Igor Ter-Ovanesyan

Igor Ter-Ovanesyan

Medal record
Men’s Athletics
Competitor for  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
	1960 Rome	Long Jump
	1964 Tokyo	Long Jump
European Championships
	Stockholm 1958	Long Jump
	Belgrade 1962	Long Jump
	Athens 1969	Long Jump
	Budapest 1966	Long Jump
	Helsinki 1971	Long Jump
European Indoor Championships
	1971 Sofia	Long jump

Igor Aramovich Ter-Ovanesyan (Russian: Игорь Арамович Тер-Ованесян, born May 19, 1938) is a retired Soviet athlete and coach in long jumping. He is a five-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist in the long jump. Ter-Ovanesyan was awarded the Honoured Master of Sport of the USSR and Honoured Merited Coach of the USSR titles and received the Order of the Badge of Honour in 1985. He was a member of Burevestnik and the Communist Party.^[1]

Biography

Igor was born in Kiev to an Armenian discus thrower father, Aram Avetisovich Ter-Ovanesyan, and a Ukrainian volleyball playing mother, Valentina Elijah. His parents had met at the Kiev State Institute of Physical Education and were both taught there while he was growing up. He started athletics when he was fifteen and showed uncommon early talent. He broke the broad-jump record for his age group in his first competition. Igor entered the USSR national athletic team at the age of 17 and was a member of it for 17 years. Ter-Ovanesyan trained at Burevestnik, first in Kiev, later in Lviv, and then in Moscow. He hold a Ph.D., Professor, Department of Athletics, Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture. Ter-Ovanesyan published several monographs and books.^[2]

Ter-Ovanesyan is a double Olympic bronze medalist. He won Olympic bronze medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome - with a jump of 8.04 meters - and at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo - with a jump of 7.99 meters. He also competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics, 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics. Ter-Ovanesyan also won many medals in the European Championships, including gold medals at the 1958 European Athletics Championships, 1962 European Athletics Championships and 1969 European Athletics Championships, making him a three-time European Champion in the outdoor stadium, and an indoor medal at the 1971 European Athletics Indoor Championships. Igor became the first European long jumper to jump the 8 meter mark. Ter-Ovanesyan set the European long jump record eight times and the world long jump record twice. He won in the USSR - USA Track and Field match in 1969. Ter-Ovanesyan is a repeated USSR Champion in the long jump and sprint disciplines. A unique achievement for European athletes, he won the U.S. Indoor Championship in 1963. Ter-Ovanesyan had the best yearly long jump in the world four times: in 1962, 1966, 1967 and 1969.^[3]

After retiring from his athletic long jumping career, he became the coach of the Soviet national long jumping team. He coached Ineta Radēviča, Valery Podluzhny, Wilhelmina Bardauskene, Tatyana Kolpakova, among others.^[4] He also became the head coach of the USSR national track and field team from 1983-1989. Ter-Ovanesyan once said his athletes broke more than ten world records during preparations for the 1984 Friendship Games.^[5] He later worked as chairman of the General Council of the coaching teams of the Sports Committee of Russia. In 1994, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation GKFT.^[6] As of 1991, Ter-Ovanesyan is a member of the central council of IAAF (IAAF Council Member).^[7]

Successes

Olympics

• 1960 Rome: Bronze with 8,04 m behind Ralph Boston with 8,12 m and Bo Roberson with 8,11 m.
• 1964 Tokyo: Bronze with 7,99 m behind Great Britain's Lynn Davies with 8,07 m and Ralph Boston with 8,03 m
• 1968 Mexico: Fourth with 8,12 m behind Bob Beamon with 8,90 m, Klaus Beer (GDR) with 8,19 m and Ralph Boston with 8,16 m.

European Championships

• 1958 Stockholm: Gold with 7,81 m before Kazimierz Kropidłowski with 7,67 m and Henryk Grabowski with 7,51 m .
• 1962 Belgrade: Gold with 8,19 m before Rainer Stenius and Pentti Eskola, both with 7,85 m
• 1966 Budapest: Silver with 7,88 m behind Lynn Davies with 7,98 m and before Jean Cochard with 7,88 m
• 1969 Athens: Gold with 8,17 m before Lynn Davies with 8,07 m and Tõnu Lepik with 8,04 m
• 1971 Helsinki: Silver with 7,91 m behind Max Klauss with 7,92 m and before Stanisław Szundrowicz with 7,87 m

World Records

• 8.31 metres on 10 July 1962 in Yerevan
• 8.35 metres on 19 October 1967 in Mexico City

CIA mission

On the eve of the Rome Olympics, Dave Sime was approached by the Central Intelligence Agency and recruited to help secure Ter-Ovanesyan's defection.^[8] Sime approached Ter-Ovanesyan and introduced him to a CIA agent in Rome, but that agent's manner frightened Ter-Ovanesyan off and he did not defect.^[9]

Personal life

Ter-Ovanesyan has been married twice. His first marriage was to Yemelyanova Margarita Yurievna. They had a son, Igor (b. 1963), and a daughter, Karen (b. 1967). His second marriage was with Olga Klein Arturovna. In 1982, they had a daughter, Jana I. Klein.^[10]

Defection target

On the eve of the Rome Olympics, fellow sprinter Dave Sime was approached by the Central Intelligence Agency and recruited to help secure Ter-Ovanesyan's defection.^[11] Sime approached Ter-Ovanesyan and introduced him to a CIA agent in Rome, but that agent's manner frightened Ter-Ovanesyan off and he did not defect.^[12]

Notes

• Maraniss, David (2008). Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World. New York, Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1-4165-3407-5.

Notes

References

• Maraniss, David (2008). Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World. New York, Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1-4165-3407-5.

External links

• Sports-Reference.com
• IAAF.com

Records
Preceded by Ralph Boston	Men's Long Jump World Record Holder June 10, 1962 – September 12, 1964	Succeeded by Ralph Boston
Preceded by Ralph Boston	Men's Long Jump World Record Holder October 19, 1967 – October 18, 1968	Succeeded by Bob Beamon
Sporting positions
Preceded by Ralph Boston	Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance 1962	Succeeded by Ralph Boston
Preceded by Ralph Boston	Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance 1966 — 1967	Succeeded by Bob Beamon
Preceded by Bob Beamon	Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance alongside Waldemar Stepian 1969	Succeeded by Josef Schwarz