Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski or Ihar Mikałajevič Žalazoŭski (russian: Игорь Николаевич Железовский; be, Ігар Мікалаевіч Жалязоўскі; 1 July 1963 – 12 June 2021) was a Soviet and Belarusian

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

Biography

His imposing physical appearance resulted in the nicknames "Igor the Terrible" and "The bear from Minsk". Originally competing for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, then for the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

, and finally for Belarus, he became World Sprint Champion a record six times. In Soviet times, he trained at Armed Forces sports society in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. Zhelezovski won silver at the World Junior Allround Championships in 1982. Specialising in the sprint, he became World Sprint Champion in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1993. He finished eighth in the 1987 edition, and decided to skip the 1988 edition in favour of preparing for the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

that same year. These, however, turned out to be a disappointment for him, finishing sixth in the 500 m, only third in 1000 m, and fourth in the 1500 m. In the remaining two World Sprint Championships he participated in, in 1990 and 1994, he finished third and sixth, respectively. In his final two seasons, which followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zhelezovski represented Belarus. It was during this time that he achieved a career highlight of winning the silver medal in the 1000 m event at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

in Lillehammer, Norway. At the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics, he was the Belarusian flag bearer. After ending his skating career in 1994, Zhelezovski became president of the skating union of Belarus, a position which he held for several years. Zhelezovski died on 12 June 2021, at the age of 57.Умер многократный чемпион мира по конькобежному спорту Железовский

Medals

An overview of medals won by Zhelezovski at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Zhelezovski skated four

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

, one of which equalled

Pavel Pegov Pavel Georgievich Pegov (russian: Павел Георгиевич Пегов, born 29 November 1956 in Moscow, Russian SFSR) is a former speed skater who specialised in the shorter 500 metres and 1000 metres distances. He studied at the East Sibe ...

's six-year-old world record on the 1000 m: Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the ''WR'' column lists the official world records on the dates that Zhelezovski skated his personal records. Source: SpeedskatingResults.com Note that Zhelezovski's personal record on the 500 m was not recognised as a world record by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Net ...

(ISU). Zhelezovski has an Adelskalender score of 164.015 points.

References

External links

* *
Personal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhelezovski, Igor 1963 births 2021 deaths People from Orsha Soviet male speed skaters Belarusian male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic speed skaters for the Unified Team Olympic speed skaters for Belarus Olympic silver medalists for Belarus Olympic medalists in speed skating Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Spartak (sports society) sportspeople World record setters in speed skating World Sprint Speed Skating Championships medalists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus Sportspeople from Vitebsk Region