Viktor Ivanovich Chukarin (russian: Виктор Иванович Чукарин, uk, Віктор Іванович Чукарін; 9 November 1921 – 25 August 1984) was a

Soviet 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 ...

gymnast. He won eleven medals including seven gold medals at the 1952 and

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, wh ...

(including the individual all-around title on both occasions) and was the all-around world champion in 1954. He was the most successful athlete at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Chukarin was born in Krasnoarmeyskoye village in Donets Governorate (modern-day Novoazovsk Raion of the

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

) to a Don Cossack father Ivan Evlampievich Chukarin and a

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

mother Hristina Klimentievna Lamizova.Andrei Uskensky.
Olympic Gold after a Camp Dust
'' // Novaya Gazeta, February 20, 2003 (in Russian)Farid Dasaev.
Tragedy and Triumph of the Great Olympian
' article at '' Physical Culture and Sport'' No 1, January 1, 2012 (in Russian) In 1924 his family moved to

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russi ...

where he started training in gymnastics. Later Chukarin studied at the Institute of Physical Education in Kiev. In 1941 with the start of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a Theater (warfare), theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland and other Allies of World War II, Allies, which encom ...

he volunteered for the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

. He fought under the general Mikhail Kirponos. Chukarin was wounded in action, taken prisoner of war near

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrative ...

( Kiev Cauldron) and sent to a prisoner camp in Sandbostel. He then went through a chain of 17 prisoner camps and by the time when he was freed in 1945 weighed only 40 kg. He was not accepted back to the sports institute in Kiev, and studied in a similar institution in Lviv. In 1946 he already competed in gymnastics at the Soviet national championships; next year he finished fifth, and in 1948 won a national title. He became the all-around Soviet champion in 1949 and repeated this achievement in 1950, 1951, 1953 and 1955.«Ахиллесова пята» Виктора Чукарина. Как узник Бухенвальда выиграл Олимпиаду
Argumenty i Fakty. 18 September 2014 Soviet Union joined the Olympic Games in 1952 when Chukarin was 30. By then Chukarin gained much weight and was considered bulky for a gymnast. As a result, he had low scores on the floor, yet he won six medals, including the individual all-around by a margin of 0.7 points. He won five more Olympic medals at the

, including a silver on the floor. He led the Soviet team to the victory at the 1954 World Championships, winning gold in the team all around and the individual all around. In 1957 along with Larisa Latynina, Chukarin was awarded the first ever

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

given to an athlete. He recounted his sport career in the 1955 book entitled ''The Road to the Peaks (Put K Vershinam)''. In 1961, he coached

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

n gymnastics team, and in 1963 became an assistant professor at the Lviv Institute of Physical Culture. He died in 1984 and was buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery. One of the streets in Lviv was named after him.

Footnotes

References

External links

*
List of competitive resultsThe Olympic Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chukarin, Viktor 1921 births 1984 deaths People from Donetsk Governorate Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine Soviet prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Soviet male artistic gymnasts Ukrainian male artistic gymnasts Soviet people of Greek descent Ukrainian people of Greek descent Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gymnasts of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1952 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Burevestnik (sports society) athletes Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Lviv State University of Physical Culture faculty Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery Sportspeople from Donetsk Oblast

Biography

See also

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links