| Nikolai Andrianov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Andrianov c. 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 14 October 1952 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 21 March 2011(2011-03-21) (aged 58) Vladimir,Russian Federation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 166 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Headcoach(es) | Nikolai Tolkachev | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov (Russian:Никола́й Ефи́мович Андриа́нов; 14 October 1952 – 21 March 2011)[2] was a Soviet and Russian gymnast.
He held therecord for men for the mostOlympic medals at 15 (7 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 3 bronze medals) untilMichael Phelps surpassed him at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Andrianov is the third athlete (male or female) in cumulative Olympic medals after Phelps's 28 andLarisa Latynina's 18. Andrianov won themost medals at the1976 Summer Olympics with 6 individual medals and one team medal. Within the sport of Men'sArtistic Gymnastics, he also holds the men's record formost individual Olympic medals (12) and shares the male record for most individual Olympic gold medals in gymnastics (6) withBoris Shakhlin andDmitry Bilozerchev (the latter of which only if you count the1984 Alternate Olympics). In many other rankings among all-time medal winners at the Olympic, World, and European levels, he ranks very high (for example, he is second only toVitaly Scherbo in total individual medal counts at either the gold level or any level at the combined Olympic and World levels as well as at the combined Olympic, World, and European levels), easily making him one of the most decorated gymnasts of all time. He ranks as thefourth-most decorated Olympian of all time.
Andrianov entered theChildren and Youth Sports School of theBurevestnik sports society inVladimir at age 11. His first international success came in 1971 at the European Championships inMadrid, where he won two gold medals. Between 1971 and 1980 he won many international gymnastics competitions, including the Olympic Games, world championships and European championships.[1]
Andrianov's first Olympic medal was a gold in the1972 floor competition. He dominated the1976 gymnastics competition, winning four golds, including the all-around, two silvers, and a bronze.[3] These medals included golds in thefloor exercises,rings, andvault, as well as a prized gold in the1976 all-around. His record of four gymnastic golds at a single games stood untilVitaly Scherbo won six other medals in 1992.[4]
Andrianov took theOlympic Oath for athletes at the1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In thegymnastics competition, he won two more golds, two silvers, and a bronze.[3] Andrianov's golds in that Olympics were in thevault andteam competition, his silvers were in theall-around andfloor exercises, and his bronze medal was in thehorizontal bar.[5] He retired shortly after that year's Olympics.[3]
Andrianov married another famous Soviet gymnast, two-time Olympic championLyubov Burda. Together they worked as children's gymnastics coaches, with Andrianov being the head coach of the Soviet national men's junior team in 1981–1992. In 1990–1992 he also coached the Soviet senior gymnastics team, and in 1990–1993 headed the Soviet and later the Russian Gymnastics Federation.[1]
In 2001, Andrianov was inducted into theInternational Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[1] Between 1994 and 2002 he coached theJapan Olympic gymnastics team, on the invitation of his former rival,Mitsuo Tsukahara. Andrianov coached Tsukahara's son,Naoya Tsukahara, and both father and son credit him with raising Naoya's skills and confidence to equip him to compete at the international level.[6] In 2002 he became the director of gymnastics at the N.G. Tolkachyov Specialized Children and Youth sports school inVladimir, where he first began the sport as a youth.[1]
In his final years, Andrianov developed the degenerativeneurological disordermultiple system atrophy and in his final months was unable to move his arms or legs or talk.[7] Andrianov died on 21 March 2011 at the age of 58,[8] in his hometown ofVladimir.[9] Russia's national gymnastic team coach, Alexander Alexandrov, called the death "tragic", but stated that he had been ill for a long time.[9]
| Year | Event | AA | Team | FX | PH | RG | VT | PB | HB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | European Championships | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | ||
| USSR Championships | 1st | ||||||||
| 1972 | USSR Championships | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | |
| USSR Cup | 1st | ||||||||
| 1973 | European Championships | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | |||
| 1973 Summer Universiade | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||||
| USSR Championships | 1st | ||||||||
| 1974 | World Championships | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | ||
| USSR Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | ||||
| USSR Cup | 1st | ||||||||
| 1975 | World Cup | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | ||||
| European Championships | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||
| USSR Championships | 1st | 1st | |||||||
| 1977 | World Cup | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | |||
| 1978 | World Championships | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | |||
| USSR Cup | 3rd | ||||||||
| 1979 | World Championships | 1st | 2nd | ||||||
| USSR Championships | 3rd | 3rd |
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Most career Olympic medals by a man 1980–2008 | Succeeded by |