Grigoriy Matuzkov ( kk, Григорий Матузков; born May 2, 1971) is a Kazakh former swimmer, who specialized in individual medley events. At only 29 years of age, Matuzkov represented

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in his official debut at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, and spent four years in

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

(1997–2001) training for the Flamengo Swim Club ( pt,

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

). Matuzkov competed in a medley double at the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He achieved

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

B-standards of 2:07.62 (200 m individual medley) and 4:34.69 (400 m individual medley) from the Kazakhstan Open Championships in

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

. On the second day of the Games, Matuzkov placed thirty-ninth in the 400 m individual medley. Swimming in heat two, he picked up a sixth seed by 0.16 of a second behind Mexico's

Juan Veloz Juan José Veloz Dávila (born 24 September 1982 in Mexico City, Mexico) is an Olympic and national record-holding swimmer for Mexico. He swam for his native country at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympics. Career At the 2002 Central American an ...

in 4:31.89. Three days later, in the 200 m individual medley, Matuzkov held off a challenge from Bahamas' Jeremy Knowles to lead the second heat in a Kazakh record of 2:05.45. Matuzkov's best time was not enough to put him through to the semifinals, as he placed twenty-ninth overall in the prelims.

References

1971 births Living people Kazakhstani male medley swimmers Olympic swimmers for Kazakhstan Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Pavlodar {{Kazakhstan-swimming-bio-stub