Valeriy Borzov

Valery Pylypowytsch Borzov (Ukrainian Валерій Пилипович Борзов, often under the Russian name Валерий Филиппович Борзов or Filippowitsch Valeri Borzov; born October 20, 1949 in Sambir, Lviv Oblast ) is a former Soviet athlete, one of the best sprinters in the history of athletics. From 1998 to 2006 he was a deputy in the Parliament of Ukraine, most recently for the United Socialist Party of Ukraine.

Sports career

Borzov closed in 1971 the National Sports Institute and Kiev for a correspondence course in 1973, Saratov F. Dzerzhinsky Military Technical College from. At the Olympic Summer Games in Munich in 1972 he won the gold medal in the 100-meter and 200 - meter race of men, also the silver medal with the Soviet 4 x 100 - meter relay.

In the years 1969-1979 Borzov instructor of Sports Committee of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was (USSR ); at the same time chief instructor and coach of the internal troops of the Soviet Foreign Ministry of the Moldovan and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in Kiev. In 1976, he started once again in Montreal at the Olympics and won bronze in the 100 meters and in the relay 4 x 100 meters.

Also at the European Championships, he was very successful: in 1969 he won the gold medal in Athens over 100 meters and a silver medal in the 4x100 - meter relay. 1971 in Helsinki, he won both the 100 meters as well as over 200 meters. In 1974 he was in Rome again European Champion over 100 meters. In 1978 he joined despite Achilles tendon problems in again and was in the 100 -meter finals in eighth place.

After surgery on both Achilles tendons, he tried in 1979, again to catch up with the world's elite, but this failed. When Spartakiade in Moscow in 1979, he ran wide in the sprint heats in the 100 meters and 200 meters behind and had to realize that his career was over. Borzov was also successful in several European Indoor Championships over 60 meters. He won in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. He held temporarily the European record over this distance.

Policy

From 1979 to 1986 Borzov held senior positions in the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Komsomol, then until 1991 he was promoted to Chairman of the State Sports Committee of the USSR. In the years 1991 to 1993 Borzov Minister of Youth and Sports of the USSR, directly afterwards (1993-1996) in the then independent Ukraine.

After the expiration of his term as Prime Borzov took over from 1996 to 1997 the post of Chairman of the State Sports Committee of Ukraine; then he spent a year (until 1998) President of the National Olympic Committee of his country. 1998 to 2000 he headed the Preparatory Committee of the Ukrainian Olympic and Paralympic team and since 2000 he was chairman of the Committee for Youth Policy, Sport and Tourism in the Supreme Council of Ukraine. Since 2001 Borzov is a member of the United Socialist Party of Ukraine and moved in 2003 to the list position 26 as MP for his party in parliament until it failed in 2006, to come again to parliament.

He is married with four times the gymnastics Olympic champion Lyudmila Turischtschewa, with whom he has a daughter.

Find out more

To illustrate what a outstanding sportsman Borzov was, one should direct his attention to his then unique training methods. Example, he was master of the Progressive muscle relaxation (after E. Jacobson ). He could feel every muscle in the leg consciously and relax. The relaxation phase is important for blood circulation and thus for the optimal care of the muscle. His coach Valentin Petrovsky, a biology professor who led this rigorous academic training, with nutrition, exercises for muscle training and endurance performance were included.