Andrey Ivanovich Lavrov (russian: Андрей Иванович Лавров; born March 26, 1962, 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 ...

) is a Russian (and former

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 nation ...

) handball goalkeeper and the only three times Olympic handball champion. Lavrov is also one of only a few athletes to have won Olympic gold medals for three different teams, winning gold 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, ...

in 1988, the Unified Team in 1992, and for

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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Four years later, at the age of 42, he won his fourth olympic medal, another unique feat for a handball player, when his Russian team earned third place and the bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic games. Lavrov was a long time captain for the Russian handball team, and he was Flag Bearer for the Russian athletes at the

2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 15 September 2000 in Stadium Australia, Sydney, during which the Games were formally opened by Governor-General Sir William Deane. As mandated by the Olympi ...

of the Sydney Summer Olympics. Lavrov has also won two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for Russia, in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

and in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, as well as the European Championship in 1996. In 2001, Andrey Lavrov was voted "Russian handball player of the century" in his home country.

References

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Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavrov, Andrey 1962 births Living people Soviet male handball players Russian male handball players Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players of the Soviet Union Olympic handball players of the Unified Team Olympic handball players of Russia Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Sportspeople from Krasnodar RK Zagreb players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Members of the Federation Council of Russia (after 2000)

See also

References