Mykola Viktorovych Avilov ( uk, Микола Вікторович Авілов, russian: link=no, Николай Викторович Авилов, born 6 August 1948) is a retired Ukrainian Soviet

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...

(

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

) who competed at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. He won a gold medal in 1972, setting a new world record, a bronze in 1976, and finished fourth in 1968.Mykola Avilov
sports-reference.com Unusually tall for his time Avilov first played basketball, then changed to

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

in 1962, and only in 1966 turned to decathlon. He won that event at the 1970 Universiade and finished second in 1973. In 1971 he married

Valentyna Kozyr Valentyna Kozyr ( ua, Валентина Козир) (born 25 April 1950) is a former Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. Kozyr trained at Dynamo in Kiev. She competed for the USSR in the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Sum ...

, an Olympic high jumper. Avilov retired in 1980 after finishing fifth at the Soviet Championships. He then coached athletics in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

. In the 2015 Odessa regional election Avilov was elected into the

Odessa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern ...

parliament as the first of the

Petro Poroshenko Bloc European Solidarity ( uk, Європейська солідарність, Yevropeis'ka solidarnist', YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in vario ...

's election ballot.

References

1948 births Living people Ukrainian decathletes Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Soviet decathletes Sportspeople from Odesa Dynamo sports society athletes Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Local politicians in Ukraine Petro Poroshenko Bloc politicians Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Universiade silver medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade {{Ukraine-athletics-bio-stub