Vasili Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov (russian: Василий Дмитриевич Кузнецов, 7 February 1932 – 6 August 2001) was a Soviet and Russian decathlete who won the European title in 1954, 1958 and 1962. He competed for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won bronze medals in 1956 and 1960, placing seventh in 1964. Kuznetsov took up athletics in the late 1940s and won a record 10 national decathlon titles in 1953-60 and 1962–63. He set two decathlon world records: in May 1958, he was the first athlete to break the 8,000 points barrier on the 1952 scoring system, with 8,014 points (7,653 (1985)) in

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

. He set his second world record in May 1959 at 8,357 (7,839 (1985)). He also held three pentathlon world records at 3,736 in 1956, 3,901 in 1958, and 4,006 in 1959. Kuznetsov retired after the 1964 Olympics to become an athletics coach and lecturer at the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. In 1987 he was included into the list of 10 all-time best decathletes by the IAAF.

References

External links

Biography
at Infosport.ru *
1932 births 2001 deaths Russian decathletes Soviet decathletes Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Burevestnik (sports society) sportspeople Sportspeople from Ryazan Oblast European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery {{USSR-athletics-bio-stub