Nikolay Gulyayev

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Olympic medal record
Men’s Speed Skating
Gold 1988 Calgary 1,000 m

Nikolay Alekseyevich Gulyayev (Russian: Николай Алексеевич Гуляев) (born 1 January 1966 in Moscow, Russia) is a former speed skater, considered among the world's best in the 1980s.

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[edit] Short biography

Nikolay Gulyayev trained at Armed Forces sports society in Moscow. Skating for the Soviet Union, his first international appearance was in 1986 at the European Allround Championships in Oslo. Gulyayev debuted with a 5th place in the tournament won by Dutchman Hein Vergeer and impressed with a 2nd place finish on the 1,500 metres.

In 1987, he was at the top of the international skating field. In January, he won the European Championships in Trondheim, leaving Michael Hadschieff and Hein Vergeer behind. Gulyayev held his form until the World Allround Championships in Heerenveen. At these championships, he was the first ever to achieve an overall point total (samalog) below 160.000 points; his 159.356 was the new Allround World Record. This record stood firm for 4 years before being broken by Johann Olav Koss. With this astonishing point total he left behind his fellow countryman Oleg Bozhev and the Austrian Michael Hadschieff. In Heerenveen he also set the 1,500 metres world record at 1:52.70. For his achievements that year, he received the Oscar Mathisen Award.

His performance at the World Championships in Heerenveen put him in first place on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speedskating ranking, taking over first place from his fellow countryman Viktor Shasherin. He lost his first place when, at the 1988 Winter Olympics, Austrian skater Michael Hadschieff took over first place, followed a few days later by Eric Flaim from the United States. Gulyayev was number one in the Adelskalender for 364 days and he was in the top 15 of the Adelskalender from December 1985 until March 1996, more than 10 years.

For the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, he was the big favourite for the 1,500 metres and he was also considered to have a chance for a medal in the 1,000 metres, especially after he won both distances at the World Cup in Inzell, one month before the start of the games. But in the same month, he got caught trying to smuggle 700 capsules of Dianabol, an anabolic steroid. Because of this, he did not defend his European and World titles. Since he never tested positive for steroid use, the IOC could not refuse Gulyayev participation in the 1988 Winter Olympics. He then did compete in Calgary, but under close scrutiny.

In the first distance he participated in, the 500 metres, Gulyayev did not finish because of a fall. Four days later, in the 1,000 metres, in spite of being in an incredibly strong field of sprinters, he won the gold medal by setting the Olympic 1,000 metre record at 1:13.03, leaving Uwe-Jens Mey and Igor Zhelezovski behind. Two days later, he was the biggest favourite at the 1,500 metres, but he finished only 7th. After those Olympics, Gulyayev found himself incapable of competing at the top level of international allround speed skating, so he switched his focus to the shorter sprinting distances. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville he tried to defend his 1,000 metres title, but he did not get further than the 8th place. In March 1992, he became the Russian Sprint Champion in Kolomna, leaving the young Sergey Klevchenya behind.

Gulyayev had to end his speed skating career because of back problems. These days, he is vice-president of the Russian Speed Skating Federation. His reorganisation resulted in Olympic medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics for Dmitry Dorofeyev en Svetlana Zhurova. His aim is to sign on Peter Mueller as the new coach of the Russian team after the Olympics.

[edit] World records

Over the course of his career, Gulyayev skated 2 world records:

Distance Result Date Location
1,500 m 1:52.70 15 February 1987 Heerenveen
Big combination 159.356 15 February 1987 Heerenveen

[edit] Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the last column (WR) lists the official world records on the dates that Gulyayev skated his personal records.

Distance Result Date Location WR
500 m 36.84 22 December 1989 Medeo 36.45
1,000 m 1:13.03 18 February 1988 Calgary 1:12.58
1,500 m 1:52.70 15 February 1987 Heerenveen 1:53.26
3,000 m 4:11.2  17 December 1987 Leningrad 3:59.27
5,000 m 6:51.28 14 February 1987 Heerenveen 6:49.15
10,000 m 14:28.45 15 February 1987 Heerenveen 14:12.14

Gulyayev has an Adelskalender score of 158.956 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a 1st place.

[edit] References



Leaders of the Adelskalender

Rudolf Ericsson - Peder Østlund - Jaap Eden - Oscar Mathisen - Ivar Ballangrud - Michael Staksrud - Åke Seyffarth - Nikolay Mamonov - Hjalmar Andersen - Boris Shilkov - Dmitriy Sakunenko - Juhanni Järvinen - Knut Johannesen - Jonny Nilsson - Per Ivar Moe - Eduard Matusevich - Ard Schenk - Kees Verkerk - Magne Thomassen - Hans van Helden - Vladimir Lobanov - Jan Egil Storholt - Sergey Marchuk - Vladimir Belov - Eric Heiden - Viktor Shasherin - Andrej Bobrov - Nikolay Gulyayev - Michael Hadschieff - Eric Flaim - Johann Olav Koss - Falko Zandstra - Rintje Ritsma - Gianni Romme - Jochem Uytdehaage - Chad Hedrick


Olympic champions in men's 1000 m speed skating
1976: Peter Mueller | 1980: Eric Heiden | 1984: Gaétan Boucher | 1988: Nikolay Gulyayev | 1992: Olaf Zinke | 1994: Dan Jansen | 1998: Ids Postma | 2002: Gerard van Velde | 2006: Shani Davis 


Preceded by:
Geir Karlstad		 Oscar Mathisen Award
1987		 Succeeded by:
Tomas Gustafson


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