Yakov Tolstikov

Yakov Grigoryevich Tolstikov (Russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич То́лстиков; born 20 May 1959 in Prokopyevsk) is a former Russian distance runner. Tolstikov rose to worldwide prominence following his surprise upset of favorite Gelindo Bordin in the 1991 London Marathon.^[1][2] He set a personal best of 2:09:17 hours at the race which went unbeaten as a Soviet record.^[3] This time was the fastest by any European in the 1991 season, and the third fastest time in the world after Kōichi Morishita and Takeyuki Nakayama of Japan.^[4][5]

In international competition he represented the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, coming in a distant 22nd.^[6] He twice ran at the World Championships in Athletics, coming eleventh in 1987 but failing to finish in 1991. He was a marathon bronze medallist at the 1986 Goodwill Games.^[7]

In individual races, he won the Uzhhorod Marathon three times (1983, 1986, 1987), the 1984 Moscow International Peace Marathon, the 1995 Siberian International Marathon, and the 1990 Humarathon.^[8] He was a one-time national champion, winning the marathon at the Soviet Athletics Championships in 1988.^[9]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the  Soviet Union
1983	Universiade	Edmonton, Canada	6th	Marathon	2:22:31
1986	Goodwill Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	3rd	Marathon	2:16:22
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	11th	Marathon	2:16:55
1988	European Marathon Cup	Huy, Belgium	9th	Marathon	2:14:10
			1st	Marathon team	31 pts
1989	World Marathon Cup	Milan, Italy	4th	Marathon team	6:39:18
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	—	Marathon	DNF
1991	World Marathon Cup	London, United Kingdom	8th	Marathon team	6:40:09
	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	—	Marathon	DNF
Representing the  Unified Team
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	22nd	Marathon	2:17:04
Representing  Russia
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	20th	Marathon	2:15:32

Marathons

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
1983	Uzhhorod Marathon	Uzhhorod, Soviet Union	1st	Marathon	2:13:35
1984	Moscow Peace Marathon[nb]	Moscow, Soviet Union	1st	Marathon	2:10:48
1985	Soviet Championships	Mogilev, Soviet Union	4th	Marathon	2:13:14
1986	Uzhhorod Marathon	Uzhhorod, Soviet Union	1st	Marathon	2:11:43
1987	Uzhhorod Marathon	Uzhhorod, Soviet Union	1st	Marathon	2:11:05
	Soviet Championships	Mogilev, Soviet Union	7th	Marathon	2:13:50
	Fukuoka Marathon	Fukuoka, Japan	8th	Marathon	2:12:31
1988	Soviet Championships	Tallinn, Soviet Union	1st	Marathon	2:14:29
	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, United States	2nd	Marathon	2:09:20
1989	Beppu-Ōita Marathon	Beppu–Ōita, Japan	2nd	Marathon	2:12:35
	Milano City Marathon	Milan, Italy	19th	Marathon	2:15:35
1990	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	6th	Marathon	2:11:07
1991	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	1st	Marathon	2:09:17 PB
	Italian Marathon	Carpi, Italy	11th	Marathon	2:13:05
	Fukuoka Marathon	Fukuoka, Japan	9th	Marathon	2:12:07
1992	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	6th	Marathon	2:10:49
	Fukuoka Marathon	Fukuoka, Japan	6th	Marathon	2:12:06
1993	Siberian International Marathon	Omsk, Russia	2nd	Marathon	2:13:31
1994	Vienna City Marathon	Vienna, Austria	3rd	Marathon	2:12:55
1995	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	5th	Marathon	2:11:34
	Siberian International Marathon	Omsk, Russia	1st	Marathon	2:14:37
1997	Siberian International Marathon	Omsk, Russia	4th	Marathon	2:17:46

• ^nb The Friendship Games Marathon was hosted within the Moscow International Peace Marathon in 1984 and Tolstikov was the second fastest runner there, but did not receive a Friendship Games medal as he was not entered for the team.^[10]

References

1. "Running". The Washington Post. 22 April 1991.
2. International Marathons. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
3. "Top list of the best results in the world in the history of marathon running in men". alltime -athletics.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
4. World Top Performers. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
5. European Top Performers. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
6. Yakov Tolstikov. Sports Reference. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
7. Goodwill Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
8. Yakov Tolstikov. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
9. Yakov Tolstikov. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
10. Żemantowski, Jacek (October 1984). "Moskwa '84". Lekkoatletyka 10 (84) (in Polish). p. 8.

External links

• Yakov Tolstikov at World Athletics