know who I saw. They all pale in front of Ali. I would like to say this: Anna Pavlova was in ballet, while Muhammad Ali was in boxing.

2. Lance Armstrong (USA)

Listen, there were great athletes in cycling. There were multiple champions of the most difficult, but also the most prestigious cycling race in the world - the Tour de France. There were Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain, but for someone to win the Tour seven times in a row? It never happened and most likely never will. I'm not saying that traditional road racing is not an American thing. Not to mention that Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer, which he defeated. And I'm not talking about the fact that when he set his sights on his phenomenal result - seven victories in the "Tour" - everyone tried to prevent him. So what? And nothing! What a phenomenal spirit this man has!

3. Fanny Blankers-Cohen (Netherlands)

“The Flying Housewife” was the name given to this woman because, at the time when she was breaking all possible records in athletics, she had two children and, from the point of view of society, she should have been raising children, not sports. Blankers-Cohen won 4 Olympic gold medals in her short career (100m and 200m, 80m hurdles and 4x100m relay) in London in 1948 and set 12 world records, including, in addition to sprints and hurdles, the pentathlon , high jump, long jump. Let's not forget that at her first Olympics in 1936 she was only 18 years old, and because of the war there were no Games either in 1940 or in 1944, that is, exactly when she was in her prime. Only in 1948, when she was already thirty and she was the mother of two children and pregnant with a third (!), Fanny Blankers-Cohen was able to again participate in the Olympic Games, where she won four gold medals. In 1999, the International Association of Athletics (IAFF) proclaimed her the "Athlete of the Century".

4. Sergei Bubka (USSR)

Six-time world champion in the pole vault, he improved the world record 35 (!) times and brought it to 6 m 14 cm - this was in July 1994, 14 years ago, and no one even came close to this result. Not to mention the fact that a height of 6 meters was considered by experts to be the maximum possible. And one more thing: no one has ever won against Bubka. For example, he could not take the ordered height three times (which, by the way, happened to him at the Olympic Games in Barcelona). But no one jumped over him, Bubka competed, like Nurmi, with himself, there were no competitors.

5. Greta Weitz (Norway)

Of all the international marathons, the most prestigious is New York. It is enough to win it once for your name to go down in the history of sports. To win twice means to become world famous. To win three times is considered a phenomenon whose name is inscribed in golden letters in the history of athletics. Greta Weitz won this marathon... 9 times (!). No one has yet replicated this result. She was, is and always will be a legend.

6. Tiger Woods (USA)

Golf is one of the most popular sports in the world, but in our country there is little interest in it. This is probably due to our climate (golf can only be played on open grass fields, which is not conducive to the Russian winter), and the fact that this is an expensive sport - a set of clubs costs at least a few hundred dollars. Perhaps that is why the name of Tiger Woods is not too well known among us. So I will not describe his achievements. Let me just say that his superiority over all the others is such that the intrigue of each tournament in which he takes part comes down to only one thing: will anyone be able to beat Tiger. Add to this that Woods has earned about $800 million in his still short professional career, and there is no doubt that he will become the first professional athlete in history to earn a billion.

7. Steffi Graf (Germany)

Both Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova call her the best tennis player in history. And they know about it! Steffi was considered the number one tennis player for 377 weeks - this record is unshakable. She has won the Australian Open four times, Roland Garros five times, the US Open six times and Wimbledon seven times for a total of 22 Grand Slams (the current men's record holder, Pete Sampras, has 14). In addition, Graf has always been a model of modesty and sportsmanship - she did not argue with the judges, did not quarrel, did not throw a racket.

8. Wayne Gretzky (Canada)

I understand that many fans of Russian hockey will not agree with me, they will say that Gretsky did not reach Kharlamov, but I stand by my own: he is not only the greatest hockey player of all times and peoples, but also the greatest athlete in general. To begin with, he owns 61 NHL records (he shares some with other hockey players). This is the only player in the history of the NHL who managed to score over 200 points in a season in the "pass + goal" system. And he did it not once, not twice, not three, but four times (nowadays, any striker who scores 100 points in a season is happy and considered outstanding). Gretzky won the Stanley Cup four times, won the Art Ross Cup ten times for the most points scored in a season, won the Hart Cup nine times as the "most valuable player". Finally, Gretzky never fought, he was exceptionally correct both on and off the ice. No wonder he got the nickname The Great One, which in Russian should be translated in one word: “Great”.

9. Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia)

He was the tenth child in the poorest Ethiopian family. Every day I ran to school - 10 kilometers there and 10 back. To this day, he runs with his left arm bent - this is a habit of his school years, when he held his textbooks like that (there were no knapsacks and briefcases). His height is 1 m 65 cm, weight - 56 kg. But he is a giant. During his sports career, he set 25 world records in running from 1500 m to the marathon. This is the greatest stayer in the history of athletics. As an English documentary filmmaker who made a film about Haile Gebrselassie described it to me, “Imagine a pair of huge lungs on two thin, strong legs - this is Haile.”

"His Air". It's not about statistics, although he has it very, very much. You just had to watch it in the game - and everything became clear. His vision of the court, his passing and three-point shots, his ability to fire up the team, possession of the ball, the way he literally hovered, hovered in the air - it defies any description. There were plenty of great basketball players, I will not list, because there will be at least 25 of them. But Michael Jordan stands apart. I remember one of my friends, speaking about Nureyev, said: “You see, everyone else is dancing, and he is doing something so incomprehensible.” This totally applies to Jordan: everyone else was playing basketball, and His Air was hovering over them, playing a completely different game...

11. Larisa Latynina (USSR)

When they say about any outstanding athlete that he won ... eleven medals, this is just a statistic. For those who have not seen this athlete in action, there is no emotion behind the statistics. This fully applies to Larisa Latynina. One English sports journalist, recalling Latynina's performance at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, wrote that when she completed her performance, the entire stadium stood up and not only gave her a standing ovation, but ... burst into tears. Latynina is the only athlete in the history of the Olympic Games to win 18 medals. She is the only female athlete to have won nine Olympic gold medals. She participated in three Olympics, and won six medals in each - this is also a record. They say that Olga Korbut was the culprit of the world boom in women's gymnastics. I don't agree with this. It was Latynina who struck the world first, only after her appeared Korbut, Komanechi and many others. She stands apart, and I do not think that she will ever be pushed off this pedestal.

12. Paavo Nurmi (Finland)

There were many great stayers, including Czech Emil Zatopek and Russians Petr Bolotnikov and Vladimir Kuts. But there has never been anyone like Nurmi. Think for yourself: he set more than 20 world records. He harvested 12 Olympic medals (9 gold, 3 silver) and would have collected much more if he had not been disqualified in 1932 for professionalism - and now all the best athletes are professionals. In 1924, Nurmi made a golden double, winning the 1500-meter final first and an hour and a half later (!) the 5000-meter final. Records set by Nurmi in long-distance running stood for years. He was so much stronger than all the others that he ran, looking at his watch from time to time, striving not for a win, which is already secured, but for a record. When the bell announced the last lap, Nurmi unfastened his watch and turned on the highest speed. He was nicknamed "The Flying Finn". It is unlikely that anyone will be able to surpass his achievements.

13. Jesse Owens (USA)

In 1936, at the Summer Olympics in Berlin, he won four gold medals: in the 100m and 200m, in the 4x100m relay and in the long jump. Hitler was so upset that "black" overshadowed the results of the "master race" that he refused to give him a gold medal. Owens set world records in the 100 meters (10.2 seconds), 200 meters (20.3 seconds) and long jump (8 m 12 cm). And this, mind you, in 1935-1936, on a cinder track that is very slow by today's standards, in spikes that are heavy by modern standards, without special nutrition and special training methods that are available today to completely ordinary sprinters. Not to mention the fact that at that time chronometers were much less accurate than they are today. I have no doubt that if Jesse Owens were alive and young today, all other sprinters, including Ussain Bolt, would have the pleasure of watching his sparkling heels.

14. Pele (Brazil)

It's not just that he scored more than a thousand goals in his sports career. And it's not that he turned the game into art. And it's not about his genius talent, which was struck by the whole world as soon as he saw him, a 16-year-old boy, in the Brazilian national team. And the point is all this put together, plus something that defies description, but is absolutely obvious. According to legend, when an apple fell from the tree under which the great Newton lay and hit him painfully on the head, he looked up and, slapping his forehead with his hand, said: “Aha!” It was an epiphany that led to the discovery of the law of gravity. What does this have to do with Pele? And here's what: when he first saw Pele, a person had to (at least figuratively) slap his forehead, exclaim "aha!" — and discover football.

A swimmer who won eight gold medals in one Olympics. What can you say?

The names of great athletes, some of whom won their victories back in the days of the USSR, while others have already raised the prestige of modern Russia, are often heard from television screens. Many of those who were professionally involved in sports go into politics or are engaged in coaching. Why not remember the outstanding athletes of Russia in different periods of its existence? It is about such people that will be discussed in this article.

Valery Kharlamov

One of the greatest athletes of the USSR, who is a member of the halls of fame of both the Continental Hockey League and the International Ice Hockey Federation, was born in Moscow in 1948. Interestingly, the mother of the famous hockey player is Spaniard Carmen Orive-Abad. A girl who has lived in the USSR since the age of twelve, with her bright appearance, passionate and temperamental character, struck B. Kharlamov, with whom she worked at the same factory.

For the first time, Valery Kharlamov began to skate at the age of seven, and soon he began to train on an ongoing basis under the guidance of Vyacheslav Tazov. The boy’s sports career, which had not yet really begun, could be broken by the fact that he grew up as a very sickly child, doctors even suspected rheumatism and forbade him to play sports. Therefore, Valery went to hockey secretly. The father helped, who supported the boy, trained with him additionally according to his own program. By the age of 14, Valery Kharlamov was completely healthy.

At first, the young man played for the CSKA sports school team, and continued his adult career in the Zvezda team in the small town of Chebakul. Even then, Alexander Gusev became his partner, who in time will also become one of the great athletes of the USSR. After several brilliant victories, Kharlamov ends up in CSKA. V. Petrov and B. Mikhailov became his partners for a long time. Their first joint victory was in 1968, the match between the USSR and Canada. At the World Championships, which took place in Sweden, Valery Kharlamov became the best striker of the Union in terms of personal points.

In 1976, the great athlete of the world, Valery Kharlamov, turns the course of the match in his favor, scoring the decisive goal. But in the same year, he survived a serious car accident. Kharlamov recovered for a very long time, but was able to go on the ice. In the summer of 1981, the team flew to the Canada Cup without a hockey player. On the same day, when Kharlamov had an extremely unpleasant conversation with the coach, an accident occurred that claimed the lives of Valery, his wife and her cousin.

Lev Yashin

The legendary goalkeeper, who played for Dynamo and the national team of the Soviet Union, won many personal and team trophies - this is truly a great athlete of the world and the USSR. Lev Yashin remains the only goalkeeper to this day who has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or award. He was the pioneer of the game on the exits and hitting the ball over the crossbar.

Leo was born in a simple family, his father worked as a mechanic, his mother was also a foreman. He received his first football lessons in his native yard, and when the boy was 11, the Great Patriotic War began. The teenager became a mechanic and began to make equipment for military purposes.

The greatest athletes achieved success quickly. This happened with Lev Yashin. After the war, he played in the evenings in the amateur team "Red October". When the young man served in the army, professional coaches drew attention to him. Yashin started playing in Dynamo Moscow and became a goalkeeper. Very soon he was already the third in the main team. A unique achievement is that Lev Yashin spent twenty-two seasons in the shirt of this club.

Interestingly, the great Russian athlete was equally talented in both football and hockey. He showed pretty good results. For example, Lev Yashin became the champion of the USSR in 1953 and was selected for the national team, but decided to focus his efforts exclusively on football, and not on ice.

The athlete won the Olympic Games, and in 1960 became the European Champion with the USSR national team. Lev Yashin is as legendary and the greatest athlete of all time to Soviet children as Pepe is to Brazilians. By the way, the Soviet football player was friends with him for a long time. Lev Yashin played his last match on May 27, 1971. Then he was a coach, he was mainly involved in youth and children's teams, but he did not achieve significant success in this field.

The football player died in 1990 from gangrene of the leg and complications associated with smoking. Two days before his death, he received the Hero of Labor medal.

Ivan Poddubny

The greatest athlete, professional athlete and circus artist Ivan Poddubny was born back in the Russian Empire, on October 8, 1871, in the family of a Zaporozhye Cossack. From his father, the boy inherited heroic strength and the habit of working hard all his life, from his mother - an ear for music. In childhood and adolescence, he sang in the choir, from the age of 12 he worked, and at the age of 22 he left his native village for the territory of the modern Poltava region in the Crimea. Ivan Poddubny entered the ring for the first time in 1896, when a circus toured the Crimea. It was from that moment that the sports career of a port worker started.

In 1903, the Russian athlete competed at the World Championships in Paris. He withstood eleven fights, but lost to the Frenchman Bush. He went to the trick - he used oil. The victory was awarded to the Frenchman, and Ivan Poddubny became an opponent of dirty methods. In 1905, the victory was already unconditional. An athlete from the Russian Empire was invited to various competitions, he was called the "champion of champions." But in 1910, Ivan Poddubny decided to end his sports career because he dreamed of a home and family.

At 42, the great athlete of Russia returned, but only to the circus arena. He worked in Zhytomyr, Kerch, Moscow, Petrograd, went on tour in the USA and Germany. Interestingly, only a difficult financial situation forced him to go on such a long trip. Many assume that Ivan Poddubny has a lot of money left in the accounts of American banks.

Yuri Vlasov

Yuri Vlasov called his idol Arnold Schwarzenegger. This greatest athlete is the owner of 31 world records in athletics, but first things first. Yuri Vlasov was born in an intelligent Soviet family in 1935. His father was a diplomat and intelligence officer, wore the shoulder straps of a GRU colonel, his mother was the head of the library. As a boy, he studied at the Suvorov Military School, at 14 he began his career in sports.

The young man first became the champion of the Soviet Union at the age of 21, two years later he won the world championship in Warsaw. The triumph took place in 1960 at the Olympics in Rome, which later became known as the Vlasov Olympics. From the first attempt with a weight of 185 kg, Vlasov received "gold", a world record in triathlon - 520 kg. The second attempt was even better (195 kg and 530 kg in triathlon), the third - again world records (202.5 kg in clean and jerk and 537.5 in triathlon). The great sportsman of Russia has surpassed the record of the American Paul Anderson.

Yuri Vlasov was known and respected not only in the USSR. He was not just an athlete - the glasses that Yuri did not take off even during the approaches drew public attention to his other sides. He was spoken of as a talented engineer and a person who spoke several languages. But after the Tokyo Olympics (where Vlasov lost), the athlete decided to end his career. Due to financial problems, he had to return. In 1966, Yuri Vlasov started training again, and already in 1967 he set his last record, for which he received 850 rubles.

In the early 90s, Vlasov went into politics. He was a deputy of the USSR, publicly criticized the party and the KGB, became a deputy of the State Duma. Yuri Vlasov ran for the presidency of Russia, but received only 0.2% of the vote.

Fedor Emelianenko

The great athlete of the 21st century Fedor Emelianenko was born on September 28, 1976. Fedor's father worked as a welder, his mother was a teacher at the school. In total, there were four children in the family, the future athlete became the second. From the age of ten, the boy was engaged in sambo and judo, gave all his free time to training, sometimes even stayed in the gym for the night. Since 1997, Fedor Emelianenko began to perform in professional sports. He won the international tournament, received the title of master of sports, became the champion of Russia. At the end of the century, Fedor Emelianenko switched to MMA, and in 2000 he began to intensively engage in boxing. The year 2004 was especially successful in the professional biography of the great athlete. He defeated Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman. Later there were ups and downs.

Sergei Bubka

The greatest sportsman Sergey Bubka was born in 1963 in Lugansk. From childhood, he played sports, became interested in pole vaulting and athletics. Here he met his future coach Vitaly Petrov. Later, he graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Physical Culture and became a candidate of pedagogy (2002).

At the world's first athletics championship, which took place in 1982 in Helsinki, Sergei Bubka became a gold medalist, and soon became a master of sports. Two years later, he set the first world record, conquering a height of 5 m 85 cm. The next year, at the championship in Paris, Sergei Bubka conquered 6 meters. In just the first ten years of his professional career, he set 35 world records. The highest achievements were 6 m 14 cm in the open stadium and 6 m 15 cm in the hall.

Sergei Nazarovich won the World Championship six times, once at the Olympic Games (1988), he is the European champion, two-time champion of the USSR, winner of the European Winter Championship, Goodwill Games. Repeatedly, the athlete participated in the Olympic Games in the teams of the Soviet Union and Ukraine. Sergei Bubka retired from sports in 2001.

Larisa Latynina

The gymnast was born in the Ukrainian SSR (in Kharkov) before the start of the Great Patriotic War. The childhood of the future great Russian athlete was difficult: her father left the family when the baby was not even a year old, and her mother was an illiterate village woman who wanted a better fate for her daughter. The family barely had enough to eat. Since childhood, the girl had a core and strong-willed character, Larisa graduated from school with a gold medal, and ballet became her first serious hobby. The girl made progress, dreaming of a career at the Bolshoi Theater, but then another hobby appeared in her life - gymnastics.

Larisa Latynina participated in the 1954 World Championship as part of the Soviet Union national team. It was only the beginning of a career, but the young gymnast was already admired by more experienced colleagues, critics and judges. She became the absolute champion of the Olympic Games. She also has other titles: the absolute champion of Europe and the USSR, the world champion. She became the captain of the USSR national team, then a coach. Larisa Latynina taught young gymnasts the will to win, gradually passing on her invaluable experience to them.

The record of Soviet gymnastics in the number of titles and gold medals, which lasted for half a century, was able to be beaten by Michael Phelps, who outstripped Larisa Latynina by only one Olympic medal.

Yelena Isinbayeva

The great Russian athlete of the 21st century, Elena Isinbayeva, was born in 1982 in Volgograd. The family lived modestly, but the parents supported their two daughters in all endeavors. At the age of five, Elena began to practice rhythmic gymnastics at a sports school, later she studied at the Olympic reserve school, and then entered the Academy of Physical Culture in Volgograd without a competition.

In 1997, the girl became a master of sports, but her high growth prevented her from continuing her brilliant sports career. The coach of a 15-year-old girl suggested that she take up pole vaulting instead of gymnastics (at this age for an athlete this is already a risky step), Elena agreed, as she dreamed of a sports career. Elena made her debut in 1998, the result of the jump is 4 meters. In 1999, the girl received her first Olympic medal and set her first record.

After several defeats in 2010, the girl decided to leave the sport for a while, in 2013 Elena Isinbayeva announced that she was ready to leave the sport, because she wanted to start a family and a child. She nevertheless decided to take part in the 2016 Olympics, but as a result of a doping scandal, the Russian team was not allowed to the event.

Alexander Karelin

Alexander Karelin is not only an outstanding athlete, wrestler, three-time winner of the Olympic Games, but also a politician, deputy, Hero of Russia. The athlete has a strong character and unique physical data. During his professional career, Alexander Karelin suffered only two defeats, while there were 887 victories.

At the age of 17, Alexander became a master of sports of the USSR, and already at 18 - a world champion in youth competitions and a master of sports of international class. Since 1987, Alexander Karelin has become European champion 11 times. In 1988, he won the Olympic Games for the first time.

In addition to sports, since 1995 Alexander has also worked in law enforcement and tax authorities. In 1999, the wrestler became a deputy of the State Duma, was re-elected 3 times.

Vladislav Tretiak

The legendary hockey player was born in 1952 in the suburbs. The sports career of little Vlad was determined immediately, because a child was born in a sports family. Parents, although they did not go in for sports professionally, instilled a love for a healthy lifestyle in children. Vladislav's mother was a physical education teacher, participated in competitions in Moscow, his father is a pilot who kept himself in excellent physical shape.

Since childhood, the boy has been involved in various sports, but at the age of eleven, his parents sent Vladislav to the hockey section, from which his path began. First he was a striker, then he became a goalkeeper. At first, the father did not approve of this hobby, but when the boy began to earn money, he resigned himself to the choice of his son. Since 1967, Vladislav Tretyak began to train with the players of the CSKA team. Already at the age of 16 he was accepted into the main team.

The talented athlete has repeatedly amazed judges, critics and colleagues with his achievements. He became the youngest champion hockey player when he won gold at the 1972 Olympic Games. But there were, of course, unfortunate defeats. For example, at the 1980 Olympics in the United States of America, the USSR national team lost to a local team, and Tretyak scored the lowest personal score. Fortunately, the failures were only temporary, and soon everything worked out.

The last time the legendary hockey player took to the ice was in 1984. He decided to devote more time to his family, began to work as a coach. It took less effort and time. In addition, the athlete was interested in politics for some time.

Lyubov Egorova

The future athlete was born in 1966 in the Tomsk region. I have been fond of skiing since my childhood. She won the championship for the first time in 1980. At the age of 20, the girl joined the national team of the Soviet Union and became the leader at the World Championships in the United States. Her first truly significant international success came after winning two gold medals at the World Championships in Italy in 1991. Like many other Soviet and Russian athletes, Lyubov Yegorova went into politics at the end of her professional sports career. In 2011, for example, she was elected Chairman of the Commission on Physical Culture and Sports of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg.

Big sport №7-8(74)

Andrey Supranovich

On the eve of the World Championships in Athletics, which will be hosted by Moscow for the first time in history, Bolshoy Sport looked back and compiled its rating list of the greatest athletes and athletes in the history of sovereign Russia.

Yelena Isinbayeva

Born June 3, 1982 in Volgograd
Two-time Olympic champion (2008, 2012) in pole vault
Bronze medalist of the 2012 Games
Two-time world champion (2005, 2007)
Four times World Indoor Champion (2004, 2006, 2008, 2012)

Recognized prima athletics, one of the most recognizable Russian athletes, multiple world record holder, "Bubka in a skirt" - all this is about Elena Isinbayeva.
She appeared out of nowhere: at the age of 15 she quit gymnastics, and six months later she won the World Youth Games, and this fact alone says a lot about the talent of the Russian woman. Over the next 10 years, Elena conquered a host of titles - everything she touched turned into gold. And our Volgograd Midas also set three dozen world records, constantly raising the bar in the literal and figurative sense. It always seemed that before us was a creature from another planet - Elena competed at competitions, competing with herself, going to the start after the competitors had covered the poles. She was a superstar, the face of Russian sports, a kind of David Beckham from the jumping sector.
In the end, show business knocked down, tripped up. Successes were still going by inertia, and the training process was already slowly fading into the background. Isinbayeva made her main mistake - she left the coach Yevgeny Trofimov. The tragedy did not happen immediately - the gap between the Russian woman and the rest of the world was so great that Lena could still win without a warm-up, on one leg. Until one day at the World Championships, she took the initial height. And the failures snowballed, and when Isinbayeva finally realized the problem, it was almost too late.
The queen of the pole returned to Trofimov, but the old coach could not quickly correct the situation. Against this backdrop, London's bronze was not seen as a failure, but rather as a sign of recovery. As the mentor notes, Elena is already breaking her own world record in training. The athlete herself is more and more silent, setting the X hour for the Moscow World Cup ...

Anna Chicherova

Born July 22, 1982 in Belaya Kalitva, Rostov Region
Olympic champion - 2012 in high jump
Bronze medalist of the 2008 Games
World Champion - 2011, two-time silver medalist of the World Championships (2007, 2009)
World Indoor Champion - 2005
Champion of the Universiade-2001

Anya's father is a high jumper, her mother is a basketball player, so the future champion could not get away from big sport. The girl followed in the footsteps of her father, who became her coach.
They started talking about Chicherova already in 2002, when she began to take a two-meter height. But success never came - even after changing the coach and moving to Moscow, the talented jumper failed to open up completely. At the 2004 Games, she managed to take only sixth place, and then the status of forever second was glued to Anya: very often she won silver. At the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the medal still ended up on the neck of the Russian woman, but only the bronze medal - the second and first places were taken by the favorite Blanca Vlašić and the sensational upstart Tia Ellebo. A year later, Vlašić became the world champion, and Chicherova, having received a silver round, fed up with it, threw in her hearts: “I am ending my career.” And she fulfilled her promise, never being awarded the title of “great”.
Anna became a mother, but, as sometimes happens, she did not go headlong into the family, but, on the contrary, accumulated energy to return. Soon she broke the Russian record, setting it at around 2.07 meters, and finally won the World Championship in Korea. Fortunately, the time of great victories for a young mother is not over yet. In London, the 30-year-old athlete fulfilled another cherished dream: to listen to the Russian anthem, standing on the top step of the Olympic podium. After this triumph, the smiling beauty Chicherova is one of the most recognizable people in athletics. But she doesn't need popularity. The jumper plans to break the world record (2.09 meters), which has been owned by the Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova for 15 years.

Tatyana Lebedeva

Olympic champion - 2004 in the long jump
Three-time silver medalist of the Games (2000, 2008 - triple, 2008 - length), bronze medalist of the 2004 Games (triple)
Three-time world champion (2001, 2003 - triple, 2007 - length)
Three-time World Indoor Champion (2004, 2006 triple, 2004 length)
2001 Universiade champion in triple jump

2001 Universiade champion in triple jump. A whole scattering of awards and titles from Tatyana Lebedeva is primarily due to the fact that our illustrious jumper, following the example of world record holder Galina Chistyakova, never concentrated on any one form, but jumped superbly both in length and triple. The only pity is that an outstanding career is coming to an end: most recently, 36-year-old Tatyana was injured again and risks not performing at the Russian Championship, which will be held at the end of July. In this case, Tatyana will officially leave the sport.
She already stated this - immediately after the unsuccessful Olympics in London for herself. Lebedeva got to her fourth Games with difficulty, starting to train six months before the qualifying competitions. But the victory in the national championship in the triple jump opened the doors to England, where, unfortunately, a miracle did not happen - Tatyana was only 10th and ended her career. To soon resume it again - "for pleasure."
Despite the sunset, Lebedeva should not lose heart - after all, her biography already has a lot of bright pages. The most important one dates back to 2004, when a native of Sterlitamak succeeded in literally everything, and awards rained down like from a cornucopia. She set a world record in the triple jump (indoors), but the icing on the cake was definitely an Olympic gold medal in the long jump. Then in Athens the whole pedestal was Russian. It is a pity that after four years only a centimeter separated Tatyana from a second victory. But two silver medals from Beijing 2008 cannot but be recognized as a well-deserved award for a super-talented jumper.

Svetlana Masterkova

Born January 17, 1968 in Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory
Two-time Olympic champion - 1996 in the women's 800 and 1500 meters
World Champion - 1999
World record holder in the 1 km and 1 mile run

Starting as an 800 meters runner, Svetlana Masterkova won the last USSR championship in history, thus making her talk about herself. True, there was no bright continuation - after the eighth place in the world championship, Svetlana began a difficult period of injuries, and then - maternity leave. Her husband, cyclist Asyat Saitov, helped him return to big-time sports. Watching his workouts, Masterkova realized that she could try herself on the track again and even prove that she was the best. With her character, it could not be otherwise.
But the most surprising thing is that the native of Achinsk quickly returned to the world elite. In 1996, having barely announced the resumption of performances, Svetlana won the Russian championship in the crown 800-meter race, adding gold in the one and a half kilometer distance. These victories opened the way for her to the Olympics, where she was not expected to win. A whole 20 years have passed since Montreal-1976, when Tatyana Kazankina from Leningrad won both the 800 and 1500 meters in brilliant style. All the more unexpected were Masterkova's two triumphal races, in which she beat the recognized favorites - world champions Maria Mutola and Ana Fidelia Kirot. Moreover, both victories were obtained in the same, which has become a corporate style - with leadership from start to finish.
After the sensation in Atlanta, Svetlana continued her enchanting performances on other tracks. Amazing readiness helped set two world records that have not fallen to this day. The only pity is that after four years in Sydney, Masterkova failed to defend the titles - she retired in qualifying due to an offensive injury.
After the end of her career, the famous athlete did not go on a well-deserved rest, but directed her energy in a different direction. Now she holds a deputy chair in the municipal council in Moscow, and also heads the Moscow Athletics Federation and the Children's Sports Palace. It is gratifying that in the 800 meters Masterkova has a worthy successor: Maria Savinova from Chelyabinsk has won six major tournaments over the past three years, including the London Olympics.

Yuri Borzakovsky

Born July 22, 1982 in Kratov, Moscow Region
Olympic champion - 2004 in the 800 meters
World Indoor Champion - 2001
Two-time silver (2003, 2005) and bronze (2007, 2011) medalist of the World Championship
European Champion - 2012

When you hear the rather rare surname Borzakovsky, the final 800-meter race at the 2004 Athens Olympics immediately rises before your eyes. Even then, both rivals and spectators knew about the extraordinary style of the Russian - to accumulate strength and sit in the depths of a group of runners, and 200 meters before the finish line to give out a grandiose spurt. But even such awareness did not prevent gasping and opening his mouth wide with delight: Yuri made a stunning leap, as if he was not six hundred meters behind, - and in the very finish line he overtook the recognized favorite Wilson Kipketer. “I just have a slightly different muscle structure - they are longer than usual. From this, the metabolism is different. And I can also hold my breath and sit under water for 3 minutes 40 seconds, ”the athlete explained his uniqueness.
Unfortunately, despite such data, the Athenian success was not repeated either in Beijing or London, although Borzakovsky was traditionally bet on. The Russian both times did not even get into the final, explaining the failures with shortcomings in the preparation. But the reason is different: Yuriy's tactics have long been learned by heart, and the speeds have increased - the recognized leader of the 800m David Rudisha from Kenya runs the entire distance the way Borzakovsky once ran the last 200 meters. But our athlete (by the way, nicknamed the Kenyan) believes and remembers that Africans can be defeated, and is preparing for his fourth Olympics. There, to win, you will need to show a time of about 1.41, and the athlete is ready for this. How he will lose 4 seconds from his last results is another question.

Lilia Shobukhova

Born November 13, 1977 in Beloretsk, Bashkiria
Three-time winner of the Chicago Marathon (2009–2011)
London Marathon winner (2010)
World record holder in the 30 km run, European record holder in the 5000 meters

This athlete is the only one on our list who was not lucky enough to climb the Olympic podium. Although there were chances: in last year's London, Shobukhov was named among the main contenders for victory. And for good reason - Lilia has won four of the six largest marathons in which she participated, becoming the first runner in history to conquer the Chicago Marathon three times. It is a pity that the insulting injury did not allow her to finish the Olympic distance.
But specifically for the sake of the Games, the runner refused to start in the London Marathon, which, however, she had already won. At the same time, the athlete lost a solid prize money. In recent years, triumphs in marathon races have brought Shobukhova two championships in the overall standings of the most prestigious World Marathon Majors series and a total of a million dollars.
The Olympics in London was the third for Lilia - she previously represented the country in Athens and Beijing, and ran at a distance of 5000 meters. But already in 2008, she set a world record in the 30 km run and began to think about moving to the longest running distance. Her subsequent successes in marathon running are also notable for the fact that shortly before her debut, Shobukhova scandalously broke up with her long-term coach Tatyana Senchenko. But the athlete's talent helped to get out of a difficult situation, and Lilia managed on her own (with the help of her husband) to prepare herself for the grueling starts.

Valery Borchin

Born September 11, 1986 in Povodimovo, Mordovia
Olympic champion - 2008 in the 20 km walk
Two-time world champion (2009, 2011) in the 20 km walk

What Russians look head and shoulders above in athletics in recent years is in race walking. And all thanks to the world-famous Mordovian school of walkers Viktor Chegin. Our top 10 can be filled only with his pupils, but we still tried to choose only two.
Among the representatives of the stronger sex is Valery Borchin, who won the 20 km walk in Beijing. This gold was the first for the Russians since 1968, when the great Soviet walker Vladimir Golubnichy won in Mexico City. After his victory, Borchin did not slow down, but continued to win, becoming a two-time world champion and remaining undefeated until the London Games. No one doubted Valery's next victory ... But first, Vladimir Kanaykin, who was supposed to help on the track, was removed from the race, and then the unexpected happened: Borchin, who was in the lead, lost consciousness and retired a couple of kilometers before the finish line. Doctors only shrugged and did not find the reasons for what happened.
However, the age of the athlete allows him to take revenge in Rio de Janeiro. And in London, 33-year-old Sergey Kirdyapkin stood up for the honor of the Mordovian walkers, who is unlikely to make it to Brazil. But last year, the two-time world champion managed to win at the 50-kilometer distance. By the way, this is also the first and so far the only gold medal in the history of the Russian national team at the fifty dollars.

Olga Kaniskina

Born July 21, 1976 in Sterlitamak, Bashkiria
Olympic champion - 2008 in walking for 20 km
Silver medalist of the 2012 Games in the 20 km walk
Three times world champion (2007, 2009, 2011)
European Champion - 2010

Beijing Olympic champion Olga Kaniskina will be only 31 in 2016, a great age to win her second top honor. The dream could have come true even earlier, but last August, 20-year-old Elena Lashmanova sensationally took gold on the roads of London, taking the title of the youngest champion and a world record in her hands! The fans were happy to win in any case, but Olga was clearly upset when she lost to a young colleague in the finish line.
But Lashmanova is still early in the prestigious top 10 - for this she needs to continue to win. Kaniskina, for example, won the last three world championships - no one has so many titles! The only pity is that the champion herself is pessimistic: in an interview, she has repeatedly stated that she is not going to continue performing until Rio de Janeiro, and she may well refuse to defend her title at the world championship in Moscow. If Olga nevertheless decides to end her career, the banner will be picked up by the same Lashmanova and Anisya Kirdyapkina, the wife of Olympic champion Sergei Kirdyapkin. At the London Games, the 23-year-old Russian finished in 5th place.

Irina Privalova

Born November 22, 1968 in Malakhovka, Moscow Region
Olympic champion - 2000 in the 400 meters hurdles
Silver medalist of the 1992 Games (4x100 meters) and 2000 Games (4x400 meters), bronze medalist of the 1992 Games (100 meters)
World Champion - 1993 in the relay 4x400 meters
Three-time world indoor champion (60, 200, 400 meters) and European champion (100, 200 meters)
The best female athlete in Europe - 1994
World record holder in the 50m and 60m

Due to physiological characteristics, black athletes almost always ruled in running, and representatives of the white race traditionally looked weaker. For example, in the women's sprint in the 21st century, only Yulia Nesterenko shot - a Belarusian sensationally won the 100-meter race at the Athens Olympics. But in the 1990s there was a “white lightning” - Irina Privalova. In the period from 1991 to 1995, she had no equal in Europe, and Irina beat black athletes more than once. At the Games in Barcelona, the famous athlete was only two hundredths behind the American Gail Divers, for which she got even with her a year later at the World Championships in Stuttgart. Then the Russian team sensationally won the 4 × 100 meters relay, and Privalova wiped her nose at the last meters of her main rival Divers. The only pity is that the injuries did not allow Irina to realize her potential at the Olympics in Atlanta.
The coveted gold came to Privalova only in Sydney, and at a distance of 400 meters with barriers! The born sprinter retrained into the middle peasants for a reason: she figured that after the injuries she had suffered, she would not be able to fight the Americans on equal terms, and chose the distance at which she could win gold. And it worked! Less than a year of training - and Privalova took the gold and bronze of the Olympic Games, while the final of the 400-meter hurdles was for Irina only the fourth start at this distance in her career!
After Sydney, the champion was again seriously injured and decided to devote herself to her family. But before Beijing 2008, she announced her desire to compete at the Games at the age of 40! It is a pity that the dream did not come true - after all, a long downtime and age could not but affect. Privalova did not qualify, finishing seventh (200 meters) and ninth (100 meters) at the Russian Championships.

Olga Kuzenkova

Born October 4, 1970 in Smolensk
Olympic champion - 2004 in hammer throw
Silver medalist of the 2000 Games
Three-time World Championship silver medalist (1999, 2001, 2003)
European Champion - 2002

Just imagine - today the world record in the women's hammer throw, owned by the German Betty Heidler, is approaching 80 meters (79.41), while 15 years ago it was ten meters less! It is gratifying that the first woman to cross the 70-meter line was our Olga Kuzenkova.
A native of Smolensk has long been known as a trendsetter in a fairly new sport for the weaker sex. The first officially registered IAAF world record (66.84) belongs to her. In general, Olga updated the world achievement seven times, and the more sensational was her defeat at the first Olympics for throwers in Sydney. Then the Russian woman was bypassed by 17-year-old Polish Kamila Skolimovskaya. Fortunately, the gold of the Games did not go away from Kuzenkova - she became the best in four years. But Olga has no victories in the planetary championships: the 2005 championship was taken away from her this year after rechecking doping tests. The athlete herself refused to return the medal and admit her guilt, but did not go to court, citing lack of time: after leaving the sport, Kuzenkova became a deputy of the Smolensk Regional Duma.