Sergey Volkov (figure skater)

Volkov was born on 19 April 1949 in Moscow.[1] He was the brother of Elena Buriak, an international skating referee.[2] With his first wife, Lyudmila, he had a son, Aleksandr, and with his second wife, Oksana, he had twin daughters, Ekaterina and Anastasia. He died from stomach cancer on 31 August 1990 in Kharkiv and was buried in Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow.[2]

Volkov dreamed of becoming a pilot and tried twice to enter the flight academy in Rostov-on-Don. He failed the medical test both times due to his soft and weak knees and ankles, which would fail upon landing after a parachute jump. For the same reason he struggled with landing his jumps throughout his skating career.[3]

Volkov debuted at the 1968 European Championship, and placed 12th. In 1974, he won the silver medal at the European and World Championships. Volkov won the individual world title in 1975, becoming the first Soviet man to do so. Domestically he won two Soviet titles, in 1974 and 1976.

Volkov participated in eight European and four World Championships. He was unbeatable in special and compulsory figures. After retiring from competition he worked as a figure skating coach, and spent four months in Austria in 1990 in this capacity.[2]