Pyotr Grigoryevich Bolotnikov (russian: Пётр Григо́рьевич Боло́тников; 8 March 1930 – 20 December 2013) 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 nation ...

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competed mainly in long-distance running events. Great Russian Encyclopedia (2005),

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

: Bolshaya Rossiyskaya Entsiklopediya Publisher, vol. 3, p. 731 He was the winner of the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. Born in Zinovkino, Krasnoslobodsky District,

Mordovian ASSR The Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Мордовская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Mordovskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika'' ...

(now the

Republic of Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...

), Bolotnikov started athletics only at age twenty, when he joined the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. He trained at VSS Spartak, coached by Grigory Nikiforov. Bolotnikov won his first national championship title in 10,000 m in 1957, when he surprisingly beat the great

Vladimir Kuts Volodymyr Petrovych Kuts ( uk, Володимир Петрович Куц, russian: Владимир Петрович Куц, 7 February 1927 – 16 August 1975) was a Soviet long-distance runner. He won the 5000 and 10000 m races at the 1956 ...

in a finishing straight by 0.2 seconds. He became the double Soviet champion in 5000 m and 10,000 m from 1958 to 1962. He also won the national 10,000 m title in 1964 and national cross country title in 1958. In 1959 he became the

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

. Bolotnikov participated already at the 1956 Summer Olympics, but without any success. At the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Olympics in 1960, Bolotnikov controlled the 10,000 m race from the start to end, beating the main favourites

Hans Grodotzki Hans Grodotzki (born 4 April 1936 in Preußisch Holland) was an East German long-distance runner who competed mainly in track events. He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy in the 10,000 metr ...

from

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and

Murray Halberg Sir Murray Gordon Halberg (7 July 1933 – 30 November 2022) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner who won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Com ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

by five seconds. On 5 October that year, in Kiev, Bolotnikov lowered the 10,000 metres world record by almost twelve seconds to 28:18.8. Just two weeks before the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, on 11 August 1962 in

, Bolotnikov lowered his own 10,000 m world record by 0.6 seconds to 28:18.2, thus becoming the main favourite at long distances at the Championships. He easily won the 10,000 m run, but was surprisingly beaten to third in 5,000 m. After the unsuccessful 1964 Summer Olympics, Bolotnikov decided to retire from athletics in 1965. He received the

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 ...

in 1960. Bolotnikov died on 20 December 2013, at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolotnikov, Pyotr 1930 births 2013 deaths Russian male long-distance runners Soviet male long-distance runners Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR 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 of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Spartak athletes World record setters in athletics (track and field) European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism alumni Sportspeople from Mordovia