Anatoliy Vasilyevich Solomin (russian: Анатолий Васильевич Соломин; born 2 July 1952) is a former Soviet Ukrainian

race walk Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

er. Solomin competed in men's 20 km walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics and contended for the gold medal, but was disqualified from the lead shortly before the finish. He was European indoor champion in men's 5000 m walk in 1983 and briefly held the 20 km world best. He was born in Komarovka in

Penza Oblast Penza Oblast (russian: Пе́нзенская о́бласть, ''Penzenskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Penza. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,386,186. Geogra ...

Career

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running ...

'' ranked Solomin in the world's top 10 at 20 km seven times between 1977 and 1984. In July 1978 he walked 20 km in 1:23:30 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, breaking the unofficial world record of Mexico's Daniel Bautista by ten seconds. The following month Solomin placed third at the European Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, behind Roland Wieser and

Pyotr Pochynchuk Pyotr Ivanovich Pochynchuk ( be, Пётар Іванавіч Пачынчук; russian: Пётр Иванович Починчук) (July 26, 1954 – December 1, 1991) was a Soviet Union, Soviet athlete who mainly competed in the men's 20 kilom ...

; Wieser's winning time of 1:23:12 broke Solomin's fresh record by 18 seconds. At the 1980 Summer Olympics Solomin broke away from the main group with Bautista, who was the defending champion and had been ranked #1 in the world every year since 1975; for much of the way, the two seemed headed for gold and silver. In one of the most dramatic moments of the 1980 Games, both Bautista and Solomin were disqualified near the finish for improper walking, and the gold went to Italy's

Maurizio Damilano Maurizio Damilano (born 6 April 1957 in Scarnafigi, Italy) is an Italian former race walker. He won 15 individual medals (22 also with team events), at senior level, at the International athletics competitions. Biography He was the 1980 Olympic ...

, who had been in third place. Solomin won gold in men's 5000 m walk at the 1983 European Indoor Championships, defeating his teammate

Yevgeniy Yevsyukov Yevgeniy Afanasyevich Yevsyukov (russian: Евгений Афанасьевич Евсюков; born January 2, 1950, in Krasnoyarsk) is a retired race walker from Russia, who represented the Soviet Union at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR ...

by almost 22 seconds. He did not compete in the 1983 World Championships, but later that year he placed third at the IAAF Race Walking Cup in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, losing only to the top two from the World Championships,

Jozef Pribilinec Jozef Pribilinec (; born 6 July 1960) is a Slovak track and field athlete who mainly competed in racewalking. He was born in Kopernica. Pribilinec competed for the former Czechoslovakia at the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea ...

and Ernesto Canto. Solomin's time of 1:19:43 was his personal best, only 13 seconds off the world best Pribilinec set in winning the race, and remained the Ukrainian record until Ivan Losev broke it at the 2014 Ukrainian championships. Solomin was Soviet champion in the 20 km walk in 1977 and 1981 and placed second behind

Nikolay Vinnichenko Nikolay Alexandrovich Vinnichenko (in russian: Николай Александрович Винничéнко, born April 10, 1965 in Kazakhstan, Soviet Union) is a Russian lawyer and politician. Biography Nikolay Vinnichenko graduated from t ...

at the

1979 Soviet Spartakiad The 7th Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR ( rus, VII летняя Спартакиада народов СССР) was held in the Soviet Union in 1979, with the final stage in July and August 1979. Most events of the final stage were held ...

. He remains active in race walking as a coach.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomin, Anatoliy 1952 births Living people Soviet male racewalkers Ukrainian male racewalkers Ukrainian athletics coaches Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Penza Oblast European Athletics Championships medalists Friendship Games medalists in athletics