The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Russia

This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 326 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 3rd most number of Athletes behind United States, and Germany.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Russian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Athletes.

1. Vasily Alekseyev (1942 - 2011)

With an HPI of 58.65, Vasily Alekseyev is the most famous Russian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev (Russian: Василий Иванович Алексеев; 7 January 1942 – 25 November 2011) was a Soviet weightlifter. He set 80 world-records and 81 Soviet records in weightlifting and won Olympic gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 games.

2. Valeriy Brumel (1942 - 2003)

With an HPI of 56.93, Valeriy Brumel is the 2nd most famous Russian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Valeriy Nikolayevich Brumel (Russian: Валерий Николаевич Брумель; 14 April 1942 – 26 January 2003) was a Soviet-Russian high jumper. The 1964 Olympic champion and multiple world record holder, he is regarded as one of the greatest athletes ever to compete in the high jump. His international career was ended by a motorcycle crash in 1965.

3. Yuriy Sedykh (1955 - 2021)

With an HPI of 56.58, Yuriy Sedykh is the 3rd most famous Russian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh (Russian: Ю́рий Гео́ргиевич Седы́х, Ukrainian: Юрій Георгійович Сєдих) (11 June 1955 – 14 September 2021) was a track and field athlete who represented the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1991 in the hammer throw. He was a European, World and Olympic Champion, and holds the world record with a throw of 86.74 m in 1986.

4. Yelena Isinbayeva (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 56.27, Yelena Isinbayeva is the 4th most famous Russian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 71 different languages.

Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva (Russian: Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева, IPA: [jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə]; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 2008), three-times a World Champion (2005, 2007 and 2013), the current world record holder in the event, and is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time. Isinbayeva was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics after revelations of an extensive state-sponsored doping programme in Russia, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement winning the Olympic gold medal. She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC's Athletes' Commission. Isinbayeva has been a major champion on nine occasions (Olympic, World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion). She was also the jackpot winner of the IAAF Golden League series in 2007 and 2009. After poor performances at the world championships in 2009 and 2010, she took a year-long break from the sport. She became the first woman to clear the five-metre barrier in 2005. Her existing world record is 5.06 m outdoors, set in Zürich in August 2009. It is still unbeaten, as of 2024. Her 5.01 m indoors was the world record for just over a year. The latter was Isinbayeva's twenty-eighth pole vault world record. Isinbayeva was named Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF in 2004, 2005 and 2008, and World Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus in 2007 and 2009. In 2007 she entered in the FICTS "Hall of Fame" and was awarded with "Excellence Guirlande D'Honneur". She was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2009. Isinbayeva is one of only eleven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Armand Duplantis, Jacques Freitag, Kirani James, Faith Kipyegon, Jana Pittman, Dani Samuels, and David Storl) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.

5. Vera Krepkina (1933 - 2023)

With an HPI of 56.27, Vera Krepkina is the 5th most famous Russian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Vera Samuilovna Krepkina (later Kalashnikova, Russian: Вера Самуиловна Крепкина (Калашникова); 15 April 1933 – 25 April 2023) was a Soviet-Ukrainian track and field athlete. She competed for the Soviet Union at the 1952, 1956, and 1960 Olympics. At all these Olympics she finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m relay and was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m sprint. In 1960, she also took part in the long jump and won a surprise gold medal with an Olympic record of 6.37 m, ahead of the defending champion Elżbieta Krzesińska and the world record holder Hildrun Claus. At the European Championships she won gold medals in the 4 × 100 m relay in 1954 and 1958 and finished second in the 100 m in 1958. She was a member of the Soviet team that set a world record in the 4 × 100 m relay in 1956, and she tied the world record (11.3 seconds) in the 100 meter dash in 1958. During her career Krepkina won eight Soviet titles: 100 m in 1952, 1957 and 1958; 200 m in 1952; 4 × 100 m relay in 1952, 1960 and 1965; and 4 × 200 m relay in 1952. In retirement she worked as a children's athletics coach in Ukraine. Krepkina died on 25 April 2023, at the age of 90.

6. Irena Szewińska (1946 - 2018)

With an HPI of 56.15, Irena Szewińska is the 6th most famous Russian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: [iˈrɛna ʂɛˈviɲska]; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost track athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She won a total of seven Olympic medals including three golds. She is the only athlete in history, male or female, to have held the world record in the 100 m, the 200 m and the 400 m events. She was voted the Polish Sports Personality of the Year four times. In 2016, she was awarded Poland's highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.

7. Elvīra Ozoliņa (b. 1939)

With an HPI of 55.23, Elvīra Ozoliņa is the 7th most famous Russian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Elvīra Anatoļjevna Ozoliņa (Russian: Эльвира Анатольевна Озолина, born 8 October 1939) is a retired Soviet javelin thrower. In 1960 she won gold medal with an Olympic Record of 55.98 m and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. Between 1960 and 1963 she set three world records. In 1964 she became the first woman to surpass 60 m (61.38 m, at Soviet Championships), but this result was not ratified as a world record by IAAF. In the 1964 Olympic final she fouled her last four attempts and finished in a disappointing fifth place. Domestically she won the national title in 1959, 1961–62, 1964, 1966, and 1973. In 1969, Ozoliņa married Jānis Lūsis (1939-2020), the 1968 Olympic champion in men's javelin throw. Their son, Voldemārs Lūsis, competed in the same event for Latvia at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics.

8. Viktor Mamatov (1937 - 2023)

With an HPI of 54.86, Viktor Mamatov is the 8th most famous Russian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Viktor Fyodorovich Mamatov (Russian: Виктор Фёдорович Маматов; 21 July 1937 – 27 October 2023) was a Soviet biathlete. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, he won a gold medal with the Soviet relay team. He was Flag Bearer at the 1968 Olympics. Mamatov received another gold medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. He became World Champion in individual 20 km in 1967, and three times with the Soviet relay team, in 1969, 1970, and 1971. After retiring from competitions, Mamatov had a long career as a biathlon coach and as a sports administrator. He was the head coach of the Soviet junior team from 1973 to 1976 and of the Soviet senior team from 1981 to 1985. He led the Soviet and then Russian delegations at the 1984, 1988, 1992, 1998, and 2002 Winter Olympics. He served as President of the Soviet Biathlon Federation (1987–1991), and as Vice-President of the International Biathlon Union (1993–2002), of the Russian Biathlon Union (1995–2010) and of the Russian Olympic Committee (1996–2006). He was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (1999) and Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1972, 1988). Mamatov died on 27 October 2023, at the age of 86.

9. Pyotr Bolotnikov (1930 - 2013)

With an HPI of 54.41, Pyotr Bolotnikov is the 9th most famous Russian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Pyotr Grigoryevich Bolotnikov (Russian: Пётр Григо́рьевич Боло́тников; 8 March 1930 – 20 December 2013) was a Soviet Track and field athlete who competed mainly in long-distance running events. He was the winner of the 10,000 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Born in Zinovkino, Krasnoslobodsky District, Mordovian ASSR (now the Republic of Mordovia), Bolotnikov started athletics only at age twenty, when he joined the Soviet Army. He trained at VSS Spartak, coached by Grigory Nikiforov. Bolotnikov won his first national championship title in 10,000 m in 1957, when he surprisingly beat the great Vladimir Kuts in a finishing straight by 0.2 seconds. He became the double Soviet champion in 5000 m and 10,000 m from 1958 to 1962. He also won the national 10,000 m title in 1964 and national cross country title in 1958. In 1959 he became the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR. Bolotnikov participated already at the 1956 Summer Olympics, but without any success. At the Rome Olympics in 1960, Bolotnikov controlled the 10,000 m race from the start to end, beating the main favourites Hans Grodotzki from East Germany and Murray Halberg from New Zealand by five seconds. On 5 October 1960, in Kiev, Bolotnikov lowered the 10,000 metres world record by almost twelve seconds to 28:18.8. Just two weeks before the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, on 11 August 1962 in Moscow, Bolotnikov lowered his own 10,000 m world record by 0.6 seconds to 28:18.2, thus becoming the main favourite at long distances at the Championships. He easily won the 10,000 m run, but was surprisingly beaten to third in 5,000 m. After the unsuccessful 1964 Summer Olympics, Bolotnikov decided to retire from athletics in 1965. He received the Order of Lenin in 1960. Bolotnikov died on 20 December 2013, at the age of 83.

10. Aleksandr Privalov (1933 - 2021)

With an HPI of 54.30, Aleksandr Privalov is the 10th most famous Russian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Aleksandr Vasilyevich Privalov (Russian: Александр Васильевич Привалов; 6 August 1933 – 19 May 2021) was a Soviet biathlete. He received a bronze medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. He received a silver medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

People

Pantheon has 606 people classified as Russian athletes born between 1914 and 2006. Of these 606, 520 (85.81%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Russian athletes include Yelena Isinbayeva, Elvīra Ozoliņa, and Natalya Lisovskaya. The most famous deceased Russian athletes include Vasily Alekseyev, Valeriy Brumel, and Yuriy Sedykh. As of April 2024, 279 new Russian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Renate Boy, Anatoly Mikhaylov, and Valery Muratov.