Viktor Kosichkin

Viktor Kosichkin
Viktor Kosichkin in black suit and white armband at 1966 European Allround.
Personal information
Birth nameViktor Ivanovich Kosichkin
NationalityRussian
Born(1938-02-25)February 25, 1938
Rybnovsky District, Ryazan Oblast, RSFSR, Soviet Union
DiedMarch 30, 2012(2012-03-30) (aged 74)
Moscow, Russia
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
CountrySoviet Union
SportSpeed skating
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)500 m: 41.9 (1965)
1500 m: 2:10.7 (1965)
3000 m: 4:29.6 (1964)
5000 m: 7:42.3 (1965)
10 000 m: 15:49.2 (1960)
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Men's speed skating
Gold medal – first place 1960 Squaw Valley 5000 m
Silver medal – second place 1960 Squaw Valley 10000 m

Viktor Ivanovich Kosichkin (Russian: Виктор Иванович Косичкин; 25 February 1938 – 30 March 2012) was a speed skater who competed for the Soviet Union.

Kosichkin trained at Dynamo. He participated in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. On the 5000 m, held on his 22nd birthday, he won gold, while the silver medal went to his major rival, Knut Johannesen. On the 10000 m two days later, the roles were reversed, with Johannesen winning gold and Kosichkin silver.

The next year (1961), Kosichkin became Soviet and European Allround Champion, while winning silver at the World Allround Championships (behind Henk van der Grift). In 1962 he was not selected to be on the Soviet team for the European Championships and he damaged his skates in anger. His friend Yevgeny Grishin gave him an old pair of skates and Kosichkin became World Champion on these.

1963 was not a good year for Kosichkin, winning no major medals and finishing only 15th at the Soviet Allround Championships. In 1964, he once more won silver behind Johannesen at the World Allround Championships. He also participated in the 5000 m and the 10000 m at the 1964 Winter Olympics of Innsbruck, but he did not win any medals.

He was Soviet Champion on the 5000 m in 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1962, and on the 10000 m in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964 and 1965. Kosichkin's highest ranking on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, was a third place.

Medals

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An overview of medals won by Kosichkin at important championships, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics 1960 (5000 m) 1960 (10000 m)
World Allround 1962 1961
1964
European Allround 1961 1965
Soviet Allround 1961 1962
1964
1965
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