Nikolai Andrianov

Andrianov entered the Children and Youth Sports School of the Burevestnik sports society in Vladimir at age 11. His first international success came in 1971 at the European Championships in Madrid, 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 the 1972 floor competition. He dominated the 1976 gymnastics competition, winning four golds, including the all-around, two silvers, and a bronze.[3] These medals included golds in the floor exercises, rings, and vault, as well as a prized gold in the 1976 all-around. His record of four gymnastic golds at a single games stood until Vitaly Scherbo won six other medals in 1992.[4]

Andrianov took the Olympic Oath for athletes at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In the gymnastics competition, he won two more golds, two silvers, and a bronze.[3] Andrianov's golds in that Olympics were in the vault and team competition, his silvers were in the all-around and floor exercises, and his bronze medal was in the horizontal bar.[5] He retired shortly after that year's Olympics.[3]

Andrianov married another famous Soviet gymnast, two-time Olympic champion Lyubov 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 the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Between 1994 and 2002 he coached the Japan 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 in Vladimir, where he first began the sport as a youth.[1]

In his final years, Andrianov developed the degenerative neurological disorder multiple 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 of Vladimir.[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]

• Order of Lenin
• Order of the Badge of Honour
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour
• Medal "For Labour Valour"
• Lenin Komsomol Prize

• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics

• This article contains information from the website http://www.gymnast.ru/, incorporated into the Wikipedia with permission from its author E. V. Avsenev.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nikolai Andrianov.

• (in English) International Federation of Gymnastics' Article on Nikolai Andrianov
• (in English) A short biography and achievements
• (in Russian) Biography
• IOC 1980 Summer Olympics

1. ^ "Nikolai Andrianov". International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved 1 December 2006.

• IOC 1980 Summer Olympics
• (in Spanish) Obituary Nikolai Andrianov