Yuriy Borzakovskiy

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Yuriy Borzakovskiy

Men's athletics
Olympic medal record
Gold	Athens 2004	800 metres

Yuriy Mikhailovich Borzakovskiy (Russian: Юрий Михайлович Борзаковский, born 12 April, 1981) is a Russian athlete.

[edit] Career

Borzakovskiy was born at Kratovo, in the Moscow oblast.

His greatest result was the victory in the 800 m race at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He likes to sit back until the last 200 meters or so when he uses his great kick and endurance to catch up and often win. His 'late charge' is well known in the track circles and somewhat reminiscent of the tactics of Great Britain's Steve Cram. In the Olympics he employed the same strategy, coming from behind in the last 150 meters to take victory and beat out 800 meter ruler Wilson Kipketer, who was leading with only 20 meters to go but then faded to third.

Borzakovskiy's first major international success was a victory at the 2000 European Indoor Championships when he was only 18 years old. At the 2000 Summer Olympics he reached the 800m final, in which he made a tactical error and finished only sixth. In 2001 he won the World Indoor title over 800 m but decided not to participate in the World Championships in Edmonton. However, he was ranked No.1 in the world for 2001 with a time of 1:42.47. In 2002, Borzakovskiy ran the 400 m at the European Championships in Munich but lost in the early stages. The following season he picked up a silver medal over 800 m at the World Championships in Paris.

In the 2005 World Championships he took silver in the 800 m competition, overtaking everyone but Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi on the final straight. At the 2006 World Indoor Championships he won a bronze medal.

Olympic champions in men's 800 m