Athletes are world champions. Olympic boxing champions - two-time and three-time Olympic winners

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 armwrestler 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 performed the epic "900" stunt, which is considered one of the most difficult aerial spins performed 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 circles, 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 most Olympic medalist overall 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 supreme 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. Sergey 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.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 real. high level 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 the history of American sports. 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 over 10 years. incredible career during which he defeated many champions and famous fighters. Emelianenko is also the longest-serving top-rated 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. Although modern means mass media can 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 is held by Jack Nicklaus who has eighteen wins in major championships. 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, given the incredible twenty-two medals he won by the age of twenty-seven and in just three different Olympic Games, eighteen of them 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 exercising 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 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 rating that just was. 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 the undisputed greatest cricketer of all time, Sir Don Bradman, played in 52 matches and scored an incredible 80 innings, while a simple look at the list of cricketers with the best average level 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 today, and because of the multiple weight classes, it's really hard 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 huge size and brute strength, as well as his unusual, evolutionary method, 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 species 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 most obvious 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.

The Olympics is such an event that people have been preparing for for a long time. This is a unique opportunity to demonstrate sporting achievements to the whole world and to express yourself. Olympic champions- the most top athletes who represent their country in various types sports. There are five of the most titled of them, including three Russian participants.

Bjorn Daly

The most titled Olympic champion is Daly. This is a skier from Norway who became a nine-time world champion. He is the only athlete with 8 Winter Olympic gold medals in his collection. In 1992, he was able to win the first gold in Albertville. It was a real success for Bjorn. There he received 4 gold medals in the relay, 15 and 50 km races. In Lillehammer, the Norwegian again came first in the pursuit. In 1998, in Nagano, he won three gold medals. Unfortunately, the famous skier was forced to end his career because he received a serious back injury. An official statement about this was made in early 2001. Today, Daly produces sportswear.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen

This is another Norwegian most decorated Olympic champion in biathlon. He managed to collect a collection of eight gold medals (for a total of thirteen awards). He had his first success in Nagano, where he came first in the 10 km sprint. It should be noted that Bjoerndalen managed to win only from the second run. However, he triumphed in Salt Lake City. There Ole Einar became the absolute champion in his sport and received all four awards. It should be noted that the Norwegian has not always won gold. In Turin, Ole Einar received two silver and one bronze medals. And in 2010 in Vancouver in the relay, the biathlete won his last gold medal. He was able to demonstrate a brilliant style of performance, thanks to which he became the winner.

Lyubov Egorova

The most titled Olympic champion of Russia has six gold medals in his collection. The skier Yegorova had her first success in Cavalese. Then she came first in the 30 km race (relay). She then led the 15 km race at Albertville. But this was not the only reward. She was able to win the 10 km race and the relay. And at once three gold medals went to the Russian skier in Lillehammer. She came first in the relay, won the 10 and 5 km races. It is worth noting that Egorova is not the only record holder in Russia.
Lydia Skoblikova managed to receive the same number of awards. But it was Lyubov Egorova who in 1994 became the best athlete in Russia. The President issued a decree according to which she became a Hero of Russia. However, not everything was so smooth in the career of a famous skier. In 1997, she won the five-kilometer race in Trondheim but was disqualified for using bromantane. As a result, the gold medal was taken away. Today, Lyubov Egorova is the vice-rector for sports work at the University of Physical Education. Lesgaft in St. Petersburg.

Lydia Skoblikova

The most titled Olympic champion in speed skating is Lydia Skoblikova. She was able to become the absolute winner in 1964. Her collection is famous for six gold medals. In 1960, at the Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, she managed to win two triumphant victories. In 1964, in Innsbruck, she won four races, three of which received gold. Lidia Skoblikova won the championship in speed running, which took place in Sweden. There she again obeyed all four distances. Such success cannot be surpassed. In 1960, Lydia Skoblikova received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and in 1999 - "For Services to the Fatherland", III degree. Among other things, she owns the Order of the Badge of Honor. President of the International Olympic Committee, in 1983 he awarded our athlete with the Olympic Order "For contribution to the popularization of ideals and outstanding achievements in sports." Such an award deserves respect.

Larisa Lazutina

Another most titled Olympic champion in Russia is a skier. She managed to win the competition five times. At Albertville, she led the relay in the ski team. After in Lillehammer, the athlete was able to win the relay. Our champion got a big success waiting for Larisa in Nagano. There, three medals appeared in her collection at once, each of which had the highest standard. For such a triumph, the famous skier received the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. But the chagrin was not long in coming: in Salt Lake City, doping was found in the blood of a Russian woman, which was followed by a disqualification. For this, she was deprived of two silver medals. In 2002, Lazutina initiated the opening of Odintsovo near Moscow. Now the people call it that - "Lazutinskaya".

It is worth noting that these are far from all the most titled winter Olympic champions. Not to mention Claudia Pechstein, Claes Thunberg, Thomas Ahlsgaard, Bonnie Blair and Eric Hayden.

And the Russian athletes did not take part in the next two Olympics. Russian surnames appeared only in the protocol of the IV London Olympiad in 1908. And the Olympic history of Russia begins in 1911.

The London Olympics were held on a grand scale - 2008 athletes (more than in the previous three Olympics) from 22 countries competed for places on the Olympic podium. Five came to the games Russian athletes: Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, Nikolai Orlov, Andrey Petrov, Evgeny Zamotin and Grigory Demin. The Olympic debut was extremely successful.

Of the five people, three returned home with medals. Lightweight Nikolai Orlov and heavyweight Andrey Petrov won silver medals in classical wrestling competitions, competed in a typical winter sport - figure skating, included for the first time in the program of the Summer Olympics.

The main struggle unfolded between Panin-Kolomenkin and the seven-time world champion, the famous Swede Ulrich Salkov. On the eve of the Olympics, Panin-Kolomenkina at the international tournament managed to beat the famous Swede. Wounded by the recent defeat, Salkov behaved, to put it mildly, incorrectly towards the Russian athlete. For example, he shouted out during Panin's impeccable execution of the eight on one leg: “Is this a figure eight? She's totally crooked!" Panin protested to the panel of judges. But even in the judiciary, he did not meet justice. Three out of five judges gave Panin a clearly underestimated score. Objecting to judicial arbitrariness, Panin then refused to perform in free skating. And the Swede became the champion in the first section of the program. True, after the end of the competition, a group of Swedes - participants and judges - first verbally and then in official written form apologized to the Russian athlete. When, on the second day of the competition, Salkov saw the drawings special figures Panin, submitted to the panel of judges, he, feeling doomed to defeat, refused to go on the ice. On the second day, Panin-Kolomenkin skated superbly. The judges were forced to unanimously award him first place.

The official report on the IV Olympic Games said: “Panin (Russia) was far away ahead of his rivals both in the difficulty of his pieces and in the beauty and ease of their execution. He carved on the ice a series of the most perfect drawings with almost mathematical precision. Panin-Kolomenkin left an indelible mark on the history of figure skating. He won the title of champion of Russia five times, always impressing the audience with his honed skills. Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin was a comprehensively developed athlete: he played tennis and football very well, was a first-class rower and yachtsman. Along with figure skating, he achieved outstanding success in shooting. Twelve times he became the champion of Russia in pistol shooting and eleven times in combat revolver shooting.

The first Russian Olympic champion continued to compete after the Great October revolution. In 1928, the fifty-six-year-old athlete won pistol shooting competitions at the All-Union Spartakiad. This victory was the crowning glory sports career outstanding athlete, the first Russian Olympic champion. Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin devoted his enormous talent, experience as an athlete and teacher entirely to the cause of serving the young Soviet sport. From the first days of the organization of the State Institute of Physical Culture in Leningrad, he taught there. Peru, the first Russian Olympic champion, owns more than twenty scientific and popular works on various sports disciplines...

There are many examples of how very young athletes became Olympic champions. There are many of them in the entire history of the Olympics, including the Sochi one.

The youngest Olympic champions in Sochi

Another medalist is Sim Suk-hee. The athlete represented South Korea, competing in the short track. She became the owner of gold at a distance of three thousand meters. The girl at the time of the award was only seventeen years and sixteen days old. She also has a bronze medal, won by her at a distance of a thousand meters.

Seventeen years and two hundred and forty-one days was a short track skater from South Korea at the time she received the ash medal for fighting at a distance of three thousand meters. The last name of the winner is Gong Sang Chong.

Seventeen years two hundred and fifty days, that is, only 9 days older - this is the age of a Chinese short tracker named Han Tianyu. For the victory at a distance of one and a half kilometers, he received a silver medal.

The youngest freestyle wrestling and boxing champions

Togrul Askerov became the youngest winner in freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games. At the age of nineteen years, ten months and twenty-four days, he won a gold medal. For comparison, it must be said that average age participants in freestyle wrestling competitions is twenty-six years, one hundred and fifty-three days.

In the history of boxing, Jackie Fields became the youngest Olympic champion. His real name is Yakov Finkelstein. In 1924, at the age of sixteen, the young man participated in the Olympics as part of the US featherweight team. At the Olympics in Paris, he managed to become an Olympic champion. Since today, according to the rules, it is possible to participate in the Olympics in this type of competition from the age of eighteen, this Fields record will never be broken.

It is known about another young Olympic champion - a boxer from Mexico, Alfonso Zamora. At the Olympics in Munich, which took place in 1972, the Mexican athlete won a silver medal in the first featherweight. At that time he was only eighteen years old.

Did Lipnitskaya become the youngest champion?

I must say that at this Olympics she did not become the youngest. Julia's age at the time of the victory was fifteen years and two hundred and forty-nine days. In the team figure skating competition, she won a gold medal. Younger than Yulia was the Japanese athlete Ayumu Hirano.

Although Lipnitskaya is not the youngest Olympic champion neither in the history of the Olympic Games, nor at the Sochi Olympics, however, the girl became the youngest champion from Russia in the history of the Winter Olympics.

The youngest Olympic champion in history

Due to the fact that the age of Marcel Depayer is not known for certain, it is quite possible that a boy named Dimitrios Lundras could be in the first place in terms of age among the youngest Olympic champions. This young gymnast received a bronze medal while competing on uneven bars. At the time of the victory, he was ten years and two hundred and eighteen days old.

Now there is an age limit for participation in the Olympics. Because of this, the youngest champions in history will forever remain them, and will never be defeated. In different sports today, different age limits are set, but the age bar never falls below fourteen years.

By the way, the fastest athlete in the world, Usain Bolt, according to the site, became the Olympic champion nine times. He runs a hundred meters in 9.58 seconds.
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The first Olympic champion of Russia

Russian figure skater Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin has a special achievement in the history of sports: in 1908 he became the first Russian to win an Olympic gold medal. The next time it happened only after 44 years.

Rome was originally chosen as the venue for the Games of the IV Olympiad in 1908. But when only a little over a year remained before they began, the authorities the eternal city announced that they did not have time to prepare all the necessary objects by the deadline. Like all of Italy, Rome had to give a lot of money to eliminate the consequences of the strong eruption of Vesuvius in 1906.

The Olympic Movement was rescued by Great Britain. In a matter of months, the grandiose White City Olympic Stadium for 70 thousand spectators, as well as a 100-meter swimming pool, a wrestling arena, and other sports facilities were built in London. And since even then there was an artificial ice rink in London, it was decided for the first time to include figure skating competitions in the program of the Olympic Games, held in the warm season.

The fact is that by the beginning of the 20th century this beautiful view sport has already gained great popularity and is very popular with the audience. The first European Figure Skating Championship was held in Hamburg in 1891. True, so far only men participated in it.

In 1896, the first world championship was held, and not just anywhere, but in St. Petersburg. Again, only men were represented on it, and the German figure skater G. Fuchs won the competition. In 1903, the 200th anniversary of the Russian capital was celebrated, and therefore the next World Championship, already the 8th in a row, was again held in St. Petersburg. This time, the Swede Ulrich Salkhov became the champion, and Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin from St. Petersburg, who was then 31 years old, won silver medals.

It should be noted that Ulrich Salkhov achieved fantastic results in 10 years of performances in 1901-1911. He was ten times world champion and nine times European champion...

The world championship for women was first played in the Swiss city of Davos in 1906. Two years later, for the first time, the title of world champion was contested in pair skating. And it happened again in St. Petersburg. One can, perhaps, consider that at the dawn of the 20th century, Russia was one of the world centers of figure skating.

At the Games of the IV Olympiad in London, figure skaters competed in men's, women's and pair skating. The Swede U. Salkhov was true to himself at the Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in free skating for men. In the women's competition, the Englishwoman M. Sayers won. German figure skaters A. Hubler and H. Burger became champions in pair skating.

And here, in London, the Russian figure skater became the Olympic champion for the first time. It was Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin from St. Petersburg, who excelled in the separate competition of figure skaters that was then held - the performance of special figures. It was he who was preferred by the judges, despite the fact that the audience vigorously supported his two rivals, who were the British A. Cumming and D. Hall-Say.

The English press wrote about the victory of the Russian as follows: “Panin was far ahead of his rivals both in the difficulty of his pieces, and in the beauty and ease of their execution. He cut into the ice a series of the most perfect drawings with almost mathematical precision.

In a word, the performance of Russian athletes in London could be considered quite successful - especially since they made their debut at these Olympic Games and there were only 6 people in the team. In addition to Panin's Olympic gold medal, two more silver medals were won - this was done by wrestlers N. Orlov and O. Petrov.

However, seeing off the Russian athletes to London, in the depths of their souls, few doubted that Panin would certainly be among the winners. At home, they knew well how strong this skater was. After all, at the 1903 World Championship in St. Petersburg, according to the general opinion, he lost to the Swede U. Salkhov only because of judicial bias. Not without reason, after the competition, some Swedish athletes even apologized to the Russian.

Panin became the champion of Russia every year, invariably captivating the audience with his perfect technique. And in general, he was a great athlete: he performed brilliantly not only on the ice, but also played tennis superbly, was a very strong athlete, rower and yachtsman, and a multiple Russian champion in pistol and combat revolver shooting.

And, of course, a brightly gifted personality, wonderful an educated person. In 1897 he graduated with a gold medal from the natural sciences Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University. He could, no doubt, be engaged in scientific activities, but family circumstances forced him to go to work in the financial department.

There, sports were not looked at very approvingly. Therefore, an outstanding athlete had to compete, especially at first, under the pseudonym Panin, hiding his real name- Kolomenkin.

Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin

I couldn’t leave the sport in any way, because I fell in love with skates from childhood. Even in his native village of Khrenovo, Voronezh province, he began skating on the ice of ponds on home-made wooden skates with an iron skid. When he was 13 years old, he moved to St. Petersburg. He studied here, and in the evenings he studied in a circle of figure skating enthusiasts on one of the ponds in the Yusupov Garden.

In 1893 he entered the university. And in 1897, just when he finished it, he achieved his first serious success, taking third place in the inter-city competitions of figure skaters. Since then, it has gone on - in the financial service, he was Kolomenkin, and in competitions - Panin. But he entered the history of sports under the double surname Panin-Kolomenkin. Fortunately, the service left him enough time for training and for performances in various competitions.

He could afford to travel abroad. In 1904, for example, 4 years before the Games of the IV Olympiad in London, he competed at the European Figure Skating Championships in Switzerland, where he took third place.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Panin-Kolomenkin discovered early in himself a penchant for coaching. And not only as a practitioner, but also a theoretician. Back in 1902, his great work, The Theory of Figure Skating, began to be published in the journal Sport with the continuation. Its purpose, as he himself wrote, was to help skaters "bring their achievements into a system and achieve greater purity of performance." The work examined in detail the various figures performed by athletes on ice.

In the same year, Panin-Kolomenkin began practical work in the St. Petersburg Society of Skating Fans, teaching those who wished the art of figure skating. And after winning the Olympic Games in London, he left big sport and devoted himself entirely to coaching. But he did not leave work on the theory of figure skating.

True, he still continued to perform at shooting competitions. In total, from 1906 to 1917, he was ... a twenty-three-time Russian champion in pistol and combat revolver shooting. Later, already in 1928, in Soviet times, became the winner of the All-Union Olympics in pistol shooting. Then he was already 56 years old.

Back in 1910, Panin-Kolomenkin's big book " Figure skating on skates”, the first theoretical work in Russia devoted to this sport. The author was awarded two gold medals "For an outstanding scientific essay in the field of sports on figure skating."

And after almost 30 years, Nikolai Alexandrovich Panin-Kolomenkin prepared an extensive monograph "The Art of Skating", where he systematized the vast material he had collected on the history, theory, methodology and technique of figure skating. At that time he worked at the Institute of Physical Culture named after P.F. Lesgaft, under which a school of figure skating masters was organized.

In 1939 for scientific achievements and pedagogical activity Panin-Kolomenkin was awarded the title of associate professor and the degree of candidate pedagogical sciences. He is rightly called the founder of the theory and methodology of modern figure skating. Many Russian champions in this sport considered themselves students of Panin-Kolomenkin.

The great athlete, wonderful coach and teacher lived a long life - he died in 1956. In addition to scientific works, he left a book of memoirs "Pages from the Past". Some of these pages are devoted to the games of the 4th Olympiad in London. And today's reader can imagine those happy moments of the first Olympic victory won by an athlete of our country almost a century ago.

But the next Olympic gold medal had to wait for many decades later. Four years later, at the Stockholm Olympics, Russia was content with only two silver and two bronze medals. And after the First World War, Russia, where the Bolsheviks came to power, no longer took part in Olympic Movement. The debut of the USSR national team took place only at the XV Olympiad in 1952 in Helsinki, where the discus thrower Nina Ponomareva won the first gold medal for our country.