Igor Zhelezovski

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Igor Zjelezovski in 1994
Personal information
Born (1963-07-01) 1 July 1963
Orsha, Belarus
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Sport
Sport Speed skating
Club SK VS Minsk
Medal record
Olympic Games
Representing the  Soviet Union
Bronze 1988 Calgary 1000 m
Representing  Belarus
Silver 1994 Lillehammer 1000 m

Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski (Belarusian: Ігар Мікалаевіч Жалязоўскі; born 1 July 1963) is a former speed skater, considered to be one of the best sprinters ever. His imposing physical appearance resulted in the nicknames "Igor the Terrible" and "The bear from Minsk". Originally competing for the Soviet Union, then for the Commonwealth of Independent States, and finally for Belarus, he became World Sprint Champion a record number of six times, a record still unequalled as of (and including the Championships of) 2012. In Soviet times, he trained at Armed Forces sports society in Minsk.[1]

Igor Zhelezovski won silver at the World Junior Allround Championships in 1982. Specialising in the sprint, he became World Sprint Champion in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1993. He finished eighth in the 1987 edition, having just recovered from an illness, and decided to skip the 1988 edition in favour of preparing for the Winter Olympics in Calgary that same year. These, however, turned out to be a disappointment for him, finishing sixth on the 500 m, "only" third on his favourite 1000 m, and fourth on the 1500 m. The remaining two World Sprint Championships he participated in, in 1990 and 1994, he finished third and sixth, respectively.

His final two seasons, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zhelezovski skated for Belarus. After ending his skating career in 1994, Zhelezovski became president of the skating union of Belarus, a position he held for several years.

Medals

Igor Zhelezovski in 1985

An overview of medals won by Zhelezovski at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:[1]

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics – 1994 (1000 m) 1988 (1000 m)
World Sprint 1985
1986
1989
1991
1992
1993 		– 1990
World Cup 1991 (1000 m)
1992 (1000 m)
1993 (1000 m) 		– 1993 (500 m)
1994 (1000 m)
World Junior Allround – 1982 –
Soviet Allround – – –
Soviet Sprint 1985
1986
1989
1990
1991 		– 1984

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Zhelezovski skated four world records, one of which equalled Pavel Pegov's six year old world record on the 1000 m:

EventTimeDateVenue
1500 m1:54.2626 March 1983Soviet Union Medeo
1500 m1:52.505 December 1987Canada Calgary
1000 m1:12.5825 February 1989Netherlands Heerenveen
Sprint combination145.94526 February 1989Netherlands Heerenveen

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[2]

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Zhelezovski skated his personal records.[1]

EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m36.4921 December 1985Medeo36.57
1000 m1:12.5825 February 1989Heerenveen1:12.58
1500 m1:52.505 December 1987Calgary1:52.70
3000 m4:12.859 January 1988Davos3:59.27
5000 m7:09.8425 March 1983Medeo6:54.66
10000 m15:40.8226 March 1983Medeo14:23.59
Big combination166.20126 March 1983Medeo162.973

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com[3]

Note that Zhelezovski's personal record on the 500 m was not a recognised as a world record by the International Skating Union (ISU).

Zhelezovski has an Adelskalender score of 164.015 points.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Igor Zhelezovski.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Igor Zhelezovsky. sports-reference.com
  2. ↑ "Igor Zjelezovski". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012. 
  3. ↑ "Igor Zhelezovski". SpeedskatingResults.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012. 
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