Viktor Markin Information & Viktor Markin Links at HealthHaven.com

Medal record
Men's Athletics
Competitor for Soviet Union
Olympic Games
World Championships
European Championships

Viktor Fyodorovich Markin (Russian: Виктор Фёдорович Маркин) (born February 23, 1957 in the village of Oktyabrsky, Ust-Tarksky District, Novosibirsk Oblast^[1]) is a former Soviet athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

After graduating from a secondary school he went to Novosibirsk, where he entered the Faculty of Pediatrics of the Institute of Medicine.^[1] Markin started athletics only at age 19 in the athletics section by the institute, coached by Aleksandr Bukhasheyev.^[1] He remained quite unknown until the Moscow Olympic Games.

On April 27, 1980, in Sochi, Markin ran a new personal best in the one lap event of 46.96 seconds. In early July Markin ran 45.34 at the Central Lenin Stadium. In the Olympic final on July 30, Markin was only fifth at the halfway mark and as the final straight opened he was still three metres behind the leader Frank Schaffer of East Germany. But with a very strong finish Markin won with a European record and world season best 44.60 (still the Russian national record over 400 m). Markin captured his second gold in the 4 × 400 m relay when, as an anchor, he outran the winner of the 400 metre hurdles, East German Volker Beck.

After a break from sports to complete his studies in medicine, Markin returned at the European Championships in 1982, where he won two bronze medals (400 m and 4 × 400 m relay). At the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki Markin, the only Soviet competing in the individual 400 metres (as the rest were concentrating on the relay), was knocked out of the final in an extremely close photo finish by eventual bronze medalist Sunder Nix of the United States. However, he finished on a high note as in the very last event of the Championships, the 4 × 400 m relay, the Soviets won an unexpected gold.

Markin decided to retire after hearing the Soviet decision to boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Bibliography

V. V. Leibovsky (1983) (in Russian). Viktor Markin. Heroes of the Olympic Games. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. http://www.sportlib.ru/books/la/markin/.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c V. V. Leibovsky (1983) (in Russian). Viktor Markin. Heroes of the Olympic Games. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. http://www.sportlib.ru/books/la/markin/.

Records
Preceded by Karl Honz	European Record Holder Men's 400m 30 July 1980 - 25 July 1983	Succeeded by Erwin Skamrahl

[Book-0] V. V. Leibovsky (1983) (in Russian). Viktor Markin. Heroes of the Olympic Games. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. http://www.sportlib.ru/books/la/markin/.

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