Mikhail Anatolyevich Shchennikov

Mikhail Shchennikov 2009

Mikhail Shchennikov ( Russian Михаил Анатольевич Щенников ., English transcription Mikhail Shchennikov * 24. December 1967 in Sverdlovsk, now Yekaterinburg ) is a former Russian walkers , who until 1991 for the Soviet Union and in 1992 for the United Team took.

For many years, Mikhail Shchennikov's strength lay in the short distances; he achieved his success in walking 20 km and in 5000 meters in indoor tracks . In 1996 he started the 50 km walk for the first time and finished second in his second Olympic competition.

With a height of 1.82 m, his competition weight was 70 kg.

Outdoor career

In 1985, Mikhail Shchennikov was the junior world champion in the 10,000-meter track, and a year later he became the junior European champion over the same distance.

In 1988 he became the champion of the Soviet Union in the 20 km walk. At the Olympic Games in Seoul , he finished sixth in 1:20:47 h, half a minute behind bronze. After finishing second in the Walker World Cup in 1989, he stayed below 1:20 for the first time in 1990 with 1:19:07 h. At the European Championships in 1990 he gave up.

In 1991 Shchennikov won the 20 km World Cup. At the World Championships in Tokyo , Shchennikov and the Italian Maurizio Damilano came to the stadium together. Shchennikov sprinted and crossed the finish line first. Only now did he realize that there was still another lap to go. In his sprint, which was set too early, he had used a lot of strength. Damilano ultimately won in 1:19:37 h from Shchennikov in 1:19:46 h. It is doubtful whether Shchennikov would have won if he had correctly estimated the distance, because Damilano looked much fresher at the finish.

At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona , Shchennikov was twelfth in 1:27:17 h. In 1993 he finished fifth in the Walker World Cup. At the World Championships in Stuttgart , Shchennikov, who was in third place, was disqualified.

Shchennikov won his only major outdoor title at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki . With 1:18:45 h he had a clear lead over the Belarusian Jauhen Misjulja , who won silver in 1:19:22 h. In 1995 Shchennikow was second in the walking world cup. At the World Championships in Gothenburg he finished sixth in 1:22:16 h, one and a half minutes behind Misjulja, who took bronze.

In 1996 Schchennikow became the Russian champion over 20 km. In Naumburg he contested his first competition over 50 km and finished third in 3:47:27 h. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , Shchennikov finished seventh on the 20 km course in 1:21:09 h. A week later he also competed on the 50 km course and finished second in 3:43:46 h behind the Pole Robert Korzeniowski (3:43:30 h).

At the 1997 World Championships in Athens , the leading Russian Ilya Markov was disqualified after fifteen kilometers. The two following walkers, the Mexicans Daniel García and Schchennikow, had already received two warnings at this point. They walked the remaining kilometers carefully enough not to receive the third warning that would have meant disqualification. At the finish, García was ten seconds ahead of Shchennikov with 1:21:43 h.

Indoor career

Walking in the hall harbors two dangers for all starters. On the one hand, the high step frequency over short distances increases the likelihood of insufficient ground contact. On the other hand, the elevated curves are not conducive to a clean walking style. The IAAF, the world athletics federation , saw this and deleted indoor walking from the competition calendar in 1994. At the European Indoor Championships, walking on the 5000 meter distance was held from 1987 to 1994, after demonstration competitions had taken place from 1981 to 1983. Walking was on the program at the World Indoor Championships from 1987 to 1993, and it was also played at the 1985 World Indoor Games.

Walking was held a total of six times at the European Indoor Championships. Shchennikov competed three times: 1989, 1990 and 1994 and won each time. His record at indoor world championships is even more impressive. After the French Gérard Lelièvre won the World Indoor Games in 1985 , Shchennikov started at all four World Championships from 1987 to the 1993 World Indoor Championships in Toronto . He won all four titles, in 1987 in Indianapolis (18: 27.79 min), 1989 in Budapest (18: 27.10 min) and in 1991 in Seville (18: 23.55 min) each with an official indoor world record. Shchennikov's personal best of 18: 15.91 min from 1989 was never officially recognized as a world record.

Best times

• 20 km walking: 1:18:36 h, April 20, 1996, Sochi
• 50 km walking: 3:43:46 h, August 2, 1996, Atlanta

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1999. Surbiton 1999, ISBN 1-899807-047
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Fields Athletics. Berlin 1999 (published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV )

Web links

• Mikhail Shchennikov in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Michail Anatoljewitsch Schchennikow in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )