Andrey Alexandrovich Silnov (russian: Андрей Александрович Сильнов; born 9 September 1984) is a Russian
high jump
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
er and the 2008
Olympic champion
This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad.
Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports
Winter Olympic sports
A. Including military patrol e ...
. Born in
Shakhty
Shakhty ( rus, Шахты, p=ˈʂaxtɨ) is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the southeastern spur of the Donetsk mountain ridge, northeast of Rostov-on-Don. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 239,987.
It was previously kn ...
,
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...
, he is 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) and weighs 83 kg (183 lbs).
In a late 2006 interview, Andrey said he was the younger son of working-class parents and that he got into athletics as a boy, inspired by the triple-jumping exploits of an older brother. He quickly realized that his height was an advantage in the high jump. After winning the Russian Under-23 Indoor title in Moscow in 2005 – with a jump of 2.24 m – he was asked to join an elite-level group of Russian jumpers training under coach Yevgeniy Zagorulko.
Silnov burst onto the world scene in 2006, when he won the gold medal at the
2006 European Championships with a jump of 2.36 metres, improving the old championship record which was set by
Steinar Hoen
Steinar Hoen (born 8 February 1971) is a retired Norwegian high jumper. He represented IK Tjalve during his senior career. He has been the meeting director for the Bislett Games since 2007. His indoor and outdoor bests are both 2.36 m – th ...
with 2.35 m in 1994. A week after the European Championships Silnov jumped 2.37 metres in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. This was the world leading jump in 2006 by a comfortable margin.
Indoors, he has made much of his progression at the
Hochsprung mit Musik
The ''Hochsprung mit Musik'' () is an annual indoor high jump meeting which takes place in February in Arnstadt, Germany.
First held in 1977, the meeting began as a competition between mainly East German athletes. Following the Re-unification o ...
, setting personal bests in 2006 and 2007 before setting his current best of 2.37 to win the competition.
Olympic champion in 2008
He jumped a new personal best of 2.38, in the
London Grand Prix
The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England.
Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Dia ...
25 July 2008, and was selected at the last minute to join the Russian team at the 2008 Olympics, where he won the gold medal with a jump of 2.36. His performance in Beijing was astonishing, as he was the only competitor to clear every height on his first attempt and was the only jumper to succeed at 2.36. He then by-passed the Olympic Record of 2.39 and had the bar raised to 2.42, where he missed all three attempts.
2009 and 2010 seasons
Silnov's 2009 season was blighted by injury and he was ruled out of competition with an Achilles injury for nearly 12 months. He returned to competition in early 2010.
2011 outdoor season
Silnov's first major outdoor competition of 2011 was at the
Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...
in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday 4 June. This
Diamond League
The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...
invitational brought together an elite field of 8 of the world's best jumpers. Silnov opened at 2.16 (as did every jumper except Spank) and he cleared every height on his first jump, until missing once at 2.32. When none of the three remaining jumpers could clear 2.35, German
Raul Spank
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
was the winner on the basis of his first-try clearance at 2.32, Silnov was second, and American
Jesse Williams was third (with a third try clearance at 2.32).
Post-Career and Doping
In December 2016, Silnov stood to be president of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF), but lost the election by 36 votes to 31 to Dmitry Shlyakhtin so took the position of first vice-president instead. In June 2019, Silnov stood down from his position as vice president as he was under investigation for a possible anti-doping rule violation.
Silnovs doping ban was confirmed by the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...
on 7 April 2021 when he was banned for four years with all of his results from 8 July 2013 disqualified.
[CAS Media Release (tas-cas.org)]
Politician
In 2014 Silnov was elected a member of Legislative Assembly of
Rostov Region
Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...
.
International competitions
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Silnov, Andrey
1984 births
Living people
People from Shakhty
Sportspeople from Rostov Oblast
Russian male high jumpers
Olympic male high jumpers
Olympic athletes of Russia
Olympic gold medalists for Russia
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
World Athletics Championships athletes for Russia
European Athletics Championships winners
European Athletics Championships medalists
Russian Athletics Championships winners