Yakov Grigoryevich Tolstikov (russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич То́лстиков; born 20 May 1959 in

Prokopyevsk Prokopyevsk ( rus, Прокопьевск, p=prɐˈkopʲjɪfsk) is a city in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. Population: History It was founded in 1918 as the settlement of Prokopyevsky () from the existing villages of Monastyrskoye and Prokopyevskoye, ...

) is a former

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n distance runner. Tolstivov rose to worldwide prominence following his surprise upset of favorite

Gelindo Bordin Gelindo Bordin (born 2 April 1959) is an Italian former athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is the first Italian to have won an Olympic gold in the marathon and the only male to win both the Boston Marathon and th ...

in the 1991 London Marathon. He set a personal best of 2:09:17 hours at the race which went unbeaten as a Soviet record. This time was the fastest by any European in the 1991 season, and the third fastest time in the world after

Kōichi Morishita is a retired Japanese male long-distance runner. He competed for Japan at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain where he won the silver medal in the men's marathon event. Beyond his Olympic medal, his achievements include wins at the ...

and

Takeyuki Nakayama is a former Japanese world-class marathon runner. He represented his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, South Korea (gold medal). Naka ...

of Japan. In international competition he represented the Unified Team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, Spain, coming in a distant 22nd. He twice ran at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

, coming eleventh in 1987 but failing to finish in 1991. He was a marathon bronze medallist at the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Ga ...

. In individual races, he won the

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...

Marathon three times (1983, 1986, 1987), the 1984 Moscow International Peace Marathon, the 1995 Siberian International Marathon, and the 1990

Humarathon The Humarathon is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place between Ivry-sur-Seine and Vitry-sur-Seine in France every Easter Weekend (usually April). First held in 1986,Civai, Franco et al (2012-04-16)Humarathon Association of ...

. He was a one-time national champion, winning the marathon at the Soviet Athletics Championships in 1988.

International competitions

Marathons

* The Friendship Games Marathon was hosted within the Moscow International Peace Marathon in 1984 and Tolstikov was the second fastest runner there, but did not receive a Friendship Games medal as he was not entered for the team.

References

External links

* 1959 births Living people People from Prokopyevsk Sportspeople from Kemerovo Oblast Russian male long-distance runners Russian male marathon runners Olympic athletes of the Unified Team Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union Goodwill Games medalists in athletics London Marathon male winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Soviet male marathon runners {{Russia-athletics-bio-stub