Nikolay Alekseyevich Gulyayev (russian: Николай Алексеевич Гуляев, born 1 January 1966) is a former

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. ...

, considered among the world's best in the 1980s.

Biography

Nikolay Gulyayev trained at Armed Forces sports society in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Skating 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 ...

, his first international appearance was in 1986 at the European Allround Championships in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Gulyayev debuted with a 5th place in the tournament won by Dutchman

Hein Vergeer Henricus Coenradus Nicolaas "Hein" Vergeer (born 2 May 1961) is a Dutch former speed skater who became both European and World Allround Champion in both 1985 (in which year he also became National Sprint Champion) and 1986 (in which year he also ...

and impressed with a 2nd-place finish on the 1,500 metres. In 1987, he was at the top of the international skating field. In January, he won the European Championships in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, in front of

Michael Hadschieff Michael Florian Hadschieff (born 5 October 1963) is a former speed skater from Austria. Biography At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Michael Hadschieff participated in all five distances (500 m - 1,000 m - 1,500 m - 5,000&n ...

and Hein Vergeer. Gulyayev held his form until the World Allround Championships in Heerenveen. At these championships, the first to be held in a climate-controlled indoor stadium, he was the first to achieve an overall point total (''

samalog Samalog (or samalogue in UK spelling; sometimes sammenlagt in both Norwegian and Danish: "put together", "total sum") is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in or ...

'') below 160.000 points, finishing before fellow countryman

Oleg Bozhev Oleg Felevich Bozhev (russian: Олег Фелевич Божьев) (born 25 August 1961 in Moscow, Russian SFSR) is a former speed skater. He trained at VSS Trud. Short biography Competing for the Soviet Union, Oleg Bozhev had his best year in ...

and the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Michael Hadschieff. His samalog

World Record 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 ...

of 159.356 stood for 4 years before being broken by Johann Olav Koss at the same venue. In Heerenveen he also set the 1,500 metres world record at 1:52.70. For his achievements that year, he received the

Oscar Mathisen Award Since 1959, the Oscar Mathisen Award (also known as the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Award, the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Trophy, and sometimes the Skating Oscar) is awarded annually for outstanding speed skating performance of the season. The award was in ...

. His performance at the World Championships in Heerenveen put him in first place on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speedskating ranking, displacing his compatriot

Viktor Shasherin Viktor Vladimirovich Shasherin (russian: Виктор Владимирович Шашерин; born 23 July 1962) is a former Soviet speedskater 　 Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic disciplin ...

, until, at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

, Austrian skater Michael Hadschieff took over first place, followed a few days later by

Eric Flaim Eric Joseph Flaim (born March 9, 1967) is an American former speed skater. He became a world champion in 1988, as well as capturing Olympic silver medals, namely in speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics and in short track speed skating at t ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Gulyayev was number one in the Adelskalender for 364 days and in the top 10 from February 1987 until January 1994. For the

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 ...

, he was a favourite for the 1,500 metres and he was also considered to have a chance for a medal in the 1,000 metres, especially after he won both distances at the World Cup in Inzell, one month before the start of the games. But in the same month, he got caught trying to smuggle 700 capsules of

Dianabol Metandienone, also known as methandienone or methandrostenolone and sold under the brand name Dianabol (D-Bol) among others, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which is still quite often used because of its affordability and ef ...

, an

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone (medication), testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related ...

. Because of this, he did not defend his European and World titles. Since he never tested positive for steroid use, the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

could not refuse Gulyayev participation in the 1988 Winter Olympics. He then did compete in Calgary, but under close scrutiny. In the first distance he participated in, the 500 metres, Gulyayev did not finish because of a fall. Four days later, in the 1,000 metres, despite a strong field of sprinters, he won the gold medal by setting the Olympic 1,000 metre record at 1:13.03, leaving

Uwe-Jens Mey Uwe-Jens Mey (born 13 December 1963) is a German former speed skater, considered to be the fastest sprinter of his time because of his 500 metres supremacy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was born in Warsaw, Poland. Biography Originally ...

and

Igor Zhelezovski 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 ...

behind. Two days later, he was favoured at the 1,500 metres, but he finished only 7th. After those Olympics, Gulyayev found himself incapable of competing at the top level of international allround speed skating, so he switched his focus to the shorter sprinting distances. At the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

in Albertville he tried to defend his 1,000 metres title, but he did not get further than the 8th place. In March 1992, he became the Russian Sprint Champion in Kolomna in front of the young

Sergey Klevchenya Sergey Konstantinovich Klevchenya (russian: Серге́й Константинович Клевченя, born January 21, 1971 in Barnaul) is a Russian speed skater who competed for the Unified Team in the 1992 Winter Olympics and for Russia in ...

. Gulyayev had to end his speed skating career because of back problems. These days, he is vice-president of the Russian Speed Skating Federation. His reorganisations may have contributed to Olympic medals at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

for

Dmitry Dorofeyev Dmitry Anatolyevich Dorofeyev (russian: Дмитрий Анатольевич Дорофеев, born 13 November 1976) is a speed skater. Dorofeyev won a silver medal in the 500 m at the 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, o ...

Svetlana Zhurova Svetlana Sergeyevna Zhurova (russian: Светла́на Серге́евна Жу́рова; born 7 January 1972) is a speed skater from Russia and a deputy at the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Career Zhurova has been competing internati ...

. His aim was to sign on Peter Mueller as the new coach of the Russian team after the Olympics.

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Gulyayev skated 2

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 ...

: Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the last column (''WR'') lists the official world records on the dates that Gulyayev skated his personal records. Gulyayev has an Adelskalender score of 158.956 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a 1st place.

References

* Eng, Trond. ''All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889–2002''. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002. * Teigen, Magne. ''Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889–1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint''. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.

External links

Nikolaj Goeljajev at SpeedSkatingStats.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulyayev, Nikolay 1966 births Living people People from Vologda Olympic speed skaters of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic speed skaters of the Unified Team Soviet male speed skaters Russian male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Russian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in speed skating Olympic medalists in speed skating World record setters in speed skating Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Vologda