Valentin Vladimirovich Nikolayev

Valentin Vladimirovich Nikolajew , Russian Валентин Владимирович Николаев , scientific transliteration Valentin Vladimirovič Nikolaev (born April 6, 1924 in Donino-Kamensk , Kirovohrad Oblast , Ukrainian SSR ; † November 1, 2004 in Rostov-on-Don , Russia ) was a Soviet wrestler . He was an Olympic and world champion.

Career

Valentin Nikolayev, a Russian from the Rostov-on-Don area , began wrestling as a teenager. He was a railroad employee and member of "Lokomotive" Rostov. He wrestled exclusively in the Greco-Roman style and was one of the best Soviet light and heavyweight wrestlers by the end of the 1940s.

In 1951 he won the heavyweight wrestling tournament at the World Youth Festival in East Berlin . In 1953 he won the Soviet light heavyweight championships, ahead of Pyotr Tkachev from the Azerbaijani SSR . At the 1953 World Youth Festival in Bucharest , Nikolayev repeated his 1951 victory, but this time in the light heavyweight division.

In 1955, Valentin Nikolajew was world light heavyweight champion in Karlsruhe with six clear wins on points. In the final, he defeated the 1948 Olympic champion Karl-Erik Nilsson from Sweden . The year 1956 was the high point in Nikolayev's career, as he became Olympic light heavyweight champion with four wins in Melbourne . Decisive for this were his victories over Karl-Erik Nilsson and Petko Sirakow from Bulgaria .

In the following years Nikolayev had increasing weight problems and could no longer bring the limit of 87 kg for the light heavyweight. But he was still involved in the Soviet heavyweight championships and achieved many good results. In 1957 he was second winner behind the heavyweight Olympic champion from 1956 Anatoly Parfenow . In 1959 he was also the Soviet runner-up in the heavyweight division behind the new star Iwan Bogdan . At the II. People's Spartakiad in 1959, the result in the heavyweight division was Ivan Bogdan, ahead of Valentin Nikolajew and Anatoly Parfenow.

In 1960 Nikolayev could no longer place himself in the front field at the Soviet championships and ended his international wrestling career.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, Hs = light heavyweight, S = heavyweight, back then up to 87 kg or over 87 kg body weight)

• 1951, 1st place , World Youth Festival in East Berlin , GR, S, ahead of György Solthesz, Hungary and Alexander Suli, Romania ;
• 1953, 1st place , World Youth Festival, GR, Hs, ahead of Solyom, Hungary and Corneanu, Romania;
• 1954, points winner over Karl-Erik Nilsson , GR, Hs, in the international match between the Soviet Union and Sweden ;
• 1955, 1st place , World Championships in Karlsruhe , GR, Hs, with victories over Kurt Rusterholz , Switzerland , Fritz Dirscherl , FRG , Hermann Karstens, Netherlands , Anton Groselj, Yugoslavia , Veikko Lahti , Finland and Karl-Erik Nilsson , Sweden;
• 1956, gold medal , OS in Melbourne , GR, Hs, with victories over Gyula Kovács , Hungary, Veikko Lahti, Karl-Erik Nilsson and Petko Sirakow , Bulgaria

swell

• Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships, 1976
• various issues of the specialist magazine "Athletik" from 1950 to 1960

Web links

• Valentin Nikolajew's profile at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Valentin Nikolajew in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )