Mihhail Kaaleste

Mihhail Kaaleste , born as Michail Stoljar , (born August 20, 1931 in Värska , Estonia ) is a former Soviet - Estonian canoeist and biathlon trainer .

Career

Mihhail Kaaleste was born under the name of Michail Stoljar and came from a Russian family that changed her name to Kaaleste in 1940 . He started exercising while in the army. He first tried decathlon and cross-country skiing before devoting himself to canoe racing in 1952 . Together with Anatoly Demitkov , he won the silver medal in the two-man kayak over 1000 meters at the 1956 Olympic Games . In 1957 he became a European champion in the same discipline. At the 1958 World Championships Kaaleste won bronze twice over 1000 meters: with Anatoli Demitkow in a two-man kayak and with Demitkow, Igor Pissarew and Anatoli Troschenkow in a four-man kayak . For the 1960 Olympic Games , however, Kaaleste was no longer considered. Between 1954 and 1962 he won a total of six Soviet championship titles in kayaking and in 1955 a bronze medal in the 4x10 km relay in cross-country skiing. From 1964 he trained first the cross-country skiers and later the biathletes of Dynamo Leningrad .

Others

Mihhail Kaaleste's wife Anna Kaaleste (* 1930) finished ninth in cross-country skiing over 10 kilometers at the 1956 Winter Olympics .

Web links

• Mihhail Kaaleste in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Sports achievements and photo (Estonian)